Prehistoric feasts washed down by beer
Contemporary archaeology and the search for gastronomic traces
MúzeumCafé 42.
Rather surprising archaeological news concerning gastronomy and eating habits has recently been announced. This is not the make-believe distortion of the commercial media but a well-based scientific result, despite the fact that remains of food are only very rarely excavated at archaeological sites. The latest research does not stop short with just presenting the excavations but conclusions are drawn, for example, about the social and economic significance of various alcoholic drinks and the role played in communities by both everyday and festive activities. As a result of changing attitudes which have changed in recent years, today an increasingly comprehensive idea can be gained about the dietary habits of peoples in different eras, even given the absence of written sources. Food and drink that seemed to be long extinct can also be authentically reconstructed. Thanks to scientific methods of analysing ingredients, the actual food, remains of human bodies, storage areas, as well as kitchen utensils have become regarded as interesting and revealing findings. Besides the development of archaeo-zoology, archaeo-botany, palynology, physical anthropology and molecular biology, the methodological renewal of archaeology also leads to the opening of new doors. Since it focuses on both everyday and ritual activities, as well as social and economic relations in addition to the analysis of objects, surprising results can be gained. In Hungary research involving this new approach is conducted with increasing more results and fewer high-sounding hypotheses. It is not only dietary habits connected to festive and ritual events that interest archaeologists. The greatest challenge for archaeology in this field is probably presented by how it can display these research results in museums.