We are delighted to highlight accolades for ARF affiliates from the Society for American Archaeology. In last week's awards ceremony, which was held online and can be viewed here, the SAA announced the winners of the following awards:
Professor Christine Hastorf, ARF's Director, won the prestigious SAA Book Award for her book The Social Archaeology of Food: Thinking about Eating from Prehistory to the Present (announced at 9:30 in the video). Anthropology graduate student AJ White won the Douglas C. Kellogg Fellowship for Geoarchaeological Research (at 7:00 in the video). And journalist Lizzie Wade won the Gene S. Stuart award for her story "Unearthing the Reality of Slavery" about the US Virgin Islands work of ARF affiliate Prof. Bill White and his colleagues (hear more in this podcast), which was also featured in Archaeology at Home two weeks ago.
This week's Archaeology at Home theme is inspired by Christine Hastorf's book. We've selected a few of the many online resources about ancient food and drink. Bon appetit!
First up is a global overview of "food archaeology" exploring how researchers use the traces of past foodways to investigate social distinctions: Savoring the Past: The Archaeology of Food and Foodways (45-minute lecture by Katheryn Twiss, UCB Anthro grad and Professor at Stony Brook University).
On Egyptian food, we've chosen Cuisine of Ancient Egypt | History of Egyptian Food, Dining Customs, and Diet (Andrew Coletti speaking on Nerd Nite, 18 minute video)
And on ancient Egyptian drink, listen to this radio show: Drink like an Egyptian: 5,000-year-old yeast resurrected to brew ancient beer (CBC Quirks and Quarks Radio show, 7-minute listen with a short article)
At BBC Travel, read The World's Oldest Known Recipes Decoded, describing the work of a team of international scholars versed in culinary history, food chemistry and cuneiform studies recreating dishes from the world’s oldest-known recipes.
And, of course, we have to include the Romans! Check out the entertaining Supersizers Eat Ancient Rome series-- a set of 10-minute videos in which hosts dressed in period costumes explore the history and recipes of ancient Rome. Start with episode 1 of The Supersizers Eat Ancient Rome and from that link you'll see links to all the Roman shows as well as shows from other eras (Medieval, Victorian).
If you're in the mood for something more academic, explore the history of corn beginning with its domestication in Mexico 10,000 years ago through to its use as a world-wide commercial crop in the 21st century by watching The Origin and Evolution of Maize, a 1-hour lecture on PBS Wisconsin with John Doebley, Professor in the Department of Genetics at UW-Madison.
Recent research on two of my favorite comfort foods-- bread and wine-- are reported in these podcasts: Discovering the World's Oldest Winery (Smithsonian Institution Side Door podcast, with Dr. Hans Barnard from UCLA-- 26 minutes) and Following The Burnt Crumbs To The Rise Of Bread (Science Friday with Ira Flatow-- web page with images and 11 minute podcast)
Want to try out some ancient recipes? Check out these two 10-minute videos:
1. Ancient Gastronomy: Ancient Greece and Honey Prawns
2. Chicha, South American beer made with corn
Last but not least, here is a series of short, informative animated videos by TED-Ed about the history and present day impacts of some of the most common food and drink from around the world (the cheese one is my favorite):