The Archaeology of Food

The Archaeology of Food explains how archaeologists reconstruct what people ate, and how such reconstructions reveal ancient political struggles, religious practices, ethnic identities, gender norms, and more.

Balancing deep research with accessible writing, Katheryn Twiss familiarizes readers with archaeological data, methods, and intellectual approaches as they explore topics ranging from urban commerce to military provisioning to ritual feasting. Along the way, Twiss examines a range of primary evidence, including Roman bars, Aztec statues, Philistine pig remains, Nubian cooking pots, Mississippian squash seeds, and the bones of a medieval king. Her book introduces both archaeologists and non-archaeologists to the study of prehistoric and historic foodways, and illuminates how those foodways shaped and were shaped by past cultures.

About the Author

Katheryn C. Twiss is an archaeologist who studies ancient foodways in order to learn about social structures in the prehistoric and early historic past. Her primary areas of expertise are southwest Asian prehistory, zooarchaeology, animal management and symbolism, and life in early farming communities. She co-headed the team studying animal remains at the well-known Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük in Turkey, and she is currently in charge of analyzing animal bones from the famed Mesopotamian site of Ur. She edited The Archaeology of Food And Identity (2007). She has published on topics ranging from feasting in early farming villages to Mesopotamian ceremonialism.