The Prehistory of Food - 40 credits (HST406)
This module aims to introduce students to the theory and techniques of reconstructing food lifeways. By combining traditional and scientific archaeological approaches to food and diet (archaeobotany, zooarchaeology, vessel studies, historical evidence and geochemistry) with perspectives from social anthropology, students will learn how the study of food can inform greatly on past societies. The early part of the course will provide a foundation in the range of analytical techniques used by archaeologists in reconstructing diet. It will also provide a chronological framework for the changing methods humans have developed to obtain food. The later parts of the course consider the social meaning of food.