hrj

Diet, Dining, and Everyday Life: The Uses of Ceramics in the Third- to Ninth-Century World

We get an overall introduction on the topic of interdisciplinary study of archaeology, sociology, and agriculture in this context.

And How Did They Eat: An Investigation of Food Storage, Processing, and Consumption Patterns in a Late Antique Household -- Andrea M. Achi, Institute of Fine Arts, New York Univ.

Importance of seemingly trivial details and choices regarding food and eating to construct a cultural "food identity". Paper studies Egyptian site of Dakla in late Roman period (4th c), focusing on one specific household site, known from both archaeological and written remains. Written sources include agricultural accounts, inentory lists (e.g., on ostraka). Texts mention: breads, cakes, porridges; fava beans, fenugreek, safflower, sesame, turnips, cumin, olive oil, wine, honey, butter, cheese; cows, chickens, pigs, pigeons, sheep. Botanical evidence: wheat, lentils, celery, coriander, peach, pomegranate, citrus, olives. Evidence of gardens. Animal remains include cows, pigs, sheep, chickens, gazelles; with evidence of roasting, likely done at the house. Extensive pottery remains, typically described only by shape and material. Rarely are there food remains to study. Pottery at site is mostly local, including amphoras, bottles, jars all for transport, also serving vessels including bowls of varous shapes. Basins and cooking pots represent processing equipment. Based on location, both a food preparation space, including a rather small hearth, and a dining space can be located in the house, as well as a storage space. Storage space had high floor with "cellar" uderneath and additional shelves. 102 small bowls were found in storage room most with diameter ca. 12-18 cm, most likely used for individual consumption of specific dishes. The lack of significant numbers of larger serving dishes suggest an "individual dining" pattern with personal dishes, rather than a "shared dining" pattern where larger servings are passed around from diner to diner. The dining area contains a central table surround for ca. 270 degrees with a wide curved bench, both being fixed structures. The use of pottery for cooking can be indicated by residual soot on the exterior. From this, cooking pots primarily had a diameter of 11 cm while cooking bowls had a greater range of sizes, 12-19 cm diameters. The available cooking facilities don't support home baking or the cooking of large pieces of meat. The prevalence of small individual bowls may indicate that other foods were purchased from external sources and only reheated and served at home.

Art and Artifact at the Late Antique Communal Meal -- Elizabeth de Ridder Raubolt, Univ. of Missouri–Columbia

Yay! Slide show! Examines the disparity between pictorial depications of luxury tablewares and archaeological remains that are predominantly plain pottery. Depictions of communal meals indicate formal social rituals and functions around dining, focusing on fellowship as well as food. "Feasts" as opposed to ordinary meals can be identified in art by the size, quality, and numbers of serving vessels and by associated prestige items. Mosaic representing the layout of a dining table with a sequence of dishes laid out around the table. The specific vessels depicted can be found (at other sites), supporting this as a realistic depiction. Dish one: eggs in egg-cups, a sauce, sliced vegetables (pickles?) werved with spoons; 2nd a whole fish on a rectangular dish; small round flat loaves are scattered by the side of these dishes. The formal, status-driven seating (reclining) arrangements contrast with the communal, unifying purpose of the group dining. The dishes would be served onto the central table and might be prepared (e.g., carved) in place. Examples of large, highly-decorated silver serving platters. These platters are of suitable size for the known size of tables in this type of dining room. The appearance in the archaeological record of large serving platters may signal a shift in dining patterns to include formal, hierarchical feasts of the type depicted in art. Among ceramics, platters of similar size are limited in production source (Italy and Africa) and date of appearance (mid 4th to early 5th century). (Flat "pie-pan" shaped dish with low lip, either convex or concave, and slight flat flare outside that. May sometimes have slight pedestal base.) Contrast depictions of the 3rd century and earlier which are more likely to feature multiple smaller serving dishes on the table at the same time.

Pots and Pantries: Correlating Cooking Ware with Dining Habits in Visigothic Spain -- Scott de Brestian, Central Michigan Univ.

Yay! More slides! Looking at changes in dining habits in Visigothic Spain and Gaul, ca. 5-8th c. Repertoire of cooking vessels: 3 general categories.

"Olla", cookign pot, globular pot with slight neck, taller than wide, may have handle(s). Used for long slow cooking.

Casserole: broad, round-bottomed pot (but flat base), wider than tall, with no neck, usually with lid. Used for more rapid cooking at higher heats.

Low caseroles/baking trays: flat-bottomed pans with sloping or nearly vertical walls, not very tall. Likely used for baking.

Presenter suggests differences in which meats would be cooking in which pots based on assumed cooking times, but I'm not certain of some of his thinking here (e.g., he assumes pork would require long cooking but that sheep and goats would always be consumed as young animals requiring shorter cooking.

Coastal areas have mixed assemblages with multiple types of pots. Casseroles less common in interior of region, primary cookpots are ollas. Certain specific interior sites do include casseroles, sites that also tend to include imported pottery. Baking traysfound in Cordoba and certain other interior sites.

Distribution of animal remains. Hard to find sites that extensively catalog both pots and animal remains. Inland sites: only one site is predominantly pigs, others are at least half sheep/goats and the remainder distributed among catle & pigs. Coastal sites have even higher prevalence of sheep/goats, mostly with a concommittant decrease in cattle, with pigs being about a quarter of animals consistently. But this is based on a per-animal basis, and if you correct for the amount of meat per animal, then cattle predominate everywhere and there's little difference between coastal and inland sites. So none of the expected correlation between cookpot type and predominant food animal. Looking at chronological shifts in pot usage, there is no corresponding shift in animal remains.

He returns to his thesis that pot type corresponds to food type and suggests the casseroles were used for seafood which rarely leaves clear archaeological remains. Using amphora production source as an index, over the studied time, the source shifts from multiple sources to primarily African-origin items. General decrease in African red slipware over the period, part of general overall decrease in imported pottery. During this period, the mortarium also gradually disappears. Suggests decrease in use of the spices and sauces this implement was used to create.

But these pottry changes don't correspond to changes in ingredients. In addition to aforesaid food animals, the staples remained bread, barley porridge, and wine. But decreasing wealth meant a loss of infrastructure for preparing elaborate dishes and meals. This may motivate the shift to the "one-pot meal" approach using the olla.