Social Dimensions of Food in the Prehistoric Balkans

Ever since the definition of the Neolithic Revolution by Vere Gordon Childe, archaeologists have been aware of the crucial importance of food for the understanding of prehistoric developments. Numerous studies have classified and described cooking ware, hearths and ovens, have studied food residues and more recently also stable isotopes in skeletal material. However, we have not yet succeeded in integrating traditional, functional perspectives on nutrition and semiotic approaches (e.g. dietary practices as an identity marker) with current research in the fields of Food Studies and Material Culture Studies. This volume brings together leading specialists in archaeobotany, economic zooarchaeology, and palaeoanthropology to discuss practices of food production and consumption in their social dimensions from the Mesolithic to the Early Iron Age in the Balkans, a region with intermediary position between and the Aegean Sea on one side and Central Europe and the Eurasian steppe regions on the other. The prehistoric inhabitants of the Balkans were repeatedly confronted with foreign knowledge and practices of food production and consumption which they integrated and thereby transformed into their life. In a series of transdisciplinary studies, the contributors shed new light on the various social dimensions of food in a synchronous as well as diachronic perspective. Contributors present a series of case studies focused on themes of social interaction, communal food preparation and consumption, the role of feasting, and the importance and management of salt production. About the Author: Philipp W. Stockhammer is a junior fellow in the Heidelberg Cluster of Excellence ‘Asia and Europe in a Global Context’ at Heidelberg University. His research interests focus on the European and Eastern Mediterranean Bronze Age and archaeological theory and methodology About the Author: Desislava Takorova Is An Assistant Professor of prehistoric archaeology at the Prehistory Department Of The National Institute Of Archaeology And Museum – bulgarian Academy Of Sciences. Her research Focuses On the Neolithization Of Southeast Europe And The Early Agricultural Societies In The West Balkans. About the Author: Vanya Petrova Lecturer In Textile Archaeology At St. Kliment Ohridski University Of Sofia. She Completed Her Phd At The University Of Sofia In 2011. Her Main Research Interests Are focused On The Bronze Age In Southeastern Europe, Pottery And Textile Technology, Environmental Dynamics And Subsistence Strategies As Factors In Cultural Transformation. About the Author: Bogdan Athanassov Is An Assistant Professor For Prehistoric Archaeology And Director Of The Archaeometry And Experimental Archaeology Lab At The New Bulgarian University In Sofia. He Studied Archaeology In Bulgaria, Greece And Germany And His Research Focuses On Archaeology Of Space, Frontiers, And Spatial And Social Marginality. Together With Philipp W. Stockhammer He Co-Directs The Bresto Excavations In Southwest Bulgaria. About the Author: Maria Ivanova Is Lecturer In Prehistoric Archaeology At The University Of Heidelberg. Her Research Area Includes The Neolithic And Copper Age Of East And Southeast Europe, With A Particular Focus On Ancient Technology, Spheres Of Exchange, And The Transmission Of Innovations. She Is Currently Conducting Research On The Farming Transition In The Balkans, The Main Corridor For The Introduction Of Plant Cultivation And Animal Herding From Anatolia Into Europe.