Comensality

In "A ‘Splendid Idiosyncrasy’: Prehistory at Cambridge 1915-50" Pamela Jane Smith charts the development of prehistoric archaeology from an amateur ‘haphazard’ pastime to a fully ledged academic discipline. Smith argues persuasively that the formalization of prehistory as a university subject emerged
out of the daily round of informal exchanges centred around the tearoom of the Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. The convivial atmosphere engendered by the exchange of tea and cakes established a close relationship of trust amongst the participants which necessarily prepared the way for academic exchanges. Reflecting the centrality of food and drink in Smith’s analysis of the birth of prehistory, the Editors broke with the recent tradition of book reviews in these 'Proceedings' to talk to Pamela Jane Smith over a convivial lunch at Wolfson College, Cambridge. What follows is an annotated transcript of our conversation, which critically reviews her recent study.

O  artigo trata sobre a comensalidade. Tem como objetivo explicitar o papel da comensalidade como um dos elementos importantes na hospitalidade - não só na atividade turística,
no setor hoteleiro, mas na vida social do indivíduo. Trata-se de um estudo exploratório, com base na revisão bibliográfica. Dentre os resultados encontrados, constata-se que a comensalidade traz uma
simbologia de bem-estar e interação social à mesa que permeia as sociedades, e que agrega valor ao ser hospitaleiro e a hotelaria.
PALAVRAS-CHAVE Comensalidade; Hospitalidade; Gastronomia.
ABSTRACT
This article discusses about the Commensality. Aims to clarify the role of commensality as one of
the important elements in hospitality - not only in tourism, in the hotel industry, but in the social life
of the individuals. This is an exploratory study, based on literature review. Among the findings, it appears that commensality brings a wellness symbolism and social interaction at the table that permeates societies, and that adds value to a welcoming people and in the hotel industry.
KEY WORDS
Commensality; Hospitality; Gastronomy

Handmade ceramics with painted decoration constitute one of the most outstanding archaeological materials from the Late Bronze Age and the First Iron Age in the Guadalquivir and Guadiana valleys, the context in which the Tartessian culture developed. In this work, an exhaustive study of these ceramic styles has been attempted, defining their technical characteristics, dispersion, forms, decoration, symbolism, chronology, use and meaning. To this overall study are added several unpublished pieces by Alarcos, some with archeometric and content analysis, the results of which allow questioning their traditional consideration as 'post-firing ceramics'. This characterization allows an orientation in the classification of some styles traditionally considered as a monolithic set when really, there is a much more complex panorama due to different chronological and cultural circumstances. Among the latter, the relationships and contacts established between local communities and Mediterranean populations stand out, giving rise to cultural phenomena of miscegenation or hybridization in which local tradition was combined with all exogenous contributions, a fossilized reality in these productions. This book presents the most complete and up-to-date work on these ceramics, studied from the perspective of new theoretical-methodological approaches and recent interpretations.

Las cerámicas a mano con decoración pintada constituyen uno de los materiales arqueológicos más destacados del Bronce Final y de la Primera Edad del Hierro en los valles del Guadalquivir y del Guadiana, contexto en el que se desarrolló la cultura tartésica. En este trabajo se ha abordado un estudio exhaustivo sobre estos estilos cerámicos, definiendo sus características técnicas, dispersión geográfica, formas, decoración, simbolismo, cronología, uso y significado. A este estudio de conjunto se añaden varias piezas inéditas de Alarcos, algunas con análisis arqueométricos y de contenido cuyos resultados cuestionan su tradicional consideración como “cerámicas postcocción”.

Dicha caracterización permite una orientación en la clasificación de unos estilos tradicionalmente considerados como un conjunto monolítico, cuando realmente subyace un panorama mucho más complejo que obedece a diversas circunstancias cronológicas y culturales. Entre estas últimas destacan las relaciones y contactos establecidos entre las comunidades locales peninsulares y las poblaciones mediterráneas, dando lugar a fenómenos culturales de mestizaje o hibridación en el que se conjugó la tradición local con todas las aportaciones exógenas, una realidad fosilizada en estas producciones. En definitiva, se trata de la obra de conjunto más completa y actualizada sobre estas cerámicas, estudiadas desde la perspectiva de los nuevos enfoques teórico-metodológicos y las recientes interpretaciones.

Resumen: Desde una visión de fe, la comunión supone la posibilidad de que la existencia criatural participe, por la gracia, de la comunión divina trinitaria. El presente ar-tículo, ubicado en el ámbito de la teología bíblica, busca aportar a la reflexión teológica sistemática a través del rastreo sobre el modo como " la realidad comunional " ha sido percibida, comprendida y expresada por parte del hombre bíblico por medio del recurso a imágenes tomadas de su experiencia histórica y cotidiana. Tales imágenes son, principalmente, la unidad orgánica del cuerpo (vegetal y hu-mano), la unión esponsal y la mesa compartida.

Abstract From a faith perspective, communion supposes the possibility that the existence of the creature could be part, through the grace, of Trinitarian divine communion. This article, located in the field of the biblical theology, seeks to contribute to the systematic theological reflection by probing about the way as the " reality of communion " has been perceived, understood, and expressed by the biblical man using images taken from historical and everyday experience. Such images are, mainly, the organic unity of the body (plant and human), the spousal union, and the shared table.

This paper aims to contribute to an on-going discussion concerning meals in the graeco-roman world. As the modern research tends to regard meals as a window into social and religious life in the Graeco-Roman antiquity, with this essay we will try to demonstrate how the banquet form and ideology contributed to the formation of the social identity in the Graeco-Roman world. The banquet is an institution whose influence can be detected in many areas of ancient Greek and Roman life, from politics and warfare, to painted pottery, painting, sculpture, literature and poetry, to sexual attitudes and conceptions of pleasure. Furthermore, the act of dining together creates a bond between the diners.
Archaeological evidence, written sources, literary descriptions, provide us with numerous details concerning the dining rooms, the banquet protocol as well as the dishes served during the meals. In this paper we shall focus on a well known category of marble funerary relief monuments depicting banquet scenes. The basic banquet scene iconography consists of a male figure reclining on a couch, accompanied by a female figure seated on a chair.The scene is usually supplemented by small scaled figures, probably servants, and various culinary equipments, such large wine vessels. The observation of these “banquet reliefs” will help us form an idea not only of the people taking part in these meals, but also of the food and the drink that they enjoy. Banquet reliefs are important because they are an illustration of both the domestic settings and the traditions of the ritual funerary meal of the Graeco-Roman world.

Food plays a central role in hospitality in virtually every culture on earth. Eating together— “commensality” is perhaps one of the most basic human social acts, and is imbued with a special ritual quality.  In this paper I show that there are several stages that participants in commensality pass through from the outside world to the communal meal. The passage from stage to stage is effected through the use of linguistic/behavioral routines that I call “pragmemic triggers.” The form of these triggers is different for different societies, but their structure and use is the same. To demonstrate this, I compare the passage to the meal in four widely dispersed cultures: Middle East, Japanese, German and American.

A discussion is being developed in recent years about the political system of the communities that inhabited the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula during the Protohistory. In this paper, we propose that the first protohistoric complex societies arise in this area before the Iberian Culture. In order to contrast it, we present a case study dated in the Early Iron Age (VII-VI century BC) formed by a set of five sites located closed to each other, that we have named, as a whole, as Sant Jaume Complex. That Complex was formed by the settlements of Sant Jaume -a big and fortified house-, la Moleta del Remei -a village-, la Ferradura, el Castell -two points strategically located for the control of local communication paths- and la Cogula -perhaps a watchtower-. We follow a contextual approach, following the perspective proposed by R. D. Drennan and C. E. Peterson for the analysis and definition of the early complex societies. From this perspective, we attempt a reconstruction of Complex Sant Jaume socio-political organization from the specific study of a number of lines of evidence, which are interpreted in combination. The elements explored are Local Community Structure, Supra-local Community Scale, Supra-local Community Centralization, Demographic Density, Public Works Investment, Tax Rate, Conflict, Wealth and Prestige Differentiation, as well as other points as long distance Exchange or Storability of staple foods, among others. We also explore which were the sources of power that allowed the elites to control the system establishing, first, the dependency relationships and secondly, stabilizing the system. We conclude that it is possible to consider that the Sant Jaume Complex was a simple chiefdom, with a low level of development.

The study shows how communal baking practices were used to establish a sense of community, and to establish and maintain feelings of mutual solidarity during the first half of the nineteenth century in the mill towns of northern England, taking the case of the Maudlands in Preston, Lancashire as an example. Two excavations of communal bakehouses set within terraced dwelling houses are presented, believed to be the first reported examples of this form of architecture. Combined with documentary evidence the study shows how food, and in particular baked bread, was deployed to ease the passage from rural to industrial life.
KEYWORDS
INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY, FOOD, BREAD, COMMUNITY, IDENTITY, COTTON MILLS, BAKEHOUSE, OVEN, SOCIAL HISTORY

Plant remains might play an important role to fully understand ritual processes in ancient societies. Despite of their recovery was neglected in old excavations, some of the plant remains and iconographic information collected can shed light on the role played by plants in Iron Age ritual activities. The characteristics of the plants, their color, taste, smell, blooming season and other special features, might have played a decisive role in forming notions about the plants and their role in rituals. Their use in these ceremonies could have made stronger the connection among performers, as well as the connection between the performers and their deads, ancestors and divinities, and their landscape.

Here we report on the study of ritual contexts located on the Mediterranean coast of Spain dating from the 6th to the 1st centuries BC. Many botanical remains and iconographic evidence have been documented in necropolis and other urban and rural sacred spaces, where mainly fruits, but also cereals and wild plants have been recorded. The work presented here is part of the interdisciplinary project From the real to the imagery: Approaching the Iberian Iron Age Flora (HUM2004-04939), which has a large record of plant evidence in Iberian Iron Age sites. Combining a multi-proxy paleobotanical approach, based on anthracology, palynology and carpology, as well as iconography, we aim at reconstructing the use of plants and their symbolism in the Iberian societies to further understand their natural and sensorial history.

La société contemporaine a tendance à expérimenter et à percevoir la relation entre culture et nature dans une perspective dualiste et paradoxale, mais un examen plus attentif révèle des nuances qui échappent à la vision du monde dichotomique, surtout lorsque l'on observe des phénomènes d'effervescence festive. Ainsi, cette recherche explore ces nuances possibles de la relation culture-nature matérialisée dans deux festivités distinctes — la Fête de la Ouriçada à Baie de Suape (Pernambouc, Brésil) et la Fête de l'Oursinade de Carry-le-Rouet (Bouches-du- Rhône, France) — qui présentent de grandes asymétries entre elles, mais qui sont considérées comme des expressions culturelles consacrées à la célébration du milieu marin, où l'oursin de mer se présent comme protagoniste. La recherche s'appuie sur une étude ethnographique avec une perspective comparative et une recherche bibliographique visant à analyser les festivités à travers des concepts et par une approche interdisciplinaire. Ces festivités, originaires dans deux communautés A sociedade contemporânea tende a vivenciar e a perceber a relação entre a cultura e a natureza a partir de uma perspectiva dualista e paradoxal, mas um olhar mais aproximado nos revela nuances que escapam da visão dicotômica de mundo, especialmente quando observamos fenômenos de efervescência festiva. Assim, a presente pesquisa investiga estas possíveis nuances da relação cultura-natureza materializadas em duas festividades distintas — a Festa da Ouriçada da Baía de Suape (Pernambuco, Brasil) e a Fête de l’Oursinade de Carry-le-Rouet (Bouches-du-Rhône, França) — que apresentam grandes assimetrias entre si, mas que são consideradas expressões culturais consagradas à celebração do meio ambiente marinho, tendo o ouriço-do-mar como seu protagonista. A pesquisa baseia-se em um estudo etnográfico com uma perspectiva comparativa e uma pesquisa bibliográfica visando esmiuçar conceitos e abordagens interdisciplinares observados nas festividades em estudo. Estas festas, originadas em duas comunidades distintas, são histórica e tradicionalmente vinculadas à pesca artesanal e, aparentemente, oscilam, à sua maneira, no pêndulo dicotômico de suas próprias potencialidades e ameaças em relação à natureza, ora sendo um fator de preservação, ora de impacto ambiental. Ao cruzar as fronteiras física ou simbólicas, este estudo busca evidenciar a multiplicidade do mundo, as conexões interculturais e interdisciplinares no encontro, improvável, destas festividades consagradas à comensalidade. A presente pesquisa considera que as festividades são uma resposta, consciente ou inconsciente, ao impulso —  tanto natural quanto social —  inerente ao ser humano de forjar laços relacionais entre si e com o mundo ao seu redor, e que para isso a humanidade segue criando e recriando práticas e rituais como as duas festividades estudadas. Esta pesquisa concluiu que o ouriço-do-mar, enquanto objeto de admiração, se constutui como, praticamente, o único ponto em comum entre as duas festas, no entanto ele é o ponto cardeal para o estabalecimento do fenômeno de sociabilidade entre os comensais, dando, finalmente, as coordenadas para a concretização da relação entre a cultura e a natureza. É do ouriço-do-mar que radia —  como radiam os espinhos de sua pele —  as diversas possibilidades de encontros, bem como de onde saem os fios por onde fluem as vidas das Festas da Ouriçada.

O conteúdo dos artigos e seus dados em sua forma, correção e confiabilidade são de responsabilidade exclusiva dos autores. Permitido fazer download da obra e o compartilhamento desde que sejam atribuídos créditos aos autores, mas sem de nenhuma forma ou utilizá-la para fins comerciais. www.uniedusul.com.br APRESENTAÇÃO Dividido em oito capítulos, este livro aborda a história de indígenas e afro-americanos (as) nas regiões de fronteira da América do Sul, em diversas temporalidades. Cada autor e autora é responsável pelo seu texto e, inclusive, esta 'Apresentação' não compartilha a autoria de todas as linhas entre os organizadoresos quais são, também, autores de capítulos. 1 O capítulo de abertura da coletânea, intitulado "Sedutores da liberdade", é de autoria de Bruno Pinheiro Rodrigues. Reflete o surpreendente quilombo encontrado na região do Vallegrande, atual Bolívia, no ano de 1786. A partir do espaço, o autor analisa as relações entre os impérios de Portugal e Espanha e, particularmente, a agência da população africana nas Américas, visto que o quilombo era constituído principalmente por indivíduos que haviam fugido do Mato Grosso. Ao longo das páginas, também são desenvolvidas reflexões sobre os quilombos nas Américas e áreas de fronteira, a escravidão negra no Alto Peru e suas nuances e as possibilidades de liberdade na América espanhola após a fuga do lado português. O capítulo, em suma, dialoga diretamente com um conjunto de trabalhos elaborados para pensar a história afro-americana no chamado período colonial. O segundo capítulo, "A identidade quilombola e os remanescentes fora do território", de Cléia Batista da Silva Melo, apresenta reflexões sobre os remanescentes do Quilombo Abolição, município de Santo Antônio do Leverger (Mato Grosso). A pesquisadora, através da aplicação de questionários a 30 pessoas que nasceram no território do quilombo, ainda resistentes do Abolição ou moradoras das cidades vizinhas, verifica a necessidade de ressignificação da noção de "território" e, especialmente, o cuidado com as formações identitárias. Constitui um trabalho importante e que chama atenção para um aspecto de grande relevância na vida da população afro-brasileira contemporânea: o confronto cotidiano entre o ser e o não ser quilombola, a depender do espaço de residência e circulação. Já o capítulo "Vidas noturnas e diurnas das mulheres negras escravas, forras e libertas (...)" de Jhucyrllene Rodrigues adota como objeto de análise as mulheres que circulavam nos chamados "espaços de divertimento" da freguesia de Pedro II, Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, no século XIX. Por meio de uma gama de documentos localizados no Arquivo Público do Estado de Mato Grosso (APMT) e instigada pela História Social de E. Thompson, SUMÁRIO

In the past 20 years, a new paradigm has emerged around the study of festive dining as a seminal social practice that functioned as the matrix for the social formation of a variety of groups in the Greco-Roman world, including earliest Christianity and pre-Rabbinic Judaism. Most recently, an international team of scholars, organized as the Society of Biblical Literature Seminar on Meals in the Greco-Roman World, has developed this paradigm in a series of groundbreaking studies. This volume provides a collection of those studies in four areas of focus: The Typology of the Greco-Roman Banquet; The Archeology of the Banquet; Who Was at the Greco-Roman Banquets?; and The Culture of Reclining. Together they establish festive meals as an essential lens into social formation in the Greco-Roman world.

"In the beginning was the meal - the most basic and pervasive of social formations in the ancient world. These studies take us into this intimate world to discover its customs, its culture, and its power to create community among companions. A critical contribution to the study of antiquity and the social world of early Christianity." - Stephen J. Patterson, Atkinson Professor of Religious Studies, Willamette University

"Meals in the Early Christian World is a splendid collection that engages the essential issues for understanding banqueting practices in the ancient world: the structure and social functions of the meal; materiality and the physical aspects of dining; the ideals of social 'equality' and the realities of hierarchical arrangement and servitude; and the semiotics of 'reclining'. Resisting the temptation to fragment dining practices into 'Jewish,' 'Greek' and 'Roman' meals, this volume makes a compelling case for seeing dining practices as a common and unifying feature of ancient Mediterranean culture." - John S. Kloppenborg, Professor and Chair, Department for the Study of Religion, University of Toronto

"Dennis E. Smith and Hal Taussig, long known for groundbreaking work on the study of meals in the ancient world and early Christianity, provide in this collection of essays another fine contribution that will move the study of the Greco-Roman banquets into the future. By studying the typology, the archaeology, the participants, and the culture of these banquets, Meals in the Early Christian World moves forward the scholarship of the social settings of the banquets in dialogue with the pioneering works of Smith and Klinghardt, further broadening the shift their studies have championed." - Reimund Bieringer, Professor of New Testament Exegesis, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium