Ancestral Appetites: Food in Prehistory

by Kristen J. Gremillion

Overview

This book explores the relationship between prehistoric people and their food – what they ate, why they ate it, and how researchers have pieced together the story of past foodways from material traces. Contemporary human food traditions encompass a seemingly infinite variety, but all are essentially strategies for meeting basic nutritional needs developed over millions of years. Humans are designed by evolution to adjust our feeding behavior and food technology to meet the demands of a wide range of environments through a combination of social and experiential learning. In this book, Kristen J. Gremillion demonstrates how these evolutionary processes have shaped the diversification of human diet over several million years of prehistory. She draws on evidence extracted from the material remains that provide the only direct evidence of how people procured, prepared, presented, and consumed food in prehistoric times.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521727075
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	03/14/2011
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	198
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Kristen J. Gremillion is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Ohio State University. She has published many articles on human dietary variability in journals including American Antiquity, Current Anthropology and the Journal of Archaeological Science as well as several edited volumes.

Table of Contents

Introduction; 1. Ancestors; 2. Beginnings; 3. Foraging; 4. Farmers; 5. Hunger; 6. Abundance; 7. Contacts; 8. Extinctions; 9. Final thoughts.

Editorial Reviews

"Highly recommended."
Choice

"Gremillion has certainly achieved her goal of creating a comprehensive and accessible book about food and prehistory."
Helen Ohlke, Journal Canadien D'Archeologie

"The author’s comfort with a wide variety of biological (botanical and zoological), anthropological, and archaeological evidence is apparent, and her ready grasp of the material allows the work to flow fluidly."
William Pestle, American Anthroplogist

From the Publisher