| Unit name | Archaeological perspectives on food and feasting |
|---|---|
| Unit code | ARCH20067 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | I/5 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Cramp |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Department of Anthropology and Archaeology |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit will introduce students to the study of diet and cuisine in past societies. They will become familiar with the diversity of food practices over time and space and in so doing, explore its relationship with the culture, economy, environment, ritual practices and health-status of past populations. Within this context, students will be introduced to key scientific methods of analysis which can be invoked to explore these questions, including the archaeological analysis of ceramics, bioarchaeological and biomolecular analyses.
The unit comprises a three-hour weekly session combining lectures, seminars and practical workshops. The work carried out in these practical sessions will form the basis of the assessed report which will require the contextualisation, reporting and interpretation of their findings from these sessions.
Aims:
1) To introduce students to theories, themes and debates in the archaeology and anthropology of food and feasting
2) To familiarise students with different types of evidence used for reconstructing ancient diet, including the underlying principles and in turn, the strengths, limitations and biases inherent in the application and interpretation of the respective approaches
3)To enable students to evaluate the application of these approaches through different case studies
4) To support students to handle and interrogate scientific data and to develop a range of practical, laboratory-based and reporting skills
By the end of this unit, a successful student on this unit should:
1. Demonstrate an in-depth awareness of the ways in which ancient dietary evidence can inform our understanding of multifarious aspects of past human activity and behaviour
2. Demonstrate a critical understanding of the underpinning principles of different methods used for palaeodietary reconstruction, and their potential and limitations
3. Be able to present information and data using photographs/drawings, figures, tables and/or graphs to a professional standard
4. Evaluate and interpret different types of palaeodietary evidence from different cultural and geographic contexts
10 lectures (10 x 1 hr)
8 seminars/workshops (8 x 2 hr)
2 student presentation sessions (2 x 2 hr)
1 report-writing surgery (1 x 3 hr)
One 15 minute summative seminar presentation (30 %). ILO 1,4
One 2,500 word summative report (including illustrations, tables and figures; 70%). ILOs 2-4
Goody J. 1982. Cooking, cuisine and class: a study in comparative sociology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Parker Pearson, M. 2003. Food, Culture and Identity in the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age (BAR International Series).
Rice, P.M. 2005. Pottery Analysis: a sourcebook. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Historic England (2017) Organic residue analysis and archaeology: guidance for good practice. Historic England Guidelines Series.
English Heritage/Historic England (2011) Environmental Archaeology. English Heritage Guidelines Series
