Böcker av Soultana Maria Valamoti

"Greek archaeologist Soultana Maria Valamoti takes readers on a culinary journey in her synthesis of plant foods and culinary practices of Neolithic and Bronze Age Greece. Plant foods were the main ingredients of daily meals in prehistoric Greece and most likely of special dishes prepared for feasts and rituals. For more than thirty years, Valamoti has been analyzing a large body of archaeobotanic data that spans 7,000 years from the Neolithic to Bronze Age and that was retrieved from nearly one hundred sites in mainland Greece and the Greek islands. This book also reflects experimentation and research of ancient written sources. Her approach allows an exploration of culinary variability through time. The thousands of charred seeds identified from occupation debris correspond to minuscule time capsules. She is able to document changes from the cooking of the first farmers to the sophisticated cuisines of the elites who inhabited palaces in the first cities of Europe in the south of Greece during the Late Bronze Age. Along the way, she explains the complex processes for the addition of new ingredients (such as millet and olives), condiments, sweet tastes, and complex recipes. "Ancient Grains" also explores regional variability and diversity. Rich chapters are devoted to overviewing plantstuffs in their spatial and temporal distribution, with ritual and symbolic significance noted, and also to broader themes and practices. The main chapters are on bread/cereals, pulses, oils, fruit and nuts, fermented brews, healing foods, cooking, and identity. Valamoti also offers insight into engaging in public archaeology and provides recipes that incorporate ancient plant ingredients and connect prehistory to the present in a critical way. Finally, a thorough bibliography also includes archaeobotanical publications in Greek. Copious color and black and white photos enhance the text"--

This book is based on new archaeobotanical data retrieved during the last fifteen years from prehistoric sites located in the regions of Macedonia and Thrace in northern Greece. More than two thousand samples from Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age deposits from Makriyalos, Mandalo, Arkadikos, Dikili Tash and Marki form the basis for a consideration of prehistoric people-plant relationships in the region. The various sources contributing plant remains in the archaeobotanical assemblages are examined in order to address issues of intentional uses of plants and management of plant resources. The crops and plants harvested from the wild underline the variety in plant foods used during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age in the region, at the same time pointing towards preferred staples and later crop introductions. The contribution of animal dung in the archaeobotanical assemblages is demonstrated by the assemblages considered by the book providing an insight into animal feeding and grazing patterns, revealing a variability in the strategies adopted among the archaeological sites considered, strategies that diverge from proposed models concerning animal husbandry in prehistoric Greece. The archaeobotanical data is also examined in relation to the current discussion on the co-existence of tells and extended sites in northern Greece and directions for future archaeobotanical research on the issue are pointed out.