Bridging the Divides at Azoria: Environmental Archaeology at an Archaic Greek City

Summary

Excavations at the Archaic (7th-6th centuries B.C.) city of Azoria on Crete demonstrate the value of intensive environmental archaeology for understanding an historical Greek context. Texts document the important role of food and dining to ancient religion and politics; however, ancient authors presented a normative picture and excluded details they assumed were common knowledge. Studying plant and animal remains can "ground-truth" ancient sources on foodways and provide contextual nuances not afforded to historians.

The prevalence of a few domesticates presents difficulties in fields largely based on discussions of taxonomic variability, especially when trying to bridge the divide between archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological assemblages. While it is difficult to relate the numerous goats to the abundant olives at Azoria, our interdisciplinary study presents the opportunity to examine varied contexts. Deposition of plant remains happens largely before the meal is served while animals are largely deposited after dinner. Our analyses reveal that conspicuous storage and communal dining formed the backbone of the political structure at Azoria. The specific foodstuffs stored and consumed in civic buildings were much the same as those consumed in townhouses. However, the quantity and elaboration of foodstuffs within communal dining structures created a convivial community at Azoria.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20669