Dear Colleagues,
As part of the 21st Annual Meeting of the European Association of
Archaeologists (EAA), to be held in Glasgow between the 2nd and 5th
September 2015, we are organizing a session that will present topics on
fermented foods and beverages in pre- and protohistory, focusing mainly on
methods used to identify fermentation products and their cultural
significance. The call for abstracts is now open until the 16th February
2015, and we would like to invite you to submit paper/poster abstracts.
Abstracts can be submitted by following this link:
<http://eaaglasgow2015.com/call-for-papers/>
http://eaaglasgow2015.com/call-for-papers/
Please find our session abstract below.
Best Regards,
Shira Gur-Arieh, Domingo Carlos Salazar García, Cynthianne Debono Spiteri
______________________________________________________________
Main theme: Science and Archaeology
Session title: Exploring the production and consumption of fermented
beverages and foods in pre- and protohistoric communities (SA9)
Abstract: Fermentation is an important process in the production of some
of the staple food products and beverages in the human diet. It is brought
about by the action of yeast, enzymes and bacteria, which convert
carbohydrates into alcohols, organic acids and gas. Examples of these are
the leavening of bread, the production of beer, wine, mead, cider, yoghurt
and the souring of milk. These fermented products are not only important for
their nutritional value, their potential to store otherwise perishable
foodstuffs, their increased digestibility (e.g. yoghurt for lactose
intolerant individuals), but also for their social aspect. Indeed, they play
a central role in cultural, celebratory and ritual aspects of different
human communities around the world. Identifying the production and
consumption of fermented foods and beverages is not straight forward since
they rarely preserve in the archaeological record, especially in pre- and
protohistoric periods. Attempts to identify these dietary products often
require a multidisciplinary approach, including the use of macroscopic (e.g.
charred grains) and microscopic (e.g. phytoliths and starches) plant remains
from archaeological finds including stone tools and sediments, or directly
from skeletal remains such as dental calculus and stomach content. Fermented
food and drink products can also be identified using spectroscopic
techniques to identify residual biomolecules trapped in porous, unglazed
pottery vessels. Other lines of evidence are derived from the study of
historical references such as art and decoration, ancient texts, typological
pottery studies, and ethnographic or ethnoarchaeological studies. This
session will focus on research carried out at identifying fermented food and
beverage products, and their dietary and cultural significance to the
communities that produced them. We invite submissions aimed at exploring the
role of fermented products in the human diet, and their contribution to our
understanding of the development and spread of complex food production
processes and cultural ideas.
___
Jun. Prof. Dr. Cynthianne Debono Spiteri
Junior Professor for Archaeometry
Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen
Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte
Burgsteige 11
72070 Tübingen
Tel: +49 7071 29 78541
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