Panel 6.7 – Classical Food and Diet under the Microscope


Organiser/Chair:

  • Evi Margaritis (The Cyprus Institute, Science and Technology for Archaeology Research Center)
  • Efthymia Nikita (The Cyprus Institute, Science and Technology for Archaeology Research Center)
  • Anita Radini (University of York)

Speakers:

Panel abstract

Diet, with its multiple social and economic determinants, constitutes a key research arena in archaeological studies. Dietary patterns in the Classical world have been extensively explored as a window on ancient cuisine, agricultural and animal management practices, and social structure, among others. The primary means adopted in such studies have been written sources, artistic evidence, material culture and, to a lesser extent, bioarchaeological data (archaeobotanical, zooarchaeological and human skeletal evidence). Recent advances in microanalytical techniques have demonstrated the high potential of microscopic and biomolecular evidence in elucidating dietary aspects which remain elusive on a macroscopic scale. It is the purpose of this session to elucidate the chaîne opérartoire from food production to consumption using different lines of evidence. In this direction, we are interested in papers that aim at reconstructing agricultural practices, dietary choices, food processing and food consumption in different geographical areas of the Classical world, by means of archaeobotanical remains, phytoliths, and starches, dental calculus microdebris of dietary origin, dental microwear analysis, residue analysis from pottery and other material cultural remains, or any other microscopic dietary evidence. Equal emphasis will be placed on contributions with a primary methodological direction, presenting novel approaches in microscopic dietary reconstruction, and to contributions with a stronger biocultural character, which emphasize the integration of the resulting data in their broader economic and societal context. Papers focusing on interdisciplinary approaches to diet and the ancient economy, emphasizing the added value of an interdisciplinary approach, will be very welcome. We are also open to experimental approaches aimed at implementing our understanding of the archaeological record related to diet.

 

Paper abstracts

1. Evi Margaritis (The Cyprus Institute) / G. Tsartsidou / J. J. García-Granero / M. Ntinou - M. J. Boyd / C. Renfrew

On the rise of urbanism: agricultural practices, food choices and consumption in the Aegean Bronze Age at Dhaskalio
Prior to the inception of urbanisation in the Aegean on Crete after 2200BC, its antecedents may be recognised at a number of sites where a constellation of conspicuous elements makes them stand out strongly from their contemporaries. In recent years the most interesting of these sites is found on the small island of Keros in the Cyclades. In the period 2750-2300BC a number of factors combine in a unique foreshadowing of the processes of urbanisation. This paper aims to define and measure changes in agriculture, patterns of consumption and landscape exploitation related to increased centralisation. Using macrobotanical and microbotanical remains (seeds, phytoliths, charcoal, starch) as well as lipid analysis as proxies, this paper will combine all the available information related to crops and crop processing, secondary products, land use strategies, storage and consumption activities on site, and the places where agricultural practices took place. Undamaged by later occupation layers, we can examine the rise and demise of a third-millennium proto-urban centre, which stands out among its peers as one of the largest and most complex sites within a now well-defined site hierarchy. The outcome of this paper will be the interpretation of a rich and comprehensive set of data and results producing a unique insight into the questions of intensification and diversification in farming, diet, food preparation and consumption along with pastoral activities in the mid-third millennium.

 

2. Örni Akeret and Sabine Deschler-Erb (University of Basel) / Sophie Helas (Universität Bonn)

The diet at Gabii (Latium) in the Early Iron Age
During the excavations at the fortifications of the ancient Latin city of Gabii (2010-2014), animal bones were systematically collected and sediment samples were taken for archaeobotanical analysis. In three field campaigns, the samples were processed and the bioarchaeological remains sorted and identified.
The most important crops consumed at this protourban site were barley and emmer wheat, and pulses (mainly broad bean and bitter vetch) played an important role. Other food plants included fig, stone pine, olive or grape. The most commonly eaten meat was beef, followed by mutton/goat meat, while pork was relatively rare. The collection of wild plants and hunting (deer, wild boar and tortoise) and fishing played a minor role.
While the archaeobotanical results are in good agreement with other contemporary sites of Rome and its surroundings, the comparatively low importance of domestic pigs represents a significant difference. It remains to be explored if this discrepancy can be explained by social or economic reasons.

 

3. C. Margaret Scarry (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) / Margaret Mook (Iowa State University) / Donald Haggis (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

Agricultural Wealth, Food Storage, and Commensal Politics at Azoria an Archaic City on Crete
Azoria (630-480 BC) is a small urban center on the island of Crete. Ten seasons of large-scale excavations have shed light on the formation, organization and operation of this Archaic city. At its heart is a massive civic complex with shrines, assembly halls, public dining rooms with associated kitchens and storerooms, a large free-standing storehouse, and an olive press. Surrounding the civic complex are “townhouses” of important families: here too storage, preparation and consumption of foods were prominently displayed. The layout and contents of these public and residential buildings manifest the importance of food storage and display in urban politics. This paper draws on ceramic, architectural, and archaeobotanical evidence to discuss the mobilization and storage of agricultural products—particularly from vineyards and orchards. We argue that people, that city authorities or some other supra-household group administered the mobilization, storage and distribution of a range of foods (such as grain, pulses, olives, wine, oil, and almond) for display and consumption in symposia and larger banqueting events.

 

4. Aleksandra Mistireki (Universität Zürich) / Florinda Notarstefano (Università del Salento) / Christoph Reusser (Universität Zürich)

Dietary habits and economy in the etruscan settlement of Spina (Comacchio-Ferrara)
The presentation will propose the reconstruction of dietary habits in the etruscan settlement of Spina through the application of chemical analyses of organic residues on pottery vessels. In the framework of a project carried out by the University of Zurich, in collaboration with University of Salento, a large number of ceramic containers retrieved during recent excavations was sampled and submitted to residue analyses by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), with the aim to identify the foodstuffs processed in the vessels. The containers are datable from the second half of the IVth century B.C. and they belong to different pottery classes: cooking wares, transport amphorae, tablewares, storage containers.
The results indicate that most cooking vessels were used to process animal fats or vegetables, while fish consumption did not play a significant role in the diet, considering that only few samples contained marine fats. Tablewares were primarily used for meat consumption. Transport amphorae contained wine, while other vessels were used for pitch production, with the purpose of coating the amphorae, but probably also to protect the wooden housing structures.
The results of residue analyses were integrated with botanical and archaeozoological studies, contributing to the reconstruction of dietary habits linked with animal breeding, agricultural and environmental resources and to better define economic and productive activities, such as wine production and trade.

 

5. Anna Elena Reuter (Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum/Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte der CAU Kiel)

Opening a Treasury for Archaeobotanical Analysis. The Analysis of the Plant Remains from the 6th Century Granary of the City Caričin Grad (Serbia)
Since 2013 archaeobotanical analysis is practiced on different structures and areas in the early byzantine city Caričin Grad. Up to now a wide dataset on more than 200,000 plant remains yielded important knowledge on dietary patterns and agricultural practices. In the 2017 campaign of the newly established project “Zwischen staatlicher Fürsorge und privater Vorsorge – Eine interdisziplinäre Studie zur Versorgungssicherung im 6. Jahrhundert anhand des Getreidespeichers von Caričin Grad“ systematic sampling for archaeobotanical analysis and soil science were firstly conducted in a 6th century horreum in the Balkans. The horreum was erected during the first phase of the city in the early 6th century and destroyed in a conflagration already on the end of the 6th century. A secondary use is shown by modest structures from the early 7th century short before the abandonment of the city around 615 AD. The layers were sampled systematically to show diachronic developments as well as activity zones in the different parts of the building. All in all 182 samples were taken for archaeobotanical analysis, which showed already during flotation a high concentration of different plant remains – including different types of cereals, pulses, grape pips as well as cereal weeds. The ongoing research will yield important information to expand the knowledge on the development of food processing, consumption and storage in unstable times of war and conflicts in the early byzantine Balkans.

 

6. Cindy Ventura Abade and Lucy Lawrence (University of Sheffield) / Victoria Sabetai (Academy of Athens) / Efthymia Nikita (The Cyprus Institute)

Dental Microwear As Evidence of Human Diet In the Classical World: A Pilot Study
This paper explores the extent to which dental microwear features, most notably scratches and pits on dental occlusal surfaces, can provide useful information regarding the diet of past populations. Even though dental microwear has been used extensively in zooarchaeology and palaeoanthropology to deduce dietary patterns, it has received limited attention in bioarchaeological contexts. Using human skeletal material from the Archaic to Roman era cemetery at Acraiphnion, Boeotia, central Greece, we examine correlations between dental microwear, dental macrowear and dental disease patterns in order to assess whether microwear features can provide information that complements other lines of evidence regarding past dietary activities. Sexual dimorphism is also taken into consideration given potential differences in the alimentary patterns of males and females. Different cusps were examined separately to determine which one provides more consistent results in cases of extreme dental wear, where traditional approaches cannot be employed. Our research advances the current scientific methods used to identify microwear traces in human dental remains and enhances the ability of microwear identification to the point that it can support further discoveries to determine human diet and its implications.

 

7. Anita Radini (University of York)

Eat your greens: New approaches to vegetable food and spices in classical antiquity
Plants play an important role in diet and nutrition, but also in cuisine. While evidence of staple food such as cereal and legumes is widely present in the archaeological record, other lines of evidence such as leafy greens and flavours are rarer. Leafy greens have important nutritional values and spices can be connected to social status and trades. Increasing the visibility of such lines of evidence is therefore an important goal of Archaeobotanical methods and practice. This paper approaches plant remains with limited archaeological visibility entombed in calculus and in residues of pottery, elucidating how new techniques can give visibility to such lines of evidence and how they can improve our understanding of how leafy greens and flavourings have complemented staple foods to create cuisine in the classical world.

 

8. Anastasios Zisis (Laboratory of Physical Anthropology, Democritus University of Thrace) / Sandra Lösch (Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Bern) / Christina Papageorgopoulou (Laboratory of Physical Anthropology, Democritus University of Thrace)

Ancient Greek colonies in Thrace: health and diet reconstruction of the first settlers
Colonisation of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea by waves of Greek colonists during the first millennium BC changed dramatically the ancient world, imposing major influences on the society, economy, and demography. The process triggered a sequence of multi-level fundamental interactions between populations, the outcome of which remained tangible over the course of several centuries. The paper presents a work in progress on the bioarchaeology of Greek colonisation with emphasis on the coastal area of Greek Thrace.
In this presentation, we bring forward original stable isotope results (δ13C, δ15N, δ34S) in conjunction with skeletal macroscopic and microscopic observations from Greek colonial settings in Thrace (i.e. Zone, Dikaia, and Lissos). By dietary reconstruction, we are going to assess the differentiation in diet both between individuals and geographical areas. Moreover, we are planning to discuss the historical significance projected by differences in food intake. Isotopic signatures portray an aspect of the proto-settling period as well as the subsequent development of the colonies through the timeframe of three centuries (8th-5th centuries BC). These signatures should reflect social, cultural and economic images within a spatiotemporal frame from Thrace, which, together with living conditions and palaeopathological reconstructions allow us to draw conclusions considering a geographical area highly influenced by Greek colonisation, but little studied thus far.

 

9. Evi Margaritis (The Cyprus Institute)

Foodways in Classical Greece: Agricultural practices, diet and the domestic at Olynthos
Classical archaeology has been widely criticized for its focus on public monuments and burial sites, leaving the analysis of domestic space largely unexplored. This situation is now changing with the new excavation project at Olynthos, which uses inter and multidisciplinary approaches to interpret the urban centre of the Classical period and its chora. This paper will use archaeobotanical, phytolith and other material culture data as proxies in order to document activities of farming, food processing, production and consumption at Olynthos. The macro, starches and geochemistry evidence from Olynthos will be an invaluable addition to the very limited data deriving from the Classical period thus far not only from Macedonia but the whole of Greece, and will not only demonstrate essential interpretative techniques s in the study of archaeological contexts, but it will also emphasize that in the absence of such work, knowledge of significant aspects of daily life would have been permanently lost.
This paper will focus on the range of cultivated and wild plants used in the site, detect any variation in the species and dietary choices between the different buildings and to identify crop-processing procedures and husbandry regimes. The paper will also discuss the form and intensity of labour, and the risks involved in agricultural production undertaken at Olynthos and whether the production of agricultural products aimed to self-sufficiency or was market oriented.