Prehistory of Food

The Prehistory of Food
(Appetites for change)

The production and consumption of food can tell us much about how different cultures constructed and perceived their environment. The distinction between what is regarded as edible and inedible and the ecological systems in which people live are not just a passive backdrop to life but important indications of prevailing social and cultural systems. The Prehistory of Food discusses the changing uses of food in prehistory and sets subsistence firmly within its social context.

This collection presents studies from across the globe examining the interrelationships of food, biology and ecology. The contributors investigate the different roles food plays in culture: as an object of consumption and, subsequently, an important factor of socioeconomic change, as an agent of innovation affecting agriculture and methods of preparation and cooking, as a vital part of the landscape and as an important influence on the history of humans and plants. The Prehistory of Food contains case studies ranging from the rainforest groups of South America, to peoples of the desert fringes of Asia, to farmers in the Highlands of New Guinea. The book charts the movements of plants over the last 5,000 years, and with an impressive wealth of archaeological, genetic, botanical and linguistic evidence it tells the complex and fascinating story of the relationship between humans and their food.

The Prehistory of Food is of interest to all students and academics in the fields of archaeology, anthropology and archaeobotany.

Chris Gosden is Lecturer in Archaeology and curator at the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford. Jon Hather is Lecturer in Archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London.