Archaeology of food

Bluefin tuna fishing in the Strait of Gibraltar was a major economic resource in Antiquity, and at certain times its by-products (salted fish and sauces such as garum) were in great demand in the Mediterranean world at the time, especially among the "gourmets" of the social elites of Classical Greece. An international project promoted by the University of Seville, the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, and the Fitch Laboratory of the British School at Athens, is studying the exceptional archaeological evidence of these connections between the Punics of the Straits of Gibraltar and the Aegean, and specifically with the city of Corinth.

F.B.J. Heinrich & M. Hondelink, Tijdschrift voor Mediterrane Archeologie, 56 (2017) 22-31.

This paper aims to assess the accessibility of pepper to average Roman consumers in terms of price by quantifying
the cost of ‘meaningful’ culinary pepper consumption. To this end, by performing measurements on modern pepper
samples, we first quantify Roman pepper prices and units of measurement more concretely. What was the cost of a
peppercorn, and how many were there to the libra and other units? We then define and quantify ‘meaningful’ pepper
consumption using modern consumption statistics and cooking data. Subsequently we compare these data to Roman
incomes. We show that, if only looking at price, regular culinary pepper consumption would even have been possible
for lower income consumers.
In addition, we also used our method to quantify the value of amounts of pepper in literary sources and archaeological
finds. We look in more detail at Apicius’ De Re Coquinaria, which features many recipes with infeasibly high
quantities of pepper. We show that in most recipes where the amount of pepper is explicitly quantified and large, whole
peppercorns instead of ground pepper was used. We show that this excessive yet inefficient usage of pepper as ‘garnish’
is a form of conspicuous consumption. We argue this may be a response to normal, efficient pepper use, becoming too
commonplace and not distinctive enough for elites. We also explore the price difference between the different types of
pepper the Romans consumed. We explain these differences from the perspective of production cost through assessing
traditional production processes and agronomic statistics.

The material plays a fundamental and active role in the social lives of people, from objects like containers or buildings to food and other consumables. In this paper, evidence from absorbed residues are used to explore the contents of an Ulúa-style marble vase found in a royal courtyard at the ancient Maya site of Pacbitun in west-central Belize. Those results indicate that the vase once held concoctions containing cacao, willow and possibly vanilla. Significantly, the results also confirm residues of the important Maya ritual drink balché, in an ancient container. By placing the vase and its contents in the history of Pacbitun, we demonstrate the important role of this object and its contents in dedicatory rituals practiced in this region; we argue that subsequent disturbance of the context and the vase in antiquity points to the fragmentation of kingship.

Native Californians collected and consumed wild plants and animals even as they encountered colonial programs. Persistent interaction with native plant and animal communities can usually be inferred from colonial documents or by their presence as archaeological remains collected at missions, ranchos, or other colonial sites. Growing interest in the archaeology of spaces beyond the walls of colonial sites encourages expanded perspectives on indigenous foodways and the natural environments that may have supported resilient traditions, even as both transformed. In this article, we assess the persistence of indigenous foodways at CA-MRN-202, the site of a mid-nineteenth century trading post on Toms Point in western Marin County. Analysis of zooarchaeological and paleoethnobotanical assemblages suggests native people continued to collect and consume wild foods. They also selectively incorporated new foods and new technologies, we argue, to maintain connections to meaningful places.

El tomo colectivo que presentamos constituye una obra heterogénea que surge como resultado del trabajo de varios años de numerosos investigadores, becarios, técnicos y estudiantes preocupados por abordar de manera crítica y reflexiva la historia de los pueblos que habitaron originariamente las serranías pampeanas, especialmente algunos puntos de las mismas ubicados en las provincias de Córdoba, La Rioja y Tucumán, desde el poblamiento temprano hasta su  violenta incorporación bajo el sistema colonial castellano. 
La materialización de este proyecto no podría haber sido posible sin el financiamiento, tanto colectivo como individual que ha recibido el grupo en los últimos años. La fuente principal de recursos ha sido brindada por el CONICET a través del Subsidio PIP 11220080102678, dirigido por el Dr. Eduardo E. Berberián y Co-dirigido por la Dra. Beatriz Bixio, el cual constituyó la continuidad de previos subsidios plurianuales y la base para uno que se estará ejecutando durante los próximos años. Este mismo Concejo ha asegurado la posibilidad de integrar a los miembros formados del equipo en la Carrera del Investigador Científico (en este momento, un Investigador Superior, tres Investigadores Adjuntos y tres Asistentes) y ha financiado numerosas Becas Doctorales, Postdoctorales y de Perfeccionamiento en el Exterior para los integrantes en formación.
Paralelamente otras agencias de promoción científica han financiado parcial o complementariamente aspectos puntuales del proyecto, entre los cuales destacamos dos subsidios plurianuales PICT del FONCyT (Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica), dos PID del MINCyT (Provincia de Córdoba) y tres PID de la SECyT (Universidad Nacional de Córdoba).
Una mención aparte requiere el Centro de Estudios Carlos S.A. Segreti, Unidad Asociada al CONICET, por abrirnos las puertas y brindar un espacio de trabajo de alta calidad, pero también de calidez, en el marco del respeto por la diversidad de ideas y, desde luego, por avalar esta publicación con su sello editorial. 
Otras instituciones académicas nacionales e internacionales han posibilitado el desarrollo de nuestro proyecto dando lugar de trabajo a nuestros investigadores o permitiendo que los suyos compartan sus conocimientos con nosotros: la Administración de Parques Nacionales delegación Regional Centro, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Universidad Nacional del Sur, University of Arizona at Tucson (USA), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (México), University of Notre Dame (USA), Universidad de Sevilla, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Universitat d’Alacant (España), Instituto de Ciencias del Patrimonio (CSIC), Universidad de Montes Claros (Brasil). Agradecemos el espacio institucional brindado por la Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, especialmente el de la Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades donde muchos de nosotros realizamos nuestras carreras de grado o de postgrado y hacemos o hicimos docencia.
Todo el equipo agradece especialmente a las comunidades locales de los distintos lugares donde trabajamos: serranos, llanistos, traslaserranos, tafinistos. Sin su gentil hospitalidad nuestro trabajo sería mucho más duro e incluso imposible y sin su mirada y compromiso sobre su historia, sería irrelevante.
Finalmente no podemos dejar expresar la eterna gratitud con una inmensidad de colegas que han participado en distintas etapas de la investigación, como colaboradores, asistentes, coautores, compañeros de campo, evaluadores o, sencillamente, como amigos. Nombrarlos individualmente a todos requeriría un tomo aparte, pero cada uno de ellos sabe lo importante que fue para nosotros.

SHERIDAN A. et PETREQUIN P., 2014.- Constructing a narrative for the Neolithic of Britain and Ireland. The use of « hard science » and archaeological reasoning, in : A. Wittle et P. Bickel (ed.), Early farmers. The view of Archaeology and Science. Proceedings of the British Academy, 198, Oxford, Oxford Universty Press : 369-390

Communal eating events or feasts were important activities associated with the founding and maintenance of Mississippian communities in the southeastern United States. More often than not, however, archaeological deposits of food refuse are interpreted along a spectrum, with household-level consumption at one end and community-wide feasting at the other. Here, we draw attention to the important ways that domestic food practices contributed to social events and processes at the community level. We examine ceramic, botanical, and faunal assemblages from two fourteenth century contexts at Parchman Place (22CO511), a late Mississippi period site in the northern Yazoo Basin. For the earlier deposit, everyday ceramics and plant foods combined with high-utility deer portions and exotic birds suggest pot-luck style feasting meant to bring people together in the context of establishing a community in place. We interpret the later deposit, with its pure ash matrix, focus on serving wares, and purposeful disposal of edible maize and animal remains, as the result of activities related to maize harvest ceremonialism. Both practices suggest that household contributions in general and disposal of domestic food refuse in particular are critical yet underappreciated venues for creating and maintaining community ties in the Mississippian Southeast.