Food Globalisation in Prehistory

Ten years ago, this critical episode of food globalisation was simply not on record. Prehistoric antecedents to the latter have been discussed in the context of 2nd millennium BC metalworking technology and the development of horse-drawn transport. Together, these episodes constitute over three millennia of trade and exchange, first over land and subsequently over sea, that put people in contact, as well as their foodstuffs, technologies, ideas and diseases. Prior to that exchange-driven history, the default model has been one of isolated farming communities, arising from a series of similarly isolated centres of domestication. Over the last decade, an unprecedented growth in research activity across Asia and Africa has brought to light substantial evidence of extensive movement of domesticated species prior to the 2nd millennium BC. This evidence has come from archaeology, genetics and stable isotope studies. A series of large, current research projects are exploring the nature of this early episode of food globalisation, how it happened, what resources and communities were involve, what were the challenges to movement, and how they were mitigated.