Actually it's not clear what they mean with "traditionally".

Here's another interesting bit about the n6:n3 ratio in history.

http://www.st-hs.com/TMA_Forum/PUFA%20-%20Calvani%20Benatti%20-%20Feb%202K3.pdf

Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFA)
CALVANI M. AND BENATTI P.

sigma-tau S.p.A. - Scientific Department
28.02.03

[...]

4. EVOLUTIONARY ASPECTS OF DIET
Studies of hunter-gatherer societies indicates that man evolved on a diet
that was low in
saturated fat and the amounts of n-3 and n-6 fatty acids was quite equal.
Over the past 10000 years with the development of agriculture, changes
began to take
place in the food supply, especially during the last 100-150 years, that
lead to increases in
saturated fat from grain-fed cattle; increases in trans-fatty acids from
the hydrogenation of
vegetable oils; and enormous increase in n-6 fatty acids (about 30 g/day)
due to the production of
oils from vegetable seeds such as corn, safflower, and cotton (Fig. 4) (4).

FIGURE 4. SCHEME OF THE RELATIVE PERCENTAGES OF DIFFERENT DIETARY FATTY
ACIDS AND POSSIBLE
CHANGES SUBSEQUENT TO INDUSTRIAL FOOD PROCESSING, INVOLVING ANIMAL
HUSBANDRY AND
HYDROGENATION OF FATTY ACIDS.

Increases in meat consumption have lead to increased amounts of arachidonic
acid (C20:4
n-6, AA), about 0.2-1.0 mg/day (5), whereas the amount of LNA is only 2.92
g/day (6) and
amounts of EPA, DHA are 48 and 72 mg/day, respectively. Thus a relative and
absolute decrease
in the amount of n-3 fatty acids has lead to an imbalance and increase in
the ratio of n-6/n-3.
Intake of n-3 fatty acids is much lower today because of the decrease of
fish consumption
and the industrial production of animal feeds rich in grains containing n-6
fatty acids, leading to
production of meat reach in n-6 and poor in n-3 fatty acids. The same is
true for cultured fish and
eggs (7; 8). Even cultivated vegetables contain fewer n-3 fatty acids than
do plants in the wild
(9). In todayʼs diet this ratio is 20-30/1, whereas at the time when the
human genetic code was
established in response to diet, it was 1-4/1.
The ratio of n-6/n-3 in various populations, is reported in the following
table (Tab. 1).

TABLE 1. RATIOS OF N-6 TO N-3 FATTY ACIDS IN VARIOUS POULATIONS
POPULATION n-6/n-3 Ref.

Paleolithic 0.79

Greece before 1960 1.00-2.00

Current Greece 1.10-2.10

Current United States 16.74

Current United Kingdom and Northern Europe 15.00

Current Japan 4.00

BIBLIOGRAPHY
[...]
4. Leaf A, Waber PC. A new era for science in nutrition. Am J Clin Nutr
1987; 45:1048-53.
5. Phinney SD, Odin RS, Johnson SB et al. Reduced arachidonate in serum
phospholipids and cholesteryl esters
associated with vegetarian diet in humans. Am J Clin Nutr 1990; 51:385-92.
6. Raper NR, Cronin FJ, Exler J. Omega-3 fatty acid content of the US food
supply. Am J Coll Nutr 1992; 11:304-8.
7. Van Vliet T, Katan MB. Lower ratio of n-3 to n-6 fatty acids in cultured
than in wild fish. Am J Clin Nutr 1990;
51:1-2.
8. Simopoulos AP, Salem N Jr. n-3 fatty acids in eggs from range-fed Greek
Chickens. N Engl J Med 1989;
321:1412.
9. Simopoulos AP, Salem N Jr. Purslane: a terrestrial source of omega-3
fatty acids. N Engl J Med 1986; 315:833.
10. Eaton SB, Eaton SB III, Sinclair Aj et al. Dietary intake of long-chain
polyunsaturated fatty acids during the
paleolithic World Rev Nutr 1998; 83:12-23.
11. Simopoulos AP. Overview of evolutionary aspects of omega-3 fatty acids
in the diet. World Rev Nutr 1998;
83:1-11.
12. Simopoulos AP. The Mediterranean diet: what is so special about the
diet of Greece? The scientific evidence. J
Nutr 2001; 131:3065S-73S.
13. Sanders TAB. Polyunsaturated fatty acids in food chain in Europe. Am J
Clin Nutr 2000; 71(suppl):S176-S8.
14. Sugano AM, Hirata F. Polyunsaturated fatty acids in food chain in
Japan. Am J Clin Nutr 2000;
71(suppl):S189-S96.

[...]

Yes, it's total BS, but they are right about one thing, that the omega
3 to 6 ratio was much closer to being balanced.  What they fail to
mention is that consumption of omega 3s and 6s in total was very low,
and thus this fact matters little, if at all.  Early humans lived on
coconuts and palm as easy, nutritious, calorie-dense, tasty, safe, and
healthy dietary staple products.  There was no canola oil, even though
idiot "experts" tell us that Okinawans who are well over a hundred
years old now, owe it all to canola oil.  Canola oil is one of the
worst oils you can use.  If only people could do the Rancimat
experiments for themselves and see how easily this stuff starts off
dangerous free radical reactions there would be no need for debate. How
is it that hundreds of millions of Asians can consume huge amounts of
coconut, which is much more saturated than even lard (92% to 39%
saturated) and yet have hardly any "chronic disease?"  It's all about
the free radical damage.  You can go to the WHO web site and see the
statistics for yourself.  When I did, I was amazed by it, but also by
the high rates of cancer and heart disease in nations like Italy, even
though the "experts" are fawning over the great "tradtional
Mediterranean diet."  Here again, rates of "chronic disease" rise as
people switch over to the highly unsaturated oils, such as corn,
canola, vegetable, safflower, sunflower, etc., and as traditional fat
sources are either abandoned or have their antioxdiants refined out of
them (which is the case for much of the olive oil being sold today).