It should be perfectly clear to a native English speaker as it's a well-used construction ("Present day X" means "The (thing) that is today called X") - but I could understand if it's confusing to a non-native speaker.
I’m a native speaker, and I think the wording could be improved. Furthermore, I don’t agree that this common phrase is normally used this way. The phrase “present day” is most often used to refer to now, not to refer to a time in the past. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Present_day
I agree with the meaning of your example, but I don’t think your example illustrates the issue with the title. The title has “People in present day Austria” which implies these people are alive now, then goes on to say the same people ate something 2700 years ago.
Context does clarify the title, despite the confusing wording. Rewordings that would help: “Ancestors of modern day Austrians consumed blue cheese and beer 2700 years ago”, or “People who lived in what is now present-day Austria drank beer and ate blue cheese 2700 years ago.”
Valid points, but just to split this hair a little further in a couple of places:
- "People in present day Austria" doesn't entirely capture the headline either because it's immediately followed by a verb in the past tense, thus specifying something that happened in the past;
- I don't think anyone ever refers to a place as 'present-day X' if they're talking about something that's happening now:
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to present-day New York"
Using 'present-day' as an adjective to me necessarily implies a discussion of some past event. Can you imagine anyone talking about Austrians who are alive today as "people living in present-day Austria"?
Maybe this is why I'm a programmer and not an author...
