CORE 191S   The Archaeology of Food

Food is both a biological necessity and a social necessity. Sharing food builds and maintains social relationships, expresses identity, and is often a component of ritual practice. Students explores food in the distant and recent past from biological and cultural perspectives, from the relationship between food and evolution of our most distant hominin ancestors to contemporary foodways. Students use archaeological methods to study food in the past directly and indirectly. Course readings, discussions, activities, and lectures address major themes in anthropological research on food including: food and human evolution; food acquisition among hunter-gatherer-forager communities; the inception and spread of agriculture; feasting; and food and identity.