Food, Cuisine and Society in Prehistoric Greece

by Paul Halstead (Editor)

Food and drink, along with the material culture involved in their consumption, can signify a variety of social distinctions, identities and values. Thus, in Early Minoan Knossos, tableware was used to emphasize the difference between the host and the guests, and at Mycenaean Pylos the status of banqueters was declared as much by the places assigned to them as by the quality of the vessles form which they ate and drank. The ten contributions to this volume highlight the extraordinary opportunity for multi-disciplinary research in this area.

Table of Contents

Food, Cuisine and Society in Prehistoric Greece ( Paul Halstead and John C. Barrett )
Evidence for Large-scale feasting at Late Neolithic Makriyalos, Northern Greece ( Maria Pappa, Paul Halstead, Kostas Kotsakis and Duska Urem-Kotsou )
Ceramic change and the practice of eating and drinking in Early Bronzee Age Crete ( Peter Day and David Wilson )
Ceramic sets in one dimension of food preparation and consumption in a Minoan palatial setting ( Jeremy B. rutter )
Mycenaean drinking services and standards of etiquette ( James C. Wright )
Fit for a king? Hierarchy, exclusion, aspiration and desire in the social structure of Mycenaean banqueting ( Lisa Bendall )
Faunal evidence for burnt offerings from the palace of Nestor at Pylos ( Paul Halstead and Valasia Isaakidou )
Wheat, barley, flour, olives and figs on Linear B tablets ( John Killen )
Social meanings of food and drink consumption at LMIII Phaistos ( Elisabetta Borgna )
Animal husbandry the social significance of meat consumption in a highland village of Mt Psiloritis, Centra Crete ( Elia A. Vardaki )

216 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2005