Surveys the archaeology of food: its methods and its themes (economics, politics, status, identity, gender, ethnicity, ritual, religion).

The chapters in this topically and methodologically diverse volume discuss the role food plays in the construction and maintenance of multiple levels of social identity; they also illustrate the myriad ways in which archaeologists may approach the issue. The book includes essays from archaeologists working in a wide range of time periods and areas: prehistorians and historical archaeologists, specialists in the Old World, and experts on the New World. Contributors use diverse data sets to discuss how food-procurement strategies, consumption patterns, and modes of cooking and dining are intertwined with the construction and maintenance of individual and group identities.

Introduction : The Social Life of Food -- Part I. Laying the Groundwork -- Framing Food Investigation -- The Practices of a Meal in Society -- Part II. Current Food Studies in Archaeology -- The Archaeological Study of Food Activities -- Food Economics -- Food Politics : Power and Status -- Part III. Food and Identity : The Potentials of Food Archaeology -- Food in the Construction of Group Identity -- The Creation of Personal Identity : Food, Body and Personhood -- Food Creates Society

What are the origins of agriculture? In what ways have technological advances related to food affected human development? How have food and foodways been used to create identity, communicate meaning, and organize society? In this highly readable, illustrated volume, archaeologists and other scholars from across the globe explore these questions and more. The Archaeology of Food offers more than 250 entries spanning geographic and temporal contexts and features recent discoveries alongside the results of decades of research. The contributors provide overviews of current knowledge and theoretical perspectives, raise key questions, and delve into myriad scientific, archaeological, and material analyses to add depth to our understanding of food. The encyclopedia serves as a reference for scholars and students in archaeology, food studies, and related disciplines, as well as fascinating reading for culinary historians, food writers, and food and archaeology enthusiasts.

An archaeological study of African American foodways in nineteenth-century Annapolis In Eating in the Side Room, Mark Warner uses the archaeological data of food remains recovered from excavations in Annapolis, Maryland, and the Chesapeake to show how African Americans established identity in the face of pervasive racism and marginalization. By studying the meat purchasing habits of two African American families—the Maynards and the Burgesses—Warner skillfully demonstrates that while African Americans were actively participating in a growing mass consumer society, their food choices subtly yet unequivocally separated them from white society. The "side rooms" where the two families ate their meals not only satisfied their hunger but also their need to maintain autonomy from an oppressive culture. As a result, Warner claims, the independence that African Americans practiced during this time helped prepare their children and grandchildren to overcome persistent challenges of white oppression.  Publication of the paperback edition made possible by a Sustaining the Humanities through the American Rescue Plan grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Unlike food publications that have been more organized along regional or disciplinary lines, this edited volume is distinctive in that it brings together anthropologists, archaeologists, area study specialists, linguists and food policy administrators to explore the following questions: What kinds of changes in food and foodways are happening? What triggers change and how are the changes impacting identity politics? In terms of scope and organization, this book offers a vast historical extent ranging from the 5th mill BCE to the present day. In addition, it presents case studies from across the world, including Asia, the Pacific, the Middle East, Europe and America. Finally, this collection of essays presents diverse perspectives and differing methodologies. It is an accessible introduction to the study of food, social change and identity.

This text examines the food remains of two African American households of the late nineteenth century in Annapolis, Maryland. As with their white neighbours, the families who lived there participated in the explosive emergence of mass consumer culture. From the second half of the nineteenth century onward, this world of mass-produced goods, large corporations, and national marketing campaigns would both beckon to the Maynard and Burgess households and simultaneously remind them of their 'place'.