TECHNOLOGY AND CHANGE IN HISTORY
Ancient Food Technology Robet I. Curtis
BRILL
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ANCIENT FOOD TECHNOLOGY BY
ROBERT I. CURTIS
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BRILL LEIDEN · B O S T O N · KÖLN
2001
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Die Deutsche Bibliothek - CIP-Einheitsaufnahme C u r t i s , R o b e r t I.s Anc ient food technology / by R o b e r t I. Curtis. Köln : Brill, 2001 (Technology and change in history ; Vol. 5) ISBN 90 0 1 09681 7
ISSN ISBN
Leiden ; Boston ;
1385-920X 90 04 0 9 6 8 1 7
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I'RINTKl) IN ΙΊΙΙ M.Hn.KI.AM)S
TABLE O F C O N T E N T S
List of Abbreviations List of Figures List of Plates List of Maps Acknowledgements Foreword
xi xiii xv xvii xix xxiii
PART O N E PREHISTORY
C h a p t e r O n e : Lower and Middle Paleolithic Periods A. Hominids and Their Tools B. Early Hominid Subsistence Strategies C. Hominid Intelligence
3 4 20 32
C h a p t e r Two: U p p e r Paleolithic and Neolithic Periods A. U p p e r Paleolithic Period B. Last Glacial M a x i m u m C. Epipaleolithic Period and the Rise of Agriculture D. Neolithic Period 1. Southwest Asia 2. Europe 3. Egypt
35 35 48 57 65 65 74 77
S u m m a r y and Conclusions to Part O n e
81
PAR T T W O E G Y P T A N D T H E N E A R EAST
C h a p t e r Three: Egypt 1 A. Cereal Processing 1. Storage 2. Bread and Beer
93 99 99 105
VI11
TABLE O F CON TENTS
a. Milling b. Bread Making c. Beer Production
114 117 131
C h a p t e r Four: Egypt II B. Wine C. Oil D. Animal Processing 1. Butchery 2. Dairy Products 3. Fish E. Sweeteners
142 142 164 165 165 173 173 176
C h a p t e r Five: T h e Ancient Near East A. Prehistoric Period 1. Cereal Processing 2. Wine 3. Oil B. Historic Period 1. Food Technology and the Rise of the State 2. Cereal Processing a. Storage b. Milling c. Bread Making d. Beer Production 3. Wine 4. Oil 5. Animal Processing a. Butchery b. Dairy Products c. Fish 6. Sweeteners
178 180 183 184 187 189 190 195 195 199 205 210 219 226 233 233 234 238 240
Summary and Conclusions to Part T w o
243
TABLE OF CONTENTS PART
IX
THREE
MEDITERRANEAN CIVILIZATIONS
C h a p t e r Six: T h e Greek World: Bronze Age T h r o u g h the Hellenistic Period A. Bronze Age 1. Cereals 2. Wine and Olive Oil 3. Miscellaneous Processes B. Classical and Hellenistic Periods 1. Cereal Processing a. Storage b. Milling c. Bread Making d. Beer Production 4. Wine 5. Olive 6. Animal Processing a. Butchery b. Dairy Products c. Fish 7. Sweeteners
259 259 260 267 274 275 276 276 279 289 294 294 303 313 313 315 316 322
C h a p t e r Seven: R o m e I A. Cereal Processing 1. Storage 2. Milling 3. Bread Making 4. Beer Production B. Wine C. Oil
323 325 325 335 358 370 372 380
C h a p t e r Eight: Rome II 1). Animal Processing 1. Butchery 2. Dairy Products 3. Fish E. Sweeteners F. Refrigeration ο
395 395 395 399 402 417 419
S u m m a r y and Conclusions to Part T h r e e
420
Select Bibliography
435
Index
467
Plates
LIS '!׳O F A B B R E V I A T I O N S
Abbreviations of modern works follow those listed either in the most recent issue of L'Année Philologique, or in the American Journal of Archaeology 95, no. 1 (Jan. 1991). In general, abbreviations of ancient Greek and R o m a n authors conform to those listed in the Oxford Classical Dictionary, 3r
L'AnnEp. AnnRAnthr Archaeol R e v C a m b BiblArch BullSumAgri CAM Dar.-Sag.
Edmonds H um Ε vol IG R R
JAnthrRes J Arch Res JArchSci JOS
The African Archaeological Review American Journal ()) Physical Anthropology American Anthropologist Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament. J a m e s B. Pritchard, ed. 3 rd ed. Princeton, N . J . : Princeton University Press, 1969. L'Année Epigraphique Annual Review of Anthropology A rchaeological Review from Cambridge Biblical A rchaeologist Bulletin of Sumerian Agriculture Cambridge Ancient History Dictionnaire des antiquités grecques et romaines. C. D a r e m b e r g and FI Saglio, eds. 10 Vols. Paris: Hachette, 1877 1918. J o h n M. Edmonds, ed., The Fragments of Attic Comedy. 4 Vols. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1957-1961. Human Evolution Inscriptiones Graecae Ad Res Romanas Pertinentes. René Cagnat et al, eds. 4 Vols. Paris: E. Leroux, 1911-27. Journal of Anthropological Research Journal of A rchaeological Research Journal of Archaeological Science Journal of Cuneiform Studies
xii
JHumEvol J W o r l d Prehist LÄ
M D AI
RE
RevPalaeobotPalynology RIA SEHHW
I.IST OF ABBREVIATIONS
Journal of Human Evolution Journal of World Prehistory Lexikon der Ägyptologie. Wolfgang Helck, Eberhard Otto, and Wolfhart Westendorf, eds. 6 Vols. Wiesbaden: O t t o Harrassowitz, 1975— 1986. Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts. (A=Athenische Abteilung; B=Baghdader Abteiling; I=Istanbuler Abteilung; Κ = K a i r o Abteilung; M = M a d r i d e r Abteilung; R = R ö m i s c h e Abteilung) Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft. A. Pauly, G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll, eds. Stuttgart: J . B. Metzler, 1894-1980. Review of Paleobotany and Paly no logy Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie. Berlin: W. de Gruyter & Co., 1928 . M. I. Rostovtzeff, The Social and Economic History of the Hellenistic World. 3 Vols. Oxford: Oxford University/ Press, 1941.
LIST O F F I G U R E S
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33.
Cladogram of hominid evolution, with associated tool kits Oldowan Tools Acheulian Tools Mousterian Tools Final Perigordian tools (blade and bone) Egyptian d o m e d granaries Hieroglyphic symbols associated with food technology Fifth-Dynasty T o m b of Re c -em-Kuy, at Saqqara Bakery-Brewery model from Twelfth-Dynasty T o m b of Meket-re, al Thebes T o m b of Rameses III Tomb ofNakht Egyptian wall paintings showing grape treading and pressing with bag press Bag press in frame Assyrian c a m p Sumerograms for kaš, šim, and ninda Lcver-and-weight press from Ekron, Israel Milking frieze from Temple of Ninhursag, at Ubaid Cretan Hieroglyphic Form 116, for wine Megarian Bowl, from Thebes Hopper mill, from Olynthus Archaic bakery model Hero's weight-and-drum press, according to D r a c h m a n n North granary in R o m a n fort at Housesteads Morgantina and Pompeian rotary mills Pompeian rotary donkey mill Barberai water mill Gearing for water mill Relief from the T o m b of Eurysaces Kneadinsr machine Miliarium, from Stabiae Trapetum, from Pompeii Wedge press, from Herculaneum Cato's lever-and-drum press
12 13 16 38 39 102 109 113 126 128 152 155 159 204 206 230 236 268 283 285 292 312 332 342 346 354 356 359 364 375 383 386 387
XIV
LIST OF FIGURES
34. Composite drawing of Tripolitanian oil press 35. Pliny's second lever-and-screw press, according to D r a c h m a n n
389 . . . 392
LIST O F P L A T E S
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 1 1. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32.
Limestone mortars and pestle, from VVadi Kubbaniya Q u e r n and rubber, from Wadi Kubbaniya Basalt mortar and pestle, from Jericho Fifth-Dynasty granary models, from Giza Reed and rush sieve, from Lisht Fifth-Dynasty servant statue of woman grinding grain, from Giza Bakery-brewery model from Twelfth-Dynasty T o m b of Meket-re, from Thebes Bread loaves from Eleventh-Dynasty tomb, from Thebes Fifth-Dynasty servant statue of man baking bread, from Giza Relief of royal kitchen, from A m a r n a Sixth-Dynasty servant statue of a "Brewer," from Giza Eleventh-Dynasty servant statues of men making beer, from Deir elBersheh Sixth-Dynasty beer vat, from Giza Eighteenth-Dynasty stela of Syrian drinking beer with siphon, from Amarna VVine a m p h o r a e from T o m b , of T u t a n k h a m u n Model of butcher's shop from T o m b of Meket-re, from Thebes Saddle quern and rubber, from Jericho Neo-Babylonian cuneiform tablet discussing brewing techniques Impression of banquet scene on Early Dynastic 111 cylinder seal Granary model from Geometric II tomb, from Athens Hopper-rubbers, from Olynthus Black-figure vase showing satyrs treading grapes, from Athens Black-figure vase showing two men operating oil press, from Athens Stone-spouted press bed, from Olynthus Salt-fish (.salsamentum), from Corinth R o m a n rotary handmill from R o m a n fort at Chesters Pompeian rotary donkey mills from bakery (Reg. VII.ii.22) in Pompeii Funerary relief of P. Nonius Zethus, from Ostia Barbegal water mill Sarcophagus of M. Annius Octavius Valerianus Kneading machine from bakery at Reg. VII.ii.22 in Pompeii R o m a n relief showing grape treading, from R o m e
XVI
LIST OF PLATES
33. R o m a n relief showing the boiling of musturn to make defrutum 34. R o m a n rotary crushing basin (trapetum), from Boscoreale 35. Reconstructed lever-and-drum press in Villa of the Mysteries, near Pompeii 36. Relief of butcher shop, from Ostia 37. Altar of Atimetus, from R o m e 38. Cheese press from R o m a n fort at Balmuildy, on Antonine Wall, Scotland 39. Late fourth-century A. D. salting vats at Santa Pola, Spain
LIST O F M A P S
1. East and South Africa
5
2. Europe and Southwest Asia
37
3. Egypt and Southwest Asia
96
4. Ancient Near East
179
5. Eastern Mediterranean
261
6. Western R o m a n Empire
324
AC K N ( ) W L E I )GEX I E N 1 ׳S
An author must inevitably assume full responsibility for his work, but the final product is always more than just the result of his efforts alone. I gladly and without reservation acknowledge the assistance of numerous individuals and institudons without whose support this book would neither have been finished nor would have attained what value readers may judge to reside in it. When acknowledging one's debt to those who have contributed in one way or another, an author invariably runs the risk of omitting someone deserving of mention. Should there be any in this category, I hereby warmly thank them and apologize for the unintended omission. M a n y individuals a n d institutions provided timely and valuable assistance. Some offered advice and suggestions, freely given, and received by me with much appreciation, even if not always followed. Others gave encouragement not only at the beginning when the project was first undertaken but, most importantly, throughout the period of research and writing when at times my energy and spirits flagged. And still others, in a spirit of professional collegiality, materially assisted in obtaining illustrations and permissions to publish them. All in their own way significantly contributed to the final product; none but myself, however, is accountable for it. T o all I concede a tremendous debt of gratitude and offer my sincere thanks in hopes that the book in its final form to some degree finds favor with them. I would like to thank Ervan Garrison, Elizabeth K a n n , J a r e d Klein, Dan Robie, and Gay Robins, who read portions of the book in manuscript, thereby saving me from mistakes of commission and omission, keeping me focused on the topic at hand, and providing guidance and timely suggestions on where the book might be improved. Where imperfections of any kind remain, the fault lies where it should, with the author. O t h e r individuals were instrumental in providing a visual component to the book. These include Lindsay Allason-Jones, Francesco Buranelli, Richard Fazzini, Robert Foley, Seymour Gitin, Sue Hutchison, Lawrence Keppie, David Mattingly, Mark J. Meister, Georgina Plowright, Scott Sanders, Guy Sanders, Stacey H. Savatsky, Bettina Schmitz, J o a n Tucker, Fred Wendorf, Brandon Wester, Donald White, and Larry Zimmerman. I would especially like to thank Catharine Roehrig, who during my visit to the Department of Egyptian Antiquities in the Metropolitan M u s e u m of Art, in New York, gave of her time and expertise in assisting my research, making the trip a memorable and successful one. T o Susan Morris and the staff of the Interlibrary Loan Office of the University of Georgia Libraries, I extend a
XX
A( :Κ NOW I ,ED Ci Ε M ENTS
w a r m note of thanks for their skill and professionalism in tracking down many and obscure books and articles. A m o n g those whose conversation on specific aspects of ancient food technology or linguistic matters always provided grist for the mill, I particularly wish to recognize my colleagues Bob Harris, J a r e d Klein, and Benedict Lowe. I would specifically like to thank Julian Deahl, Senior Acquisitions Editor, at Brill Academic Publishers, for his encouragement throughout the writing of this book, his sympathetic understanding in periods of personal crisis for the author, which intervened to slow progress on the book, and for his seemingly eternal patience. M a n y institutions graciously provided photographs and line drawings and permissions to publish them, often with nominal or no charge at all. These include Ägyptisches Museum of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin; the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, both the Agora and Corinth Excavations; the Archaeological Institute of America; Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; British Museum; Brooklyn Museum of Art; Michael C. Carlos Museum of Emory University; Centre Camille J u l l i a n - C N R S ; Direzione Generale Musei Vaticani; English Heritage; Griffith Institute, Ashmolean Museum; Hargrett Collection of the University of Georgia; Hunterian Museum of the University of Glasgow; J o n a t h a n P. Rosen Collection, New York; Metropolitan Museum, New York, both the Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Collections; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Museum of Antiquities of the University and Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle U p o n Tyne; the Oriental Institute, Chicago; Pelizaeus Museum, Hildesheim; and the Saalburg Museum. A m o n g publishers who gave permission to use illustrations from works published by them are Academic Press, American Journal of Archaeology, Antiquity, the British School of Archaeology in Iraq, Chrysalis Books Group, T h e J o h n s Hopkins University Press, McGraw-Hill Companies, Oxford Journal of Archaeology, and Routledge. T h e writing of this book was immeasurably supported through two Senior Research grants from the Vice President for Research of the University of Georgia, with additional financial assistance from Wyatt Anderson, Dean of Arts and Sciences, and Richard A. LaFleur, Head of the Department of Classics. I would also like to thank the Department of Classics at the University of Leeds, which granted me the teaching position of Visiting Professor of Classics during the fall of 1997, and provided lodging and library assistance, plus gracious camaraderie, while I was conducting research in England. My final, and most heartfelt, appreciation goes to my wife, Susan, and daughter, Julia. Susan, a professional librarian, contributed her expertise in ferreting out the most obscure references. O n one occasion in particular, when other more enjoyable activities beckoned, she spent her free time in Boston perusing the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts looking for any art historical material
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
XXI
related to ancient food technology. Julia, though disappointed, was always understanding when, on too many occasions, her father begged off participating in other activities in order to spend time on the book. Both had for many months 011 end to endure my long absences, both of mind and body, and to walk around and step over books, papers, and photographs scattered about the house. Without their patience and generosity my task would have been far more onerous than it otherwise was.
FOREWORD
In J a n u a r y 1939, while excavating in the northern section of the Archaic cernetery at Saqqara, Walter B. Emery discovered a rather humble tomb dating to the Second Dynasty (early third millennium B. C.). 1 Denoted T o m b 3477, in size and intrinsic value of its contents it was rather unremarkable save in one respect. It had lain undisturbed from the time of the burial in it of a woman of about sixty years of age. Emery found there an almost perfectly preserved meal, laid out on dishes of pottery, alabaster, and diorite. Here was a near pristine example of a funerary meal found in other Early Dynastic burials, though none preserved so well as this nor so elaborate. Emery was excited because he believed that it proved what he had long suspected, that is, that early Egyptians as part of the funerary ritual included cooked meals with the deceased. 2 Later tombs contained not only examples of food items but more frequently paintings, sculpture, and models of food and drink, which, apparently through a magical transformation, were intended to serve as gifts to the gods or as sustenance for the deceased throughout eternity. :i Emery's interest lay more in the meal's symbolic importance than in the individual food items and what they can tell us about the state of Egyptian food technology. Foods found in T o m b 3477 fell into two general categories, those which were eaten in their natural state, whether cooked or raw, and those which had been processed in some fashion. In the former category were stewed fruit (possibly figs) and berries. Processed foods included grape wine, a triangular loaf of bread made from e m m e r wheat, circular honey-cakes, a sort of porridge of ground barley, various cuts and portions of beef, cleaned and dressed fish and fowl, a pigeon stew, and perhaps cheese. 1 These processed foods show Egyptian knowledge of the principles of butchery, fermentation, milling, and cooking. Already, at the dawn of the historical period in Egypt, nearly 5,000 years ago, the Egyptian diet was both varied and technologically sophisticated.
' W a l t e r B. Emery, A Funerary Repast in an Egyptian Tomb of the Archaic Period Leiden: Nederlands Instituut voor hot Nabije O o s t e n , 1962). - T h e typicality of a such a s u m p t u o u s meal is debatable. Cf. Hilary W ilson, Egyptian Food and Drink (Bucks: Shire Publications Ltd., 1988), p. 11. 5 E m e r y , Funerary Repast, p. 2. 1 Ibid., pp. 6 7. There was also an unidentifiable liquid m a d e of some fatty substance. The food items were identified by Alfred Lucas, at that time chemical advisor for the Egyptian A m i q uities Service.
XXVI11
FOREWORD
T h e y were, however, neither the first to apply technology to food nor the last to do so. All species of animals must have food to survive. Herbivores graze on grasses, forage off bushes or trees, and dig for roots and bulbs. Carnivores hunt or ambush and kill their prey, or scavenge previously killed animals. Omnivores participate in some or all of these activities. Although animals exhibit greater or lesser large and small motor dexterity, visual, aural and olfactory acuteness, speed, strength, ingenuity, patience, endurance, and, in pack animals, coopération, none of these food procuring activities rely on technology per se. If by the term food technology one understands simply a method of acquiring something to eat or drink through solving a specific technical problem, then clearly many animals engage in food technology. So, for instance, over thirty years ago J a n e Goodall demonstrated that chimpanzees, whose diet is basically frugivorous, that is, made up of fruits, leaves, bark, and pith, sometimes made and used simpie tools, such as sticks, stems, and small twigs, to catch and eat termites and ants. T h e y also use leaves as a drinking tool, and, at certain times of the year exploit stone h a m m e r and anvil technology to get at meat in nuts. Indeed, outside of the use of weapons, most habitual tool-use behavior of chimpanzees centers on subsistence. Tufted capuchin monkeys were observed to produce simple stone tools for cutting and hammering. T h e "archer fish" projects water spouts at insects, spiders, and other small creatures to knock them into the water and so render them more readily available to eat. Likewise, various south Pacific birds use small twigs held in their bill to probe for insect larvae in trees, and sea otters while floating on their backs place stones on their chest and pound hard-shell mollusks against them to crack the shell. 5 T h e conclusion seems inescapable. H u m a n s are not the only animals to make and use tools and were probably not the first to create tools to exploit opportunities for obtaining food. T h e question is, of course, more complicated than this when humans are involved. Not all foods require processing to be edible; fruits, many nuts, and most vegetables come readily to mind. These and even uncooked meat were basic food items for prehistoric humans. O t h e r foods for a variety of reasons required some
יJ a n e G o o d a l l , " T o o l - u s i n g a n d A i m e d T h r o w i n g in a C o m m u n i t y of Free-living C h i m p a n z e e s , " Nature '201 (2» Mar.,' 1964): 1 2 6 4 - 6 6 ; B e n j a m i n B. Beck, Animal Tool Behavior: Vie Use and Manufacture of Tools by Animals (New York: G a r l a n d S T P M Press, 1980), esp. p p . 20 105, 109 15; G r e g o r y C h a r l e s W e s t e r g a a r d a n d S t e p h e n J . S u o m i , " A S i m p l e Stone-tool Technology in M o n k e y s , " JHumEvol 27 (1994): 3 9 9 - 4 0 4 ; Elisabetta Visalberghi, " C a p u c h i n M o n k e y s : A W i n d o w i n t o T o o l U s e in A p e s a n d H u m a n s , " in Tools, Language and Cognition in Human Evolution. K a d i lcen R. G i b s o n a n d T i m Ingold, cds. ( C a m b r i d g e : C a m b r i d g e University Press, 1993), p p . 138 50; W i l l i a m C . M c G r c w , " T h e Intelligent Use of T o o l s : T w e n t y Propositions," in ibid., p p . 154-57.
FOREWORD
XXVI1
degree of alteration. Some foods, for example, d e m a n d processing to render them more palatable or easier to digest. Others, poisonous in their natural state, can be made safe when properly treated or rendered into a different form. W h e n processed in some fashion to achieve these purposes, the number and variety of available foods expand and more food becomes available for more people. Excess foods or those needed as a safeguard against future want can be stored for short or long periods of time when properly processed. T h e y can also be transported if necessary or desired. Additionally, some foods in processed form have a value beyond alleviating hunger. Fermented grain, grapes, and dates, for example, in the form of alcoholic beverages, through their mind-altering characteristics, give pleasure beyond being merely tasteful or safe. This raises two questions. W h a t exactly does the term "food technology" mean, and what was ancient man's contribution to it? The former question can be fairly precisely defined; the answer to the latter will occupy the remainder of this book. Food technology concerns the knowledge a n d practical application of the principles of food science to the preservation, processing, preparation, packaging, storage, and transportation of food.' ׳While this definition fits well in the modern, complex world, and, as will become clear, serves as the basis for defining the scope of this book, it does not entirely encompass the ancient view of technology, or at least the Greek view of it.7 T h e modern world has severed the link between technology and technique. Knowledge of the principles of tool use (technology), for example, has been separated from the skilled use of the tool itself (technique). T h e latter embodies specific and practical know-how gained primarily through observing and copying procedures. T h e former, on the other hand, is theoretical knowledge capable of general application. 8 So, today, to consider an activity as technical is to imply that its focus is narrow and its performance is perfunctory, requiring little or no general or theoretical knowledge. O n e thinks of the difference between an electrician and an electrical engineer, or between a cook and a food scientist. This dichotomy is foreign to the GraecoR o m a n view of technology in general and serves only to obscure our knowledge of the changing relationship between man and his diet. T h e term technology derives from the Greek τέχνη, meaning craft, skill, and cunning of hand; it can also refer to the process of doing or making something ' ׳Dictionary of Nutrition and Food Technology. A r n o l d E. B e n d e r , cd. 6th cd. ( L o n d o n : Butterworths,
1990), p. 114." 7
W e h a v e little i n f o r m a t i o n o n w h a t p r e c e d i n g cultures t h o u g h t a b o u t it, if they p o n d e r e d the question at all. 8 T i m Ingold, " T o o l - u s e , Sociality a n d Intelligence," in Tools, Language and Cognition, p p .
433-36.
XXVI11
FOREWORD
related to art or craft. T h e term μηχανή, artificial contrivance or machine, similarly assumes the manual operation of some apparatus to assist the application of τέχνη. Inherent in both these terms is the idea that the craftsman utilizes knowledge to effect something practical or meaningful. For the ancients, therefore, knowledge and technique go hand in hand. I should also add that the ancient would include what we would call superstition as a natural concomitant to technique. 9 In the modern world, the tool, an instrument manipulated by h u m a n agency, is distinguished from the machine that is not manually operated but runs upon some non-human power, such as electricity. Although much of ancient technology does depend upon working by hand, it will become clear that in the area of food the ancient world progressed from the use of simple hand tools to complex machines operated by animal or water power designed to produce more and better products more efficiently. T h e journey from simple tool to complex machine, however, was a long one, and many of the old hand techniques continued in use long after new mechanical apparatus had appeared on the sccne. T h e reasons for this vary, and involve differences of economic status, the speed and methods by which technical knowledge was transferred, and the degree to which new methods and tools replaced the old. I propose to look at food technology from the ancient perspective, focussing not only 011 the theoretical principles employed, even if not completely understood, by them but also on who applied them, why, under what conditions, to what practical application they were put, and what products they produced. Technological innovation in antiquity did not develop in a vacuum anymore than it docs today. Just as it arises within a certain environment so it also many times alters the society from which it springs. T h e conclusion about technological change that Frances and Joseph Gies have ascribed to the Medieval period applies equally to the ancient world: 10 The most momentous changes are now understood not as single, explicit invenlions but as gradual, imperceptible revolutions . . . taking place through incremental improvements, large or small, in tools, techniques, and the organization of work. This new view is part of a broader change in historical theory that has come to perceive technological innovation in all ages as primarily a social process rather than a disconnected series of individual initiatives.
ייG e o r g e W . H o u s t o n , " T h e S t a t e of the Art: C u r r e n t W o r k in the T e c h n o l o g y of A n c i e n t R o m e , " C J 8 5 (1989): 80. 1(1 P r a n c e s a n d J o s e p h Gics, Cathedral, Forge, and Waterwheel. Technology and Invention in the Middle Ages (Ν. Y.: H a i p e r Collins, 1994), p. 2. Cf. for t h e R o m a n p e r i o d , K e v i n G r e e n e , " T h e S t u d y of R o m a n T e c h n o l o g y : S o m e Theoretical C o n s t r a i n t s , " in Theoretical Roman Archaeology: First Conference Proceedings. E l e a n o r Scott, ed. (Aldershot: A v e b u r y , 1993), p p . 39 47.
FOREWORD
XXVI1
In this book, therefore, I propose to describe and discuss not only the technologies applied by ancient man to food processing but also to place these innovations within their social, economic, and political context. Food technology, for example, played a role in religion, the rise of the state, the creation of bureaucratic institutions, even the development of writing itself. Going one step further, I will focus on the ramifications of these innovations upon ancient society at large. 111 other words, what led to these advances in food technology and what were their influences, intended 01 ־not, upon that society? 111 approaching this subject I had to answer several questions. First and foremost was the question of where to begin. Where, for instance, does agriculture or husbandry end and food technology begin? T h e answer is not an easy one, but is not altogether arbitrary. Agriculture is closely allied to food processing, since both deal directly with food and neither particularly require skilled individuals. Nevertheless, a clear distinction can a n d should be drawn between these two activities. T h e selection of plants to be grown, the preparing of the soil for planting, the sowing of seeds, the care of the plants during growing, and the liarvesting of the produce all fall clearly under agriculture. If foods consumed in their natural state without further processing, as nuts, fresh vegetables, fruits, and milk often are, are not in some way altered after harvesting, they do not fall under the category of food technology. T h e grape and olive, however, most often receive further treatment after picking, and grains are only selected for their various uses after they have been separated from the stalk through threshing. Food technology begins at the point when these plant foods undergo specific processes to change their form in some way (such as milling grain into Hour) or to so alter them as to create a different food product altogether (for instance, fermenting grapes into wine). In other words, for the grape and olive it is 111 the vat; for grain, it is 011 the threshing room floor. T h e care, raising, and feeding of animals as well as the use of their byproducts, such as wool, skin, horn, and so on, plainly belong to animal husbandry. I would also include in the same category the raising of bees for their honey and the milking of cows, sheep, and goats for their milk. But the processing of the honey and the production of butter, cheese, or yogurt from milk fall into the realm of food processing. So also butchery of the animal, which precedes preservation of the meat, qualifies for inclusion. And finally, (lie methods and tools for catching fish are not part of food processing, but what one does to preserve the fish for later consumption, whether salting, smoking, drying, or fermenting, clearly is. T h e second question involved what to do with those subjects that affected food technology but were not part of it. Here, I mean, for example, grain storage and long-distance transportation of finished pre)ducts. HcW ing no 1ntcnt10n
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immediate processing docs play a role in the decision of when to process. Likewise, storage and transportation of a food item after processing also constitute a continuation of that process. Here, I am thinking particularly of the racking of wine or the storage of preserved fish and their subsequent delivery to market. I have, therefore, classed storage and transport containers as part of food technology in accordance with the modern definition of the term. And, finally, the invention of pottery led directly to important innovations in cooking and other techniques to alter food. But pottery has many other uses. I have, therefore, restricted my discussion to particular containers that were developed specifically to process foods, and have left to others to treat pottery more widely. The present book is essentially a handbook, and as such, claims only modest aims. It neither breaks new ground nor advances a particular thesis about the subject. It does, however, seek to synthesize the vast amount of work accomplished on the topic and to present the state of the question on ancient food technology as it exists in A. D. 2000. Food technology has never received the attention it deserves, being usually relegated to a minor sidelight in a discussion of agriculture or as an afterthought to general discussions on ancient technology where pride of place goes to engineering, metallurgy, or water power. R. J. Forbes, in Studies in Ancient Technology, for example, devoted comparatively little space to food processing and preservation, and scattered this information among several different volumes." He relied almost exclusively on literary sources, and did not attempt to place the role of food technology in its societal context. This book, therefore, will for the first time focus specifically on ancient food technology, and will bring to bear literary, archaeological, epigraphic, art historical, and scientific evidence upon the subject. In doing so, it goes beyond previous general histories of ancient technology by showing the interrelationship of food technology with ancient society, believing that the former cannot with profit be isolated from the latter. I have also sought to point out areas where controversy continues and in which further work is necessary. T o take only one example, food technology, more so than any other area of ancient technology, involved the active partieipation of women, since they were in all places and at all times intimately connected with its function. In some instances, they may have been the instigators of technical innovation if not of invention itself. Because the information on ancient
11
R . J . Forbes, Studies in Ancient Technology. 9 Vols. (Leiden: E . J . Brill, 1 9 5 5 - 1 9 6 4 ) . F o r b e s distributes his discussion of food t e c h n o l o g y in f o u r different volumes, with a p o r t i o n of V o l u m e T h r e e c o n t a i n i n g the bulk of the m a t e r i a l . H e also w r o t e t h e c h a p t e r o n food t e c h n o l o g y in C h a r l e s S i n g e r , E . J . H o l m y a r d , a n d A. R. H a l l , eds., A History of Technology. 8 Vols. ( O x f o r d : O x f o r d University Press, 1 9 5 4 84), I: '238 98, b u t even h e r e he l u m p s c h e m i c a l s a n d cosmetics a l o n g with food.
FOREWORD
XXVI1
food technology is so scattered and because this is the first attempt to bring it all together, I have provided full, though not exhaustive, documentation of both primary and secondary sources. Considering the rate of archaeological discovery and evaluation, some of what is contained between these two covers may be in need of revision by the time it is published. So, for example, as this book was going to press, Cambridge University Press brought out a book entitled Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology, too late for me to consult. 12 A word needs to be said on the organization of the book. 111 organizing the book along chronological and geographic lines while focussing on products that received processing, I have departed somewhat from the usual topical organization of handbooks in this series. Food technology tended to be associated with certain plant foods, such as the cereals, grapes, and olives, the Mediterranean triad as they have come to be known, but not others, and a few animals, such as cattle, goats, sheep, and pigs, desirable for their meat or dairy by-products. Food technology does not lend itself well to discussion of its separate principles, since several technological applications are often applicable to a single product. So, for instance, grain milling could involve four separate processes: parching, pounding, grinding, and sieving. Fermentation plays a primary role in the production of wine, but so does treading and pressing. T o concentrate on each activity or principle separately would, I believe, result in a loss of understanding of the whole, thereby giving a false impression of the technology itself. Additionally, to treat the subject strictly topically would, I believe, have hindered, if not prevented, accomplishing a m a j o r goal, that of placing food technology within ancient society. So, for example, Forbes' topical treatment of the subject tends to mix Egyptian, ancient Near Eastern, Greek, and R o m a n contributions in a way that obscures the role of innovation within each society. My choice has been to approach the topic by culture a n d chronologically within each one. T h e geographical areas include the ancient Near East, Egypt, and both the eastern and western Mediterranean. T i m e and space constraints, unfortunately, require omission of the Far East and the New World. T h e chronological periods under review span the years from the appearance of genus homo, ca. two and one-half million years ago, to the period of the late R o m a n Empire. Three overlapping time periods structure the work: the prehistoric period, the historical period of Egypt and the ancient Near East, and the Graeco-Roman period. I have composed each of the three parts as self-contained units, so that each can be read separate from the others. I have, however, provided cross-references and have
1
'-' Paul T . Nicholson a n d Ian S h a w , eds., Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology ( C a m b r i d g e : C a m b r i d g e University Press, 2000).
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designated subsections so that someone interested in, say, milling or wine making could read those parts only of each section. This has, of course, necessitated some repetition across cultures. Effort has been made to keep this to a minim u m , though I have not hesitated to include a moderate amount where it seemed necessary for the discussion at hand. Comparison of ancient and modern production methods and description of physical and chemical changes undergone by the product when processed, for example, have been placed where the technology is first discussed in detail. T h e quantity and quality of evidence available, however, has determined where that discussion comes in the book. So, for instance, modern wine making and the chemical and physical changes inherent in the process first receive full treatment in the chapter on Egypt, even though Egyptian knowledge of the process apparently came from inhabitants of Southwest Asia. T h e latter people likely acquired it from populations farther to the east where evidence for wine making precedes that in Egypt by nearly a thousand years. While information for wine making in those areas is not plentiful, it is for Egypt. Methods for salting fish, though probably practiced by peoples of the Near East and definitely by Greeks, are more clearly understood from evidence dating to the R o m a n period. And finally, I have appended to each section a chapter summarizing the technological innovations arising from the cultures discussed. A reader desiring a rapid overview of ancient food technology, therefore, could read these summary chapters. I hope that they will also encourage the reader to investigate the other chapters to learn the role of food technology in each ancient culture.
PART ONE PREHISTORY
C H A P TER O N E
T H E LOWER AND MIDDLE PALEOLITHIC PERIODS
T o undertake a study of the development of ancient food technology wc must first know where and when man began and how he evolved. This is not an easy task. Practitioners of paleontology and paleoanthropology study fossil evidence, such as bones, or artifacts that betray behavior, such as tools, weapons, and jewelry, and compare them with modern data to create hypotheses to explain the evolutionary history of man. T h e evidence, however, does not remain static. Archaeological finds increase almost daily, and scientific instruments become ever more accurate and precise in measuring various aspects of the evidence. So, for example, no sooner have archaeologists announced the discovery in one place of the oldest fossil evidence for early man, than in another location comes the claim for a still older fossil. This generates reinterpretation of evidence and reconsideration of theories once considered strong. Theories are constantly being produced, altered, refined, and sometimes discarded. Changing interpretations of often contradictory evidence begets controversy and characterizes a field continually in (lux. Nevertheless, as competing theories arise and contend with each other, dead ends are met, new directions are taken, our understanding of man's beginnings becomes clearer. T o impose order on the mass of archaeological material dating to the early periods of man's history — there is, of course, no written evidence — and to relate it to cultural developments down to historic times, prehistorians have defined subdivisions of time based upon observed changes in the most frequently found and widely-spread artifacts, stone tools. So, for instance, the period encompassed by the use of the first tools received the name Paleolithic and, in general terms, spanned the period from roughly '2.5 million years B. P. to about 10,000 years B. P. By convention, these arc further subdivided into Early, or Lower, Paleolithic, Middle Paleolithic, and Late, or Upper, Paleolithic. T h e term "Stone Age" has been attached to archaeological time sequences to distinguish tool development in Sub-Saharan Africa from what transpired in Europe and Eurasia. T h e division points are roughly identical, except that the Middle Stone Age began about 100,000 years earlier than the Middle Paleolithic. T h e final 10,000 years, roughly 20,000 10,500 B. P., are now in some areas, such as North Africa and the Middle East, frequently denoted Epipaleolithic. In geologic terms, the period coincides with the years stretching from the Late Pliocene
Chronological fiameumk
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epoch to the Late, or Upper, Pleistocene. T h e subsequent period, falling geologically into the Early Holocene, is styled Neolithic, or "New Stone" age, and is characterized not only by the manufacture of polished stone implements, but more importantly by its dominant cultural activity, the practice of agriculture and the domestication of plants and animals. T h e term Mesolithic, sometimes limited to northwestern Europe but frequently applied more broadly, designates the period in the Early Holocene just preceding the arrival of agriculture. O n e needs to keep in mind that, although, as will be shown later, the Paleolithic era began in East Africa and the Neolithic period arose in Southwest Asia, these cultural activities may have occurred at different times elsewhere, and, although the sequences of development may be similar, they need not be synchronous. Additionally, every stage of development observed in one area may not always appear in another. This can result from, a m o n g other factors, the m o m e n t u m and direction of the spread of the culture with its technology from one area to another and the rate of adaptation of the innovation in a different environment. O u r understanding of the relationship of cultural development in various geographic areas may also be hampered by the degree of archaeological work accomplished in one place compared to that in another. 1
A. Hominids and Their Tools Ausiralopiihecines
Most everyone agrees that man began in Africa, where ca. five or six million years ago (mya) he became genetically separated from the great apes, particularly chimpanzees. 2 Until recently, evidence placed the earliest hominid population in Ethiopia, at Hadar, where in 1974 archaeologists discovered Australopithecus afarensis, familiarly called "Lucy," a small creature with a rather ape-like head who lived perhaps 3.5 mya. 3 Lucy was not the first hominid identified in Africa, but she was
1
G r a h a m e C l a r k , World Prehistory. In New Perspective. 3 r d c d . ( C a m b r i d g e : C a m b r i d g e University Press, 1977), p p . 24—25; 1). B r u c e Dickson, Ancient Preludes. World Prehistory from the Perspectives of Archaeology, Geology, and Paleoecolog} ( ׳M i n n e a p o l i s / St. Paul: W e s t Publishing C o . , 1993), p p . 192-93,' - R i c h a r d G . K l e i n , " A n a t o m y , B e h a v i o r , a n d M o d e r n H u m a n O r i g i n s , " JWorldPrehisl 9, no. 2 (1995): 1(59; P. V. T o b i a s , " T h e E n v i r o n m e n t a l B a c k g r o u n d of H o m i n i d E m e r g e n c e a n d the A p p e a r a n c e of the G e n u s Homo," JHumEvol 6, no. 2 (1991): 135. 3 D o n a l d C . J o h a n s o n a n d M a i t l a n d A. Edcy, Lucy. The Beginnings of Humankind (New York: S i m o n a n d S c h u s t e r , 1981). A c o n v e n i e n t s u m m a r y of t h e physical characteristics of the various Plio-Pleistocenc h o m i n i d s a n d t h e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s of their evolution c a n b e f o u n d in A l a n Bilsboro u g h , "Diversity, E v o l u t i o n a n d A d a p t i o n in Early H o m i n i d s , " in Stone Age Prehistory. Studies in Memory of Charles McBurney. G . Ν . Bailey a n d P. C a l l o w , eds. ( C a m b r i d g e : C a m b r i d g e University Press, 1986), p p . 1 9 7 - 2 2 0 .
THF, !.()WER AND MIDDLE PALEOLITHIC PERIODS
1. East and South Africa
כ
6
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the oldest up to that time. 4 Fossil evidence discovered in 1992-1993, however, indicates that the earliest known hominid population inhabited Aramis, Middle Awash, Ethiopia, about 4.4 mya. T e r m e d Ardipithecus ramidus, this hominid differs significantly from apes in its dental, cranial, and post-cranial characteristics, and to a lesser extent from Australopithecus, with which it may be a sister taxon. 5 Shortly after Ard. ramidus יdiscovery, another find, Australopithecus anamensis, from Kanapoi and Allia Bay, Kenya, near Lake Turkana, was announced. Dating between 3.9 and 4.2 mya, this is the earliest hominid which reliable evidence shows to have walked upright at least part of the time. 6 A. anamensis may prove to have been an intermediary in a direct lineage between Ard. ramidus and A. afarensis. There is, however, controversy over whether these are linear species or examples of the radiation of several different species, some of which were contemporary with each other and only one of which eventually led to humans. 7 In addition to Hadar, A. afarensis fossils have been unearthed at Laetoli in T a n zania and in the early 1990s at Maka and Fejej in Ethiopia, the latter find possibly extending the A. afarensis population back to 4.0-4.18 mya. 8 T o judge from bones and fossil footprints, this hominid was especially suited for walking upright, though it retained an essentially ape-like rib cage. 9 Whether linearly derived from
4
Australopithecus africanus w a s first d i s c o v e r e d in 1925 at T a t i n g in S o u t h Africa, while a robust f o r m , A. hoisei, w a s discovered in 1959 in n o r t h e r n T a n z a n i a o n the western e d g e of the eastern Rift Valley at O l d u v a i G o r g e . P. V. Tobias, Olduvai Gorge. Vol. 4 ( C a m b r i d g e : C a m b r i d g e U n i versity Press, 1991), p. 17. V a r i o u s robust a n d gracile a u s t r a l o p i t h e c i n e s h a v e c o m e to light at o t h e r places in S o u t h Africa, such as S t e r k f o n t e i n , M a k a p a n s g a t , S w a r t k r a n s , a n d D r o m d r a a i . See R i c h a r d G . Klein, " T h e S t o n e Age Prehistory of S o u t h e r n A f r i c a , " AnnRAnth 12 (1983): 25 48 ;־B e r n a r d A. W o o d a n d M . Ellis, " E v i d e n c e for D i e t a r y Specialization in the ' R o b u s t ' Australopithecines," in Fossil Man. New Facts — New Idea. V l a d i m i r V. N o v o t n y a n d A l c n a M i z e r o v a , eds. (Brno: A n t h r o p o s I n s t i t u t e - M o r a v i a n M u s e u m , 1986), p p . 1 0 2 - 0 3 . 5
T i m 1). W h i t e , G e n S u w a , a n d B e r h a n e Asfaw, "Australopithecus ramidus, a N e w Species of Early H o m i n i d f r o m A r a m i s , E t h i o p i a , " Nature 371 (22 Sept. 1994): 3 0 6 12; t e r m i n o l o g y revised in Nature 3 7 5 (4 M a y 1995): 88. 6 M e a v e G . Leakey, C r a i g S. Feibcl, I a n M c D o u g a l l , a n d A l a n W a l k e r , " N e w Four-millionyear-old H o m i n i d Species f r o m K a n a p o i a n d Allia Bay, K e n y a , " Nature 3 7 6 (17 A u g . 1995): 5 6 5 7 1. Since as yet lower skeletal r e m a i n s of the strongly ape-like h o m i n i d Ard. ramidus h a v e not c o m e to light, o n e c a n n o t speculate o n the d e g r e e of bipedality of this spccies. "Earliest Bipedal A n c e s t o r ? " Archaeology (Nov. D e c . 1995): 18. 7 E l i z a b e t h C u l o t t a , " N e w H o m i n i d C r o w d s the Field," Science 2 6 9 (18 A u g . 1995): 918; D e a n Falk, T i m o t h y B. G a g e , B r u c e D u d e k , a n d T o d d R. O l s o n , " D i d M o r e T h a n O n e Specics of H o m i n i d Coexist Before 3.0 M a ? E v i d e n c e f r o m Blood a n d T e e t h , " JHumEvol 29 (1995): 591 600; Klein, " A n a t o m y , B e h a v i o r , a n d M o d e r n H u m a n O r i g i n s , " p p . 169 70. B J o h n K a p p e l m a n , C a r l C . Swisher, III, J o h n G . Fleagle, S o l o m o n Yirga, T h o m a s M . B r o w n , a n d M u l u g e t a F e s e h a , " A g e of Australopithecus afarensis f r o m Fejej, E t h i o p i a , " JHumEvol 30 (1996): 139-46. !1 T i m 1). W h i t e , G e n S u w a , W i l l i a m K . H a r t , R o b e r t G. W a l t e r , G i d a y W o l d e G a b r i e l , J e a n d e H e i n z e l l n , J . D e s m o n d C l a r k , B e r h a n e Asfaw, a n d Elisabeth V r b a , " N e w Discoveries of Aus-
כ THF, !.()WER AND MIDDLE PALEOLITHIC PERIODS
Ard. ramidus or one of several contemporaneous hominids, A. afarensis seems to have been the ancestor of all later hominids. Somewhere around 3.0 2.5 mya A afarensis split into two general directions. T h e first, which proved a dead end, constituted the robust australopithecines, usually denominated P[aranthr0pus) aethiopieus, P. robustus, and P. boisei. T h e second, or gracile, form, named A. africanus, known only from southern Africa, may have led directly to the genus Homo. T h e recent discovery in the Hata Beds of the Middle Awash Valley of Ethiopia of a new species, Australopithecus garhi, thus far known only from craniodental remains and dated to 2.5 mya, has now challenged this conclusion. Although clearly descended from A. afarensis, this hominid possesses some dental features similar to those of early genus Homo. This has led its discoverers to suggest that A. garhi is a prime candidate for the nearest ancestor of our own species. 10 M a j o r site locations for fossil remains of the earliest example of the genus Homo include Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, in Ethiopia in the vicinity of Lake Turkana, a n d especially in Kenya, on the northeast shore of Lake T u r k a n a at Koobi Fora and at C h e m e r o n to the south." T h e genus Homo can be anatomitralopithecus at M a k a in E t h i o p i a , " Nature 3 6 6 (18 N o v . 1993): 261 65; R i c h a r d Leakey, 771e Origin of Humankind{ N e w York: Basic Books, 1994), p p . 5 5 56; M i c h a e l H . D a y , " H o m i n i d L o c o m o t i o n F r o m T a t i n g to the Lactoli F o o t p r i n t s , " in Hominid Evolution. Past, Present, and Future. Phillip V. T o b i a s , ed. (New Y o r k : A l a n R. Liss, Ltd., 1985), p p . 1 1 5 - 2 7 . 10 R i c h a r d G . Klein, The Human Career. Human Biological and Cultural Origins (Chicago: T h e U n i versity of C h i c a g o Press, 1989), pp. 158 62; i d e m , " A n a t o m y , Behavior, a n d M o d e r n H u m a n O r i gins," p. 170; H e n r y M . M c H c n r y a n d R a n d a l l R. Skelton, "Is Australopithecus africanus Ancestral to Homo?" in Hominid Evolution, p p . 221 26; a n d T o b i a s , Olduvai Gorge, Vol. 4, p p . 8 11, 8 2 0 27; Bilsb o r o u g h , "Diversity, Evolution a n d A d a p t i o n , " p p . 2 1 0 13. T h e lineage of Homo r e m a i n s c o n t r o versial. D o n a l d C . J o h a n s o n a r g u e s that A. afarensis w a s the a n c e s t o r of all later hominids, but considers it m o r e likely t h a t A. africanus led to P. robustus/bosei a n d w a s not a p r e c u r s o r to Homo. H e thinks that that link has yet to b e discovered. D o n a l d C . J o h a n s o n , " T h e M o s t Primitive Australopithecus," in Hominid Evolution, p p . 2 0 3 21. F o r A. garhi, see B e r h a n e Asfaw, T i m W h i t e , O w e n Lovejoy, B r u c e L a t i m e r , Scott Simpson, a n d G e n S u w a , "Austalopithecus garlic. A N e w Species of Early H o m i n i d f r o m Ethiopia,' 5 Science 2 8 4 (23 April 1999): 6 2 9 35. Its b r a i n c a s e size of ca. 4 5 0 cc. is well below that of H. habilis at ca. 6 4 0 cc. Cf. also Leakey, The Origin of Humankind, p p . 21 36. 11
T h a t / / . habilis, t h e earliest identifiable e x a m p l e of Homo, r e p r e s e n t s a single t a x o n is strongly m a i n t a i n e d b y T o b i a s , " E n v i r o n m e n t a l B a c k g r o u n d , " 129 42, a n d i d e m , Olduvai Gorge. Vol. 4, p p . 3 49. O t h e r s , h o w e v e r , assert that, b e c a u s e of significant a n a t o m i c a l variations seen in fossils f r o m different sites, t h e earliest representatives of this g e n u s m a y actually r e p r e s e n t t h r e e different species of Homo. So, f o r instance, differences 111 e n d o c r a n i a l capacity a n d tooth size incline s o m e scholars to believe t h a t Π habilis at O l d u v a i G o r g e differs f r o m Homo finds at K o o b i F o r a a n d so postulate t h r e e s e p a r a t e species: H. habilis sensu stricto, II. rudolfensis, a n d II. ergaster. See, e.g., B e r n a r d W o o d , " O r i g i n a n d Evolution of t h e G e n u s Homo" Nature 3 5 5 (27 F e b . 1992): 7 8 3 90; i d e m , " E a r l y H o m i n i d Species a n d S p e c i a t i o n , " JHumEvol 22 (1992): 351 65; Daniel L. Lieberm a n , B e r n a r d A. W o o d , a n d David R. P i l b e a m , " H o m o p l a s y a n d Early Homo: a n Analysis of the E v o l u t i o n a r y R e l a t i o n s h i p s of II. habilis sensu stricto a n d II. rudolfensis," JHumEvol 30 (1996): 97 120; a n d G . Philip R i g h t m i r e , " V a r i a t i o n A m o n g Early Homo C r a n i a f r o m O l d u v a i G o r g e a n d the K o o b i F o r a R e g i o n , " AJPA 9 0 (1993): 1 33. '
demis H o m o
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CHAPTER ONE
cally differentiated from Australopithecus in a n u m b e r of ways, but most clearly by possession of a cranial capacity ranging from two to five times larger. 12 T h e differential between P. robustus, with an average endocranial capacity of 530 cc, and the earliest Homo, H. habilis, with 640 cc, is quite small. T h e slightly younger and more widely dispersed contemporary, H. erectus, however, had a significantly larger endocranial capacity, averaging 1,043 cc. 13 Although increased brain size is important, brain structure seems more critical in processing, learning, and retaining information. Increased mental complexity and processing capacity affect linguistic skills, tool use, and social intelligence. 14 12
A u s t r a l o p i t h e c i n e c r a n i a vary f r o m 3 8 0 cc to 5 3 0 cc, while the earliest Homo h a d a capacity of f r o m 6 0 0 cc to 752 cc. Homo erectus, ;1 later f o r m f o u n d at sites e x t e n d i n g f r o m Africa to C h i n a o v e r a long s p a n of time, weighs in with a c r a n i a l capacity v a r y i n g b e t w e e n 700 cc a n d 1250 cc. By c o m p a r i s o n , the b r a i n of m o d e r n m a n , Homo sapiens sapiens, varies b e t w e e n 1,000 cc a n d 2,000 cc. T o b i a s gives slightly v a r y i n g figures for the m e a n e n d o c r a n i a l capacities for early h o m i n i d s , b u t t h e y a r e relatively close. S e e T o b i a s , Olduvai Gorge, Vol. 4, p. 708, T a b l e 181, a n d p p . 799 801. F r a n k E. Poirier, Understanding Human Evolution. 2 n d e d . ( E n g l e w o o d Cliffs, N . J . : P r e n tice Hall, 1990), p p . 1 3 9 - 4 2 , 211; Dickson, Ancient Preludes, p p . 185 86; J o h n YVymcr, The Palaeolithic Age (New York: St. M a r t i n ' s Press, 1982), p p . 4 6 47. 13
Figures given by Phillip V7. T o b i a s , in L a r r y T r a s k , Phillip V . T o b i a s , T h o m a s W y n n , lain D a v i d s o n , William N o b l e , a n d Paul Mellars, " T h e O r i g i n s of S p e e c h , " CArchJ 8, η θ . 1 (1998): 75. Homo habilis m a y u p o n f u r t h e r investigation p r o v e to b e m o r e a n e n d - s t a g e of a u s t r a l o p i t h e c i n e d e v e l o p m e n t t h a n the first e x a m p l e of g e n u s Homo. C f . C l a r k , World Prehistory, p. 22. A h o m i n i d similar to II. habilis of e a s t e r n Africa a n d p e r h a p s a p r e c u r s o r to II. erectus has b e e n discovered at L o n g g u p o in S i c h u a n , C h i n a a n d d a t e s to ca. 5 0 0 , 0 0 0 y e a r s a f t e r the a p p e a r a n c e of II. habilis in Africa. R o y Larick a n d Russell C h i c h o n , " T h e First Asians," Archaeology ( J a n . - F e b . 1996): 5 1 - 5 3 . H. erectus fossils h a v e b e e n r e c o r d e d in N o r t h a n d East A f r i c a (Algeria a n d O l d u v a i G o r g e , for e x a m p l e ) , S o u t h e a s t Asia (Java), a n d C h i n a . W h e t h e r II. erectus m a d e it to E u r o p e is o p e n to question. They d i s a p p e a r f r o m t h e fossil r e c o r d s a b o u t 3 0 0 , 0 0 0 B. P., a l t h o u g h s o m e m a y h a v e survived as late as 2 7 , 0 0 0 B.P. in J a v a . C . C . Swisher, III, W . J . Rink, S. C . A n t o n , H . P. S c h w a r c z , G . H . C u r t i s , A. S u p r i j o , a n d W i d i a s m o r o , "Latest Homo erectus of J a v a : Potential C o n t e m p o r a n e ity with Homo sapiens in S o u t h e a s t Asia," Science 2 7 4 (13 Dec. 1996): 1 8 7 0 - 7 4 ; A n n G i b b o n s , "Homo erectus in J a v a : A 2 5 0 , 0 0 0 - Y e a r A n a c h r o n i s m , " Science 2 7 4 (13 Dec. 1996): 1 8 4 1 - 4 2 ; Dicksoil, Ancient Preludes, p p . 187 90; W y m e r , Palaeolithic Age, p p . 46, 138 39; J o h n A. J . G o w l e t t , Ascent to Civilization. The Archaeology of Early Humans. 2 n d ed. (New Y o r k : M c G r a w - H i l l , Inc., 1993), p p . 84- 85, 1 0 0 - 0 9 ; K l e i n , Human Carier, p p . 183 223. " Klein, " A n a t o m y , Behavior, a n d M o d e r n H u m a n O r i g i n s , " p. 169; Poirier, Understanding Human Evolution, p p . 140 42; K a t h l e e n R. G i b s o n , " T o o l Use, L a n g u a g e a n d Social B e h a v i o r in R e l a t i o n s h i p to I n f o r m a t i o n Processing C a p a c i t i e s , " in Tools, Language and Cognition in Human Evolution. K a t h l e e n R. G i b s o n a n d T i m Ingold, cds. ( C a m b r i d g e : C a m b r i d g e University Press, 1993), p p . 251 69; C h r i s S t r i n g e r , " H u m a n Evolution a n d Biological A d a p t a t i o n in the Pleistocene," in Hominid Evolution and Community Ecology. Prehistoric Human Adaption in Biological Perspective. R o b e r t Foley, ed. ( L o n d o n : A c a d e m i c Press, 1984), p p . 77 78. W h y t h e b r a i n size of Homo increased as it did, t h e r e b y initiating a n ever w i d e n i n g d i f f e r e n c e b e t w e e n it a n d o t h e r early h o m i n i d s , r e m a i n s u n k n o w n . O n e line of t h o u g h t associates t h e evolution of b i p e d a l i s m with the d e v e l o p m e n t of a blood-flow system in the b r a i n that allowed for a n i n c r e a s e d cooling capability d u r i n g h y p e r t h e r m i a t h e r e b y allowing for larger b r a i n size a n d increased m e n t a l capacity. See D e a n Falk, " E n l a r g e d O c c i p i t a l / M a r g i n a l Sinuses a n d Emissary F o r a m i n a : T h e i r Significance in H o m i n i d
כ THF, !.()WER AND MIDDLE PALEOLITHIC PERIODS
T h e C h e m e r o n site in Kenya has yielded the oldest evidence thus far for the genus Homo. T h e date o f c a . 2.5 mya established for H. habilis, or "skillful m a n , " is contemporaneous with dating of stone tools found in Ethiopia at K a d a G o n a and West Gona. At H a d a r archaeologists have uncovered remains of genus Homo, dated by potassium-argon dating of volcanic ash to ca. 2.33 mya, in the same strata as finds of stone flakes and chopping tools of the Oldowan lithic industry. 15 Recent studies showing tool making and tool-use a m o n g modern monkeys and chimpanzees, however, cause some hesitation in attributing the first tool use to Homo. If tool behavior of modern apes is any indication of early hominid activities, australopithecines may have used simple tools, particularly wooden ones, which would have left no archaeological trace. But, stone tools made by modern apes are clearly inferior to those that began to appear at this time in East Africa. 16 T h e flaking skill evident in Oldowan tools found at G o n a implies a much earlier development of the knowledge of stone-tool manufacture, but the identification of the hominid who made the tools remains unknown. T i m e and location, however, make A. garhi a prime contender for the tool mak-
E v o l u t i o n , " in Evolutionary History 0J the "Robust" Australopithecus. F r e d e r i c k E. G r i n e , e d . (New York: Aldi n e d e G r u y t e r , 1988), p p . 8 5 96, a n d Steven M i d i e n , 77ie Prehistory of the Mind. A Search for the Origins of Art, Religion and Science ( L o n d o n : T h a m e s a n d H u d s o n , 1996), p p . 2 0 4 - 0 6 . A s e c o n d idea, r e f e r r e d to as the " e n e r g e t i c a p p r o a c h , " suggests that a shift f r o m a n essentially v e g e t a r i a n diet to o n e b a s e d on m e a t , a n d so o n e m o r e easily digestible, allowed for smaller gut tissue. T h i s p e r m i t ted a n evolution w h e r e b y e n e r g y , otherwise utilized for a larger gut to digest plant foods, was diverted to the b r a i n . T h e e x t r a e n e r g y went i n t o s u p p o r t i n g a l a r g e r b r a i n . T h e r e m a y also b e a correlation b e t w e e n increased b r a i n size a n d tin ־extra e n e r g y a c q u i r e d by a m o t h e r w h o s e diet b e g a n to b e m o r e heavily m e a t b a s e d . T h e m o t h e r ' s a d d e d e n e r g y was passed o n to h e r fetus w h o s e b r a i n size t h e r e b y increased. See A n n G i b b o n , " S o l v i n g the Brain's E n e r g y Crisis," Science 280, 29) 5 3 6 8 . ח״M a y 1998): 1345 47. But cf. C . M . H l a d k , b . J . C h i v e r s , a n d P. P a s q u e t , " O n Diet a n d G u t Size in N o n - h u m a n P r i m a t e s a n d H u m a n s : Is t h e r e a R e l a t i o n s h i p to Brain Size?" CurrAnth 40, n M . 5 (Dec. 1999): 6 9 5 97. ' '־S. S e m a w , P. R e n n e , J . W . K. H a r r i s , C . S. Feibel, R. L. B e r n o r , N . Fesseha, a n d K. M o w b r a y , "2.5-million-year-old S t o n e T o o l s f r o m G o n a , E t h i o p i a , " Nature 3 8 5 (23 J a n . 1997): 3 3 3 - 3 6 . W h o m a d e the tools at G o n a is u n k n o w n . See also A. M . H. S., "Earliest R e m a i n s of G e n u s H o m o , " Archaeology 50, 1 (Jan. Feb. 1997): 26; T o b i a s , " E n v i r o n m e n t a l B a c k g r o u n d of H o m i n i d E m e r g e n c e , " p. 138; i d e m , Olduvai Gorge, Vol. 4, pp. 8 3 0 32; A n d r e w Hill, Steven W a r d , Alan D e m o , G a r n i s s Curtis, a n d R o b e r t D r a k e , "Earliest H o m o , " Nature 355 (20 F e b . 1992): 719 22; G l y n n Isaac, " T h e A r c h a e o l o g y of H u m a n O r i g i n s : Studies of t h e L o w e r Pleistocene in East A f r i c a 1971 1981," in The Archaeology of Human Origins. B a r b a r a Isaac, cd. ( C a m b r i d g e : C a m b r i d g e University Press, 1989), p p . 126 '27. " ׳G r e g o r y C h a r l e s W e s t e r g a a r d a n d S t e p h e n J . S u o m i , " A S i m p l e Stone-tool T e c h n o l o g ) ׳in M o n k e y s , " JHumEvol 17 (1994): 4 0 3 . T h e viability of reliance o n c o m p a r i s o n s b e t w e e n observed b e h a v i o r s 111 m o d e r n c h i m p a n z e e s a n d o t h e r a p e s a n d a s s u m e d b e h a v i o r s in early h o m i n i d s is not s h a r e d b y all p a l e o a n t h r o p o l o g i s t s . Dissenters p r e f e r to rely u p o n fossil e v i d e n c e alone. Cf. R i c h a r d Polls, " H o m i n i d H u n t e r s ? P r o b l e m s of Identifying the Earliest H u n t e r / G a t h e r e r s , " in Hominid Evolution and Community Ecology, p p . 129 66.
H.
habilis and
stone tools
CHAPTER ONE
10
crs of Gona. Bones of an antelope and of a three-toed horse, found in close proximity to the bones of A. garhi, bear cut marks indicative of butchery with stone tools. That this hominid may have engaged in behavior to this point characteristic of genus Homo alone further supports the suggestion that A. garhi was ancestor to H. habilis.7 יT h e proposition that tool making was species specific, therefore, may have to be altered if these finds in the Hata beds bear further scrutiny. Credit for the earliest stone tools, however, must continue to reside for the moment with H. habilis rather than with any australopithecine. T h e former possessed a greater brain size and assumed increased brain structure, and his t h u m b placement allowed for more precise grasping than the chimpanzee-like t h u m b of, for instance, A. afarensisAdditionally, although the brain capacity and t h u m b placement of P. robustus are similar to those of Ii. habilis, there has been no firm evidence for stone tools in relation to finds of P. robustus.{9 T h e appearance of genus Homo at around 2.5 mya coincided with several important events. Physiological changes from the australopithecines include increased brain capacity and complexity, which led to an increased level of cognitive intelligence. Dentocranial variances, such as decreased posterior teeth size and enamel thickness relative to australopithecines (slightly with respect to Ii. habilis but significantly in H. erectus), as well as a less developed j a w musculature in comparison with that of Paranthropus indicate differences in diet. 20 And finally,
17
Elizabeth C u l o t t a , " A N e w H u m a n A n c e s t o r ? " Science 2 8 4 (23 April 1999): 5 7 2 - 7 3 ; J e a n d e Heinzelln, J . D e s m o n d C l a r k , T i m W h i t e , William H a r t , Paul R e n n e , G i d a y W o l d e G a b r i e l , Y o n a s B e y e n e , a n d Elisabeth V r b a , " E n v i r o n m e n t a n d B e h a v i o r of 2 . 5 - M i l l i o n - Y e a r - O l d Bouri H o m i n i d s , " Science 2 8 4 (23 April 1999): 6 2 5 . 2 9 ־ 18 T h e e n d o c r a n i a l capacity of H. habilis is ca. 190 cc g r e a t e r t h a n that of A. garhi a n d 2 2 6 cc g r e a t e r t h a n that of A afarensis. Postcranial b o n e s of A. garhi h a v e yet to be discovered. See T o b i a s , Olduvai Gorge, Vol. 4, p. 709, Fig. 49, a n d p. 799; Asfaw et al, "Australopithecus garhi," p. 632. T h e issue of w h o m a d e the first tools, II. habilis, the robust australopithecines, o r both, r e m a i n s contentious. Sec T i m D . W h i t e , " T h e C o m p a r a t i v e Biology of 'robust'Australopithecus: Clues f r o m C o n text," in Evolutionaly History, p. 464; a n d Bilsborough, "Diversity, Evolution a n d A d a p t i o n , " p. 215. 19 W . C . M c G r e w , M a r k W . H a m r i c k , S a n d r a E. I n o u y e , J a m e s C . O h m a n , Melissa S l a n i n a , Gail Baker, R o b e r t P. M e n s f o r t h , a n d R a n d a l l L. S u s m a n , " T h u m b s , T o o l s , a n d Early H u m a n s , " Science 2 6 8 (28 April 1995): 5 8 6 89; Klein, " A n a t o m y , Behavior, a n d M o d e r n H u m a n O r i g i n s , " p p . 172- 75; i d e m , Human Career, p p . 1 6 9 7 0 ־. R a n d a l l S u s m a n , o n the o t h e r h a n d a r g u e s t h a t I'. robustus did possess precision g r a s p i n g capabilities a n d p r o b a b l y m a d e a n d used tools a p p r o p r i a t e f o r his basically v e g e t a r i a n diet. R a n d a l l L. S u s m a n , " N e w Postcranial R e m a i n s f r o m S w a r t k r a n s a n d T h e i r B e a r i n g o n the F u n c t i o n a l M o r p h o l o g y a n d B e h a v i o r of Paranthropus robustus," in Evolutionary History, p p . 149 72; i d e m , " H a n d of Paranthropus robustus f r o m M e m b e r 1, S w a r t k r a n s : Fossil E v i d e n c e for T o o l B e h a v i o r , " Science 2 4 0 (6 M a y 1988): 7 8 1 - 8 4 ; a n d i d e m , " W h o M a d e t h e O l d o w a n T o o l s ? Fossil E v i d e n c e f o r T o o l B e h a v i o r in Plio-Pleistocene H o m i n i d s , , יJAnthRes 4 7 ( S u m m e r 1991): 1 2 9 - 5 1 . 20
H e n r y M . M c H e n r y , " N e w E s t i m a t e s of B o d y W e i g h t in Early H o m i n i d s a n d T h e i r Signific a n c e to E n c e p h a l i z a t i o n a n d M c g a d o n t i a in ' R o b u s t ' A u s t r a l o p i t h e c i n e s , " in Evolutionary History,
THF, ! . ( ) W E R AND MIDDLE PALEOLITHIC PERIODS כ
postcranial elements show marked changes. Homo developed a more efficient t h u m b placement on his hand, thereby allowing for increased grasping and manipulation skills. He differed significantly as well from the more ape-like australopithecines in bone structure of the shoulders, rib cage, and waist, so that the bipedalism of Homo was more agile and quick. 1 ־/VII these developments seem fortuitous with the simultaneous appearance of the first stone tools. T h e spread of the use of stone tools was not a gradual process. O n c e knowledge of how to construct tools was discovered and analyzed, diffusion of the skill probably occurred rather rapidly, and the sophistication of the objects and the complexity of the processes used to produce them depended upon the proficiency of the individual tool makers. Archaeologists conventionally group these tool "kits" into lithic "industries," typified by the technological process used to produce them, by the specific materials from which they were made, and by the use to which they were put, and named for the particular site where first discovered. T h e range of tool industries for the entire Paleolithic period varies considerably from one area to another, and many local variants can be identified. In general, however, Paleolithic tools can be classified into four general types based on the technology used to produce them and further correlated with specific time periods and with particular hominid groups (Fig. I).22 These include the Oldowan, Acheulian, Mousterian, and Blade industries. T h e type of tools used at Olduvai Gorge in the lower Paleolithic period in contexts of H. habilis finds are usually classed as Oldowan (Fig. 2) and comprise what has been termed the "chopper-core" or "cobble-tool" industry. M a d e principally of basalt and quartzite, Oldowan tools, while assuming no clearly preconceived form, served diverse purposes. T h e basic Oldowan tool was a pebble or cobblestone chipped on one side (unifacial) to produce a chopper. Later, Developed Oldowan tools included bifacial chopping implements and core and flake scrapers. O n e cannot always be sure whether the larger stone, which has been chipped, is the intended tool or the flakes struck from it. M o d e r n experiments with recreating Oldowan-type tools indicate that the cores were good for p p . 133 48; W i l l i a m L. H y l a n d e r , " I m p l i c a t i o n s of In Vivo E x p e r i m e n t s for I n t e r p r e t a t i n g the F u n c t i o n a l Significance of ' R o b u s t ' A u s t r a l o p i t h e c i n e J a w s , " in Evolutionary History, p p . 5 5 - 8 3 ; Frederick E. G r i n e a n d L a w r e n c e B. M a r t i n , " E n a m e l T h i c k n e s s a n d D e v e l o p m e n t in Australopithecus a n d Paranthropus," in Evolutionary History, p p . 3 42; Klein, " A n a t o m y , B e h a v i o u r a n d M o d e r n H u m a n O r i g i n s , " 172 75, csp. Fig. 3, p. 174; i d e m , Human Career, p p . 138 58. O n t h e rclationship b e t w e e n t o o t h size a n d dietary a d a p t a t i o n in g e n e r a l , see W o o d a n d Ellis, " E v i d e n c e for D i e t a r y Specialization," in Fossil Man, p p . 1 1 4 . 1 6 ־ 21 Leakey, Origin 0J Humankind, p p . 5 5 57. 22 In o t h e r w o r d s , h o m i n i d technology follows a similar e v o l u t i o n a r y process as h o m i n i d m o r p h o l o g y . Sec R o b e r t Foley, " H o m i n i d Species a n d Stone-tool Assemblages: H o w a r e they Relate d ? " Antiquity 61, no. 2 3 3 (Nov. 1987): 3 8 0 - 9 2 .
Stone ״tool kits״
H. habilis and the Oldowan tool kit
12
CHAFFER ONE
Anatomically modern H. sapiens (Africa ) 0 African archaic H.sapiens
@ European 'Neanderthals ' ^ European archaic H sapiens ? SE Asian H. erect us φ SE Asian archaic M sapiens φ Ε Asian Η. erectus fy Ε Asian archaic H. sapiens ^ Early African Η erectus 0 3
sp.
ft H. habilis I A
robustus
KEY A. crasstdens
Hi Termite 'fishing sticks '
©
A boisei
Hammerstones
I Digging sticks
Ô Oldowan
A. aethiopicus
(?)
A. africanus
Ach eu lea η Asian pebble-tools
A afarensis
Leva!lois Mousterian African MSA Blade
technology
\\(m Pan
Fig. 1. C l a d o g r a m of hominid evolution with associated tool kits. From Foley, " H o m i n i d Species a n d Stone-tool Assemblages, 1 ' p. 38b, Fig. 2. Reprinted by permission of Robert Foley and Antiquity Publications Ltd.
כ THF, !.()WER AND MIDDLE PALEOLITHIC PERIODS
Fig. 2. O l d o w a n Tools: 1 a n d 2. C h o p p i n g tools, from Olduvai Gorge; 3. T o o l from Sterkfontein, S. Africa; 4. C h o p p e r from Vallonet cave, Provence, France, c o n t e m p o r a r y with Beds 1 and 2 at Olduvai. Bordes, Old Stone Age, Fig. 10. Courtesy of McGraw-Hill Companies.
14
CHAPTER ONE
cutting branches or for dismemberment and breaking of animal bones. T h e small, thin Hakes, often retouched, possessed sharp edges useful for skinning and scraping or for precise cutting in butchery. 2 3 W h e t h e r they were actually used for those purposes is another question. O n e other event, roughly coincident with the appearance of H. habilis, probably played an important role in h u m a n evolution. Strong evidence suggests the occurrence of a global climatic change, which in Africa was characterized by a shift from a wet, hot environment to a cooler, drier one, with the concomitant alteration of the ecosystem from generally forest and woodlands to a more open area of savannah and shrubs. 24 C o m i n g as it does at the point of a branching of the hominid line into the robust australopithecines going off in one direction and Homo in another, the climatic changes may have played a role in intensifying observable evolutionary responses of the different lines. 25 This certainly seems the case in regard to habitat and diet. Homo prospered in different environments, such as along rivers and lakes, in wooded areas, and in dry open grasslands, and developed a more generalized, omnivorous diet. T h e robust australopithecines seem tied to open grassland near rivers and to a predominantly herbivorous diet. 26 H. erectus and die
Acheulian tool kit
This climatic change may have spurred development of the second species of Homo. Known earlier as "Java M a n " (Pithecanthropus erectus) from finds in J a v a and "Peking M a n " (Sinanthropus pekinensis) from fossils discovered near Peking (now Beijing), China, especially Zhoukoudian, H. erectus arose first at Koobi Fora near Lake T u r k a n a in northern Kenya ca. 1.8-1.7 mya. He is also attested at 23
A l t h o u g h s o m e scholars a r g u e for the p r e f e r e n c e of d e f i n e d shapes, such as spheroids, discoids, a n d p o l y h e d r o n s , O l d o w a n tool s h a p e s d e p e n d e d o n the c h a r a c t e r of the stone a n d o n the n u m b e r a n d s e q u e n c e of flakes d e t a c h e d . Sec M i t h e n , Prehistory of the Mind, p p . 9 6 9 8 ־, a n d Iai D a v i d s o n a n d William N o b l e , " T o o l s a n d L a n g u a g e in H u m a n E v o l u t i o n , " in Tools, Language and Cognition, p p . 3 6 7 - 6 9 . Cf. W y m e r , Palaeolithic Age, p. 55; Dickson, Ancient Preludes, p p . 1 9 3 - 9 5 ; Isaac, " A r c h a e o l o g y of H u m a n O r i g i n s , " p p . 1 2 9 - 3 1 ; G o w l e t t , Ascent to Civilization, p p . 3 8 - 3 9 , 5 2 - 5 3 ; Klein, Human Career, p p . 1 6 5 - 8 2 . 24 Elisabeth S. V r b a , " L a t e Pliocene C l i m a t i c E v e n t s a n d H o m i n i d E v o l u t i o n , " in Evolutionary History, p p . 4 0 5 - 2 6 ; M i c h a e l L. P r e n t i c e a n d G e o r g e H . D e n t o n , " T h e D e e p - S e a O x y g e n Isotope R e c o r d , T h e G l o b a l Ice Sheet System a n d H o m i n i d E v o l u t i o n , " in ibid., p p . 3 8 3 - 4 0 3 ; T o b i a s , " E n v i r o n m e n t a l B a c k g r o u n d , " p p . 137 38; R i c h a r d L. H a y , " O l d u v a i G o r g e ; A C a s e H i s t o r y in the I n t e r p r e t a t i o n of H o m i n i d P a l e o e n v i r o n m e n t s in East A f r i a , " in Establishment of a Geologic Framework for Paleoanthropology. L e o F. L a p o r t e , ed. Special P a p e r 242 (Boulder, Co.: T h e Gcological Society of A m e r i c a , Inc., 1990), p p . 2 3 - 3 7 ; a n d Bilsborough, "Diversity, Evolution a n d A d a p t i o n , " p. 213. 25
Elisabeth S. V r b a , " C l i m a t e , H e t e r o c h r o n y a n d H u m a n E v o l u t i o n / ' JAnthRes 52 (Spring 1996): 1 - 2 8 . 26 V r b a 5 " L a t e Pliocene C l i m a t i c E v e n t s , " p p . 4 1 8 20; Pat S h i p m a n a n d J o h n M . H a r r i s , " H a b i t a t P r e f e r e n c e a n d Palcoecology of Australopithecus boisei in E a s t e r n A f r i c a , " in Evolutionary History, p p . 3 4 3 81.
כ THF, ! . ( ) W E R AND MIDDLE PALEOLITHIC PERIODS
other African sites, such as Beds II and IV at Olduvai Gorge in T a n z a n i a and Bodo in Ethiopia. Perhaps ancestral to modern humans, H. erectus was probably the first hominid to depend almost entirely on bipedalism. 27 Reliance upon this new mode of travel, which freed him from attachment to an arboreal or semiarboreal existence, a significantly increased brain capacity and complexity leading to advances in cultural adaptations, and development of more sophisticated and efficient tools, doubtless contributed to his spread first to Southwest Asia, at Ubeidiya in the J o r d a n Valley of Israel, as early as 1.4—1.3 mya, then to the Far East and, perhaps, subsequently to Europe. 2 8 T h e first important innovation in the prehistoric tool kit beyond the unspecializcd Oldowan industry was the so-called Acheulian industry (Fig. 3), composed of bifacial tools, such as cleavers, and, most characteristically, the handaxe. T h e earliest Acheulian handaxes are closely associated with African H. erectus, sometimes called H. ergaster. Acheulian-type tools have been found over nearly all the Old World, and the industry lasted probably well beyond 200,000 years B. P. 29 C r u d e forms appear in the early levels at Olduvai Gorge, but once in use advances in sophistication came rapidly. T h e handaxe, made from a core or retouched large flake, was in its later, most elegant form (after ca. 250,000 B. P.) pre-shaped on the core and then struck off in what has been called the Levailois technique. T h e handaxe makes an efficient tool for butchering large animais, while the clcaver outperforms the simple flake tool in cutting wood and splitting hides. For a long time scholars believed that while hominids were developing in
H. erectus sapiens
27
Klein, " M o d e r n H u m a n O r i g i n s , " p p . 1 7 5 - 7 9 ; i d e m , Human Career, p p . 1 8 3 - 2 2 3 ; Poirier, Understanding Human Evolution, p p . 221 51; H a y , " O l d u v a i G o r g e : A C a s e H i s t o r y , " p p . 2 3 37. R i g h t m i r e believes that H. erectus m a y h a v e b e e n a distinct species r a t h e r t h a n a stage of evolution l e a d i n g directly to H. sapiens sapiens. Cf. G . Philip R i g h t m i r e , " H o m o erectus a n d L a t e r M i d d l e Pleistocene H u m a n s , " AnnRevAnthr 17 (1988): 2 3 9 - 5 9 ; i d e m , The Evolution of Homo Erectus ( C a m bridge: C a m b r i d g e University Press, 1990), p p . 180 237. 28 C l a i m s of p r e - / / , erectus h o m i n i d m i g r a t i o n f r o m Africa to L u n g g u p o C a v e in S i c h u a n p r o v i n c e d a t i n g ca. 1.9-1.7 m y a h a v e recently b e e n p u t f o r w a r d , a n d a n early / / . erectus m o v e m e n t ca. 1.8 1.6 to J a v a a n d to D m a n i s i , G e o r g i a finds a p p r o v a l with others. T h e dates, h o w e v er, a r e highly controversial. G ü n t e r B r ä u e r a n d M i c h a e l Schultz, " T h e M o r p h o l o g i c a l Affinities of the Plio-Pleistocene M a n d i b l e f r o m D m a n i s i , G e o r g i a , " JHumEvol 30 (1996): 4 4 5 - 8 1 ; A n n Gibbons, "Rewriting — and Redating P r e h i s t o r y , " Science 2 6 3 (25 F e b . 1994): 1 0 8 7 - 8 8 ; Elizab e t h C u l o t t a , "Asian H o m i n i d s G r o w O l d e r , " Science 2 7 0 (17 N o v . 1995): 1116 17; O f e r BarYosef, " T h e L o w e r Paleolithic of the N e a r E a s t , " JWorldPrehist 8, n o . 3 (1994): 211 65; Poirier, Understanding Human Evolution, p p . 2 3 9 41. 29 G o w l e t t , Ascent to Civilization, p p . 62 63; VVymcr, Palaeolithic Age, pp. 102 23; Dickson, Ancient Preludes, pp. 1 9 9 - 2 0 0 ; R o b e r t J . B r a i d w o o d , Prehistoric Men. 7 lh ed. (Glenview, II.: Scott, F o r e s m a n , 1967), p p . 5 0 5 8 ; ־Klein, " A n a t o m y , Behaviour, a n d M o d e r n H u m a n O r i g i n s , " p p . 176 78; i d e m . Human Career, p p . 1 8 3 - 2 2 3 ; Clive G a m b l e , Timewalkers. The Prehistory of Global Colonization ( C a m b r i d g e , M A : H a r v a r d University, 1994), p p . 5 3 - 6 4 .
and
H.
16
CHAPTER ONE
Fig. 3. Acheulian Tools: Middle Acheulian: I. H a n d a x e from Swanscombe, England; 2 - 4 . Sidescraper, point, a n d end-scraper, respectively, f r o m Saint-Acheul, Amiens, France; 5. " L i m a n d e , " from C a g n y , near Amiens, France. U p p e r Acheulian: 6. Cleaver, from Bihorel, near R o u e n , France. Bordes, Old Stone Age, Fig. 16. Courtesy of McGraw-Hill Companies.
כ THF, ! . ( ) W E R AND MIDDLE PALEOLITHIC PERIODS
Africa and Asia none lived in Europe before 0.5 mya. Finds of H. erectus in Dmanisi, near Tbilisi in Georgia, which may date as early as 1.8 mya, give reason to believe that firm evidence of early hominids will be found in eastern and perhaps western Europe. T o date, however, although Acheulian-type tools have been found, no H. erectus fossils have been conclusively identified. Fossil finds dating no earlier than about 500,000 B.P., found at M a u e r near Heidelberg in Germany, Boxgrove, Swanscombe, and Hoxne in England, and Vertesszöllös, near Budapest in Hungary, arc considered by some to be early, or archaic, H. sapiens rather than II. erectus. A similar conclusion holds for finds in Italy, Greece, and France. 3 0 Since 1976 at Atapuerca, in southern Spain, archaeologists have found numerous fossil remains, particularly at Sima de los Huesos, or Pit of Bones, which yielded fossil remains of archaic H. sapiens dating to well over 200,000 B. P. During 1994-1996, however, excavations at the nearby Spanish site of G r a n Dolina T D 6 yielded remains of at least six individual hominids in a layer dated to between 0.8 to 1.0 mya. Found in association with the hominids were stone tools, such as hammer-stones, Hakes, and cores, but no handaxes or cleavers. This fact, plus the presence of certain morphological differences, set these hominids off from African or Asian H. erectus and from later II. sapiens neanderthalensis. T h e y seem, therefore, to be precursors to archaic H. sapiens found in G e r m a n y at M a u e r (H. heidelbergensis), although they may constitute a new species altogether (H. antecessor).31 Acheulian artifacts continue to characterize
30
T h e C e p r a n o fossil, f o u n d in Italy ca. fifty-five miles s o u t h e a s t of R o m e , m a y r e p r e s e n t a late II. erectus p o p u l a t i o n in E u r o p e in the early M i d d l e Pleistocene p e r i o d (ca. 7 0 0 , 0 0 0 B. P.), but the e v i d e n c e is f a r f r o m clear. A. Ascenzi, I. Biddittu, P. F. Cassoli, A. G . Segre, a n d E. S e g r e - N a l d i ni, " A C a l v a r i u m of L a t e Homo erectus f r o m C e p r a n o , Italy," JHumEvol 31 (1996): 4 0 9 - 2 3 ; J e a n J a c q u e s H u b l i n , " T h e First E u r o p e a n s , " Archaeology (Jan. Feb. 1996): 36 44; Klein, Human Career, p. 214; a n d i d e m , " M o d e r n H u m a n O r i g i n s , " 177.;יןG . Philip R i g h t m i r e , " T h e Dispersal of Homo erectus f r o m Africa a n d the E m e r g e n c e of M o r e M o d e r n H u m a n s , " JAnthrRes 47 ( S u m m e r 1991): 177 91; i d e m , " H o m o E r e c t u s a n d L a t e r M i d d l e Pleistocene H u m a n s , " p p . 2 3 9 59; i d e m , Evolution of Homo Erectus, p p . 2 2 4 33; Poirier, Understanding Human Evolution, p p . 2 3 9 43, 252 57. S o m e scholars believe t h a t / / . erectus as a species a c c o m m o d a t e s a w i d e variation, e n c o m p a s s i n g A f r i c a n a n d Asian II. erectus a n d a r c h a i c H sapiens. S e e A n d r e w K r a m e r , " H u m a n T a x o n o m i c Diversity in the Pleistocene: D o e s Homo erectus R e p r e s e n t M u l t i p l e H o m i n i d Species," A JPA 91 (1993): 161 71. 31
J . M . B e r m û d e z d e C a s t r o , J . L. A r s u a g a , E. C a r b o n e l l , A. Rosas, I. M a r t i n e z , a n d M . M o s q u e r a , " A H o m i n i d f r o m the L o w e r Pleistocene of A t a p u e r c a , Spain: Possible A n c e s t o r to N e a n dertals a n d M o d e r n H u m a n s , " Science 2 7 6 (30 M a y 1997): 1392 95; A n n G i b b o n s , " A N e w F a c e for H u m a n A n c e s t o r s , " Science 2 7 6 (30 M a y 1997): 1 3 3 1 - 3 3 ; P a u l G . B a h n , " T r e a s u r e of the Sierra A t a p u e r c a , " Archaeology (Jan. Feb. 1996): 4 5 48; E. C a r b o n e l l , J . N . B e r m ú d e z d e C a s t r o , J . L. A r s u a g a , J . C . Diez, A. Rosas, G . C u e n c a - B e s c ô s , R. Sala, M . M o s q u e r a , a n d X . P. R o d r i g u e z , " L o w e r Pleistocene H o m i n i d s a n d Artifacts f r o m A t a p u e r c a - T D 6 (Spain)," Science 2 6 9 (1 1 A u g . 1995): 8 2 6 2 9 ; ־J o s e p M . P a r é s a n d A l f r e d o P é r e z - G o n z â l e z , " P a l e o m a g n e t i c Age f o r H o m i n i d Fossils at A t a p u e r c a A r c h a e o l o g i c a l Site, S p a i n , " Science 2 6 9 (1 1 A u g . 1995): 8 3 0 32; E m i l i a n o
18
Neanderthal man
and the Mouserian
tool kit
CHAPTER ONE
early, or archaic, H. sapiens, who are not clearly distinguished from Ii. erectus and whose representative fossils vary widely a m o n g individuals. 32 In Africa and Europe archaic H. sapiens tended to diverge from H. erectus more so than in the East. Those in Africa evolved toward anatomically modern humans (//. sapiens sapiens), in Europe toward Neanderthal man. Neanderthals (H. sapiens neanderthalensLs) occupied areas from western Europe to Asia during the later interglacial and early Last Glaciation periods, about 110,000 B. P. to ca. 35,000 B. P., and probably earlier. 33 W h e t h e r they formed a distinct spccies or are directly descendent from the archaic Ii. sapiens populations of Europe, H. heidelbergensis for example, remains debatable. 3 4 T h e lithic industry associated with them in Europe and western Asia, though not exclusively linked to Neanderthals, has been termed Mousterian and involves use of several flakeproducing strategies, prominent a m o n g them the Levallois technique. T h e Neanderthal tool kit comprises a variety of small unifacial flakes (4.0-7.0 cm. in length) and bifacial tools, such as elongated points, backed knives, handaxes, notched and denticulate tools, and particularly side scrappers. Although Mousterian tools do appear in Africa, they are not linked with Neanderthal occupations. 35 At this point it might be well to summarize the complex evolution of man traced thus far. Anatomically m o d e r n m a n , H. sapiens sapiens, ultimately derived from early African hominids, particularly A. afarensis, who arose in Ethiopia at around 4.18 mya. T h e first hominid clearly in direct line to modern m a n was H. habilis, who can be placed in Kenya and Ethiopia by 2.5 mya at a time coincident with significant climatic change a n d the invention of stone tools. Specific anatomic evolutions that set Homo on a fast track to development included increased cranial capacity, changes in size of teeth and in j a w structure, placement of the t h u m b on the h a n d and acquisition of the capability for
A g u i r r e a n d A n t o n i o Rosas, "Fossil M a n f r o m C u e v a M a y o r , Ibeas, S p a i n : N e w Findings a n d T a x o n o m i c Discussion," in Hominid Evolution, p p . 3 1 7 - 2 8 ; E u d a l d C a r b o n e l l , M a r i n a M o s q u e r a , X o s c R o d r i g u e z , a n d R o b e r t Sala, " T h e First H u m a n S e t t l e m e n t of E u r o p e , " JAnthrRes 51 (1995): 1 0 7 - 1 4 . 32 Klein, Human Career, p p . 2 2 4 - 6 2 . 33 Paul Mellars, The Neanderthal Legacy. An Archaeological Perspective fiom Western Europe (Princeton: P r i n c e t o n University Press, 1996), p p . 2 4; Poirier, Understanding Human Evolution, p p . 2 6 6 - 9 7 . 34 Mellars, Neanderthal Legacy, p p . 2 4 ; ־F r e d H . S m i t h , " T h e N e a n d e r t a l s : E v o l u t i o n a r y D e a d E n d s o r A n c e s t o r s of M o d e r n P e o p l e ? " JAnthrRes 47 ( S u m m e r 1991): 2 1 9 - 3 8 ; G . B r ä u e r , " N e w E v i d e n c e o n the T r a n s i t i o n a l P e r i o d B e t w e e n N e a n d e r t h a l a n d M o d e r n M a n , " JHumEvol 10 (1981): 4 6 7 - 7 4 . 35 Mellars, Neanderthal Legacy, p p . 5 6 77, 9 5 - 1 4 0 ; Klein, Human Career, p p . 2 6 4 - 3 4 3 ; G o w l e t t , Ascent to Civilization, p p . 1 1 0 - 1 3 ; W y m c r , Palaeolithic Age, p p . 1 4 5 - 5 6 ; Dickson, Ancient Preludes, p p . 2 0 9 - 1 4 ; B r a i d w o o d , Prehistoric Men, p p . 5 0 58.
כ THF, !.()WER AND MIDDLE PALEOLITHIC PERIODS
precision grasping, development of shoulders, ribs, and waist to aid movement and maneuverability, a more sophisticated brain structure leading to increased cognitive skills, and perhaps a rudimentary form of speech. H. erectus, at around 1.4 mya, and perhaps earlier, spread out of Africa into Southwest Asia, the Far East, and by 1.0 mya perhaps to Europe. This last assertion is controversial, since the earliest h u m a n fossils found there (Atapuerca, G r a n Dolina, Spain) may constitute a different species altogether, and more recent ones, dating to ca. 0.5 mya and later, so far diverge from H. erectus as to be frequently distinguished by the term archaic / / . sapiens. 111 Africa H. erectus had been replaced by anatomically modern h u m a n s by 100,000 B.P., 36 By this time, therefore, three distinct species of early m a n coexisted: late H. erectus (or archaic H. sapiens) in the Far East, H. sapiens neanderthalensis in Europe, and H. sapiens sapiens in Africa. T h e question of the spread and distribution of anatomically modern H. sapiens throughout the Old World forms the center of an ongoing controversy. T h e two ״Multiregional competing theories accept that H. erectus (— H. ergaster) spread from Africa by 1.4 evolution" vs. "Out mya and settled throughout Southwest Asia and the Far East, and that either of Africa" late Ii. erectus or archaic H. sapiens populated Europe. T h e r e agreement ends. 37 O n e group of scholars opts for a "Multiregional Evolution," which argues that anatomically modern humans developed wherever earlier non-modern ones (//. habilis, H. erectus, archaic II sapiens, and H. sapiens neanderthalensis) lived. 38 A continuous gene flow a m o n g the populations maintained a homogeneous and synchronous evolutionary development everywhere. T h e second group adheres to the theory dubbed " O u t of Africa." 3 9 Proponents of this group posit a second movement, dating to ca. 60,000 50,000 B. P., during which time modern or near modern H. sapiens of Africa fanned out and supplanted archaic II sapiens 36
T h e earliest s p e c i m e n s of / / . sapiens sapiens in Africa c o m e f r o m the O m o R i v e r Valley of E t h i o p i a a n d f r o m Eyasi a n d Laetoli in T a n z a n i a a n d d a t e to ca. 1 2 0 , 0 0 0 - 1 3 0 , 0 0 0 B. P. Poirier, Understanding Human Evolution, p p . 3 1 3 16. 37 T h e c o n t r o v e r s y is s o m e w h a t m o r e c o m p l i c a t e d t h a n described, since variations to these m o d e l s h a v e b e e n o f f e r e d as well. Nevertheless, the t w o h y p o t h e s e s described f o r m the basic divide. See Leslie C . Aiello, " T h e Fossil E v i d e n c e f o r M o d e r n H u m a n O r i g i n s in Africa: A Revised V i e w , " AmerAnthr 9 5 (1993): 73 96. 38 Cf. Klein, " M o d e r n H u m a n O r i g i n s , " p p . 179 91; Leakey, Origin of Humankind, p p . 8 3 99; M i l f o r d H . WolpofT, A l a n G . T h o r n e , F r e d H . S m i t h , D a v i d W . Frayer, a n d G e o f f r e y Ci. Pope, " M u l t i r e g i o n a l Evolution: A W o r l d - w i d e S o u r c e for M o d e r n H u m a n P o p u l a t i o n s , " in Origins of Anatomically Modern Humans. M a t t h e w H . Nitecki a n d D o r i s V. Nitecki, eds. (New Y o r k : P l e n u m Press, 1994), p p . 175 99. 39 Cf. C h r i s S t r i n g e r a n d R o b i n M c K i e , African Exodus ( L o n d o n : J o n a t h a n C a p e , 1996); C h r i s t o p h e r B. Stringer, " O u t of A f r i c a A Personal History," in Origins of Anatomically Modern Humans., p p . 1 4 9 - 7 2 ; Klein, " M o d e r n H u m a n O r i g i n s , " p p . 1 7 9 - 9 1 ; Leakey, Origin of Humankind, p p . 8 3 99; Aiell ü , "Fossil E v i d e n c e , " p p . 73 96.
CHAPTER ONE
20
populations in Eurasia and the Neanderthals of Europe. Regardless of the validity of either theory, anatomically modern humans, Ii. sapiens sapiens, dominate the Old World by 30,000 B. P. 40
B. Early Hominid Subsistence Strategies Diet and tool-wear analysis
W e must now turn our attention directly to the question at hand: how did food technology develop during the evolution of m a n , and what role did it play in that evolution? Although tools can serve many functions, such as weapons for defense or offense, many can be associated with the acquisition, preparation, or processing of food, and so can tell us much about early man's subsistence strategies. Although modern experiments with making stone tools can imply the purposes for which tools were used, it remains difficult to prove these potential uses. More recently, studies under a microscope of wear patterns on stone tools allow scholars to determine the material on which the tool was used. Sometimes particlcs of the material adhere to the tool and can be seen under magnification. So, for instance, flint tools at Koobi Fora, in Kenya, showed polish consistent with cutting meat, plants, and wood. Not every instance, however, would have been related to food, since not all plants would have been eaten. Additionally, study of tool marks on bone has, for limited types of stone, provided additional help in determining the actual use of some stone tools. Bones at Olduvai Gorge and at Koobi Fora, for example, show clear evidence of having been cut or scraped while fresh. 41 But modern primates are not totally carnivorous; some plant foods in varying proportions make up their diet. So it probably was with early man.
4(1
Aicllo, "Fossil E v i d e n c e , " p p . 81 84. F o r s u m m a t i o n s of the controversy, sec F. C l a r k H o w ell, " A C h r o n o s t r a d g r a p h i c a n d T a x o n o m i c F r a m e w o r k of the O r i g i n s of M o d e r n H u m a n s , " in Origins of Anatomically Modem Humans, p p . 2 5 3 319. A n a t o m i c a l l y m o d e r n H. sapiens w h o a p p e a r e d in Israel at Skhul as early as 120,000 B. P. a n d at Q a f z e h by 9 0 , 0 0 0 B. P. w e r e c o n t e m p o r a r y with N e a n d e r t h a l s , w h o s u p e r c e d e d t h e m ca. 75,000 B. P., a n d so w e r e not ancestors to a n a t o m i tally m o d e r n / / . sapiens a p p e a r i n g in E u r o p e ca. 4 0 , 0 0 0 B. P. T h e latest N e a n d e r t h a l r e c o r d e d is at the K e b a r a C a v e o n the western slope of M t . C a r m e l a n d d a t e s as late as 6 0 , 0 0 0 B. P. Klein, Human Career, p p . 3 3 9 - 4 2 ; N o r b e r t M e r c i e r a n d H é l è n e V a l l a d a s , " T h e r m o l u m i n e s c e n c e D a t e s f o r the Paleolithic L e v a n t , " in Late Quaternary Chronology and Paleoclimates of the Eastern Mediterranean. O f e r Bar-Yosef a n d R e n e e S. K r a , eds. ( T u s c o n , Az.: University of A r i z o n a , 1994), p. 18. See also A n t h o n y E. M a r k s , " T h e M i d d l e a n d U p p e r Palaeolithic of t h e N e a r East a n d the Nile Valley: T h e P r o b l e m of C u l t u r a l T r a n s f o r m a t i o n s , " in The Emergence of Modern Humans. An Archaeological Perspective. Paul Mellars, e d . (Ithaca: C o r n e l l University Press, 1990), p p . 6 0 - 6 4 . N e w e v i d e n c e f r o m J a v a indicates that a n a t o m i c a l l y m o d e r n II. sapiens in the F a r East w e r e c o n t e m p o r a r y with H. erectus d o w n to ca. 2 7 , 0 0 0 B. P. See S w i s h e r et al, "Latest Homo erectus ofJ a v a , " p p . 1 8 7 0 - 7 4 . 41
Isaac, " A r c h a e o l o g y of H u m a n O r i g i n s , " pp. 1 3 2 - 3 4 ; G o w l e t t , Ascent to Civilization, 52 5 3 .
pp.
כ THF, ! . ( ) W E R AND MIDDLE PALEOLITHIC PERIODS
W e a r patterns on stone tools or cut marks on bone, therefore, can provide only part of the picture of early hominid diet. Also helpful in determining the types of foods consumed by the earliest hominids is the study of tooth size and dental wear patterns. 4 2 Studies on dental wear and tooth size of early pre-hominid and australopithecine inhabitants of eastern and southern Africa in comparison with modern primates, for example, provide general knowledge of the diet of early m a n , and may indicate differences a m o n g the species. These differences may also point to changes in dietary habits and habitat occupations coincident with climatic changes and the appearance of tool making and tool-use at ca. 2.5 mya. Orthographic and wear analyses of australopithecince teeth indicate that their diet probably consisted of soft foods, such as fruits and foliage, as well as nuts, grasses, cereals, and bulbs and tubers. T h e latter group, being tougher, would have left their marks on the teeth. T h e determination of specific kinds of plant foods eaten and the proportion of plant to meat consumed by early hominids, however, is as yet impossible, since plant-food remains in Plio-Pleistocene archaeological contexts are, for all intents and purposes, non-existent. Prior to the use of fire to render some plant foods edible, or at least palatable, selection of plant foods must have been impeded by their palatability, digestibility, harmfullness, availability, and ease of acquisition. 43 Lack of tools probably restricted consumption to easily obtainable, more pliable foods gathered locally and needing little or no further preparation. This would, doubtless, also restrict the size of animals eaten to the smaller mammals, insects, and perhaps fish. Fish bones, primarily catfish (clarias) and tilapia (cichlidae·), have been found in Beds I and II at Olduvai Gorge. These lake-margin paleoenvironments were h o m e to both P. boisei and H. habilis. Opportunity to consume fish probably depended upon catching them by hand during dry seasons. 44 T h e earliest "tools" used by the first hominids, therefore, were probably items
12
P. S. U n g a r a n d F. E. G r i n e , " I n c i s o r Size a n d W e a r in Australopithecus africanus a n d Paranthropus robustus" JHumEvol 2 0 (1991): 3 1 3 - 4 0 ; A l a n S. R y a n a n d D o n a l d C . J o h a n s o n , " A n t e r i o r D e n t a l M i c r o w e a r in Australopithecus afarensis״. C o m p a r i s o n s with H u m a n a n d N o n h u m a n Prim a t e s , " JHumEvol 18 (1989): 2 3 5 - 6 8 ; R i c h a r d F. K a y a n d F r e d e r i c k E. G r i n e , " T o o t h M o r p h o l o gy, W e a r a n d Diet in Australopithecus a n d Paranthropus f r o m S o u t h e r n A f r i c a , " in Evolutionär1 ׳History, pp.427-47. t;i A n n B r o w e r Stahl, " H o m i n i d D i e t a r y Selection B e f o r e Fire," CurrAnthr 25, n o . 2 (April 1984): 151 68; J e a n n e M . Sept, " B e y o n d Bones: A r c h a e o l o g i c a l Sites, E a r l y H o m i n i d Subsist e n c e , a n d t h e Costs a n d Benefits of E x p l o i t i n g W i l d Plant F o o d s in East A f r i c a n R i v e r i n e L a n d s c a p e s , " JHumEvol 2 7 (1994): 2 9 5 320. " K a t h l y n M . S t e w a r t , " E a r l y H o m i n i d Utilisation of Fish R e s o u r c e s a n d I m p l i c a t i o n s for Seasonality a n d B e h a v i o u r , " JHumEvol 27 (1994): 2 2 9 - 4 5 : H a y , " O l d u v a i G o r g e : A C a s e H i s t o r y , " pp. 30-31.
Diet, tooth size, and dental-wear analysis
Australopithecine diet
CI !AFTER ONE
22
which came to h a n d a n d were used practically unaltered for some simple purpose, such as knocking fruit from trees, digging roots and bulbs, or killing small animals. These could take the form of sticks, unaltered rocks, or discarded bone, all of which would have left little or no trace in the archaeological record. Modern chimpanzees, for example, use small twigs as probes inserted into nests to extract termites, and large sticks and stones to crack nuts, even transporting stones to the site for that purpose. T h e y even occasionally consume meat. Captive capuchin monkeys have also been observed to make and use digging sticks similar to those of the !Kung San, a m o d e r n hunter-gatherer society of the Kalahari Desert of Botswana. Unlike the !Kung, however, capuchin monkeys do not periodically retouch their tools, and they a b a n d o n them after use. 45 T h e various australopithecines, therefore, probably functioned at this level, although some differences a m o n g them are discernible. P. robustus, relative to estimated body weight, had smaller anterior (incisors and canines) but larger posterior (molars) teeth than did the gracile australopithecines, A. afarensis and A. africanus. T h e posterior teeth were used for crushing a n d / o r grinding during mastication. 4 6 W e a r patterns on incisors of the gracile species indicate more abrasion from grit and more frequent use. W h a t this means specifically for their dietary habits is as yet unclear. It seems likely, though, that the robust hominids enjoyed a "hard-object" diet made up more of items like seeds that were encased in a hard outer shell, while the gracile forms ate a greater variety of foods, especially leaves and stems. This does not indicate exclusivity of dietary choice, only apparent preference. Microwear patterns may also indicate a seasonal consumption of various foods. Studies of A. afarensis teeth, for example, indicate that changes in wear patterns may imply that teeth show more polish and striations when the hominid is eating foods in a forested area during wet seasons, and more flaking and pitting when consuming hard, gritty foods, such as seeds and roots, in a savannah area during dry periods. If so, then it may indicate that this species was not only predominantly herbivorous but also occupied different habitats at different times. 47 Early hominids, therefore, in general probably had a diet made up of fruits, leaves, nuts, roots, seeds, and grasses, and, at some time and in vary-
45
R i c h a r d Potts, Early Hominid Activities at Olduvai (New Y o r k : A l d i n e D e G r u y t e r , 1988), p. 233. G r e g o r y C h a r l e s W e s t e r g a a r d a n d S t e p h e n J . S u o m i . " T h e P r o d u c t i o n a n d Use of D i g g i n g T o o l s by M o n k e y s : Λ N o n h u m a n P r i m a t e M o d e l of a H o m i n i d Subsistence Activity," JAnthrRes 51 (Spring 1995): 1 8. T h e use o f t h e digging stick, h o w e v e r , m a y h a v e b e e n a n i n n o v a t i o n of Homo. S e c W . C . M c G r e w , in S t a h l , " H o m i n i d D i e t a r y S e l e c t i o n , " p. 160. >״ Potts, Early Hominid Activities, p p . 282 84; W h i t e et al, "Australopithecus ramidus," p. 312; W o o d a n d Ellis, in Fossil Man, p p . 101 24; H y l a n d e r , " I m p l i c a t i o n s , " p p . 75 77. 47 R y a n a n d j o h a n s o n , " A n t e r i o r D e n t a l M i c r o w e a r , " p. 265; Sept, " B e y o n d B o n e s , " p . 3 0 1 .
כ THF, !.()WER AND MIDDLE PALEOLITHIC PERIODS
ing degree, animals that ate the latter. 48 T h e m a j o r difference between the robust and gracile forms is that the latter tended more toward softer foods. T h e emergence of genus Homo and the invention of stone tools ca. 2.5 mya, followed by climatic change ca. 0.5 mya later, initiated a major dietary shift a m o n g early hominids. T h e trend to smaller posterior teeth continued in genus Homo and was probably related to dietary change from one largely vegetarian to one predominantly omnivorous. T o j u d g e from evidence from Atapuerca, Spain, dated to the European Middle Pleistocene period, the contention that the development of food preparation techniques led to further reduction in posterior teeth size until the level presently seen in modern H. sapiens sapiens, however, is subject to dispute. 49 Meat became a significant part of man's diet, although what percentage it assumed compared to plant and other foods is unknown. T h e shift to a heavier concentration of meat in the diet may have resulted from a trade-off in the physical development of genus Homo. Increased brain size and function require a higher caloric intake best achieved through an increase in meat consumption. T h e change to a more meaty diet, however, may not have occurred smoothly. O n e H. erectus individual from Koobi Fora, dated to ca. 1.7 mya, showed bone development characteristic of an excess of vitamin A, perhaps the result of a diet too much dependent upon meat and internal organs, particularly liver."'0 If one can assume hominid meat-eating activity from the presence at an archaeological site of stone tools a n d / o r long bones that have percussion or cut marks or have been broken along the shaft rather than at the joint ends, then the species of animals processed with Oldowan-type tools and consumed by Homo were even at this early time quite varied. In Beds I and II at Olduvai Gorge in T a n z a n i a and along the O m o River near Koobi Fora in Kenya, for instance, perhaps H. habilis and certainly early H. erectus consumed not only moderate-sized animals, such as various bovids and gazelles, but also the larger hippopotamus, elephant, and giraffe. 51 W h e t h e r he actively hunted for the
4
" J u l i a A. L e e - T h o r p , N i k o l a a s J . v a n d e r M e r w e , a n d C . K. Brain, " D i e t of Australopithecus robustus at S w a r t k r a n s f r o m S t a b l e C a r b o n Isotopic Analysis," JHumEvol 27 (1994): 361 72; Bilsb o r o u g h , "Diversity, Evolution a n d A d a p t i o n , " p p . 2 1 4 - 1 6 . 49 S o m e scholars, while a c c e p t i n g the i n f l u e n c e of d i e t a r y c h a n g e o n d e n t a l activity as signific a n t in the d e c r e a s e in size of posterior teeth, p r e f e r to sec a biological cause as m o r e i m p o r t a n t . C f . Jose M . B e r m ú d e z d e C a s t r o a n d M . E l e n a Nicolas, " P o s t e r i o r D e n t a l Size R e d u c t i o n in H o m i n i d s : T h e A t a p u e r c a E v i d e n c e , " A J PA 9 6 (1995): 3 4 5 - 5 1 . י° M i t h e n , Prehistory of the Mind, 103.;רןKlein, Human Career, p. 219; Bilsborough, "Diversity, Evolution a n d A d a p t i o n , " p. 215. * ייPotts, Early Hominid Activities, p. 130: R o b e r t J . B l u m e n s c h i n e , " P e r c u s s i o n M a r k s , T o o t h M a r k s , a n d E x p e r i m e n t a l D e t e r m i n a t i o n s of t h e T i m i n g of H o m i n i d a n d C a r n i v o r e Access to L o n g Bones at FLKQnjanlhropus, O l d u v a i G o r g e , T a n z a n i a , " JHumEvol 29 (1995): 21 51; H e n r y
Diet ofgenus Homo
Meat eating
24
CHAPTER ONE
large animals or merely capitalized on their deaths by other means to scavenge the carcass is unclear. T h e difficulty in distinguishing the one from the other can be illustrated by evidence, dated to ca. 0.5 mya, from Torralba and A m b r o n a in north central Spain. Fossilized bones represent elephants, rhinoceroses, horses, deer, and oxen. T h e bones, found in conjunction with stone tools and showing evidence of cutmarks, have been interpreted as the remains of kills by hunters, and, with respect to one particular elephant at Torralba, may represent the intentional driving of the animal into a bog where it was killed and butchered. O n the other hand, the sites may have originated in the accumulation of bones over a long period of time and merely indicate opportunistic killing or the scavenging of already dead animals. 52 Regardless of how he came upon the animal, stone tools allowed man to butcher the carcass by removing the hide and stripping the bones of their meat at the kill site or by cutting off the meatiest pieces, bone and all, and taking them to another location where in relative safety the meat could be cut away and the bones broken for their marrow. Subsistence strategies: hunting
T h e task of determining early m a n ' s adaptive behavior to his changing habitat is complicated by carnivore activity within the same environment. T h e question of the competitiveness of early Homo vis-à-vis carnivores occupying the same ecosystem has received m u c h attention, because how well he competed implies m u c h a b o u t his intellectual a n d social development. T h e " M a n the H u n t e r " model postulates that hunting behavior spawned physical and mental developments in early m a n that, through natural selection, led to a more successful competitor. It f u r t h e r argues that cooperative group hunting proved the basis for the development of social bonds that led to primitive communities. 5 3 Although primarily based on observed behavior of m o d e r n hunter-gatherer societies, the larger apes, and social carnivores, not on archaeological evidence, this theory carried the day a m o n g scholars until quite recently. Glynn Isaac in the early 1970s espoused an alternative model which he T . B u n n , " E a r l y Pleistocene H o m i n i d F o r a g i n g Strategies A l o n g the Ancestral O m o R i v e r at K o o b i F o r a , K e n y a , " JHumEvol 27 (1994): 2 4 7 - 6 6 . If the stone tools f o u n d in the vicinity of A. garhi in M i d d l e A w a s h , E t h i o p i a , a n d d a t e d to 2.5 m y a w e r e used b y this h o m i n i d f o r b u t c h e r i n g a n i m a l s , then his diet i n c l u d e d t h e m e a t a n d m a r r o w of the t h r e e - t o e d horse a n d a n t e l o p e . Cf. H e i n z e l l n et al, " E n v i r o n m e n t a n d B e h a v i o r , " p p . 6 2 5 29. -3 יC f . e.g. R. A r d r e y , The Hunting Hypothesis (New York: B a n t a m , 1976), esp. p p . 3 24; S h e r w o o d L. W a s h b u r n a n d C . S. L a n c a s t e r , " T h e E v o l u t i o n of H u n t i n g , " in Man the Hunter. R. !}. L e e a n d I. D e V o r c , eds. (Chicago: A l d i n e Puhl. C o . , 1968), p p . 2 9 3 303, a n d William S. L a u g h lin, " H u n t i n g : A n I n t e g r a t i n g B i o b e h a v i o r System a n d its E v o l u t i o n a r y I m p o r t a n c e , " in ibid., p p . 304-20.
כ THF, ! . ( ) W E R AND MIDDLE PALEOLITHIC PERIODS
termed "food sharing." 5 4 Based on study of archaeological sites containing fossil bones and primitive tools found in East T u r k a n a , around Koobi Fora and Olorgesailie, he suggested that man not only hunted and foraged individually but also transported meat to a " h o m e base" where others could share in its consumption. H e saw this behavior, along with the development of speech and societal rules, as basic to the development of h u m a n societies. In answer to critics who posed different interpretations about what went on at these occupation sites, Isaac altered his model from "food sharing" at living sites to areas of refuge and denoted this model as "central-place-foraging." 5 5 M a n y questions have yet to be answered, but most recent models are variations of Isaac's proposals or reactions to them. Early and Middle Pleistocene m a n was both hunter and scavenger, but most likely predominantly the latter. Upon killing the animal or finding a carcass, man could proceed to eat it on the spot, a strategy called "routed foraging." 5 6 This, however, offers certain disadvantages, such as danger from predators or other competitors and incomplete consumption because of lack of time or inability to butcher the carcass adequatcly. A minimalist view, therefore, sees early hominids as merely scavenging carnivore-ravaged bones for marrow and small amounts of meat. In this seenario m a n is a poor competitor, living hand-to-mouth on little meat. 5 7 An alternate strategy, called "refuging," lies in transporting all or part of the animal. This model suggests that Homo had early access to a carcass, which he transported whole or, most likely, from which he cut the meatiest parts with the assistance of stone tools and moved to a location at a distance from the kill or find spot where he further processed the meat before consuming it. 58 Why he did so, to
54
F o r a collection of Issac's best works, see B a r b a r a Isaac, e d . The Archaeology of Human Origins. Papers by Glynn Isaac ( C a m b r i d g e : C a m b r i d g e University Press, 1989). T h e significance of his c o n t r i b u t i o n is discussed in R o b e r t J . B l u m e n s c h i n e ' s review of the b o o k , "Breakfast at Olorgesailie: T h e N a t u r a l History A p p r o a c h to Early S t o n e Age A r c h a e o l o g y , " JHumEvol 21 (1991): 307 27. 55 B l u m e n s c h i n e , " B r e a k f a s t at Olorgesailie," p p . 3 1 4 - 2 0 . 6 י casses a n d Early H o m i n i d Behavioral Ecology: A C a s e S t u d y a n d C o n c e p t u a l F r a m e w o r k , " JHumEvol 27 (1994): 197 213; R i c h a r d Potts, " O n a n Early H o m i n i d S c a v e n g i n g N i c h e , " CurrAnthr 29 (Feb. 1988): 153 55. ·7 יL. R. Binford, " C o m m e n t o n 'Systematic B u t c h e r y ' b y Plio-Pleistocene H o m i n i d s at O l d u vai G o r g e , " CunAnthr 27 (1986): 4 4 4 - 4 6 . V i e w s r a n g e f r o m the minimalist views of Binford, t h r o u g h B l u m e n s c h i n e , w h o believes that m a n h a d access to s o m e m e a t a f t e r the c a r n i v o r e s but first choice o n m a r r o w a n d t h e b r a i n , to B u n n , w h o believes that Homo h a d early acccss to the meatiest p a r t of the a n i m a l . See B l u m e n s c h i n e , "Percussion M a r k s , " p. 22; B u n n , " R e p l y , " CurrAnthr 29 (Feb. 1988): 1 3 5 - 4 9 . ·8 יH o w far h o m i n i d s t r a n s p o r t e d the m e a t has implications f o r e v a l u a t i n g their social o r g a n i z a tion. See J a m e s F. ( ) ' C o u n c i l , " O n P l i o / P l e i s t o c e n e A r c h a e o l o g i c a l Sites a n d C e n t r a l Places," CunAnthr 3 8 (Feb. 1997): 8 6 88.
Food sharing
Foraging, scavenging. and refuging
CHAPTER ONE
26
Subsistence strategies and development of societies
H . erectus and multiple subsistence strategies
what extent this was habitual, and what social activity went on at the refuge area continues to spark controversy a m o n g paleoanthropologists. J . S. Oliver sees refuging as an anti-predator strategy suggestive of h u m a n patterns antecedent to the development of home base-like areas. 59 Transport allowed food to be consumed in a central location more safely and more leisurely without risk. Additionally, mothers and their altricial young could remain protected in a secluded area while the stronger members of the group foraged and then returned with the food. Although the motivation may not have been food sharing per se but merely the coïncidence of two anti-predator strategies, it may have served to develop societal bonds, create a sexual division of labor, and promote a hierarchical structure. Richard Potts suggests that the "home bases" were not living sites but caches where stone tools were located for use in processing meat brought to it. Although these areas could be reused or new ones established, actual time spent in any one place was probably minimal. T o Potts, "resource transport" encouraged individual interaction and so was key to man's social development. 6 0 M o r e recently, Lisa Rose and Fiona Marshall suggest a "resource-defense" model, whereby early man chose ideal sites for defense against predators and for access to resources, such as water, plant foods, and trees, to process and consume meat either hunted or scavenged. 61 These sites, probably distributed throughout an expansive range, they contend, became, as Isaac had suggested, home bases or central places where cooperation, tool use, and personal interaction developed into social organization with some division of labor, though not necessarily at this stage sexually based. Some scholars see a diversification in subsistence strategies with the appearance of H. erectus in East Africa ca. 1.8 mya. Based on a study of fossilized bones bearing cut marks a n d / o r percussion damage found in sites lacking evidence for stone tools, for example, Henry Bunn asserts that early H. erectus at Koobi Fora not only used but carried large tools up to 15 km. at a time — to process
59
J . S. O l i v e r , " E s t i m a t e s of H o m i n i d a n d C a r n i v o r e I n v o l v e m e n t in the ELK ^injanthropus Fossil Assemblage: S o m e Socioecological I m p l i c a t i o n s , " JHumEvol 27 (1994): 267 94. 60 Potts, Early Hominid Activities at Olduvai, p p . 2 3 5 47, 2 8 6 90; i d e m , " H o m i n i d H u n t e r s : Problems of I d e n t i f y i n g the Earliest H u n t e r / G a t h e r e r s , " in Hominid Evolution and Community Ecology, p p . 129- 66; i d e m , " O n a n E a r l y H o m i n i d S c a v e n g i n g N i c h e , " CunAnthr 29 (Feb. 1988): 1 5 3 - 5 5 ; i d e m , " W h y the O l d o w a n : Plio-Pleistocene T o o l m a k i n g a n d the T r a n s p o r t of R e s o u r c e s , " JAnlhrRes 47 ( S u m m e r 1991): 153 76. Sec also K a t h y D. Schick a n d N i c h o l a s T h o t h , " E a r l y S t o n e Age T e c h n o l o g y in Africa. A Review a n d C a s e S t u d y into the N a t u r e a n d F u n c t i o n of S p h e r o i d s a n d S u b s p h e r o i d s , " in Integrative Paths to the Past. Paleoanthropological Advances in Honor of F. Clark Howell. R o b e r t S. C o r r u c c i n i a n d Russell L. C i o c h o n , cds. (Englewood Cliffs, N . J . : P r e n t i c e Hall, 1994), pp.429-49. 61
Lisa Rose a n d F i o n a M a r s h a l l , " M e a t Eating, H o m i n i d Sociality, a n d H o m e Bases Revisite d , " CunAnthr 37 (April 1996): 307 38.
כ THF, ! . ( ) W E R AND MIDDLE PALEOLITHIC PERIODS
meat from large animals, and rarely discarded them. 6 2 Additionally, C. M. M o n a h a n believes that H. erectus was an aggressive competitor who both hunted and scavenged. H e had first access to carcasses and consumed meal and marrow before carnivores. 63 Citing evidence from Bed II hominids at Olduvai and espcdaily H. erectus in the area of Koobi Fora in northern Kenya, he further suggests that H. erectus, using "multiple foraging strategies," took advantage of the various seasons, habitats, and food availability to extend the range of foods consumed. His larger body size, greater mobility, increased intelligence, advanced skill in tool making and use, and possibly the use of fire contributed to greater success in his ecological niche. By the Middle Paleolithic, hunting, particularly for large animals such as cquids and bovids, rather than scavenging seems to have been the primary, though not the only, method of obtaining meat. This seems evident from the types of animal bones bearing cut marks found at sites in France at C o m b e Grenal and M a u r a n , in G e r m a n y at Lehringen, the Shanidar Cave in Iraq, and in the Crimea at Volgograd and Starosel'e. 64 Use during this period of the heavy Levallois (lakes and the sharp, if smaller, Mousterian points seems to imply a desire for a heavier or a deeper penetrating spear and a more intense and, perhaps, efficient hunting strategy. Additionally, large birds, such as owls, falcons, partridges, and pigeons, as well as freshwater fish, eel, trout, and caip, for exampie, became part of the hominid diet. Plant foods were also probably part of the diet but, as with the Lower Pleistocene period, little evidence for them exists. 65 This hunter-forager-fisher existence sufficed as long as food could be readily
ü2
B u n n , " E a r l y Pleistocene H o m i n i d F o r a g i n g Strategies," p p . 247 (56. Interestingly, t h e discoverers of A. garhi suggest that this h o m i n i d 2.5 m y a was t r a n s p o r t i n g his stone tools to t h e site w h e r e he b u t c h e r e d his prey (or s c a v e n g e d find). S e e H c i n z c l l n et al, " E n v i r o n m e n t a n d B e h a v ior," p p . 6 2 5 - 2 9 . 63 C h r i s t o p h e r M o n a h a n , " N e w Z o o l a r c h a e o l o g i c a l D a t a f r o m Bed II, O l d u v a i G o r g e , T a n z a nia: Implications for H o m i n i d Behavior in the Early Pleistocene," JHumEvol 31 (1996): 9 3 128. 64 Philip G . C h a s e , " S c a v e n g i n g a n d H u n t i n g in the M i d d l e Paleolithic. T h e E v i d e n c e f r o m E u r o p e , " in Upper Pleistocene Prehistory of Western Eurasia. University M u s e u m M o n o g r a p h 54. H a r o l d L. D i b b l e a n d A n t a M o n t e t - W h i t e , cds. (Philadelphia: T h e University M u s e u m , 1988), p p . 2 2 5 - 3 2 ; Poirier, Understanding Human Evolution, p p . 2 7 4 - 7 8 . 65 Isaac, " A r c h a e o l o g y of H u m a n O r i g i n s , " p p . 1 3 2 - 6 3 ; W y m c r , Palaeolithic Age, p p . 161 64; S t e w a r t , " E a r l y H o m i n i d Utilisation of Fish R e s o u r c e s , " p p . 2 3 3 35; Alison S. Brooks, D a v i d M . H e l g r e n , J o n S. C r a m e r , A l a n Franklin, W i l l i a m H o r n y a k , J o d y M . K e a t i n g , R i c h a r d G . K l e i n , William J. Rink, H e n r y S c h w a r c z , J . N . Leith S m i t h , K a t h l y n S t e w a r t , N a n c y E. T o d d , J a c q u e s V e r n i e r s , a n d J o h n E. Ycllen, " D a t i n g a n d C o n t e x t of T h r e e M i d d l e S t o n e A g e Sites with B o n e Points in the U p p e r Semliki Valley, Z a i r e / ' Science 2 6 8 (28 April 1995): 5 4 8 53; a n d J o h n E. Ycllen, Alison S. Brooks, Els Cornelissen, M i c h a e l J . M e h l m a n , a n d K a t h l y n S t e w a r t , " A M i d d l e S t o n e Age W o r k e d Bone I n d u s t r y f r o m K a t a n d a , U p p e r Semliki Valley, Z a i r e , " Science 2 6 8 (28 April 1995): 5 5 3 56; Poirier, Understanding Human Evolution, p p . 275-76.
28
Fire
CHAPTER ONE
obtained. It was essentially a mobile life — following the wandering herds of gazelle and deer as well as gathering whatever plant foods happened to be in season, such as wild cereals, pulses, and fruits. Plio-Plcistocene hominids probably consumed their food raw. How early man used fire to cook his meat remains unknown, but finds of patches of reddened or baked earth or artifacts showing signs of fire, in places like Koobi Fora and Chesowanja in Kenya, G a d e b and Middle Awash, Ethiopia, and Swartkrans in South Africa, indicate that he may have used fire as early as 1.6 mya. 6 6 T h e australopithecine sites in East Africa lack clear evidence of burnt bones, and so fires there may have resulted from wild brush fires or volcanic activity rather than from controlled campfires. 111 any case, there is little evidence to show that hominids at this time were cooking or preserving food. T h e M e m b e r 3 site at Swartkrans, however, did yield burnt bones, primarily of antelopes, which also showed signs of butchery. Unfortunately, the data indicates that South African hominids, whether Homo or P. robustus is unknown, used fires only occasionally, probably as the opportunity presented itself rather than as a direct result of their own creation, and does not prove that they used fire for cooking. 67 Uses of fire other than for cooking food, such as for defense against predators, warmth, craftmaking, and, particularly in a cave, for light, might also account for the cvidence. M a n y scholars remain dubious of early hominid capacity to make and use fire, preferring to attribute this skill at the earliest to Homo sapiens, particularly the Neanderthals of the late Middle Pleistocene. M a j o r factors cited for this conelusion are the especial need for heat in the colder climate of Europe during the
66
R a n d y V. B e l l o m o , " M e t h o d s of D e t e r m i n i n g E a r l y H o m i n i d Behavioral Activities Associâted with the C o n t r o l l e d U s e of Fire at F x j j 2 0 M a i n , K o o b i F o r a , K e n y a "JHumEvol 27 (1994): I 7 3 9 5 ; ־i d e m , " E a r l y Pleistocene Fire T e c h n o l o g y in N o r t h e r n K e n y a , " in Society, Culture, and Technology in Africa. S. Terr)• Childs, e d . S u p p l e m e n t to Vol. 11, M A S C A R e s e a r c h P a p e r s in Seic n c e a n d A r c h a e o l o g y (Philadelphia: University of P e n n s y l v a n i a M u s e u m of A r c h a e o l o g y a n d A n t h r o p o l o g y , 1994), p p . 1 6 - 2 8 ; J . D. C l a r k a n d J . W . K . H a r r i s , " F i r e a n d Its R o l e in Early H o m i n i d Lifeways," AfrArcheolRev 3 (1985): 3 - 2 7 ; M i k e Barbetti, " T r a c e s of Fire in the A r c h a e o logical R e c o r d , B e f o r e O n e Million Y e a r s A g o "JHumEvol 15 (1986): 7 7 1 8 1 ; ־J . A . J . G o w l e t t , J . W . K. H a r r i s , 1). W a l t o n , a n d B. A. W o o d , " E a r l y A r c h a e o l o g i c a l Sites, H o m i n i d R e m a i n s a n d T r a c e s of Fire f r o m C h e s o w a n j a , K e n y a , " Nature 2 9 4 (12 N o v . 1981): 1 2 5 - 2 9 ; G o w l e t t , Ascent to Civilization, p p . 47, 5 6 - 5 7 (7 ' Isaac, " A r c h a e o l o g y of H u m a n O r i g i n s , " p. 151; Prentiss S. D e J e s u s , " C o m m e n t s o n the D e v e l o p m e n t of P y r o t e c h n o l o g y in E a r l y Societies, , יin Origin and Early Development of Food-Producing Cultures in North-eastern Africa. L e c h K r z y z a n i a k a n d M i c h a t Kobusiewicz, eds ( P o z n a n : Polish A c a d e m y of Sciences, 1984), p p . 2 7 8 79; C h a r l e s K . Brain, " N e w I n f o r m a t i o n f r o m the S w a r t k r a n s C a v e of R e l e v a n c e to ' R o b u s t ' A u s t r a l o p i t h e c i n e s , " in Evolutionary History, p p . 3 1 1 - 1 6 ; C . K . Brain a n d A. Sillen, " E v i d e n c e f r o m the S w a r t k r a n s C a v e for the Earliest U s e of Fire," Nature 3 3 6 (1 D e c . 1988): 4 6 4 - 6 6 ; a n d G a m b l e , Timewalkers, p. 70.
כ THF, ! . ( ) W E R AND MIDDLE PALEOLITHIC PERIODS
Ice Age and archaeological evidence for controlled campfires defined by hearths. 6 8 It has been noted, however, that increased evidence for fires, even for those probably resulting from bushes ignited by lightning strikes or from volcanic activity, seems to follow the climatic shift to a cooler, drier climate and more open environment and the appearance of genus Homo, particularly H. erectus around 1.8 mya. 6 9 His greater intellectual potential and capacity for movement render it possible, even likely, that lie may have used fire this early, even if he did not make it himself. Perhaps he removed a burning log from a smoldering tree trunk struck by lightning and took it back to his campsite or cave where lie maintained it until it went out. He then awaited another opportunity. But all this is speculation. Incontrovertible proof that m a n used controlled fire at this time must await scientific data that can conclusively link evidence at a specific site both for fire and for its direct association with h u m a n activity. 70 This will most likely come in a cave dwelling where the site is less susceptible to disturbance by wind, weather, water, or animal and other hominid damage or contamination. Absent further finds, the honor of being the first to use fire to cook food probably belongs to Homo erectus in his early Middle Pleistocene cave at Zhoukoudian, near Beijing in northern China, datable to ca. 500,000 years B. P.71 H e most likely brought animal carcasses back to his cave for further butchering and cooking. Signs of this activity come from layer upon layer of ashes, charcoal, and
68
So, f o r e x a m p l e , Steven R . J a m e s , " H o m i n i d Use of Fire in the L o w e r a n d M i d d l e Plcist o c e n e . A R e v i e w of the E v i d e n c e , י יCurrAnthr 3 0 (Feb. 1989): 1 26; Mellars, .Neanderthal Legacy, p p . 2 9 5 301. fi9 C l a r k a n d H a r r i s , " F i r e a n d Its R o l e in Early H o m i n i d Lifeways," p. 6; V r b a , " L a t e Pliocene Climatic Events and H o m i n i d Evolution," pp. 405 26 70 Barbetti, " T r a c e s of Fire" p p . 7 7 1 - 8 1 . 71 R o b e r t J . W e n k e , Patterns in Prehistory. Humankinds First Tiuee Million Tears. 3 r d ed. (New Y o r k : O x f o r d University Press, 1990), p p . 145 47; G o w l e t t , Ascent to Civilization, p. 57; W y m e r , Palaeolithic Age, p p . 7 6 7 7 ־. T h e e v i d e n c e for c o o k i n g in Locality 1 at Z h o u k o u d i a n r e m a i n s c o n t r o v c r sial. Cf. Lewis R . B i n f o r d a n d N a n c y M . S t o n e , " Z h o u k o u d i a n : A C l o s e r L o o k , " CurrAnthr 27, n o . 5 (Dec. 1986): 4 6 7 , t h e r e s p o n s e to their article b y J o h n W . O l s e n , in ibid., p p . 4 7 0 - 7 1 , a n d t h e i r r e j o i n d e r , in ibid., p. 4 7 3 . S t r a u s n o t e s t h e s t r o n g e v i d e n c e for p a v e d h e a r t h s a n d e x c a v a t e d h e a r t h s w i t h " d r a f t c h a n n e l s " at the P e c h d e l ' A z e II site in F r a n c e . H e d a t e s this activity to ca. 3 0 0 , 0 0 0 to 2 0 0 , 0 0 0 y e a r a g o a n d a t t r i b u t e s it to A r c h a i c Homo sapiens. See L a w r e n c e G u y Strauss, " O n Early H o m i n i d U s e of Fire," CurrAnth 30, n o . 4 ( A u g . - O c t . 1989): 4 8 8 91. A m o r e r e c e n t t h e o r y holds that II. erectus, by 1.9 m y a , used c o n t r o l l e d fires to c o o k p l a n t foods, especially t u b e r s , u p o n w h i c h h e p l a c e d g r e a t reliance, especially in limes of f o o d s h o r t a g e . C o o k i n g , a c c o r d i n g to this a r g u m e n t , also led to closer m a l e - f e m a l e r e l a t i o n s h i p s a n d a sexual division of l a b o r in w h i c h w o m e n a s s u m e d the role of cook while m e n w e r e h u n t e r s a n d p r o t e c t o r s . See R i c h a r d W . W r a n g h a m , J a m e s Holland Jones, G r e g Laden, David Philbcam, a n d Nancy-Lou Conklin-Brittain, " T h e R a w a n d t h e Stolen. C o o k i n g a n d t h e Ecology of H u m a n O r i g i n s , י יCurrAnth 40, n o . 5 (Dec. 1999): 5 6 7 - 9 4 .
Cooking
30
CHAPTER ONE
charred bones primarily of deer but also of bison, leopard, bear, wild boar, musk ox, and other medium to large-size animals. From the Middle Pleistocene site of Jisr Banat Yakub, in Israel, also come examples of burnt animal bones found in conjunction with Acheulian handaxes and cleavers made of basalt. 72 Archaeologists recently may have found a fireplace on the southern coast of Brittany in France, dated to ca. 465,000 B.P. T h e site has yielded burnt pebbles a n d charcoal, which may indicate a controlled fire but not cooking per se. 73 At T e r r a Amata, in Nice, France, dated by some to ca. 400,000 B. P. but by others to no earlier than ca. 250,000 B. P., archaeologists have uncovered evidence, though disputed, not only of a circular hearth marked out by stones but also of lodgings, identified by post-holes, with the hearth at its center. 7 4 T h e site seems to have been composed of temporary dwellings (8.0 111. χ 4.0 m.) near the sea occupied in the late spring and early s u m m e r by a population engaged in hunting. Bones of animals large and small, but especially of elephant, red deer, rabbit, and wild boar, appear; a few show signs of burning. Butchery certainly went on in the dwelling; whether cooking per se occurred as well is unknown. T h e r e is also some evidence for consumption of marine mussels. Since much of the evidence for the earliest use of fire for cooking in the Lower and Middle Pleistocene remains the subject of differing views, the question must remain open. 75 T h e best evidence for the early use of fire in Africa comes from Kalambo Falls in northern Zambia, where charred logs, perhaps fire-hardened tools, and reddened areas indicate that early Homo sapiens may have been controlling and using fire by ca. 180,000 B. P. 76 T h e clearest evidence for controlled fire, however, comes from Europe, where at about the same time H. sapiens neanderthalensis was apparently constructing hearths near where he processed food. So, for instance, two small hearths in the Grotte du Lazaret, near Nice, dating to ca. 150,000-130,000 B. P., show signs of small fires of short duration, alongside which were found flints used for processing foods. Lewis Binford has interpreted two areas with different kinds of hearth in a cave at C o m b e Grenal, dated to ca. 110,000-100,000 B. P., as illustrative of Neanderthal social structure and tech-
72
J . D e s m o n d C l a r k , " A c h e u l i a n O c c u p a t i o n Sites in the M i d d l e East a n d Africa: A S t u d y in C u l t u r a l V a r i a b i l i t y , " AmerAnthr 68, 2 (1966): 219. 73 M i c h a e l Baiter, " D i d Homo erectus T a m e Fire First?" Science 2 6 8 ( 1 6 J u n e 1995): 1570. 74 Paola Villa, Tena Amata and the Middle Pleistocene Archaeological Record of Southern France (Berkeley: U n i v e r s i t y of C a l i f o r n i a Press, 1983), p p . xxi xxiii, 7 9 - 8 1 ; G o w l e t t , Ascent to Civilization, p p . 56, 8 9 - 9 0 ; W y m e r , Palaeolithic Age, p p . 1 2 4 - 3 4 ; a n d I a n T a t t e r s a l l , The Last Neanderthal ( N e w Y o r k : M a c M i l l a n , 1995), p. 72. 75 J a m e s , " H o m i n i d U s e of Fire," p p . 1 - 2 6 . 76 J a m e s , " H o m i n i d U s e of F i r e , " p p . 4 - 5 ; Klein, " S t o n e A g e P r e h i s t o r y of S o u t h e r n A f r i c a , " p. 33.
כ THF, !.()WER AND MIDDLE PALEOLITHIC PERIODS
nology. 77 T h e small hearth located on the periphery of the cave he explains as an area where males processed large, complete bones and the articular ends of m a j o r long bones using primarily side scrapers. T h e interior, larger hearth he describes as a placc where females, using notches and denticulates, processed crania and upper jaws, probed fragmented bones for marrow, and cooked meat. His interpretation that the evidence suggests a sexual division of labor where the two groups, as in modern ape societies, live in close proximity but only occasionally mix (for mating, for example) rather than in a living zone, or home-base type area, for cooperative living is open to dispute. T h a t sexual division of labor was associated with food transport and processing in some way seems highly likely; how early this occurred remains unknown. 7 8 Some hearths are associated with seasonal dwellings, such as the ones at T e r r a Amata and Grotte du Lazaret in France, Cracow in Poland, and Molodova on the Dnestr River in the Ukraine. 7 9 Although much of the evidence is open to variant interpretation, it is clear that the appearance of hearths and controlled fires in the late Middle Pleistocene constitutes a significant advance in hominid social evolution and probably food technology. T h e hearths of the European Middle Paleolithic consist of two basic types: open hearths and constructed hearths. 80 T h e former, and most common, found for instance in France at Grotte du Lazaret, are usually small, 4 0 5 0 ־cm. in diameter, and lie on top of ground receiving little or no preparation. They were of short duration and rarely reached high temperatures. Identification of the latter type is often disputed by archaeologists, but, where described, they are generally categorized into one of three basic forms. "Paved" hearths, for example, in the early Middle Paleolithic site at Pech de l'Azé II, comprise areas up to ca. 1.0 meter in diameter paved with limestone blocks on top of which the lire was built. T h e "encircled" hearth, such as at the late Lower Paleolithic site at T e r r a Amata and at Grotte du Bison of the late Middle Paleolithic, was basically an arrangement of stones which, for protection from wind, surrounded the fire built on a prepared surface. T h e third type, or "excavated" hearth, at Pech de l'Azé
77 78
Binford's ideas a r e discussed by Mellars, Neanderthal l e g a c y , . 6 0 M a r y C . Stiner, " M o d e r n H u m a n O r i g i n s - F a u n a f Perspectives," AnnRAnlhr
hearths
357,952 8 0 22 (1993):
60 61. 79
Middle Paleolithic
W y m e r , Palaeolithic Age, p p . 158 61. T h e M o u s t e r i a n site at G r o t t e X V I n e a r D o r d o g n e , F r a n c e , d a t e d to b e t w e e n 6 5 , 6 0 0 a n d 5 3 , 9 0 0 B. P., s h o w s s t r o n g e v i d e n c e for t h e use of fire o n a s h o r t - t e r m basis, p r o b a b l y for w a r m t h a n d light b u t a p p a r e n t l y not for cooking. See J e a n - P h i l i p p e R i g a u d , J a n F. S i m e k , a n d Thierry G e , " M o u s t e r i a n Fires f r o m G r o t t e X V I ( D o r d o g n e , F r a n c e ) , " Antiquity 6 9 (Dec. 1995): 9 0 2 - 1 2 . 80 T h e s e h e a r t h types a r e described in Mellars, Neanderthal legacy, p p . 2 9 5 301. See also W y m e r , Palaeolithic Age, p p . 158 61.
CHAPTER ONE
32
II, for example, is a hole dug into the ground so that its sides protcctcd the fire built at the bottom. All of these hearths could serve to roast meat, cook vegctables, and boil water, but would have been unsuitable for much else, since the usual temperature o f c a m p f i r e s rarely exceeds ca. 400° C. T h a t he was cooking vegetables and boiling water at this time, however, is incapable of proof. François Bordes reports finding at Pech de l'Azc II dug-out hearths with a channel leading away from the ashes, which could have served to provide more oxygen, thereby creating a hotter fire. This characteristic, however, is more typical of Upper Paleolithic hearths. 81
C. Hominid Intelligence
Types ()/'intelligence
While m a n was developing ever more sophisticated tools, increasing his range of habitation, and broadening the variety of foods consumed, especially meats, he not only developed physically but also intellectually and socially. Prominent a m o n g physical changes which gave Homo advantages over other hominids were development in upper-body bone structure contributing to an agile bipedalism and a shift in t h u m b placement on the hand that resulted in precision grasping and manipulation. Alterations in tooth size and j a w musculature resulted from significant dietary changes, going from one essentially vegetarian to a more omnivorous one, which included meat. It was, however, the growth in brain capacity and complexity with its concomitant increase in cognitive abilities that had the greatest impact on developments in technology generally, but particularly in areas associated with food. Determination of hominid intelligence is difficult at best; even the concept of intelligence is not a simple one. Steven Mithen, in his recent study on the development of the mind in prehistoric man, provides an excellent model for understanding this area of hominid evolution. He identifies four distinct and separate types of intelligence: general intelligence, technological intelligence, natural historv intelligence, and social intelligence. He asserts, for instance, that while H. habilis possessed a general intelligence no greater than that of his hominid predecessors, his natural history intelligence betrays an increased ability to read signs in his environment (animal behavior or tracks) and to predict resource potential (food). His social intelligence increased over that of the australopithecines when he realized that group living assisted not only in defense but also in food pro-
C l a r k a n d H a r r i s , "Fire a n d its Roles in Early H o m i n i d Lifeways," p. 10; Strauss, " E a r l y H o m i n i d Use of Fire," p p . 4 8 8 91 ;־F r a n ç o i s Bordes, A Tale of Two Caves (New York: H a r p e r a n d R o w , 1972), p p . 61 62. 81
כ
THF, !.()WER AND MIDDLE PALEOLITHIC PERIODS
curement. His technical intelligence provided for a rudimentary knowledge of stone working, evident in his use of a restricted range of easily worked materials and, within narrow limits, in his conceptualization of resource requirements such that he engaged in tool transport to compensate for living areas lacking in stone. Uncertainty arises, however, in attributing some technical advances of II. habilis to an enlarged technical intelligence or to consequences of increased opportunities for learning in an expanding social environment. 8 2 Study of simple Oldowan tools implies that the earliest hominids who made and used stone tools functioned at a level similar to the "pre-operational" mode of the great apes. T h e y lacked the ability to organize and classify; neither could they plan for contingencies, such as pre-correcting errors. T h e i r tools resulted basically from trialand-error, and so showed only the crudest variety of shapes, although they displayed some knowledge of acute angles and the adjustment of striking force and direction to produce a proper stone chip. iW Hominids from H. erectus through H. sapiens neanderthalensis, particularly the latter, displayed significant advances in technical and social intelligence. Although T h o m a s W y n n asserts that the symmetry of Developed Oldowan bifacial tools marks a clear advance in the conceptualization of an end product, the ability to visualize is best seen in the development by H. erectus ca. 1.8 1.6 mya of the Acheulian handaxe. 8 4 Possessing a d e a r idea of the shape a n d generalized function of an end product requires the concept of simple planning. So, by the end of the Middle Paleolithic the intellectual prerequisites for advances in food technology were becoming apparent, and included the ability (1) to identify and define a need, (2) to conceptualize an end product, and (3) to plan ahead. T h e fourth prerequisite is perhaps the most crucial and derives from man's growing technical and social intelligence, namely, the development of effective communication. Increased brain capacity and complexity, the development of a more structured vocal tract, and the need to share information in a developing social milieu may have initiated the development of language and so the most far reaching aspect of social intelligence. 85 Possessing the capability of speech is not, however, the same as speaking. Agreement on when m a n began to speak remains elusive. Tobias, for example, asserts that capability and need, tool mak82
Planning
Communication
M i t h e n , Prehistory of the Mind, 2 0 6,1149 5 T h o m a s W y n n , " T h e Intelligence of O l d o w a n H o m i n i d s , " JHumEvol 10 (1981): 5 2 9 41; T o b i a s , Olduvai Gorge, V o l . 4, p p . 8 3 2 - 3 5 ; M i t h e n , Prehistory of the M i n d , . 1 8 117,98קנן.9 6 ־ 84 W y n n , "Intelligence of O l d o w a n H o m i n i d s , " p. 5 4 0 ; M i t h e n , Prehistory of the Mind, p. 96. 85 T h e a p p e a r a n c e of the Levallois m e t h o d in h a n d a x e p r o d u c t i o n , f o r e x a m p l e , M i t h e n ascribes less to technical a d v a n c e s t h a n to i n f o r m a t i o n s h a r i n g within m o r e highly d e v e l o p e d social i n t e r a c t i o n . M i t h e n , Prehistory of the Mind, p. 144. !t:i
34
CHAPTER THREE
ing for instance, were present with H. habilis, though the level of speech c o m m u nication would have been necessarily rudimentary. Mithen, on the other hand, contends that speech communication was not possible before the appearance of archaic H. sapiens or Neanderthal man. Others argue that speech did not appear before m o d e r n m a n developed fully. 86 Although the evidence is unclear and susceptible to varied interpretation, the development of cognitive abilities was related to alterations of diet. Changes in types of foods eaten and the increased skills in obtaining them by hunting, scavenging, and foraging, may have led to the development of subsistence strategies, such as food sharing, which in turn fostered small primitive communities wherein language and culture developed a m o n g early hominid populations. T h e exact process and sequence by which these evolutions occurred, however, remain open to debate. T h o m a s Wynn, for example, postulates that Homo erectus may have possessed the cognitive ability to perceive the perspective of his comrades and to integrate that into long-range planning to facilitate group hunting or foraging strategies which relied little on vocal communication. 8 7 With all this change both in the physical and mental capacities of early m a n , the growth of vary ing food strategies, and the appearance of fledgling cultural entities, why does food technology over nearly two million years not progress beyond simple butchery and the most basic attempts at cooking? Mithen ascribes this relatively static situation, not just in the context of food technology but in h u m a n evolution generally, to the fact that the various intelligences were not fully integrated. Until m a n developed what he calls "cognitive fluidity," he could not be fully modern. 8 8 This comes only with the onset of the U p p e r Paleolithic period.
S(i
Cf. T o b i a s , Olduvai Gorge, Vol. 4: 8 3 6 - 4 0 ; M i t h e n , Prehistory of the Mind, p . 142; T r a s k et al, " O r i g i n s of S p e e c h , " p p . 6 9 - 9 4 . 87 T h o m a s W y n n , " T w o D e v e l o p m e n t s in t h e M i n d of E a r l y Homo," JAnthArch 12, no. 3 (Sept. 1993): 2 9 9 - 3 2 2 . 88 M i t h e n , Prehistory of the Mind, p p . 1 1 5 1 5 2 0 8 ,46־־. S e e also G i b s o n , " T o o l Use, L a n d Social B e h a v i o r , י יp p . 2 5 6 58, esp. p . 56: " H u m a n t e c h n o l o g y , for instance, is inextricably linked w i t h h u m a n social s t r u c t u r e . " F o r a n o p p o s i n g view o n b o t h h a n d a x e p r o d u c t i o n , esped a i l y u s i n g t h e Levallois m e t h o d , a n d M o u s t e r i a n tools, see D a v i d s o n a n d N o b l e , " T o o l s a n d L a n g u a g e in H u m a n E v o l u t i o n , " p p . 3 6 9 82. Cf. also R i c h a r d G . Milo, " E v i d e n c e for H o m i n i d P r é d a t i o n at Klasics R i v e r M o u t h , S o u t h Africa, a n d its I m p l i c a t i o n s for the B e h a v i o u r of E a r l y M o d e r n H u m a n s , " JAS 2 5 (1998): 1 2 3 - 2 6 ; a n d D a n i e l K a u f m a n , Archaeological Perspectives on the Origins of Modem Humans. A View from the Levant ( W e s t p o r t , C o n n . : Bergin & G a r v e y , 1999).
CHAFFER
TWO
U P P E R PALEOLI THIC A N D N E O L I THIC P E R I O D S
A. Upper Paleolithic Period T h e U p p e r Paleolithic period was a time of significant and rapid change in the capabilities of m a n to adjust to and to function in his surroundings. T h e differences, for example, between Middle and U p p e r Paleolithic tool kits are striking. Although blade tools, the kit generally associated with U p p e r Paleolithic populations, can be found in late Middle Paleolithic contexts in both Africa and Europe, those of the later period show an originality, quality, and variety of shape lacking in the earlier era. 1 Widespread in North Africa, the Middle East, and eastern Europe by 40,000 B. P. and in western Europe 7,000 years later, blade tools were long narrow blades, ranging up to 30 cm. in length, struck from a core and finished by retouching into various types of useful implements. Specialization of use and an increasing standardization in shape characterize these tools, particularly in Europe, throughout the U p p e r Paleolithic. Tools included "tanged" and "notched" blades for arrow heads and small spears, "backed" blades for knives, a type of engraving tool called a burin, and side and end scrapers. So, for example, the Aurignacian kit (ca. 35,000 29,000 B. P.), characterized by long blades, side and end scrapers, and split-base bone points, was probably introduced into western Europe from farther east by ca. 34,000 B. P. Perigordian (= Gravettian) tools (ca. 29,000-21,000 B. P.), particularly backed bladelets, extended into Spain, central Europe, and southward into Italy. 2 T h e
1
Blade tools a p p e a r e d a m o n g N e a n d e r t h a l s in E u r o p e d u r i n g the Middle Paleolithic a n d anatomically m o d e r n h u m a n populations of Africa d u r i n g the Middle Stone Age. In Africa, w h e r e blade tools were never the sole tool kit a n d medium-sized flakes a n d the older Lcvallois flake tools retained popularity, locally developed tool kits were c o m m o n . 1'. A. Mellars, " T h e C h a r a c t e r of the M i d d l e - U p p e r Paleolithic Transition in Southwest F r a n c e , " in 'The Explanation of Culture Change: Models in Prehistory. Colin R e n f r e w , ed. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1973), pp. 256 58; idem, Neanderthal Legacy, p p . 56 94; Gowlett, Ascent to Civilization, p p . 1 18 23; Klein, Human Career־, pp. 344 98; W y m e r , Palaeolithic Age, p p . 145 56; Dickson, Ancient Preludes, pp. 215 25; Braidwood, Prehistoric Men, pp. 60 70. 2 T h e Epigravettian Period of Italy (ca. 20,000 10,000 B. P. is characterized by a variety of tools, such as burins, endscrapers, and foliate pieces, which show a regional variation, as well as b o n e implements a n d o r n a m e n t s . Amilcare Bietti, " T h e Late U p p e r Paleolithic in Italy: An Overview," JWorldPrehist 4, no. 1 (1990): 120-34.
Blade tools
CHAPTER THREE
36
Bone hols
locally developed Solutrean kit (ca. 22,000-19,000 B. P.) of France and Spain included strongly standardized unifacial and bifacial foliate or leaf-shaped blades, particularly useful for large spear points. A m o n g the innovations of the Magdalenian period (ca. 19,000 11,000 B. P.) are multiple, star-shaped borers, microblades, denticulated bladelets, and parrot-beak burins. 3 Blades were the first implements used to fashion bone and antler into other tools. Mousterian populations of Europe utilized bone and antler for tools, but the shaping of them into specific forms seems characteristic only of the Upper Paleolithic (Fig. 4). יBurins, for example, were used in the Solutrean era to carve wood, bone, ivory, and antler to make a variety of other tools, such as eyed sewing needles and spear-throwers, and during the Magdalenian period to construct trident spear-heads, unilateral and bilateral barbed harpoons, and fish hooks (Fig. 5). In Russia bone and antler tools took the form of semi-worked long bones used as burnishing tools for hides, as tables, digging sticks, and knives, while straight pieces of bone functioned as wedges or chisels. Bone and ivory also served as material for points, punches, and awls. 5 Although late Middle Stone Age inhabitants in certain areas of Africa also used bone tools, they were generally not carefully made. O n e exception may come from three 90,000-year old sites at Katanda in the Upper Semliki River Valley in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire). 6 Barbed and unbarbed bone points and a flat dagger-shaped object, m a d e most likely by anatomically modern H. sapiens, were found in contexts with fish, primarily catfish (clarias and synodontis), and mammalian remains. T h e ;i
Poirier, Understanding Human Evolution, p p . 3 0 3 - 0 4 ; G o w l e t t , Ascent to Civilization, p p . 120 27; VVenke, Patterns in Prehistory, p. 174, Fig. 4.16; Mellars, " C h a r a c t e r of M i d d l e - U p p e r Palaeolithic T r a n s i t i o n , " p. 257; Klein, Human Career, p p . 3 6 0 64. 1 C f . Lewis Binford, in c o m m e n t s to R a n d a l l W h i t e , " R e t h i n k i n g the M i d d l e / U p p e r Paleolithic T r a n s i t i o n , " CurrAnthr 2 3 (April 1982): 177, versus Leslie G . F r e e m a n , " M o u s t e r i a n W o r k e d B o n e f r o m C u e v a M o r i n ( S a n t a n d e r , Spain): A P r e l i m i n a r y D e s c r i p t i o n , " in Views of the Past. Essays in Old World Prehistory and Paleoanthropology. Leslie G . F r e e m a n , ed. ( T h e H a g u e : M o u ton Publishers, 1978), p p . 2 9 5 1 . ' יC . M i c h a e l B a r t o n , D e b o r a h 1. Olszewski, a n d N a n c y R. C o i n m a n , " B e y o n d t h e G r a v e r : R e c o n s i d e r i n g Burin F u n c t i o n , " JFA 23, n o . 1 (Spring 1996): 1 1 1 - 2 5 ; Mellars, " C h a r a c t e r of t h e M i d d l e - U p p e r Palaeolithic T r a n s i t i o n , " p p . 2 5 6 59; E d i t h M . S h i m k i n , " T h e U p p e r Paleolithic in N o r t h - C e n t r a l Eurasia: E v i d e n c e a n d P r o b l e m s , " in Views of the Past, p p . 261 69. ' ׳Klein, " S t o n e Age Prehistory of S o u t h e r n A f r i c a , " p p . 36 37; " O r i g i n s of M o d e r n H u m a n B e h a v i o r , " Archaeology (Nov. Dec. 1995): 27; Alison S. Brooks, D a v i d M . H e l g r e n , J o n S. C r a m e r , A l a n F r a n k l i n , William H o r n y a k , J o d y M . K e a t i n g . R i c h a r d G . Klein, W i l l i a m J . R i n k , H e n r y S c h w a r c z , J . N . Leith S m i t h , K a t h l y n S t e w a r t , N a n c y E. T o d d , J a c q u e s V e r n i e r s , a n d J o h n E. Yellen, " D a t i n g a n d C o n t e x t of T h r e e M i d d l e S t o n e A g e Sites with B o n e Points in the U p p e r Semliki V a l l e y Z a i r e , " Science 2 6 8 (28 April 1995): 5 4 8 - 5 3 ; a n d J o h n Yellen, Alison S. Brooks, Els C o r n e l i s s e n , M i c h a e l J . M e h l m a n , a n d K a t h l y n S t e w a r t , " A M i d d l e S t o n e Age W o r k e d B o n e I n d u s t r y f r o m K a t a n d a , U p p e r Semliki Valley, Z a i r e , " Science 2 6 8 (28 April 1995): 5 3 5 6 ־.
38
CHAPTER THREE
Fig. 4. Mousterian Flint Tools: 1. C o n v e x side-scraper; 2. Levallois point; 3, 4, 5. Mousterian points; 6. C a n t e d scraper; 7. Transversal scraper; 8. Convergent scraper; 9. Double scraper; 10. Levallois flake. N o . 2, from Houppeville, N o r m a n d y , a n d No. 10, from Corbiac, Dordogne. All others from C o m b e - G r e n a l , D o r d o g n e , Layer 29. Bordes, Old Stone Age, Fig. 33. Courtesy of McGraw-Hill Companies.
UPPF.R PALEOLITHIC AND NEOLITHIC PERIODS 69
Fig. 5. Final Perigordian Protomadgalcnian) Blade a n d Bone Tools: I. Borer; 2. Multiple burin 4. Bone point; 5. Pierced tooth; 6. Denticulated backed bladelet; 7. Backed bladelet; 8, 10. Dihedral burins on retouched blades; 9. Double dihedral burin; I 1. Retouched blade. All tools found at Laugerie-Haute, at Les Eyzies, Dordogne. Bordes, Old Stone Age, Fig. 55. Courtesy of McGraw-Hill Companies.
CHAPTER THREE
40
Development of speech and symbol
bone may have been shaped with a stone grinder and the points formed with a quartz flake rather than with a burin. Since the date is open to dispute and the find thus far seems unique a m o n g African sites, some due caution is warranted. 7 In the Levant, particularly as seen in Layer I) of the H a y o n i m Cave, in western Galilee (ca. 30,000 B. P.), points and awls constitute most bone tools manufactured, but also found are polishers, spatulae, and perforated animal teeth, made primarily from deer and gazelle. 8 Besides developing a brain size considerably larger than that of H. erectus, for instance, between the late Middle Paleolithic and the early U p p e r Paleolithic anatomically m o d e r n h u m a n s also experienced increased mental complexity and processing capacity leading to a sharp expansion of their cognitive abilities. 9 T h e y not only became conscious of themselves but also began to perceive themselves as part of a larger society defined in time and space. Although H. erectus, archaic II. sapiens, and probably H. sapiens neanderthalensis could only mimic observed actions and pass on information in basically non-verbal modes of expression, anatomically m o d e r n / / . sapiens, while retaining this skill, through a process of cognitive development and enculturation additionally evolved a capacity for communication through speech and symbol. 10 Mithen asserts that symbolic representation, that is, art, was not possible until m a n had the capacity to conceive of an image, to attach a meaning to it, and to possess a desire or need to transmit that idea through the image to another person. Each of these capacities existed in the h u m a n mind beforehand, but it was not, he argues, until about 40,000 B. P. in Europe that m o d e r n H. sapiens fused together the technical, social, and natural history domains of the brain. 111 other words, cognitive fluidity allowed him an " a n t h r o p o m o r p h i c " vision of the world." T h e ereation of statuettes in h u m a n form, particularly the Venus figures found in numerous sites from southwestern France to Russia, and in shapes of animals, as well as decoration of cave walls with scenes of hunting show early man's sense not only of the concept of time (whether portraying a past event or anticipation
7
T h e earliest e v i d e n c e f o r a n a t o m i c a l l y m o d e r n / / . sapiens in A f r i c a , f r o m t h e L o w e r O m o Rive r Valley of E t h i o p i a , d a t e s to ca. 1()(),()()() B. P. o r earlier. Klein, " S t o n e A g e Prehistory of S o u t h crn Africa," pp. 34-36. H A. B e l f e r - C o h e n a n d C). Bar-Yosef, " T h e A u r i g n a c i a n a t H a y o n i m C a v e , " Paléorient 7, n o . 2 (1981): 3 0 - 3 4 ; Isaac G i l e a d , " T h e U p p e r Paleolithic P e r i o d in t h e L e v a n t , " JWorldPrehist 5 (1991): 137-39. ייW e n k e , Patterns in Prehistory, p p . 151 56. 1,1 M e r l i n D o n a l d , " H o m i n i d E n c u l t u r a t i o n a n d C o g n i t i v e E v o l u t i o n , " ArchaeolRevCamb 12, no. 2 (1993): 5 24; P. B. Pettit a n d B. A. S c h u m a n n , " F a l l i n g i n t o History: H o m i n i d C o n c e p t i o n s of T i m e at the M i d d l e to U p p e r Palaeolithic T r a n s i t i o n , " ArchaeolRevCamb 12, n o . 2 (1993): 3 6 40; M i t h e n , Prehistory of the Mind, p p . 159 73. 11 M i t h e n , Prehistory of the Mind, p p . 159 73.
UPPF.R PALEOLITHIC AND NEOLITHIC PERIODS
41
of a future one) but also of symbol. So, also, cave art may have had a practical, didactic purpose. During the Last Glacial M a x i m u m in Europe when survival was precarious and highly dependent upon certain game species, the drawings may have served to instruct succeeding generations on hunting techniques or knowledge of animal behavior. 1 2 Variation a m o n g groups in separate regions may reflect a growing sense of identification of the individual or small extended family with a larger, perhaps ethnic group. Increased ethnic identity implies as well a heightened sense of selfconception. Besides the creation of statuettes in h u m a n form, this may also be seen in the propensity of U p p e r Paleolithic populations to decorate basically utilitarian tools with designs to create an aesthetically pleasing implement, as well as a useful one, and to create objects purely ornamental, such as jewelry, necklaces, and pendants, from bone, antler, a n d ivory, for no apparent reason other than for a d o r n m e n t to enhance their personal pleasure. 1 3 Additionally, individual self-awareness seems also behind the new habit of anatomically modern //. sapiens in Africa, Europe, and Russia of burying their dead with selected grave goods and with the bodies intentionally placed in a certain position or arranged according to a specific orientation. M a n y of these burials, sometimes containing more than one body, in quantity and quality of grave goods may also show a growing sense of social distinction within the society and regional variability a m o n g the groups. 14
' ־L a w r e n c e G u y S t r a u s , " H u m a n G e o g r a p h y of t h e L a t e U p p e r Paleolithic in W e s t e r n E u r o p e : P r e s e n t S t a t e of t h e Q u e s t i o n , " JAnthrRes 47 ( S u m m e r 1991): 2 7 0 . A r t w o r k in the Levantine U p p e r Paleolithic a p p e a r s m u c h later t h a n that of E u r o p e , p r o b a b l y b e c a u s e the f o r m e r h a d a p a t t e r n of small social units a n d so r e q u i r e d little artistic expression. See G i l e a d , " U p p e r Paleolithic P e r i o d in the L e v a n t , " p p . 142 43. 13 Mellars, " C h a r a c t e r of the M i d d l e - U p p e r Palaeolithic T r a n s i t i o n , " p p . 2 5 9 - 6 0 ; S h i m k i n , " U p p e r Paleolithic in N o r t h - C e n t r a l E u r a s i a , " p p . 2 6 9 84. 14 Pettit a n d S c h u m a n n , " F a l l i n g into H i s t o r y , " p p . 2 5 50; A l e x a n d e r M a r s h a c k , " E a r l y H o m i n i d S y m b o l a n d Evolution of t h e H u m a n C a p a c i t y , " in The Emergence of Modern Humans. An Archaeological Perspective. Paul M e l l a r s , e d . (Ithaca: C o r n e l l University Press, 1990), p p . 457 98; Bietti. " L a t e U p p e r Paleolithic in Italy," p p . 135 36; S h i m k i n , " U p p e r Paleolithic in N o r t h - C e n tral E u r a s i a , " p p . 274—80; O l g a SofTcr, " U p p e r Paleolithic C o n n u b i a , R é f u g i a , a n d t h e A r c h a e o logical R e c o r d f r o m E a s t e r n E u r o p e , " in The Pleistocene Old World. Regional Perspectives. O l g a Soffer, e d . (New Y o r k : P l e n u m Press, 1987), p p . 3 3 5 39; Klein, Human Career, p p . 3 7 8 85; W y m e r , Palaeolithic Age, p p . 2 5 0 - 6 7 ; D i c k s o n , Ancient Preludes, p p . 2 3 7 38; J i r i S v o b o d a , V o j e n Lozek, a n d E m a n u e l Vlcek, Hunters Between East and West. The Paleolithic of Moravia (New York: P l e n u m Press, 1996), p p . 6 4 - 6 6 , 169 70. " S y m b o l i c b e h a v i o r " e x p r e s s e d t h r o u g h cave art m a y h a v e h a d its b e g i n n i n g s in t h e late M i d d l e Paleolithic p e r i o d , but its s u b s t a n t i a l increase in q u a n t i t y , quality, a n d variability as the U p p e r Paleolithic era p r o g r e s s e d is significant. See P a u l G . B a h n , " N e w A d v a n c e s in t h e Field of Ice A g e A r t , " in Origins of Anatomically Modern Humans. M a t t h e w H . N i t e c ki a n d Doris V. Nitecki, cds. (New York: P l e n u m Press, 1994), p p . 121 32. O n v a r i o u s i n t e r p r é t a tions a p p l i e d to c a v e art, see W e like, Patterns in Prehistory, p p . 182 85.
42 Advanced planning
Changing settlement patterns
CHAPTER THREE
T h e planning inherent behind the making of specialized and standardized tools, the creation of jewelry, the application of decoration to various artifacts, and the appearance of representational art on cave walls bespeak a level of intelligencc and intellectual conceptualization unknown in previous hominids. 1 5 So, for instance, the barbed and u n b a r b e d points worked from bone by anatomically m o d e r n H. sapiens at the late Middle Stone Age sites of K a t a n d a on the U p p e r Semliki River in the Democratic Republic of C o n g o exhibit a sense of planning in two ways. First, the fact that the bone was worked into a specific type of tool and not merely used as found implies that the maker was preparing his tools for a future need and for a specific purpose. And, second, the fact that the catfish, which were caught, included no juvenile examples implies that they were caught during the spawning season, in this case the rainy season. In other words, the bone implements were m a d e to catch a certain kind of fish at a specific time of the year. 16 T h e creation of workshop sites near sources of raw material, such as certain Gravettian sites in R o m a n i a , implies the application of forethought in the creation of stone tools. 17 Although mobility continued to characterize hunter-gatherer societies of the U p p e r Paleolithic period, certain improvements to individual sites, such as cleaning out older debris or paving of floors with pebbles, imply a more p e r m a nent or settled attitude toward living space. These enhancements suggest a desire for longer stays at particular sites or the persistent return to the same space. 18 Settlement sites seem generally to increase in size, perhaps ranging from 100 to 500 individuals at a few of the largest sites, such as the Solutrean rock shelter site at Laugeric H a u t e and the Magdalenian open site at Solvieux in southwest France. At Abri Pataud, a rock shelter site containing fourteen habitaHon levels ranging from the Aurignacian era to the proto-Magdalenian period, roughly 34,000-20,000 B. P., for example, the small size and arrangements of
' ייGowlett, Ascent to Civilization, pp. 128 33; Poirier, Understanding Human Evolution, pp. 3 0 5 1 3 Pettit a n d S c h u m a n n , "Falling into History," pp. 2 5 - 5 0 . " ׳Yellen et al, " M i d d l e S t o n e Age W o r k e d Bone Industry," p p . 5 5 3 56. 17 Pettit a n d S c h u m a n n , "Falling into History," pp. 2 9 - 3 0 . IH O l g a Sofler, J a m e s M . Adovasio, Ninelj L. Kornietz, A n d r e i A. Velichko, Yurii N . G r i b c h e n k o , Brett R. Lenz, a n d Valeriy Yu. Suntsov, " C u l t u r a l Stratigraphy at M e z h i r i c h , an U p p e r Palaeolithic Site in U k r a i n e with Multiple O c c u p a t i o n s , " Antiquity 71 (March 1997): 48 62; G e n n a d i i Pavlovich Grigor'ev, " T h e Kostenki-Avdeevo Archaeological C u l t u r e a n d the Wi Mendorf-Pavlov-Kosten ki Avdeevo C u l t u r a l U n i t y , " in From Kostenki to Clovis. Upper Paleolithic-Paleo-Indian Adaptations. O l g a Sofier a n d N. 1). Praslov, eds. (New York: Plenum Press, 1993), p p . 57 60; Dickson, Ancient Preludes, p p . 228 29; Mellars, " C h a r a c t e r of the M i d d l e - U p p e r Palaeolithic T r a n s i t i o n , " pp. 266 67; N e n a G a l a n i d o u , "Home is Where the Hearth Is." The Spatial Organisation of the Upper Palaeolithic Rocksheiter Occupations at Klithi and Kastritsa in Northwest Greece. B A R International Series 687 (Oxford: British Archaeological Reports, 1997), pp. 137 40.
; ־
UPPF.R PALEOLITHIC AND NEOLITHIC PERIODS
43
hearths in Aurignacian levels 7, 8, 12, a n d 14 indicate a population made up of expanded nuclear families or a series of such families stretched out along the cave site. T h e larger "bonfire-type" hearths of later Levels 4 (Noaillian) and 5 (Perigordian IV) imply larger family social units. 19 Population densities, although this is less certain, seem also to have increased at this time. 20 At least part of the increase is owed to population "packing," as mobile hunter-gatherers abandoned Britain and northern Europe to escape the cold during the Last Glacial M a x i m u m , ca. 29,000-16,000 B. P. T h e bitter cold and declining food supplies precipitated a gradual population shift southward where people sought refuge in southwest France, coastal Spain, a n d northern Italy. 21 Population migration also occurred just before and during the Last Glacial M a x i m u m in central and eastern Europe and European Russia but present evidence does not allow a firm understanding of regional variation in reaction to glacial advancement, except to indicate that the movement was from west to east. 22 Early U p p e r Paleolithic habitations reflected the increasingly colder climate just before and during the Last Glacial M a x i m u m . In western and central Europe where caves were plentiful, small to large groups gathered about a single hearth or a series of hearths. At places like Laugerie H a u t e and Pech de la Boissicrc, further protection came from the construction of walls to support branches or animal skins to create lean-to-type dwellings within the cave or rock shelter. 23 In open sites where caves were not so easily available, simple dwellings of various sizes became the norm. Although in western Europe numerous open sites have come to light, evidence for houses is rare. 2 4 Small oval-shaped huts constructed of m a m m o t h bones and built about a hearth have come to light at Dolni Vêstonice (ca. 26,000 Β. P.) in the Czech Republic, but the best finds are in
l!
' T h i s is d i s p u t e d , h o w e v e r . Cf. Dickson, Ancient Preludes, p p . 227 28; H a l l a m L. M o v i u s , J r . , " T h e H e a r t h s of t h e U p p e r P e r i g o r d i a n a n d A u r i g n a c i a n H o r i z o n s at the A b r i P a t a u d , Les Eyzics ( D o r d o g n e ) , a n d T h e i r Possible S i g n i f i c a n c e , " AmerAnthr 68, n o . 2 (April 1966): 2 9 6 325; i d e m , Excavation of the Abri Pataud Ijes Eyzies (Dordogne). Stratigraphy. A m e r i c a n S c h o o l of Prehistoric R e s e a r c h , Bulletin 31 ( C a m b r i d g e , Mass.: H a r v a r d University Press, 1977); C a t h e r i n e Farizy, " B e h a v i o r a l a n d C u l t u r a l C h a n g e s at t h e M i d d l e to U p p e r Paleolithic T r a n s i t i o n in W e s t e r n E u r o p e , " in Origins of Anatomically Modern Iiumans, p p . 9 8 99. 20 Mellars, " C h a r a c t e r of the M i d d l e - U p p e r Palaeolithic T r a n s i t i o n , " p p . 2 6 4 - 7 1 . But cf. W h i t e , " R e t h i n k i n g the M i d d l e / U p p e r Paleolithic T r a n s i t i o n , " p p . 172 73 21 S t r a u s , " H u m a n G e o g r a p h y , " p p . 2 5 9 78; M i c h a e l J o c h i m , " L a t e Pleistocene R é f u g i a in E u r o p e , " in Pleistocene Old World, p p . 3 1 7 - 3 1 ; S h i m k i n , " U p p e r Paleolithic in N o r t h - C e n t r a l E u r a s i a , " p. 246. 22 O l g a Soffer, " U p p e r Paleolithic A d a p t a t i o n s in C e n t r a l a n d E a s t e r n E u r o p e a n d M a n - M a m m o t h I n t e r a c t i o n s , " in From Kostenki to Ctovis,31-49 . ;קנןi d e m , " U p p e r Paleolithic C o n n u b i a , " p p . 3 3 3 48; S h i m k i n , " U p p e r Paleolithic in N o r t h - C e n t r a l E u r a s i a , " p p . 2 4 6 . 23 M e l l a r s , " C h a r a c t e r of the M i d d l e - U p p e r Palaeolithic T r a n s i t i o n , " p p . 2 6 6 67. 24 W y m e r , Palaeolithic Age, p p . 2 3 3 3 7 ; ־D i c k s o n , Ancient Preludes, p. 2 2 9 .
44
Extended interaction
CHAPTER THREE
the East European Plain of Ukraine a n d in Russia. Here excavators have unearthed large, oval structures, or "long houses," with several hearths arranged along the long axis. 25 At Avdeevo (ca. 22,700-19,800 B. P.), on the Ragozna River west of the Don, for example, a long house with six hearths arranged in a single line was capable of sheltering many families at a time. At Kostenki I (ca. 24,000-18,000 B. P.), in the Don basin near Voronezh, three long houses each contained nine hearths arranged in a line. 26 In Ukraine at Pushkari I (ca. 19,000-16,700 B. P.), on the Desna River, a long house m a d e of m a m m o t h bones and similarly arranged with three hearths has come to light, while other multi-dwelling settlements have been found along the Dnieper River at Mezhirich and Dobranichevka. (311 the Dnestr River at Molodova V, Horizon 6 (ca. 16,500 B. P.), archaeologists have found small, round or oval huts, usually from four to six meters in diameter, constructed of m a m m o t h bones and covered probably with hides, built about a single hearth. Whereas Mousterian populations tended to use local resources, II. sapiens sapiens of the U p p e r Paleolithic roamed farther afield establishing contacts at great distances away. In the Perigord region of France, for instance, investigators have found seashells from coastal areas perhaps more than one hundred miles away. 111 G e r m a n y , the Magdalenian inhabitants obtained fossil shells and various minerals f r o m other parts of G e r m a n y and mollusks from the Mediterranean area, from the Paris Basin, and from the Atlantic coast. Seashells have been found in the J o r d a n Valley, Negev, and Sinai, up to 60 miles from the coast. Also transported great distances by Levantine hunter-gatherers were basalt grinding stones and obsidian, the latter conveyed from sources perhaps more than five hundred miles away. Since these items camc from areas at a greater distance than hunter-gatherer populations would tend to roam, some sort of individual or group communication and social interaction, perhaps in a vaguely
25
S v o b o d a cl al, Hunters Between East and West, p p . 2 0 9 - 1 4 . T h e earliest a n d w e s t e r n m o s t site is o n the D n e s t r R i v e r in the U k r a i n e at M o l o d o v a I. H o r i z o n 4, of late M o u s t e r i a n d a t e , w h e r e large m a m m o t h b o n e s f o r m e d a lodging, p r o b a b l y c o v e r e d with skins a n d m e a s u r i n g ca. 1 0 x 7 meters. S h i m k i n , " U p p e r Paleolithic in N o r t h - C e n t r a l E u r a s i a , י יp p . 201 04־. See also Poirier, Understanding Human Evolution, p. 302, a n d F r e d H . S m i t h , " U p p e r Pleistocene H o m i n i d Evolution in S o u t h - C e n t r a l E u r o p e : A R e v i e w of t h e E v i d e n c e a n d Analysis of T r e n d s , " CunAnthr 2 3 (Dec. 1982): 681 82. D a t e s f o r E a s t e r n E u r o p e a n a n d R u s s i a n sites c o m e p r i m a r i l y f r o m those listed in Yurii S t e p a n o v i c h S v e z h e n t s c z , " R a d i o c a r b o n C h r o n o l o g y for the U p p e r Paleolithic Sites o n t h e East E u r o p e a n P l a i n , " in From Kostenki to Clovis, p p . 2 3 30. 26 G r i g o r ' e v , " T h e K o s t e n k i - A v d e e v o A r c h a e o l o g i c a l C u l t u r e , " p p . 5 7 - 5 8 ; W y m e r , Palaeolithic Age, p p . 2 3 7 - 4 6 ; S h i m k i n , " U p p e r Paleolithic in N o r t h - C e n t r a l E u r a s i a , " p p . 201 27; Klein, Human Career, p p . 3 6 9 7 6 ; ־G . P. G r i g o r ' e v , " A N e w R e c o n s t r u c t i o n of the A b o v e - g r o u n d D w e l l i n g at K o s t e n k i , " CunAnthr 8 (1967): 3 4 4 49.
UPPF.R PALEOLITHIC AND NEOLITHIC PERIODS
45
structured fashion, such as commercial barter or gift exchange, may be inferred. 2 7 Larger settlements, denser populations, and individual and group interactions all point to significant social restructuring. T h e idea that food could be stored for later consumption rather than eaten immediately at the kill site or soon after at a home base seems to have been foreign to hominids of the Lower and Middle Paleolithic periods. Storage of food in above-ground facilities during winter months and on drying racks in belowground facilities in the spring and summer months appears common a m o n g North American hunter-gatherers, but archaeological evidence for similar activities in the Upper Paleolithic Old World is scarce. In Eastern Europe and Russia, by 20,000 B. P. or earlier, houses were made of m a m m o t h bones and had clearly defined living areas centered about a hearth. Some also possessed underground facilities for storing food. 28 Storage pits at various early U p p e r Paleolithic sites, such as at Dobranichevka, Mezhirich, and Mczin in the Ukraine, and at Kostenki in Russia, ranged in size up to ca. 1.7 2.0 meters in diameter by 1.2 meters deep. Found either within the structures or outside of them, the pits contained the remains of various animals, such as m a m m o t h , bison, reindeer, wolf, and arctic fox. T h e presence of storage facilities at what were either cold-wcather or warm-weather base camps, the latter occupied for as long as nine months, suggests a strong sense of long-range planning to accommodate future needs for food in a hostile climate where animal resources could be unpredictable at times. Olga Soffer suggests that the n u m b e r of sites with storage pits increased after 18,000 B. P. She further concludes that the numbers of pits and their arrangement throughout the overall site and about individual huts indicate that inequality of social and economic status grew over time. 29 It is difficult to judge the degree to which food storage was beginning to be practiced at this time, but the fact that it was engaged in to any degree implies that some sites served as 27
Mellars, " C h a r a c t e r of the M i d d l e - U p p e r Palaeolithic T r a n s i t i o n , י יp p . '267-68; G e r d - C . W e n i g e r , " M a g d a l e n i a n S e t t l e m e n t P a t t e r n a n d Subsistence 111 C e n t r a l E u r o p e . T h e S o u t h w e s t e i n a n d C e n t r a l G e r m a n Cases,' יin Pleistocene Old World, p p . 2 1 3 14; R o b i n D e n n e l l , European Economic Prehistory ( L o n d o n : A c a d e m i c Press, 1983). p p . 9 3 94; G i l e a d , " U p p e r Paleolithic Period in the L e v a n t , " p p . 1 4 1 - 4 2 . 28 Lewis R. Biiilbrd, " B o n e s f o r Stones: C o n s i d e r a t i o n s of A n a l o g u e s f o r F e a t u r e s F o u n d o n the C e n t r a l Russian P l a i n , " in From Kostenki to Clovis, p p . 1 0 1 - 2 4 ; O l g a SolTer, " S t o r a g e , S e d e n t i s m a n d the E u r a s i a n Palaeolithic R e c o r d , " Antiquity 6 3 (1989): 7 1 9 - 3 2 . 2 ייD e n n e l l , European Economic Prehistory, p. 89; Pettit a n d S c h u m a n n , "Falling i n t o H i s t o r y , " p p . 2 9 - 3 0 . For s t o r a g e pits, sec S h i m k i n , " U p p e r Paleolithic 111 N o r t h - C e n t r a l E u r a s i a , " p p . 2 0 5 12 ( D o b r a n i c h e v k a ) , 2 1 2 - 1 3 ( M e / i n ) , 2 1 4 - 1 5 (Yeliseyevichi), a n d 2 1 6 - 1 9 (Kostenki); Sofier et al, " C u l t u r a l S t r a t i g r a p h y at M e z h i r i c h , " p p . 4 8 62.; i d e m , " S t o r a g e , S e d e n t i s m a n d the E u r a s i a n Palaeolithic R e c o r d , " p p . 719 32, a n d i d e m , The Upper Paleolithic of the Central Russian Plain (New York: A c a d e m i c Press, 1985), p p . 2 5 3 - 5 8 (storage strategies), 392 4 0 4 (storage ])its), 4 5 9 6 3 (control of l a b o r a n d resources).
Food storage and long-term planning
46
Upper Paleolithic hearths and cooking
CHAPTER THREE
semi-permanent places where mobile hunter-gatherers returned repeatedly at certain times of the year. Although these storage pits cannot be considered examples of intensive food storage nor does their use suggest sedentism, they may constitute the beginnings of an emergent disposition toward both. 50 Improved hearths typically found in U p p e r Paleolithic sites provide strong evidence for the cooking of food. T h e hearths vary in size and construction. At Abri Pataud in southwest France simple, prepared, roughly oval basins typify Aurignacian hearths, while elaborate ones of the Perigordian level show a range from small basin-shaped types through the larger "bonfire" type to oval-shaped hearths constructed in a well defined basin. Bone and wood found in late Aurignacian hearths imply the type of fuel used to prepare an open fire. Several of the later Perigordian hearths had associated with them smooth river stones clearly discolored by heat. These stones may have been used to increase the time that the fireplace would radiate heat or, it has been suggested, as "pot-boilcrs." These stones may have been heated in the fire and then placed in a container of water to heat it. Evidence is lacking, however, for any watertight container. 31 O n e Perigordian hearth had a trench dug away from the hearth parallei with the cliff. Although the excavator postulates drainage as its purpose, it may have served the same aim as that proposed for channels associated with Aurignacian hearths in southwest France at the cave site of Roc de C o m b e and the open-air site at Corbioc, the U p p e r Solutrean site in southern Spain at Cueva de Ambrosio, and the "long house" at Kostenki I, Horizon 1, in Russia. These channels may have served as draft-trenches designed to raise the heat of the fire above that of a regular campfire. 3 2 O n e Eastern Gravettian (ca. 25,000 B. P.) hearth found at Dolni Vcstonice, in the Czech Republic, was surrounded by a clay and stone wall and may have served as a kiln to fire Venus figurines. Although this may be an isolated instance, if accurately interpreted, this site represents one of the earliest attempts to raise temperatures high enough to fire clay a technological innovation usually assigned to the Neolithic Period. 33 At the same site archaeologists have also found small pits in close proximity to hearths.
30
So, for e x a m p l e , at M e z h i r i c h . Soffer et al, " C u l t u r a l S t r a t i g r a p h y at M e z h i r i c h , " p p . 4 9 6 2 ־. F o r t h e distinctions b e t w e e n s t o r i n g a n d n o n - s t o r i n g h u n t e r - g a t h e r e r societies, see Alain T e s t a r t , " T h e Significance of F o o d S t o r a g e a m o n g H u n t e r - G a t h e r e r s : R e s i d e n c e Patterns, P o p u l a t i o n Densities, a n d Social Inequalities," CunAnthr 2 3 (Oct. 1982): 5 2 3 - 3 7 . 31 M o v i u s , " H e a r t h s of t h e U p p e r P e r i g o r d i a n a n d A u r i g n a c i a n H o r i z o n s , " p p . 2 9 6 - 3 2 5 . 32 M o v i u s , Excavation of the Abri Pataud, Les Eyzies (Dordogne), p p . 62 65, esp. PI. 39 a n d Fig. 15; i d e m , " H e a r t h s of t h e U p p e r P e r i g o r d i a n a n d A u r i g n a c i a n H o r i z o n s , " p p . 3 1 2 - 1 3 ; Bordes, Tale of Two Caves, p p . 6 1 - 6 2 ; S h i m k i n , " U p p e r Paleolithic in N o r t h - C e n t r a l Eurasia, י יp. 217. 33 W y m e r , Palaeolithic Age, p. 239; S m i t h , " U p p e r Pleistocene H o m i n i d E v o l u t i o n , " p. 681.
UPPF.R PALEOLITHIC AND NEOLITHIC PERIODS
47
These have been identified as "boiling pits," where meat, stripped from the bones, were cooked. And finally, the central hearth of one dwelling at Mezhirich in the Ukraine was surrounded by m a m m o t h bones that had been inserted into the ground, perhaps to create a spit to cook meat. 3 4 In southwest G e r m a n y moderate and large Magdalenian sites frequently show a rather sophisticated hearth constructed of stone slabs of non-local origin. During the same period two m a j o r types of hearth characterize the Paris Basin of France. T h e first, such as appears at Etiolles, is relatively flat, usually one to two meters in diameter but only five centimeters or less in depth, and contains numerous burnt stones. T h e second type, the basin-shaped hearth, varies between forty and eighty centimeters in diameter a n d from five to twenty ccntimeters deep and is lined with stone slabs. T h e latter form, found, for example, at Pincevent and Verberie, is associated with numerous remains of butchered reindeer bones, some apparently broken for marrow. 3 5 In the Levant most hearths were shallow, oval-shaped pits, usually numbering several to a site and frequently arranged in a line as in European locations. T w o open-air sites in the Abu Noshra basin of the Wadi Feiran in southern Sinai arc good examples. Abu Noshra I dates from ca. 35,800-29,500 B. P., while Abu Noshra II dates slightly later to 34,000 31,500 B. P. 36 Excavators of the former site uncovered four hearths composed of circular stones surrounding a burn area. Hearth 4, the largest so far known in the Levant of this period, measuring 1.8 m. long by 2.3 m. wide and excavated to a depth of from ten to thirty-five centimeters, may have been used for a roasting pit, since bones and teeth of the O n a g e r (.Equus hemionus), or wild ass, lay strewn about in the vicinity. Meat and b o n e / a n t l e r polish on burins and blade tools indicates that two of the other hearths supported meat processing as well. At Abu Noshra II, which contained twelve hearths, Feature 1, excavated to a depth of 30 cm., m a y have served a similar purpose, since bones of equids, goats, and birds have been found. 3 7 Both sites were occupied seasonally, and provided a place where tools were made, animals butchered for their meat, hides prepared for clothes, and food cooked. 3
'׳SofFer, " S t o r a g e , S e d e n t i s m a n d the E u r a s i a n Palaeolithic R e c o r d , " p. 725; S h i m k i n , " U p p e r Paleolithic in N o r t h - C e n t r a l E u r a s i a , " p. 2 0 4 . 35 F r a n ç o i s e A u d o u z e , " T h e Paris Basin in M a g d a l e n i a n T i m e s , " in Pleistocene Old World, p p . 1 8 3 - 2 0 0 ; W e n i g e r , " M a g d a l e n a i n S e t t l e m e n t P a t t e r n a n d Subsistence in C e n t r a l E u r o p e , " p. 203. 36 J a m e s L. Phillips, " T h e U p p e r Paleolithic C h r o n o l o g y of t h e L e v a n t a n d t h e Nile V a l l e y , " in Late Quaternary Chronology and Paleoclimates of the Eastern Mediterranean. O f e r Bar-Yosef a n d R e n e e J . K r a , eds. ( T u s c o n , Az: T h e University of A r i z o n a Press, 1994), 173.;כןi d e m , " T h e U p p e r Paleolithic of t h e W a d i F e i r a n , S o u t h e r n S i n a i , " Paléorient 14, n o . 2 (1988): 183 - 2 0 0 ; i d e m , " U p p e r Paleolithic H u n t e r - G a t h e r e r s in the W a d i F e i r a n , S o u t h e r n S i n a i , " in Pleistocene Old World, p p . 1 6 9 - 8 2 ; G i l c a d , " U p p e r Paleolithic P e r i o d in the L e v a n t , " p p . 133 35. 37 Phillips, " U p p e r Paleolithic of t h e W a d i F e i r a n , " p p . 188 99.
48
CHAPTER THREE
Β. Last Glacial Maximum Turning point in development of food technology
T h e Last Glacial M a x i m u m (LGM) marked a turning point in the development of food technology. During this time and its immediate aftermath, called variously the Late Glacial, Terminal Pleistocene, or Epipaleolithic period, down to ca. 10,000 B. P., man began to expand the types of foods consumed, such as the wild grains, to process various kinds of foods by altering their form through pounding or grinding, and to store foods on a long-term basis to provide subsistence during anticipated leaner seasons. Significant climatic changes also marked this period and, although the cxact process and degree of influence are debatable, probably played an important role in the shift away from an essentially mobile hunter-gatherer lifestyle to one based on sedentism and agriculture. Discussion will concentrate on Southwest Asia, Europe, and Egypt, because the best a n d earliest evidence for these innovations derives from these areas. At the onset of the Last Glacial M a x i m u m the climate of Europe was essentially cold and dry, though there were some oscillations of temperature and rainfall amounts between 20,000 B. P. and 16,000 B. P. Following the a b a n d o n m e n t of much of northern Europe and Britain after ca. 27,000 B. P. with its resultant "réfugia" into southwest France, the Late Glacial period (16,000-10,000) witnessed an increase in temperature and humidity. Although there were local variations, in general Magdalenian populations in the Mediterranean environments increased and between 12,500 and 10,000 B. P. spread eastward and northward onto the Northern European Plain and into Denmark and Britain. In periglacial areas of central and eastern Europe populations shifted north and northwest. In Southwest Asia the L G M was similar to that of Europe, though the temperatures were probably somewhat milder. T h e Late Glacial period, however, was hyperarid with high temperatures, though some short periods of increased rainfall did occur. In Egypt, the L G M was cool but so hyperarid that Lower Egypt was mostly uninhabited. Few archaeological sites are known in U p p e r Egypt before ca. 21,000 B. P. By 12,500 B. P. rainfall increased while temperatures rose slightly. 38 As early man's intellectual capacity and reasoning capabilities increased dra-
:5H
Paul M . D o l u k h a n o v , " T h e P l e i s t o c e n e - H o l o c e n e B o u n d a r y . E n v i r o n m e n t a l Processes a n d Social A d a p t a t i o n s , " in From Kostenki to Clovis, p p . 189 96; S t r a u s , ' ־H u m a n G e o g r a p h y of t h e L a t e U p p e r Paleolithic in W e s t e r n E u r o p e , " p p . 2 5 9 7 8 ; ־i d e m , " T h e A r c h a e o l o g y of t h e Pleist o c c n c - H o l o c e n c T r a n s i t i o n in S o u t h w e s t E u r o p e , " in Humans at the End of the Ice Age. L a w r e n c e G u y S t r a u s , Berit V a l e n t i n Eriksen, J o n M . E r l a n d s o n , a n d D a v i d R. Y e s n e r , eds. (New Y o r k : P l e n u m Press, 1996), p p . 8 3 99; O f e r Bar-Yosef, " T h e Last Glacial M a x i m u m in the M e d i t e r r a n e a n L e v a n t , " in 77le World at 18000 BP. 2 Vols. O l g a S o f f e r a n d Clive G a m b l e , eds. ( L o n d o n : U n w i n H y m a n , 1990), 1: 5 8 77; i d e m , " T h e I m p a c t of L a t e Pleistocene-Early H o l o c e n e C l i m a t i c C h a n g e s o n H u m a n s in S o u t h w e s t Asia," in Humans at the End of the Ice Age. L a w r e n c e G u y S t r a u s ,
UPPF.R PALEOLITHIC AND NEOLITHIC PERIODS
49
matically during the U p p e r Paleolithic he became more aware of his surroundings and of himself and his relationship with other H. sapiens. H e increased the quality and variety of useful tools and developed m o r e efficient hunting methods to provide himself with more dependable sources of food and safer and w a r m e r surroundings. T h e changing climate and a diversified food resource base encouraged a more settled life style. Nevertheless, man still remained essentially mobile, dependent, as he was, for many of his needs upon the seasonal availability of food resources, especially migratory animals, which provided not just food but also bone, antler, and ivory for tools, weapons, and non-utilitarian items, such as jewelry. Additionally, large animals, particularly m a m m o t h s , furnished bones to construct dwellings, hides with which to roof them, and fur for clothing. With all this innovation, however, beyond improvements in hearth construction, there seems to have been little advancement in food processing technologies before ca. 18,000 B. P. Subsistence changes are a m o n g the most important developments of the U p p e r Paleolithic, particularly in Europe during the Solutrean and Magdalenian periods when an increase in efficiency and versatility of blade tools gave added advantage to hunters. O f particular note is the development of composite tools by hafting large a n d small stone points onto wooden shafts or stone bladelets onto bone a n d ivory points to create spears and arrows. 39 The use of Berit V a l e n t i n Eriksen, J o n M . E r l a n d s o n , a n d D a v i d R . Y e s n e r , eds. (New York: P l e n u m Press, 1996), p p . 61 78; a n d A n g e l a E. Close, " P l u s Ç a C h a n g e . T h e P l e i s t o c e n e - H o l o c e n e T r a n s i t i o n in N o r t h e a s t A f r i c a , " in ITumans at the End of the Ice Age, p p . 4 3 60. 39 O n h a f t i n g in t h e M i d d l e Paleolithic p e r i o d , see Patricia A n d e r s o n - G e r f a u d , "Aspects of B e h a v i o u r in t h e M i d d l e Palaeolithic: F u n c t i o n a l Analysis of S t o n e A g e T o o l s f r o m S o u t h w e s t F r a n c e , " in The Emergence of Modern Humans. An Archaeological Perspective. P a u l M e l l a r s , e d . (Ithaca: C o r n e l l University Press, 1990), p p . 4 0 6 10. R e c e n t finds at S c h ö n i n g c n , G e r m a n y , ca. sixty miles east of H a n n o v e r , of w o r k e d b r a n c h e s h a v i n g a d i a g o n a l g r o o v e at o n e e n d , possibly for the insertion of a flake tool, m a y i n d i c a t e t h e use of c o m p o s i t e tools d u r i n g the R e i n s d o r f Interglacial level 1 of S c h ö n i n g e n II d u r i n g the M i d d l e Pleistocene. T h e tools w e r e f o u n d iη c o n t e x t with m a n y m a m m a l b o n e s , s u c h as straight-tusked e l e p h a n t , r h i n o c e r o s , red d e e r , b e a r , a n d horse, s o m e s h o w i n g signs of h a v i n g b e e n b u t c h e r e d . Additionally, in R e i n s d o r f Interglacial level 4 e x c a v a t o r s f o u n d t h r e e w o o d e n s p e a r s a n d a n o t h e r w o o d e n i n s t r u m e n t s h a r p e n e d at b o t h e n d s , p e r h a p s a t h r u s t i n g stick, all m a d e f r o m the s p r u c e tree. T h e spears, s h a r p e n e d at t h e e n d with t h e greatest w e i g h t a n d t a p e r e d t h e r e f r o m , seem to h a v e b e e n used f o r t h r o w i n g r a t h e r t h a n for t h r u s t i n g . D a t e d to ca. 4 0 0 , 0 0 0 B. P., they w o u l d b e the earliest s p e a r s yet k n o w n , a n t e d a t i n g t h e t h r u s t i n g s p e a r f o u n d at L e h r i n g e n b y o v e r 2 7 5 , 0 0 0 years. T h e s e finds a r e at this p o i n t u n i q u e , a n d so the q u e s t i o n of the earliest use of c o m p o s i t e tools a n d h u n t i n g s p e a r s m u s t r e m a i n a n o p e n o n e . If c o n f i r m e d , they w o u l d alter significantly the received o p i n i o n o n t h e h u n t i n g capabilities, as well as t h e intellectual capacities, of L o w e r Paleolithic h o m i n i d s . See H a r t m u t T h i e m e , " L o w e r Palaeolithic H u n t i n g S p e a r s f r o m G e r m a n y , " Nature 3 8 5 (27 Feb. 1997): 807 10. F o r a similar c l a i m for M i d d l e S t o n e Age h o m i n i d s of S o u t h Africa, see R i c h a r d G . M i l o , " E v i d e n c e f o r H o m i n i d P r é d a t i o n at Klasies R i v e r M o u t h , S o u t h A f r i c a , a n d its I m p l i c a t i o n s f o r the B e h a v i o u r of Early M o d e r n H u m a n s , " JAS 2 5 (1998): 9 9 - 1 3 3 .
Tunis, weapons, and changes in die1
50
Consumption of plant foods
CHAPTER THREE
throwing spears and the bow and arrow allowed hunters to stand of!" at a safe distance while attacking large, swift, or dangerous prey. 40 Although the evidence is open to varied interpretation, it seems that there was a shift from hunting sevcral large species to a more specific selection a m o n g gregarious herd animals, such as red deer, various bovids, and, for France and Molodova V, particularly, horses and reindeer. 4 1 Besides the hunting of individual animals, usually the very young or very old, of these species, animal drives or stampedes into ravines or over cliffs allowed U p p e r Paleolithic hunters working cooperatively to kill more animals at a time, including prime-age adults. 42 In addition to large animals, such as m a m m o t h and rhinoceros, which they had consumed during the Middle Paleolithic, they also hunted small mammals, such as wild pig, the smaller deer, ibex, and fox. Archaeological evidence for the consumption of birds, fish, partieularly salmon, and swift mammals implies that late U p p e r Paleolithic hunters developed nets, weirs, and traps. T h e proportion o f f i s h in relation to meat and plants consumed by inhabitants of France, for example, was initially small, but by late Magdalenian times became m o r e substantial, perhaps reaching sixteen per cent. Likewise, bird, fish, limpets, and tortoise entered the diet of the inhabitants of Late Stone Age Africa. 4 3 T h a t H. sapiens sapiens ate plants seems certain, but how much of his diet was devoted to them is unknown, since plant remains continue to be found rarely in archaeological sites. 44 As earlier, Upper Paleolithic m a n probably continued, where and when available, to rely on plant parts, such as fleshy fruits, flowers, and non-toxic seeds, immature leaves, shoots, tubers, enlarged roots, and bulbs,
40
W e n k e , Patterns in Prehistory, p. 176; S t r a u s , " H u m a n G e o g r a p h y , " p . 268; M a r y C . Stincr, " M o d e r n H u m a n O r i g i n s — F a u n a l Perspectives,' יAnnRevAnthr 22 (1993): 69 70; S h i m k i n , " U p p e r Paleolithic in N o r t h - C e n t r a l E u r a s i a , " p p . 2 6 6 - 6 7 ; K l e i n , Human Career, p p . 3 7 4 - 7 6 . 41 Mellars, " C h a r a c t e r of the M i d d l e - U p p e r Palaeolithic T r a n s i t i o n , " p p . 2 6 0 - 6 4 ; Straus, " H u m a n G e o g r a p h y , י יp p . 2 6 9 - 7 0 ; Luis Abel O r q u e r a , " S p e c i a l i z a t i o n a n d the M i d d l e / U p p e r Paleolithic T r a n s i t i o n , ' יCunAnthr 25 (Feb. 1984): 73 98; S h i m k i n , " U p p e r Paleolithic in N o r t h C e n t r a l E u r a s i a , " p p . 2 3 5 45; G o w l e t t , Ascent to Civilization, p p . 1 5 0 - 5 1 . But cf. R a n d a l l W h i t e , " R e t h i n k i n g the M i d d l e / U p p e r Paleolithic T r a n s i t i o n , " p p . 170 71. 42 R i c h a r d G . K l e i n , " S t o n e Age P r é d a t i o n o n L a r g e A f r i c a n Bovids," JAS 5 (1978): 1 9 5 - 2 1 7 ; S h i m k i n , " U p p e r Paleolithic in N o r t h - C e n t r a l E u r a s i a , " p. 245; Dixie W e s t , Hunting Strategies in Central Europe During the IMSI Glacial Maximum. B A R I n t e r n a t i o n a l Scries 6 7 2 ( O x f o r d : British A r c h a e o l o g i c a l R e p o r t s , 1997). 4:i M e l l a r s , " C h a r a c t e r of the M i d d l e - U p p e r Palaeolithic T r a n s i t i o n , " p p . 2 6 0 - 6 4 ; Brian H a y d e n , B r i a n C h i s h o l m , a n d H e n r y P. S c h w a r c z , " F i s h i n g a n d F o r a g i n g : M a r i n e R e s o u r c e s in t h e U p p e r Paleolithic of F r a n c e , " in Pleistocene Old World, p p . 2 7 9 - 9 1 ; Klein, " S t o n e Age P r e h i s t o r y of S o u t h e r n A f r i c a , " p p . 175 77; S t r a u s , " H u m a n G e o g r a p h y , " p. 268; D e n n e l l , European Economic Prehistory, p p . 87 89; D i c k s o n , Ancient Preludes, p. 2 3 3 . 44 In D w e l l i n g 4 at M e z h i r i c h in the U k r a i n e , e x c a v a t o r s h a v e f o u n d m i c r o s c o p i c e v i d e n c e of b e r r i e s a n d seed plants. SofFer et al, " C u l t u r a l S t r a t i g r a p h y at M e z h i r i c h , " p. 59.
UPPF.R PALEOLITHIC AND NEOLITHIC PERIODS
51
gathered and consumed in their raw state without any further processing. 45 A few plants did require some technological application. Microwear analysis on the teeth of Neanderthal and both archaic and anatomically modern h u m a n specimens, for example, reveals that the latter two hominids possessed teeth that show wear typical of what one would expect from a diet consisting proportionally of more vegetable matter than meat. T h e teeth of Neanderthals showed teeth consistent with a more carnivorous diet. 46 Analysis of toothwear or tooth morphology, however, can only distinguish in general terms whether a hominid has eaten a diet based primarily on meat or on plants; it cannot determine which plants were consumed or whether they were always eaten in raw or processed form. Some plants, because of high concentrations of cellulose and starch, are hard to digest in their raw state or else contain harmful toxins and must be cooked before eaten. Since U p p e r Paleolithic m a n apparently expanded his ability to make longer-lasting and hotter fires and to cook animal foods in prepared or stone-lined hearths, some of which were excavated to allow for roasting spits, and perhaps to boil water, it seems likely that many plants earlier avoided or littie consumed assumed a larger role in an expanding omnivorous diet. In this regard the find at Dolni Vêstonice II in the Czech Republic of what has been interpreted as a "plant-food m u s h " of indeterminate ingredients is particularly interesting. 47 Some plant foods required labor-intensive processing to render them more palatable, safer, or more easily digestible, all of which effect the dietary value of the food. This involved pounding, grinding, and grating to meet any one or a combination of three goals. T h e first goal is to separate desired from unwanted elements, such as shells, husks, skins, and certain fibrous matter. This allows access to the edible parts of some plants and the removal of indigestible fiber, and so lengthens the time food remains in the digestive tract thereby increasing absorption of nutrients. Second, by altering the physical form of the food through crushing it into the desired coarseness, these processes serve to increase
45
Motives behind food processing
Stahl, " H o m i n i d D i e t a r y Selection B e f o r e F i r e , " p p . 1 5 1 6 8 ־. Soficr suggests that berries, etc. could b e opportunistically c o n s u m e d b u t , in g e n e r a l , the h i g h e r the latitude, a n d so the c o l d e r the climate, the less plant food w o u l d b e c o n s u m e d a n d t h e m o r e reliance h a d o n a n i m a l resources. G r i n d i n g stones a n d slabs h a v e b e e n f o u n d at v a r i o u s sites in the R u s s i a n plain, b u t n o n e c a n conclusively b e associated with p r o c e s s i n g plants. Sec S offer, Upper Paleolithic of the Central Russian Plain, p p . 2 5 1 - 5 3 . 46 Carles Lalueza, Alejandro Pérez-Pérez, and Daniel T u r b o n , "Dietary Inferences T h r o u g h Buccal M i c r o w e a r Analysis of M i d d l e a n d U p p e r Pleistocene H u m a n Fossils," AJPA 100 (1996): 367-87. 47 S a r a h L. R. M a s o n , J o n G . H a t h e r , a n d G o r d o n C . H i l l m a n , " P r e l i m i n a r y Investigation of t h e Plant M a c r o - r e m a i n s f r o m D o l n i V e s t o n i c e II, a n d its I m p l i c a t i o n s for t h e R o l e of Plant F o o d s in Palaeolithic a n d Mesolithic E u r o p e , " Antiquity 68, n o . 2 5 8 ( M a r c h 1994): 4 8 ~ 5 7 .
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52
Techniques of plant food processing: pounding
exposure of starches to digestive enzymes and so to facilitate the efficiency and speed of digestion. And finally, they render plant foods into a form that will assist the effects of various detoxification processes, such as leaching and soaking, designed to remove any harmful or ill-tasting toxins. Although these processes may result in the removal of some nutrients, the overall gain usually outweighs the loss.48 Paleolithic, tools used to process foods were not specialized, so it remains difficult to distinguish a p o u n d i n g tool from one used for grinding. 4 9 Indeed, some tools served more than one function. T h e percussion technology employed in tool making to p r o d u c e a flake, for instance, could also serve to process plants. Pounding is a percussion process a n d required a lower stone, called by archaeologists an anvil or mortar, u p o n which the food to be processed was placed. T h e actual work was p e r f o r m e d with a handstone, termed variously a pestle, p o u n d e r , percussion muller, hammer-anvil, or "pitted" anvil stone. W o o d e n mortars a n d pestles, if used at all, have left no evidence in the archaeological record a n d are not attested before the GraecoR o m a n period. 5 0 T h e earliest evidence for p o u n d i n g in general, as discussed in the previous chapter, probably goes back beyond the a p p e a r a n c e of the earliest hominid to the great apes, w h o used sticks or stones to crush nuts. T h e use in Africa by early m a n , Paranthropus or m o r e likely H. habilis, of O l d o w a n tools to process plants, however, remains controversial. 5 1 M i c r o w e a r analysis of stone tools can only indicate that they worked plant material; it cannot determine for what purpose — w h e t h e r to create a path through u n d e r b r u s h , to fell small trees and shrubs to make wooden tools, to build a dwelling, to start a fire, or to convert a plant part into a more edible form. Simple processing, nevertheless, can reasonably be assumed to have occurred in ways similar to
IH
A n n B. S t a h l , " P l a n t - f o o d Processing: I m p l i c a t i o n s f o r D i e t a r y Q u a l i t y , " in Foraging and Farming. The Evolution of Plant Exploitation. D a v i d R. H a r r i s a n d G o r d o n C . H i l l m a n , eds. ( L o n d o n : U n w i n H y m a n , 1989), p p . 1 7 2 - 7 5 . 49 O n e i m p o r t a n t t r e n d in r e c e n t s c h o l a r s h i p in food t e c h n o l o g y has b e e n in the d i r e c t i o n of c r e a t i n g a classification system for p o u n d i n g a n d g r i n d i n g tools. See especially N a n c y Kraybill, " P r e - a g r i c u l t u r a l Tools for the P r e p a r a t i o n of F o o d s in the O l d W o r l d , " in Origins of Agriculture. C h a r l e s A. R e e d , ed. ( T h e H a g u e : M o u t o n Publishers, 1977), p p . 4 8 5 - 5 2 1 ; C o l e t t e R o u b e t , " M e t h o d s of Analysis of G r i n d i n g I m p l e m e n t s , " in 77te Prehistory of Wadi Kubbaniya. V o l . 3: IAte Paleolithic Archaeology. A n g e l a E. Close, ed. (Dallas: S o u t h e r n M e t h o d i s t University Press, 1989), p p . 4 7 0 - 7 2 ; i d e m , " T h e G r i n d i n g S t o n e s of Site E - 7 8 - 3 , W a d i K u b b a n i y a , " in ibid., p p . 4 7 3 - 8 2 ; a n d K a t h e r i n e W r i g h t , "Classification S y s t e m f o r G r o u n d S t o n e T o o l s f r o m the Prehistoric Leva n t , " Paléorient 18, n o . 2 (1992): 5 3 - 8 1 . 50 Kraybill, " P r e - a g r i c u l t u r a l T o o l s , " p p . 4 8 7 - 9 2 . ייIbid., p p . 4 9 4 95; J o h n T r o e n g , Worldwide Chronology of Fifty-three Prehistoric Innovations. A c t a A r c h a e o l o g i c a L u n e n s i a N o . 21 ( S t o c k h o l m : Almqvist & Wiksell I n t e r n a t i o n a l , 1993), p p . 4 0 - 4 1 .
UPPF.R PALEOLITHIC AND NEOLITHIC PERIODS
53
activities known to be engaged in by m o d e r n apes a n d present-day huntergatherer societies. 52 Grinding is a more sophisticated process and appeared later than did pounding. Most early grindstones were associated with the preparation of pigments, such as ochre, to decorate cave walls with drawings or to place on dead bodies for burial, and with the working of bone to create tools. M a n y stones, however, did not show traces of pigment, so their use remains unknown. T h e earliest grindstones come from Florisbad, South Africa and date to ca. 48,900 B. P. T h e y appear in Europe in Mousterian levels at Molodova I and V, dating to before 40,000 B. P. Examples are numerous in Mousterian levels in France and Spain, as well as in U p p e r Paleolithic sites in U p p e r Egypt (ca. 17,000 B. P.) and Nubia (ca. 14,000 B. P.). 53 O f particular interest in the use of grinding tools is the appearance ca. 18,000 B. P. in Ein Aqev, central Negev, Palestine, of "basined" grinding slabs. T h e i r appearance may reflect a frequent and extended use of grinding and an increased use of foods requiring extensive processing. 54 Perhaps the best single place to study the use of pounding and grinding technology and what it says about the diet of U p p e r Paleolithic man is at Wadi Kubbaniya in U p p e r Egypt.
dividing
Wadi Kubbaniya lies west of the Nile Valley in Upper Egypt between Kom Plantfoodprocessing O m b o to the north and Elephantine (modern Aswan) ca. 12 kilometers to the at Wadi kubbaniya south. During the Late Pleistocene Nile floods periodically inundated an area characterized by marshlands and meadows. Numerous sites have been excavated, but only four, each located on dunes above the floodplain, have yielded charred evidence of plant foods. Carbon-dated to ca. 18,000 B. P., the remains constitute the earliest clear evidence for plant foods in the diet of Paleolithic hunter-gatherers and imply the early development of broad-spectrum subsistence. 55 O f more than twenty-five different type plants isolated, over one-half have been identified. These include soft vegetable types, such as tubers of wild nut-grass {cyperus rotundas) רdorn palm fruit (Hyphaene thebica), nutlets of the club rush (Scirpus mantimus/ tuberosus), and
M
Sept, "Beyond Bones," pp. 2 9 5 - 3 2 0 . Kraybill, " P r e - a g r i c u l t u r a l T o o l s , " p p . 4 9 5 97. G r i n d s t o n e s f r o m t h e T r a n s v a a l in S o u t h A f r i c a (ca. 4 7 , 0 0 0 - 4 3 , 0 0 0 B. P.) a n d M o l o d o v a V (ca. 4 0 , 0 0 0 B. P.) in the U k r a i n e s h o w e d traces of o c h r e . Ibid., p p . 4 9 7 , 5 1 3 . 54 Kraybill, " P r c - a g r i c u l t u r a l T o o l s , " p p . 5 0 0 - 0 1 , esp. Fig. 1, p. 5 0 0 , a n d 5 1 3 . 55 W i l m a W e t t e r s t r o m , " F o r a g i n g a n d F a r m i n g in Egypt: the T r a n s i t i o n f r o m H u n t i n g a n d G a t h e r i n g to H o r t i c u l t u r e in the Nile V a l l e y , " in Hie Archaeology of Africa: Food, Metals and Towns. T h u r s t a n S h a w , Paul Sinclair, Bassey A n d a h , a n d Alex O k p o k o , eds. ( L o n d o n : R o u t l e d g e , 1993), p p . 170 79; G o r d o n H i l l m a n , E w a M a d e y s k a , a n d J o n a t h a n H a t h e r , " W i l d Plant F o o d s a n d Diet at L a t e Palaeolithic W a d i K u b b a n i y a : the E v i d e n c e f r o m C h a r r e d R e m a i n s , " in The Prehistory of Wadi Kubbaniya. Vol. 2: Stratigraphy, Paleoeconomy, and Environment. A n g e l a E. Close, ed. (Dallas: S o u t h e r n M e t h o d i s t University Press, 1989), p p . 1 6 2 6 3 ־. 53
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some as yet ill-defined seeds of the chamomile type. Contrary to earlier reports, no evidence for cereal cultivation at Wadi Kubbaniya exists.56 Evidence for various plant foods imply two important points. First, the most a b u n d a n t tubers of nut-grass were transported from areas near water to the dunes, where they were found in combination with remains of other food items. Second, their charred condition implies use of fire to cook or process them in some fashion. 57 Since nut-grass tubers are high in fiber and contain certain toxins, they need some form of processing before consumption. M o d e r n huntergatherers process tubers in a n u m b e r of ways. T h e y can be roasted, then ground down to remove the fibrous skin or, alternatively, pounded in mortars. O n c e reduced to a smaller size, they can then be sifted to remove the harder, inedible parts. T h e flour thus formed can be cooked and eaten as a cakc or in the form of a mush. 5 8 T h e Kubbaniyan sites where plant foods have been found are also sites where grinding stones are abundant. Scientific analyses of the stones, however, are inconclusive in proving that they were used to process tubers on the site. M u c h of the processing may have been accomplished in wooden mortars, which would have left no archaeological remains. O n the other hand, processing in stone mortars cannot be ruled out since there is evidence that at least one of the stones was used to process a plant rich in starch and low in protein. These characteristics would encompass tubers of nut-grass and club-rush but would exclude the seed foods. 59 T h a t tubers were processed for h u m a n consumption derives support from charred remains of h u m a n feces found on the living areas of the sites. Some smooth-textured fecal specimens imply infant origin, since it seems best explained as a finely ground mush, perhaps not unlike that suggested for material found at Dolni Vêstonice II (ca. 26,000 Β. P.). O t h e r fecal matter contained coarser material, but still apparently partially ground. In the leafy material, club-rush tubers and club-rush and chamomilc-type seeds were found. T h e club-rush seeds had apparently been roasted before eaten. And finally, there appears to have been a preference for root foods over seeds, probably because Sf>
C f . F r e d W e n d o r f a n d R o m u a l d Schild, " S o m e I m p l i c a t i o n s of Late Palaeolithic C e r e a l E x p l o i t a t i o n at W a d i K u b b a n i y a ( U p p e r Egypt)," in Origin and Early Development 0J Food-Producing Cultures in North-eastern Africa. L e c h K r z y z a n i a k a n d M i c h a l K o b u s i c w i c z , eds. ( P o z n a n : Polish A c a d e m y of Sciences, 1984), p p . 1 1 8 2 7 ־, a n d A n n S t e m l e r a n d R i c h a r d H . Falk, " E v i d e n c e of G r a i n s f r o m the Site of W a d i K u b b a n i y a ( U p p e r Egypt)," in ibid., p p . 1 2 9 - 3 6 . 57 G o r d o n C . H i l l m a n , " L a t e Palaeolithic Plant F o o d s f r o m W a d i K u b b a n i y a in U p p e r Egypt: D i e t a r y Diversity, I n f a n t W e a n i n g , a n d Seasonality in a R i v e r i n e E n v i r o n m e n t , " in Foraging and Fanning, p p . 2 1 5 - 1 6 . 5» H i l l m a n et al, " W i l d Plant F o o d s , " p p . 1 8 2 - 9 0 . -9 יC . E. R o l a n d Jones, " A r c h a e o c h e m i s t r y : Fact o r F a n c y ? " in Prehistory of Wadi Kubbaniya, 2: 2 6 0 - 6 6 ; H i l l m a n et al, " W i l d P l a n t F o o d s , " p p . 1 9 0 - 9 1 .
UPPF.R PALEOLITHIC AND NEOLITHIC PERIODS 85
the former d e m a n d e d less work to process. 60 Nevertheless, the inhabitants did gather and consume some seeds. Evidence for grinding and pounding processes is clearer at W a d i K u b b a n i y a than anywhere else at this early period. Both processes require two parts — a stationary lower stone (wood will do, but it will not last), either a slab or a mortar, and a moveable upper handstone or pounder. T h e material is placed on the lower stone so that the upper one can be used to crush, bruise, break, or pulverize it into ever decreasing sizes. Pounding accomplishes this through forces delivered vertically or, in the case of a hammerstone used to make stone tools, at an oblique angle. W h e r e a mortar served as the lower stone the activity of the upper stone, or pestle, involves pounding and circular motion within a depression, which at Wadi Kubbaniya varied in depth between 3.50 cm. and 6.50 cm. (Pl. 1). Depth-to-diameter ratios ranged from 1:3 to 1:6. Grinding on a slab, although it may include some pounding, depends primarily upon back-andforth or circular motions to produce shear forces and friction wear to reduce the material. T h e grinding slabs at W a d i Kubbaniya were made of locally available sandstone or quartzite roughed out at a nearby workshop site (PI. 2). T h e y varied in size from 18 cm. to 50 cm. in diameter and from 9.0 cm. to 24 cm. in thickness. Shapes varied from circular, oval, and triangular to irregular. Sitting on a flat base, though probably elevated at the nearer end to provide a slope for easier working, the grinding surface generally followed the shape of the base, but was usually oval. Frequent use created a slight concavity, or basin effect, to the surface. T h e longer axis was shorter than an arm's length with a rather narrower width, implying a lengthwise and sideways rubbing, rather than a circular motion, effected with downward directed pressure. 61 W h a t was ground on these stones is unknown, but it has been suggested that large items, perhaps plants, were ground on the larger areas, whereas small, concave areas were created by circular motion to grind hard, dry materials, such as ochre or salt. 62 T h e upper or hand stones, whether used as grindstones or pounders, were also made of locally available sandstone, quartzite, or granite, and varied in size, 60
H i l l m a n , " L a t e Palaeolithic Plant F o o d s f r o m W a d i K u b b a n i y a , " p p . 2 1 9 30; H i l l m a n et al, " W i l d P l a n t F o o d s , " p p . 1 6 4 - 6 6 , esp. Fig. 7.2. 61 C o l e t t e R o u b e t , " R e p o r t o n Site E - 8 2 - 1 : A W o r k s h o p f o r the M a n u f a c t u r e of G r i n d i n g S t o n e s at W a d i K u b b a n i y a , " in Prehistory of Wadi Kubbaniya, 3: 5 8 8 608; i d e m , " T h e G r i n d i n g S t o n e s of Site E-78-3, W a d i K u b b a n i y a , " in ibid., p p . 4 7 3 8 2 ־, esp. Figs. 2 5 . 2 - 4 , p. 4 7 6 , a n d Fig. 25.5, p. 4 7 8 . R o u b e t is also w o r k i n g to c r e a t e a s t a n d a r d m e t h o d o l o g y for s t u d y i n g g r i n d i n g i m p l e m e n t s in g e n e r a l . See C o l e t t e R o u b e t , " M e t h o d s of Analysis of G r i n d i n g I m p l e m e n t s , " in ibid., p p . 4 7 0 - 7 2 . See also K . M o r g a n Banks, " T h e G r i n d i n g I m p l e m e n t s of W a d i K u b b a n i y a , " in Loaves and Fishes: the Prehistory of Wadi Kubbaniya. F r e d W e n d o r f , R o m u a l d Schild, a n d A n g e l a E. Close, eds. (Dallas: D e p a r t m e n t of Anthropology׳, S M U , 1980), p p . 2 3 9 . 4 4 ־ 62 R o u b e t , " G r i n d i n g S t o n e s of Site E - 7 8 - 3 , " p . 4 8 1 .
Processing tools: mortar and pestle
Grinding slabs
Handstones
56
CHAPTER THREE
with most ranging from 10 cm. to 15 cm. in diameter. Apparently unworked and chosen to lit comfortably in one or both hands, they came in various shapes, including oval or disc-shaped, circular, and amygdaloid. Those stones showing a convex, flat, oblique, or slightly concave surface profile were probably used for grinding, whereas those with a wide, convex or Hat area more likely functioned as pounders. T h e pestles, m a d e of sandstone, were apparently shaped to fit the mortars. 6 3 T h e ancient Wadi Kubbaniyan population had a broad-based diet, which included, besides plants, large and small animals, such as hartebeest, wild cattle, dorcas gazelle, aurochs, birds, hare, frogs, and especially fish that were caught by bone fishhooks. T h e variable diet was apparently in tune with the changing level of the Nile River. Spawning catfish (Clanas cf. gariepinus) could be caught at the beginning of the flood season in July and August in shallow areas, while tilapia {Tilapia sp.) and small catfish could be caught in isolated residual pools in O c t o b e r and November. W h e t h e r the fish were preserved in any way, such as drying, smoking, or salting, is unknown. T h e large herbivores, although apparently a small part of the K u b b a n i y a n diet, could be hunted at the height of the flood season, while birds were available from late a u t u m n to early spring. Plant foods, predominately tubers of nut-grass and club-rush, and perhaps rhizomes of reeds, rushes, and water lilies as well, could be processed into edible form between D e c e m b e r and August. 6 4 T h e evidence at Kubbaniya and in other places in Egypt and in Nubia, dating to ca. 15,000 B. P. or later, points to the development of a kind of proto-agricultural technology along the Nile. At Isna and K o m O m b o , for example, blades perhaps served to harvest wheat-like grasses and wild barley, and grinding slabs and handstones processed seeds into edible form. In Nubia at Tushka, finds of hearths located near the Nile bank in close proximity to numerous remains of catfish skulls and the anterior parts of the skeleton imply the smoking of fish for later consumption. This technological experiment, if such it was, went nowhere, since, for unknown reasons, perhaps associated with Nile flooding, these tools seem to have disappeared from the evidence by ca. 10,500 B. C. 6 5
63
Ibid., pp. 4 8 2 88, esp. Figs. 2 5 . 1 0 - 1 2 , p p . 4 8 2 8 3 ; ־Banks, Loaves and Fishes, p. 242. Achilles G a u t i e r a n d W i m V a n N e e r , " A n i m a l R e m a i n s f r o m the Late Paleolithic S e q u e n c e at W a d i K u b b a n i y a , " in Prehistory of Wadi Kubbaniya, 2: 1 19 61 ;־H a n n a Wieckowska, " R e p o r t on Site E-78-4: A Later K u b b a n i y a n Site in the D u n e Field," in Prehistory of Wadi Kubbaniya, 3: 53687 ;־־Fred W e n d o r f a n d R o m u a l d Schild, " S u m m a r y a n d Synthesis," in Prehistory of Wadi Kubbaniya, 3: 7 9 9 - 8 0 2 ; Angela E. Close a n d Fred W c n d o r f , " N o r t h Africa at 18000 BP," in World at 18000 BP, 2: 41 57; a n d W e t t e r s t r o m , " F o r a g i n g a n d F a r m i n g in Egypt," p p . 170-79. 6 יAnimals: Achilles G a u t i e r , " Q u a t e r n a r y M a m m a l s a n d Archaeology of Egypt a n d the S u d a n : a Survey," in Origin and Early Development of Food-producing Cultures, p p . 46-47, a n d W e t t e r (i4
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C. The Epipaleolithic Period and the Rise of Agriculture T h e determination of the factors leading to the rise of agriculture has engendered a lively debate, unresolved at present. General consensus places the earliest origin for the development of agriculture in Southwest Asia, probably in the area of the J o r d a n Valley, though some prefer the marginal areas or the hills of the Zagros Mountains of Iran. T h e preconditions for agriculture developed gradually during the Late Paleolithic period, wherein modern Homo sapiens sapiens populations began to develop a more sedentary lifestyle. From ca. 10,500 B. P. the pace toward the domestication both of plants and animals quickened until by ca. 9,000 B. P. many populations were engaging in village agriculture. Various, often conflicting, theories have been p r o p o u n d e d to explain how and why this occurred. Some stress climatic change, others h u m a n factors, still others a combination of both. Included a m o n g these theories are the "oases," or "propinquity," theory of V. Gordon Childc, the "hilly-flanks" of Robert J . Braidwood, the " d u m p h e a p " of Edgar Anderson, the "population increase" of M a r k N. C o h e n , the "broad-spectrum analysis" of Kent Flanncry, the "cultural dynamics" of Fekri Hassan, and the "adaptive plateaux" of Charles A. Reed, to name only a few. Some approaches seek to take into consideration differences in environment, including seasonal stress (Joy McCorriston and Frank Hole), or geography, such as differences between lowlands and highlands (Charles Redman), while others arc variants to one degree or another of an earlier theory or seek to combine elements of previous theories into new ones. 66 Some of these proposals s t r o m , " F o r a g i n g a n d F a r m i n g in E g y p t , " p p . 1 7 9 - 8 2 . Plants: M i c h a e l A. H o f f m a n , Egypt Before the Pharaohs ( N e w York: Dorset Press, 1990 [1979]), p p . 87 90; W i l l i a m J . D a r b y , Paul G h a l i o u n g u i , a n d Louis Grivetti, Food: the Gift of Osiris. 2 Vols. ( L o n d o n : A c a d e m i c Press, 1977), 2: 460; A d i n a K a b a k e r , " A R a d i o c a r b o n C h r o n o l o g y R e l e v a n t to the O r i g i n s of A g r i c u l t u r e , " in Origins ofAgriculture, p p . 9 6 0 - 6 1 ; a n d W e n k e , Patterns in Prehistory, p. 376. W a d i K u b b a n i y a : W e n d o r f a n d Schild, " S o m e Implications of L a t e Palaeolithic C e r e a l Exploitation at W a d i K u b b a n i y a ( U p p e r Egypt)," p p . 127; a n d Ix-ch K r z y z a n i a k , " L a t e Prehistory of E g y p t , " in History 0J Humanity. Vol. 1: Prehistory and the Beginnings of Civilization. S . J . D e Lact, ed. 5 Vols. ( L o n d o n : R o u t l e d g e , 1994), p. 399. 6(i S u m m a r i z e d in R i c h a r d S. M a c N e i s h , The Origins of Agriculture and Settled Life ( N o r m a n : U n i versity of O k l a h o m a Press, 1992), esp. p p . 3 - 1 0 ; I . J . T h o r p e , 77le Origins of Agriculture in Europe ( L o n d o n : R o u t l e d g e , 1996), p p . 1 - 2 1 ; Patty Jo W a t s o n , " E x p l a i n i n g the T r a n s i t i o n to Agricult u r e , " in Last Hunters-First Farmers. T . D o u g l a s Price a n d A n n e Birgitte G e b a u r , eds. (Sante Fe, Ν . M . : S c h o o l of A m e r i c a n R e s e a r c h Press, 1995), p p . 21 37; C h a r l e s A. R e e d , " O r i g i n s o f A g r i c u l ture: Discussion a n d S o m e C o n c l u s i o n s , " in Origins of Agriculture, p p . 8 7 9 - 9 5 3 ; Fekri A. H a s s a n , " T h e D y n a m i c s of A g r i c u l t u r a l O r i g i n s in Palestine: A T h e o r e t i c a l M o d e l , " in ibid., p p . 5 8 9 - 6 0 9 ; J o y M c C o r r i s t o n a n d F r a n k Hole, " T h e Ecology of S e a s o n a l Stress a n d t h e O r i g i n s of Agricult u r e in the N e a r E a s t , " AmerAnthr 93, n o . 1 ( M a r c h 1991): 4 6 - 6 9 ; a n d D o n a l d O . H e n r y , From Foraging to Agriculture. The Levant at the End of the Ice Age (Philadelphia: University of P e n n s y l v a n i a Press, 1989), esp. p p . 5 - 2 5 . H e n r y (ibid., p. 1 1) c o m p l a i n s t h a t " t h e c o n t e m p o r a r y \־iew of t h e a d a p t i v e c h a n g e s o c c u r r i n g at t h e e n d of t h e Pleistocene is b a s e d m o r e u p o n the logical relationship of ideas t h a n o n the critical e v a l u a t i o n of e v i d e n c e . "
Rise of agriculture
58
The Fertile Crescent
Epipaleolithic period
CHAPTER THREE
relate specifically to Southwest Asia, while others, though focusing on a specific area, seek to explain agriculture's rise generally. Discussion, even in summary fashion, of these numerous approaches is beyond the scope of this work and is not particularly germane, except where the development of agriculture and food technology intersect. In order to provide a framework for discussion of food technology in this period, I propose instead to follow generally the scenario espoused by O f e r Bar-Yosef and his co-authors, who stress the effects of climatic change on population numbers and densities and, in turn, how this promoted a sedentary lifestyle and changes in subsistence strategies. I shall, however, indicate in a few places where others prefer a different line of argument. My discussion will center on a point upon which most scholars concur, the importance of technology to the rise of agriculture. 67 T h e Fertile Crescent extends in an arc from the Zagros Mountains of western Iran, through the southern steppes of Turkey's T a u r u s Mountains, across northern Iraq and Syria, and into the J o r d a n Valley and the Sinai Peninsula. T h e area encompasses a variety of topographical features, such as coastal and inland mountain ranges, valleys, plateaus, and arid desert areas. It includes, in whole or in part, the modern countries of Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Israel. T h e earliest evidence for agriculture derives from extensive archaeological and archaeobotanical research conducted in the western ranges of the Zagros Mountains and especially in the region known as the Levant, an area of about 1,100 kilometers long by 2 5 0 - 3 5 0 kilometers wide, stretching from northern Syria into the Sinai Peninsula. 68 T h e transition from hunter-gatherer to farmer had its beginnings during the late Pleistocene in the period sometimes called the Epipaleolithic, emerging about 20,000 B. P. and extending down to roughly 10,500 B. P. 69 This era saw 67
O f c r Bar-Yosef a n d M o r d e c h a i E. Kislcv, " E a r l y F a r m i n g C o m m u n i t i e s in the J o r d a n Valley," in Foraging and Farming, p p . 6 3 2 4 2 ; ־O f e r Bar-Yosef a n d A. B e l f e r - C o h e n , " F r o m F o r a g i n g to F a r m i n g in the M e d i t e r r a n e a n L e v a n t , " in Transitions to Agriculture in Prehistory. A n n e Birgitte G e b a u e r a n d T . D o u g l a s Price, eds. ( M a d i s o n , Wise.: Prehistory Press, 1992), p p . 2 1 4 8 ; ־O f e r Bar-Yosef, " T h e I m p a c t of late Pleistocene-Early H o l o c e n e C l i m a t i c C h a n g e s o n H u m a n s in S o u t h w e s t Asia," in Ilumans at the End of the Ice Age. The Archaeology of the Pleistocene-Holocene Transilion. L a w r e n c e G u y S t r a u s , Berit V a l e n t i n Eriksen, J o n M . E r l a n d s o n , a n d D a v i d R. Y e s n e r , eds. (New Y o r k : P l e n u m Press, 1996), p p . 6 1 - 7 8 ; O f e r Bar-Yosef a n d R i c h a r d H . M e a d o w , " T h e O r i g i n s of A g r i c u l t u r e in the N e a r E a s t , " in Last PI unters-First Farmers, p p . 3 9 - 9 4 .
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fluctuating climate changes, which in ways not fully understood affected the transition to an agricultural way of life. 70 T h e period from roughly 20,000 to 14,000 B. P. was dry and rather cool. T h e K e b a r a n population of the Levant practiced a mobile, but rather geographically restricted hunter-gatherer lifestyle and subsisted on gazelle, fallow deer, wild boar, fish, and other animals, and probably seasonal plant foods, such as fruits, nuts, berries, and seeds. Archaeological evidence indicates, for example, that by 19,000 B. P. inhabitants of O h a Ιο II, located on the Sea of Galilee, were gathering seasonal foods, including wild barley, wheat, and other fruits and plants. Fish also played a small role in their diet. 71 Beginning ca. 14,500 B. P. temperature and rainfall increased and for ca. two millennia the Levantine population, termed Geometric Kebaran, increased not only in size but also in numbers of settlements within what is termed the Mediterranean vegetational belt of the J o r d a n Valley and beyond into outlying semi-arid areas. In Mediterranean areas essentially small hunter-gatherer bands employed various pounding tools, stone mortars, and bowls, to process plant foods, probably of the kinds found in carbonized form at O h a l o II, cereals, legumes, various seeds, berries, and fruits. 72 Likewise, to the south, the Mushabi-
t i o n , " CurrAnth 30, n o . 1 (Feb. 1989): 8 8 - 8 9 ; a n d D e b o r a h I. Olszewski, " S u b s i s t e n c e Ecology in t h e M e d i t e r r a n e a n Forest: I m p l i c a t i o n s for the O r i g i n s of C u l t i v a t i o n in the Epipaleolithic S o u t h e r n L e v a n t , ' יAmerAnthr 95, n o . 2 (June 1993): 4 2 0 - 3 5 . S o m e scholars object to the use of the t e r m Epipaleolithic for a distinctly identifiable time p e r i o d characteristic of the L e v a n t , a r g u i n g that the microlithic industries associated with the K e b a r a n d o n o t constitute a significant b r e a k f r o m w h a t w e n t b e f o r e . See I s a a c G i l e a d , "Is t h e T e r m ' E p i p a l a e o l i t h i c ' R e l e v a n t to L e v a n t i n e Prehist o r y ? " CurrAnth 25, n o . 2 (April 1984): 2 2 7 . 2 9 ־ 70 M o o r e , " T h e T r a n s i t i o n F r o m F o r a g i n g to F a r m i n g in S o u t h w e s t Asia," p. 621; W e n k e , Patterns in Prehistory, p. 235; Bar-Yosef a n d Kislev, " E a r l y F a r m i n g C o m m u n i t i e s in the J o r d a n Yalley," p. 633; Bar-Yosef a n d B e l f e r - C o h e n , " F r o m F o r a g i n g to F a r m i n g 111 the M e d i t e r r a n e a n L e v a n t , " p p . 21 22. T h a t t h e r e w e r e climatic c h a n g e s is secure; h o w to i n t e r p r e t t h e effects of those c h a n g e s , h o w e v e r , is o p e n to dispute. C f . E i t a n T c h e r n o v , " E n v i r o n m e n t a l a n d Socioecon o m i c B a c k g r o u n d to D o m e s t i c a t i o n in the S o u t h e r n L e v a n t , " in Before Farming: Hunter-Gatherer Society and Subsistence. M A S C A R e s e a r c h P a p e r s in Science a n d A r c h a e o l o g y . S u p p l e m e n t to Volu m e 12, 1995. D o u g l a s V . C a m p a n a , cd. (Philadelphia: University of P e n n s y l v a n i a M u s e u m of A r c h a e o l o g y a n d A n t h r o p o l o g y , 1995), p p . 3 9 - 7 7 , a n d P a u l Sanlaville, " C h a n g e m e n t s c l i m a tic]ues d a n s la région L e v a n t i n e à la fin d u Pléistocène S u p é r i e u r et a u d é b u t d e l ' H o l e c è n e . L e u r s relations avec l'évolution des sociétés h u m a i n e s , " Paléorient 22, n o . 1 (1996): 7 - 3 0 . 71 M . E. Kislev, 1). N a d e l , a n d I. C a r m i , " E p i p a l a e o l i t h i c (19,000 BP) C e r e a l a n d Fruit Diet at O h a l o II, S e a of Galilee, Israel," RevPalaeobotPalynology 73 (1992): 1 6 1 - 6 6 ; D. N a d c l a n d I. H e r shkovitz, " N e w Subsistence D a t a a n d H u m a n R e m a i n s f r o m t h e Earliest L e v a n t i n e E p i p a l a e olithic," CunAnth 32, n o . 5 (Dec. 1991): 6 3 1 - 3 5 ; Phillip C . E d w a r d s , " K e b a r a n O c c u p a t i o n at the Last Glacial M a x i m u m in W a d i a l - H a m m e h , J o r d a n V a l l e y , " in The World at 18000 BP, 2: 9 7 - 1 1 8 ; Bar-Yosef a n d B e l f e r - C o h e n , " F r o m F o r a g i n g to F a r m i n g in t h e M e d i t e r r a n e a n Levant," pp. 23-25. 72 W e n k e , Patterns in Prehistory, p p . 2 3 8 3 9 ־.
Kebaran culture
60
Natufian culture and increased sedentism
CHAPTER THREE
an complexes extended into the Negev desert and northern Sinai from the Nile Valley region of Egypt. Grinding stones and both lined and unlined hearths appear at a few sites in the Negev, such as Ein Aqev and Mushabi V. Burnt stones associated with some hearths may imply cooking. Storage facilities, however, have not been confirmed for this period. 7 3 Beginning ca. 11,500 B. P., dramatic and abrupt changes to a cooler and drier climate precipitated a retrenchment of settlement patterns back toward areas of water, such as lakes and rivers. Here the populations, now termed by archaeologists, Natufian, and known from sites as old as ca. 12,800 B. P., took up a more sedentary lifestyle, where occupations lasted for nine months and more. 7 4 Sedentism, the continuous occupation for most of each year of a site characterized by well-built structures, storage facilities, and commensalism, was a necessary prerequisite for cereal cultivation and animal husbandry. It changed the food resources available in the area surrounding the settlements and necessitated an alteration in the subsistence strategies of the inhabitants. 7 5 Early Natufian settlements of various sizes are fairly widespread but concenträte in the central Levant. Excavations at Ain Mallaha, located near Lake Huleh in Israel, and Wadi H a m m e h 27 revealed rock-lined, semisubterranean circular huts, storage facilities, hearths, and the usual processing tools, such as mortars, pestles, and mullers, though without evidence for querns. 7 6 Sickles,
73
A. N . G o r i n g - M o r r i s , " T r e n d s in the Spatial O r g a n i z a t i o n of T e r m i n a l Pleistocene H u n t e r G a t h e r e r O c c u p a t i o n s as V i e w e d f r o m t h e N e g e v a n d S i n a i , " Paléorient 14, no. 2 (1988): 2 3 1 - 4 4 . 74 If N a t u f i a n c u l t u r e h a d d e v e l o p e d p r i o r to a significant climatic c h a n g e , its origin must o w e s o m e o f t h a t d e v e l o p m e n t to o t h e r factors. T h o r p e , Origins of Agriculture in Europe, p. 20. 75 E i t a n T c h e r n o v , "Biological E v i d e n c e for H u m a n S e d e n t i s m in S o u t h w e s t Asia D u r i n g the N a t u f i a n , י יin The .Natufian Culture in the Levant. O f e r B a r - Y o s e f a n d F r a n ç o i s R . Valla, eds. (Ann A r b o r : I n t e r n a t i o n a l M o n o g r a p h s in P r e h i s t o r y , 1991), p p . 3 1 5 - 4 0 ; Bar-Yosef a n d M e a d o w , " O r i g i n s of A g r i c u l t u r e in the N e a r E a s t , " p. 44. T h e view that s e d e n t i s m w a s a necessary elem e n t in the rise of a g r i c u l t u r e is generally a c c e p t e d ; a g r e e m e n t o n w h a t constitutes s e d e n t i s m in a p a r t i c u l a r locality, h o w e v e r , is a m a t t e r of s o m e c o n t r o v e r s y . Bar-Yosef a n d B e l f e r - C o h e n , " F r o m F o r a g i n g to F a r m i n g in t h e M e d i t e r r a n e a n L e v a n t , " p. 24; B y r d , " F r o m Early H u m a n s to F a r m ers a n d H e r d e r s , " p p . 2 2 8 - 3 1 . See also T c h e r n o v , " E n v i r o n m e n t a l a n d S o c i o e c o n o m i c Backg r o u n d to D o m e s t i c a t i o n , " p p . 4 5 - 4 7 ; b u t cf. G . W y n c o l l a n d D . T a n g r i , " T h e O r i g i n s of C o m m e n s a l i s m a n d H u m a n S e d e n t i s m , " Paléorient 17, n o . 2 (1991): 1 5 7 - 5 9 , a n d D . T a n g r i a n d G . W yncoll, "Of M i c e a n d M e n : Is t h e P r e s e n c e of C o m m e n s a l A n i m a l s in the A r c h a e o l o g i c a l Sites a Positive C o r r e l a t e of S e d e n t i s m ? " , Paléorient 15, no. 2 (1989): 8 5 . 9 4 ־ 7fi Early N a t u f i a n huts at J e r i c h o likewise h a d processing tools a n d storage pits. Phillip C . E d w a r d s , " W a d i H a m m e h 27: A n Early N a t u f i a n Site at Pella, J o r d a n , י יin Natufian Culture in the Levant, p p . 1 2 3 - 4 8 ; W e n k e , Patterns in Prehistory, p. 243; Bar-Yosef a n d Belfer-Cohen, " F r o m F o r a g i n g to F a r m i n g in the M e d i t e r r a n e a n L e v a n t , " p. 29. Archaeologists at a n Early N a t u f i a n site (No. 2), n e a r the W a d i M a t a h a in J o r d a n , have u n c o v e r e d seven b c d r o c k m o r t a r s cut into limestone. T h e depressions a r e conical in s h a p e a n d h a v e v a r y i n g depths. See D a v i d J . J o h n s o n a n d J o e l Janetski, in Virginia E g a n a n d Patricia M . Bikai, " A r c h a e o l o g y in J o r d a n , " AJA 102, no. 3 (July 1998): 5 7 8 - 7 9 .
UPPF.R PALEOLITHIC AND NEOLITHIC PERIODS
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hafted onto wooden handles for use in harvesting wild grains, are commonly found in Natufian sites, in addition to mortars (both fixed and portable), limestone slabs with a depression (cuphole) for processing materials, pestles, and pounders. T h e bone industry includes tools for fishing, basket making (perhaps used for storage), and the working of hides. 77 Evidence for various cereals, legumes, and fishing equipment implies that, with the area for gathering animal foods now reduced, the Natufians took up a broad-spectrum diet by consuming various plant foods, large and small animals, including gazelle, deer, cattle, equids, goats, waterfowl, and fish. 78 Some scholars, such as Donald O . Henry, however, stress evidence for a specialization in food choice, not diversification. H e argues that, although small animals, fish, and wildfowl were consumed, faunal evidence indicates a concentration in a few species, especially the gazelle, combined with intensification of the collection of plant foods, especially nuts, and cereals. 79 Others, such as Deborah Olszewski, maintain that acorns, not cereals, formed the basis of the Natufian diet, and that these were processed with tools, such as leaching basins, baskets, and wooden bowls, items not likely to leave evidence in the archaeological record. R o m a n a Unger-Hamilton, on the other hand, thinks that the Natufians relied on cultivation of wild cereals for their food, and cites as evidence results of microwear analysis of gloss found on Natufian sickles compared to information drawn from experimentation with modern knapped blades. 80
77
Bar-Yosef, " T h e I m p a c t of L a t e Pleistocene-Early H o l o c e n e C l i m a t i c C h a n g e s , ' יin Humans at the End of the Ice Age, p p . 61 78; Bar-Yosef a n d B e l f e r - C o h e n , " F r o m F o r a g i n g to F a r m i n g in t h e Mediterranean Levant," pp. 28.29־ 78 Bar-Yosef a n d M e a d o w , " O r i g i n s of A g r i c u l t u r e in t h e N e a r East,' 5 p. 59; E d w a r d s , " W a d i H a m m e h 2 7 , " p p . 1 4 4 - 4 6 . H o w m u c h of the N a t u f i a n diet c a m e f r o m m a r i n e a n i m a l s is o p e n to q u e s t i o n . It s e e m s that in the L a t e N a t u f i a n p e r i o d , a n d p r o b a b l y earlier, it w a s m i n i m a l . See A n d r e w Sillen a n d J u l i a A. L e e - T h o r p e , " D i e t a r y C h a n g e in the L a t e Natufian,'" in Natufian Cullure in the Levant, p p . 3 9 9 - 4 1 0 . 79 H e n r y , From Foraging to Agriculture, p p . 1 4 - 2 0 ; W e n k e , Patterns in Prehistory, p. 2 3 9 . Phillip E d w a r d s a r g u e s that t h e N a t u f i a n strategy of b r o a d s p e c t r u m subsistence m a r k s n o significant d e p a r t u r e f r o m w h a t h a d b e e n p r a c t i c e d f o r tens of t h o u s a n d s of years. Phillip C . E d w a r d s , " R e v i s i n g the B r o a d S p e c t r u m R e v o l u t i o n : a n d Its R o l e in the O r i g i n s of S o u t h w e s t Asian F o o d P r o d u c t i o n , " Antiquity 63, no. 2 3 9 (June 1989): 2 2 5 - 4 6 . T c h e r n o v a r g u e s b o t h for a b r o a d e r diet, p a r t i c u l a r l y in p l a n t foods b u t also i n c l u d i n g smaller a n i m a l s , a n d a specialization in t h e l a r g e r a n i m a l species, p a r t i c u l a r l y the gazelle. See T c h e r n o v , " E n v i r o n m e n t a l a n d S o c i o e c o n o m i c Background,' יpp. 54-59. 80 Olszewski, " S u b s i s t e n c e Ecology in the M e d i t e r r a n e a n Forest, י יp p . 4 2 0 - 3 5 . But cf. J o y M c C o r r i s t o n , " A c o r n E a t i n g a n d A g r i c u l t u r a l O r i g i n s : C a l i f o r n i a E t h n o g r a p h i e s a n d Analogical I n f e r e n c e in the A n c i e n t N e a r East," Antiquity 68, n o . 2 5 8 ( M a r c h 1994): 9 7 - 1 0 7 . O n cereal cultiv a t i o n , see U n g e r - H a m i l t o n , " E p i - P a l a e o l i t h i c S o u t h e r n L e v a n t a n d the O r i g i n s of C u l t i v a t i o n , " p p . 8 8 - 1 0 3 , a n d i d e m , " N a t u f i a n Plant Husband! ׳)־in the S o u t h e r n L e v a n t a n d C o m p a r i s o n with that of the Neolithic Periods: t h e Lithic Perspective,' יin Natufian Culture in the Levant, p p . 4 8 3 - 5 2 0 ;
62 Abu Hureyra
CHAPTER THREE
Late Natufian (ca. 11,000-10,300 B. P.) sites show a wider distribution, reaching into the Negev, the J o r d a n i a n plateau, and the middle Euphrates. Some groups, such as the Harifian in the Negev, remained essentially mobile, though at times they occupied semisubterranean dwellings and used cupholed grinding slabs. T h e y eventually ceased to exist, however, but others, faced with reduced geographical areas suitable for collecting food resources, opted to settle down into more p e r m a n e n t situations where hunting, fishing, and gathering of plants supplied their diet. 81 This was also true for some sites in northern Iraq, southwestern Turkey, and western Iran. A case in point is Abu Hureyra, in the hilly flanks of northern Syria on the Euphrates River, inhabited during the Epipaleolithic period from ca. 11,100 to 10,600 B. P., inexplicably abandoned, and then reoccupied by a Neolithic population a few hundred years later. During the Late Natufian period it was occupied nearly year round and its inhabitants apparently subsisted on a wide range of plant and animal foods. Although concentrating on gazelle, they also consumed wild cattle, sheep, and goats along with lesser amounts of pig, bird, and fish. Around one hundred and fifty different species of wild edible plants have been identified from carbonized seeds found in charred remains of feces thought to be primarily human. 8 2 Most had been consumed as food or medicines and were probably exposed to fire to allow for easier processing with pounders, grinders, and querns, or for detoxification to render them safer and more palatable or digestible. A m o n g the seeds were wild einkorn wheat and possibly annual rye. O t h e r foods, not accounted for archaeologically but likely available in the riverine area, included root foods (tubers and rhizomes), which had formed the bulk of the W a d i Kubbaniyan diet in Egypt over 7,000 years earlier. T h e r e is no evidence that the plants were cultivated nor, unlike the Natufian sites in the Levant, that the inhabitants stored
b u t see Patricia C . A n d e r s o n , " H a r v e s t i n g of W i l d C e r e a l s D u r i n g the N a t u f i a n as S e e n f r o m E x p e r i m e n t a l C u l t i v a t i o n a n d H a r v e s t of Wild E i n k o r n W h e a t a n d M i c r o w e a r Analysis of S t o n e T o o l s , י יin Natufian Culture in the Levant, p p . 5 2 1 - 5 6 , a n d Byrd, " F r o m Early H u m a n s to F a r m e r s a n d H e r d e r s , " p. 233. Hl Nigel G o r i n g - M o r r i s , " T h e H a r i f i a n of the S o u t h e r n L e v a n t , י יin Natufian Culture in the Levant, p p . 1 7 3 - 2 1 6 ; Bar-Yosef a n d Kislev, " E a r l y F a r m i n g C o m m u n i t i e s in t h e J o r d a n V a l l e y , " p p . 6 3 3 - 3 4 ; Bar-Yosef, " I m p a c t of L a t e Pleistocene-Early H o l o c e n e C l i m a t i c C h a n g e s , 5 ' p. 71. 82 A. M . T . M o o r e , " A b u H u r e y r a 1 a n d the A n t e c e d e n t s of A g r i c u l t u r e o n the M i d d l e E u p h r a t e s , " in Natufian Culture in the Levant, p p . 2 7 7 - 9 4 ; G o r d o n C . H i l l m a n , S u s a n M . C o l l e d g e , a n d D a v i d R . H a r r i s , " P l a n t - f o o d E c o n o m y D u r i n g the E p i p a l a e o l i t h i c P e r i o d at T e l l A b u H u r e y r a , Syria: D i e t a r y Diversity, Seasonality, a n d M o d e s of E x p l o i t a t i o n , ' יin Foraging and Farming, p p . 2 4 0 - 6 8 ; D o m i n i q u e d e M o u l i n s , Agricultural Changes at Euphrates and Steppe Sites in the Mid-8"' to the Θ'' Millennium B. C. B A R I n t e r n a t i o n a l Series 6 8 3 ( O x f o r d : British A r c h a e o l o g i c a l R e p o r t s , 1997), p p . 7 7 - 1 4 4 . N a o m i Miller c o n s i d e r s t h e r e m a i n s gazelle d u n g used for fuel a n d discounts its value as a g u i d e to f o o d c o n s u m p t i o n in Epipaleolithic A b u H u r e y r a . See Miller, " S e e d E a t e r s of t h e A n c i e n t N e a r E a s t , " p p . 5 2 1 - 2 8 .
UPPF.R PALEOLITHIC AND NEOLITHIC PERIODS
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their food. T h e transition from an incipient agricultural society proceeded more rapidly in the J o r d a n Valley and led to the creation of Neolithic societies. T h e rise of agriculture in the mid-11th millennium B. P. cannot be attributed to new technological innovation or to an increase of knowledge about plants or even to the discovery of new food resources. Rather, this development arose over a long period of time during which certain adaptations appeared first of all in the Levantine corridor. Interrelated in ways still only vaguely understood, these adaptations created the situation where Late Pleistocene hunter-gathererfisher societies rapidly shifted to Neolithic communities subsisting on cultivated and ultimately domesticated crops and employing domesticated animals. 8 3 These adaptations fall into three areas. First, the intellect of Homo sapiens sapiens underwent further development toward what Stephen Mithen calls cognitive fluidity. This was manifested by an alteration in the way man viewed his natural surroundings. H e began to see control of plant and animal resources as a base for acquiring social prestige and for exercising power within his community. A hierarchic structure, for example, may be implied in the apparent close spatial relationship of storage facilities for meat with certain houses in the U p p e r Paleolithic communities of the central Russian Plain. Whereas at Radomyshl' there was apparently a sharing of a central pit between dwellings or at Dobranichevka pits were distributed around each dwelling, at Mezin, Gontsy, and Eliseevichi most pits were distributed around a single dwelling, ! here was a propensity of hunter-gatherers in the N e a r East to claim ownership of certain territories or water supplies. 84 H u m a n s also began to see that they could develop mutually bénéficiai social relationships with plants, when they came under cultivation, as well as with animals, dogs first and later, after agriculture was in place, cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs. T h e h u m a n mind also developed the idea of manipulating plants and animals in a technological sense, such as selective burning of forests to manage, in a rudimentary way, the environment, and using tools and fire to harvest and process certain plants, especially cereals and roots. 85 Second, climate changes following the end of the Last Glacial M a x i m u m and extending down to the late Epipaleolithic period increased the availability of cereals. As evidenced from finds at Abu Hureyra and Mureybit on the Middle Euphrates River in northern Syria, a wide variety of plants were available and
83
Cf., e. g., H a s s a n , " D y n a m i c s o f A g r i c u l t u r a l O r i g i n s , " p p . 5 9 9 - 6 0 5 . M i t h e n , Prehistory of the Mind, p p . 2 2 2 '24; SofTer, Upper Paleolithic of the C!entrai Russian Plain, p p . 2 5 3 - 5 8 , 4 5 9 - 6 3 ; Bar-Yosef a n d M e a d o w , " O r i g i n s of A g r i c u l t u r e in t h e N e a r East, , יp. 50. 85 M i t h e n , Prehistory of the Mind, p p . 2 2 2 - 2 6 ; M c C o r r i s t o n a n d H o l e , " E c o l o g y of Seasonal Stress a n d t h e O r i g i n s of A g r i c u l t u r e in the N e a r E a s t , " p p . 5 7 - 5 8 . 84
Interrelated human adaptations leading to agricultural communities
Development of a sense of hierarchy
Climatic changes and increased food resources
64
Technological innovation in tools and weapons
CHAPTER THREE
eaten well before any were cultivated. These included wild cereals, root foods, various wild legumes, fruits, and berries. So also many different kinds of animal resources were available, including wild gazelle, cattle, goats, sheep, numerous small animals, birds, and fish. 86 W h e n agriculture came, these were the same foods consumed, though some animals received special attention for domestication and certain plants were selected for cultivation. These trends were strengthened by the growing sedentism practiced by formerly mobile hunter-gatherer societies. T h e changes, therefore, derived more from social and economic factors than from the introduction of new foods. 87 T h e third area of adaptation was technological. As subsistence strategies changed to include a greater variety of plants and smaller animals, fish, and birds, the tools and weapons to gather, kill or capture, and process them changed. From a reliance on stabbing spears, for example, man developed throwing weapons, such as javelins and the bow and arrow. 88 Traps, weirs, fishhooks, and net sinkers increased the availability of small animals, fish, and birds. Development of storage facilities for meat and cereals allowed for delayed consumption of foods and the creating of a reserve for times of want. Plants assumed an increased proportion of the diet as those previously difficult to get at became more readily available and those considered inedible in their natural state were rendered palatable or digestible with processing. Roots could be gathered by digging sticks and wild cereals could be harvested by sickles, while both could be rendered edible by use of pounding and grinding tools, such as querns, stone vessels, mortars, and pestles. Processing of seeds and roots could be assisted by treatment with fire, such as by roasting, and all foods, plant and animal, made more palatable, even delicious, through efficient cooking in hearths or pits. 89 All of these intellectual, environmen-
8,
' יSee, e. g., W . v a n Zeist a n d J . A. H . B a k k e r - H e e r e s , " A r c h a e o b o t a n i c a l Studies in the Leva n t . 3. Late-Palaeolithic M u r e y b i t , " Palaeohisloria 26 (1984): 1 7 1 - 9 9 ; H i l l m a n et al, " P l a n t - f o o d E c o n o m y D u r i n g t h e Epipalaeolithiic P e r i o d at Tell A b u H u r e y r a , S y r i a , " p p . 2 4 0 - 6 8 ; N a o m i F. Miller, " T h e O r i g i n s of Plant C u l t i v a t i o n in the N e a r E a s t , " in The Origins of Agriculture. An International Perspective. C . W e s l e y C o w a n a n d Patty J o W a t s o n , eds. ( W a s h i n g t o n : S m i t h s o n i a n Institution Press, 1992), p. 48. 87 M a r g a r e t J . S c h o e n i n g e r , " T h e Agricultural 'Revolution 5 : Its Effect o n H u m a n Diet in Prehistoric I r a n a n d Israel," Paléorient 7, no. 1 (1981): 7 3 - 9 1 ; H e n r y , From Foraging to Agriculture, p p . 2 3 2 - 3 3 . T h i s w o u l d exclude short p e r i o d s of local climatic c h a n g e that could r e n d e r certain plants, such as cereals, less available a n d so p r e c i p i t a t e a r e t u r n to a m o r e m e a t - b a s e d subsistence. T h i s has b e e n suggested f o r the L a t e N a t u f i a n p e r i o d , w h i c h m a y h a v e felt the effects of a cooler p e r i o d related to the Y o u n g e r Dryas. See Sillen a n d L e e - T h o r p e , " D i e t a r y C h a n g e , ' יp p . 3 9 9 - 4 1 0 . 88 See, e. g., Pierre C a t t e l a i n , " H u n t i n g D u r i n g the U p p e r Paleolithic: B o w , S p e a r t h r o w e r , o r B o t h ? " in Projectle Technology. H e i d i K n e c h t , c d . ( N e w York: P l e n u m Press, 1997), p p . 2 1 3 - 4 0 . 89 W e n k e , Patterns in Prehistory, p p . 2 3 1 - 3 4 ; H e n r y , From Foraging to Agriculture, p . 231; Miller, " O r i g i n s of Plant C u l t i v a t i o n in the N e a r E a s t , " p p . 4 3 - 4 4 ; a n d M c C o r r i s t o n a n d H o l e , " E c o l o g y of S e a s o n a l Stress a n d the O r i g i n s of A g r i c u l t u r e in the N e a r E a s t , " p. 50.
UPPF.R PALEOLITHIC AND NEOLITHIC PERIODS
65
tal, and technological adaptations were in place before the first plant or animal (except the dog) was domesticated in the new Neolithic community.
D. Neolithic Perì0d 1. Southwest Asia T h e Neolithic period of Southwest Asia conveniently falls into two sub-periods distinguished by the absence or presence of pottery. T h e early Neolithic, usually denominated Pre-pottery Neolithic, terminology derived from Kathleen Kcnyons's work at Jericho, likewise has two distinct parts, designated Pre-pottery Neolithic A (PPNA), dating ca. 10,500-9,300 B. P., and Pre-pottery Neolithic Β (PPNB), ca. 9,300 to 8000 B. P. T h e Neolithic period seems to have resulted from the effects of climatic change associated with the onset of a colder and drier climate, correlated with the Younger Dryas, which ushered in the Holocene Era. According to this "punctuated equilibrium" interpretation, the climatic change imposed increased stress on the population resulting from the need to obtain food from smaller areas of productive land. T h e change from reliance on gathering to the cultivation of cereals may have derived its impetus from the women who in a hunter-gatherer society doubtless performed most of the gathering and processing. 90 Although the evidence for cultivation and domestication is strongest for the PPNB, it may have begun a little earlier. Unfortunately, fewer PPNA sites have been excavated, and so knowledge of this period is less well known. PPNA sites vary in size but focus on areas near water having alluvial fans suitable for sowing seeds. This also provided m u d for their unbaked m u d houses, usually oval in shape, partially subterranean, and equipped with fireplaces inside and out. T h e hearths, such as at Netiv H a g d u d , loeated slightly north of Jericho, were oval-shaped, basin-like structures with cobble floors. Cooking was probably done on heated stones. Storage facilities consisted primarily of small bins, sometimes lined with stone, mud-built silos, a n d probably baskets. 91 90
Bar-Yosef a n d B e l f e r - C o h e n , " F r o m F o r a g i n g to F a r m i n g , י יp p . 3 8 - 4 0 ; Sanlaville, " C h a n g e m e n t s C l i m a t i q u e s , " p p . 2 4 - 2 5 , esp. Fig. 5; T c h e r n o v , " E n v i r o n m e n t a l a n d S o c i o e c o n o m i c Backg r o u n d , " p. 60; Bar-Yosef a n d M e a d o w , " O r i g i n s of A g r i c u l t u r e , " p. 50. O n t h e role of w o m e n in h u n t e r - g a t h e r e r societies, see M a r g a r e t E h r e n b e r g , Women in Prehistory ( N o r m a n : University of O k l a h o m a Press, 1989), p p . 5 0 - 6 2 , ' 8 0 - 9 0 . 91 O f e r Bar-Yosef, Avi G o p h e r , E i t a n T c h e r n o v , a n d M o r d e c h a i E. Kislev, " N e t i v H a g d u d : A n E a r l y Neolithic Village Site in the J o r d a n V a l l e y , " J FA 18, n Ū . 4 ( W i n t e r 1991): 4 0 5 - 2 4 ; BarYosef a n d B e l f e r - C o h e n , " F r o m F o r a g i n g to F a r m i n g , " p p . 3 4 - 3 8 ; Bar-Yosef a n d Kislev, " E a r l y F a r m i n g C o m m u n i t i e s , " p p . 6 3 4 3 6 ; ־Bar-Yosef a n d M e a d o w , " O r i g i n s of A g r i c u l t u r e , " p p . 6 2 - 6 4 ; J a m e s M e l l a a r t , " W e s t e r n Asia D u r i n g t h e Neolithic a n d the C h a l c o l i t h i c (About 1 2 , 0 0 0 - 5 , 0 0 0 Y e a r s Ago)," in History of Humanity,' 1: 4 2 7 - 2 8 .
he-pottery Neolithic period
66 Plant domestication
CHAPTER THREE
T h e diet, besides those items typical of the Natufian period, such as gathered fruits and nuts, hunted animals, birds, and fish, probably began to include the so-called "Neolithic founder crops," that is, the cultivated cereals, such as e m m e r wheat, barley, and, to a lesser extent, einkorn wheat, and four pulses: lentil, field peas, bitter vetch, and chick pea. Which of the cereals and pulses were first domesticated, and where, and whether they were domesticated at different places at different times or each once at a single location with the requisite knowledge spreading from there remain contentious questions. 92 PPNB certainly saw the spread of the knowledge of cultivation and domestication if not its first appearance. There were also significant changes in society and technology. So, for instance, for some as yet unknown reason the usual oval houses of the PPNA give way to rectangular or square ones made of mud-brick, sometimes with stone foundations, such as at Bouqras, in Syria. Some floors were made of a plaster derived from crushed and burnt limestone, an invention traceable to the Geometric Kebaran and used by the Natufians in architecture. Significant changes in house shape, organization, and decoration, the appearance of non-domestic buildings and religious structures, elaboration of burial customs, use of metals to make jewelry, and the employment of baked-clay counters for rudimentary accounting, all point to an increasingly complex social structure possessing differendation based on wealth. 93 This period may as well have seen the beginnings of a craft industry7 where tools and weapons were created by different flaking techniques and sickles were securely hafted with a kind of asphalt. T h e use of lime and gypsum plasters, made in kilns capable of reaching temperatures of 800°-900° C, spread rapidly during the PPNB. T h e end of the period saw also the beginnings of pottery making, an innovation with important ramifications for food technology. 94 92
Byrd ( " F r o m Early H u m a n s to F a r m e r s a n d H e r d e r s , " p p . 2 3 2 3 3 ) ־w o u l d a d d a fifth pulse, b r o a d b e a n , to the list. S e e also D a n i e l Z o h a r y a n d M a r i a H o p f , Domestication of Plants in the Old World. 2 n d ed. ( O x f o r d : C l a r e n d o n Press, 1993), p p . 2 2 8 - 2 9 ; a n d D a n i e l Z o h a r y , " T h e M o d e of D o m e s t i c a t i o n of the F o u n d e r C r o p s of S o u t h w e s t Asian A g r i c u l t u r e , " in The Origins and Spread of Agriculture and Pastoralism in Eurasia. D a v i d R. H a r r i s , ed. ( L o n d o n : University College L o n d o n Press, 1996), p p . 1 4 2 - 5 6 ; a n d i d e m , " D o m e s t i c a t i o n of S o u t h w e s t Asian Neolithic C r o p Assemblage of C e r e a l s , Pulses, a n d Flax: T h e E v i d e n c e f r o m t h e Living Plants," in Foraging and Farming, p p . 3 5 8 - 7 3 . T h e m o s t r e c e n t claim h a s l o c a t e d the first d o m e s t i c a t i o n of e i n k o r n w h e a t in the K a r a c a d a g M o u n t a i n s of s o u t h e a s t T u r k e y . S e e j a r e d D i a m o n d , " L o c a t i o n , L o c a t i o n , L o c a t i o n : T h e First F a r m e r s , " Science 2 7 8 (14 N o v . 1997): 1 2 4 3 - 4 4 , a n d M a n f r e d H e u n , R a l f S c h ä f e r - P r e g l , D i e t e r K l a w a n , R c n a t o C a s t a g n a , M o n i c a A c c e r b i , Basilio Borghi, a n d F r a n c e s c o S a l a m i n i , "Site of E i n k o r n W h e a t D o m e s t i c a t i o n Identified by D N A F i n g e r p r i n t i n g , " in ibid., p p . 1 3 1 2 - 1 4 . 93 W e n k e , Patterns in Prehistory, p p . 2 4 4 - 4 5 ; Bryd, " F r o m Early H u m a n s to F a r m e r s a n d H e r d e r s , " p p . 2 3 5 - 3 9 ; Bar-Yosef a n d M e a d o w , " O r i g i n s of Agriculture in the N e a r East," p p . 7 3 . 7 8 ־ 94 Bar-Yosef a n d M e a d o w , " O r i g i n s of A g r i c u l t u r e , " p p . 7 6 8 0 ; ־M e l l a a r t , " W e s t e r n Asia," p p . 4 2 9 - 3 2 ; W . D a v i d K i n g e r y , P a m e l a B. V a n d i v e r , a n d M a r t h a Prickett, " T h e Beginnings of P y r o t e c h n o l o g y , P a r t II: P r o d u c t i o n a n d U s e of L i m e a n d G y p s u m Plaster in the P r e - P o t t e r y Neolithic N e a r E a s t , " JFA 15, no. 2 ( S u m m e r 1988): 2 1 9 - 4 4 .
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T h e Pre-pottery Neolithic period generally saw a continuation of the same technological processes to prepare food as were used in the Epipaleolithic, but some innovation did appear. T w o illustrative sites whose processing tools have formed the object of study are Zawi C h e m i Shanidar, a late Epipaleolithic and early Neolithic site in the Zagros Mountains of northern Iraq, and Jericho, a site located near the Dead Sea in the J o r d a n Valley and occupied from the Epipalcolithic Period through the pottery Neolithic period and later. T h e Zawi Chemi Shanidar populace, dating from ca. 8,500 B. C., were semisedentary hunter-gatherers who probably processed collected wild barley, einkorn and c m m e r wheat, nuts, and acorns. Although some stone mortars have been found, various types of querns predominate. T h e latter show some sophistication and may express a degree of specialization. Four types of quern have been identified: trough querns, fiat querns, bifacial querns, and a combination of quern and mortar. T r o u g h querns, which can be rather large, ranging up to 58 cm. long, 33 cm. wide, and 15 cm. thick, are most commonly found. T h e y represent an improvement over the flat, or "basined," grinding slab, such as those found at Wadi Kubbaniya in Egypt and dated as early as ca. 18,000 B. P. T h e troughs, usually v-shaped or more openly u-shaped, are always closed and vary in depth from 1.0 cm. to 10 cm. T h e flat quern and bifacial quern, having a trough on both surfaces, are quite scarce. T h e combination quern-mortar, reminiscent of the cuphole slabs of R a m a t Harif in the southern Levant and of PPNA Netiv Hagdud, Nahal O r e n , and Gilgal, is quite interesting as it obviously served double service of pounding and grinding. 9 5 These querns were rather large and have a small circular hole at one end of the trough. Rose Soleki, citing as c o m p a r a n d a the California Indians, who used a basket as a hopper on a pounding slab, suggests that the trough may have served the same purpose vis-àvis the hole in which grain was pounded. 9 6 She also points out that the v-shaped trough was unsuitable for back-and-forth grinding, and so the mullers, or grinders, were worked in an elliptical orbit to p o u n d the material in the trough. T w o conclusions may be warranted. First, the process used here was mainly crushing and pounding rather than grinding, and so the grains processed were probably the wild husked grains harvested early in the season. And second, the variety of querns, four in all, may suggest a degree of specialization of food type or process. 97
95
G o r i n g - M o r r i s , " H a r i f i a n of t h e S o u t h e r n L e v a n t , , יp. 184; Bar-Yosef et al, " N e t i v H a d g u d , " p p . 4 0 9 - 1 Í. 96 R o s e L. Solecki, " M i l l i n g T o o l s a n d the Epi-palaeolithic in t h e N e a r East," Etudes sur le Q1taternaire dans le Monde. Vol. 2 (Paris: C e n t r e N a t i o n a l d e la R e c h e r c h e Scientifique, 1969): 9 9 3 . 97 Ibid., p. 9 9 2 .
Tool specialization in food processing
CHAPTER THREE
68 Jericho
Domestication of animals
Jericho provides a better look at the development of food processing tools in the Pre-pottery Neolithic period since the site was continuously occupied from the Epipaleolithic Period through the PPNB. PPNA processing tools include mainly stone vessels and some pestles, made of such stones as basalt, limestone, quartzite, and sandstone (PI. 3). T h e PPNB levels have yielded several trough querns, which apparently replaced the flat heavy mortar-like vessels of the previous period. 9 8 M a d e of similar materials as the vessels, they were all fairly consistent in size. Slightly larger than those found at Zawi C h e m i Shanidar, their troughs were open at one end while at the other there was a flat area or apron, which normally took up on average ca. thirty-nine per cent of the quern's length. 99 Apparently the grinder knelt with the apron end of the quern between her knees and pushed the grain from the apron into the trough, where it was ground with a roughly elliptical muller. By tilting the quern forward the flour could then be emptied through the open end of the trough. T h e n u m b e r of pesties found is fewer than in PPNA levels and may represent a shift to processing naked-grain cereals with tough rachis, which were collected later in the season. For these grains pounding and crushing were not so necessary; efficient grinding sufficed. O u r understanding of animal domestication in the late Pleistocene-Early Holocene is even less secure than that of plant domestication, but in most areas it is generally agreed that the former followed the latter. Animal resources during the K e b a r a n period of the Epipaleolithic included various ungulates, gazelle, wild cquids, various species of deer, and wild cattle, goats, and sheep. T h e r e was, however, a tendency to concentrate on a few species. This trend strengthened over time until by the Natufian period, gazelle was the predominant meat eaten. Evidence in some areas suggests that the Natufians managed undomesticated herds of gazelle, selectively culling when needed and perhaps at times favoring females to allow for replenishing of the herd. 1 0 0 Only in PPNB does clear evidence for domestication of animals appear.
98
P. G . Dorrell, " S t o n e Vessels, T o o l s , a n d O b j e c t s , " A p p e n d i x A to Excavations at Jericho. K . M . K e n y o n a n d T . A. H o l l a n d , eds. V o l . 5 ( L o n d o n : British S c h o o l of A r c h a e o l o g y in J e r u s a l e m , 1983), p. 5 2 1 . 99 Ibid., p . 5 3 6 , a n d esp. Fig. 227, p. 5 3 5 a n d Plate 16. 100 S i m o n J . M . Davis, " W h e n a n d W h y D i d Prehistoric P e o p l e D o m e s t i c a t e A n i m a l s ? S o m e E v i d e n c e f r o m Israel a n d C y p r u s , " in Natufian Culture in the Levant, p p . 3 8 1 - 9 0 ; A n d r e w N . G a r r a r d , " T h e Selection of S o u t h - W e s t Asian A n i m a l D o m e s t i c a t e s , " in Animals and. Archaeology: 3. Early Herders and Their Flocks. J u l i e t C l u t t o n - B r o c k a n d C a r o l i n e G r i g s o n , eds. B A R I n t e r n a t i o n a l Series 2 0 2 ( O x f o r d : British A r c h a e o l o g i c a l R e p o r t s , 1984): 1 1 7 - 3 2 ; M o o r e , " T h e T r a n s i t i o n f r o m F o r a g i n g to F a r m i n g in S o u t h w e s t A s i a , " p p . 6 2 0 - 3 1 ; Bar-Yosef a n d M e a d o w , " T h e O r i g i n s of A g r i c u l t u r e in the N e a r East," p p . 3 9 9 4 ; ־a n d T c h e r n o v , " E n v i r o n m e n t a l a n d S o c i o e c o n o m i c B a c k g r o u n d to D o m e s t i c a t i o n , י יp p . 3 9 - 7 7 . R e c e n t studies of subsistence p a t t e r n s in Israel h a v e
3
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Animals best suited to domestication are those that are susceptible to being tamed, are adaptable to a lifestyle alteration, and are controllable by humans. T h e herding animals, sheep, goats, cattle, and pigs, best fit this description. W h y these were domesticated when they were has not been conclusively shown. It probably relates to dwindling resources of gazelle due to depletion by increasing numbers of essentially sedentary populations w h o were accustomed to having dependable supplies of meat in their diet. 101 W h e r e and when these animals were first domesticated is also hard to pinpoint, as it is difficult to determine conclusively whether a particular find of bones in a specific area constitutes proof of domestication. Evidence for animals outside their known customary range, for abrupt changes in numbers of animals relative to others attributable to no obvious natural causes, and for morphological changes in animals (e.g. horn shape, body size, and so on) resulting from altered lifestyle has been used to identify early animal domestication. 1 0 2 Why animals were domesticated remains an unanswered question, but the shift from hunting animals for food to managing them in loosely controlled herds to eventually raising them in securely controlled environments may be linked to an ever-increasing sedentary lifestyle in two ways. First, the population increased. Second, access to wild animals within a restricted geographical area decreased. T h e need to utilize food resources, both plant and animal, within a smaller area may have led to cultivation and ultimately domestication of plants, but also to the maintenance of a ready supply of animal foods, a sort of "storage on the hoof." 103 Although some animals were eaten, others were kept within easy reach to utilize certain animal by-products, such as milk, butter, cheese, and blood, in addition to other non-food uses of animals, such as for wool and for transport. Exactly when animal by-products became common is unknown, but it probably did not precede full domestication. T h e earliest evidence for the use of milk in the Near East, for instance, comes from the scene impressed on a cylinder seal of the late4th millennium B. C. during the Uruk period of ancient Iraq. 104
s h o w n n o d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n in subsistence strategies b e t w e e n t h e K e b a r a n a n d N a t u f i a n p e r i o d s . See G u y B a r - O z a n d T a m a r D a y a n , " T h e E p i p a l a e o l i t h i c F a u n a l S e q u e n c e in Israel: a V i e w f r o m N e v e D a v i d , י יJArchSci 26 (1999): 6 7 - 8 2 . 101 G a r r a r d , "Selection of S o u t h - W e s t A n i m a l D o m e s t i c a t e s , " p p . 117 32; Bar-Yosef a n d M e a d o w , " O r i g i n s of A g r i c u l t u r e , " p p . 91 92; S a n d o r Bökönyi, " D o m e s t i c a t i o n of A n i m a l s f r o m the B e g i n n i n g s of F o o d P r o d u c t i o n U p to A b o u t 5 , 0 0 0 Y e a r s Ago. A n O v e r v i e w , , יin History of Humanity, 1: 3 8 9 - 9 1 . 102 W e n k e , Patterns in Prehistory, p p . 240; Bökönyi, " D o m e s t i c a t i o n of A n i m a l s , " p. 391. 103 Davis, " W h e n a n d W h y D i d Prehistoric P e o p l e D o m e s t i c a t e A n i m a l s ? " p p . 3 8 1 - 9 0 . 10 י׳A n d r e w S h e r r a t t , Economy and Society in Prehistoric Europe. Changing Perspectives. ( E d i n b u r g h : E d i n b u r g h University Press, 1997), p p . 1 7 4 - 8 0 ; G a r r a r d , " S e l e c t i o n of S o u t h - w e s t Asian A n i m a l Domesticates, , יp p . 1 17 32; a n d W e n k e , Patterns in Prehistory, p. 238.
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Diet and health in prehistoric man
CHAPTER THREE
Although domestication could occur simultaneously in different areas, it seems fairly secure that the earliest domesticate was the goat (some favor the pig), an animal that arose during the late tenth or early ninth millennium B. P. in various places in Southwest Asia. Domesticated sheep and pigs appeared first in the hilly flanks of the Zagros ranges in the mid-to late 9th millennium B. P., while cattle were first domesticated in central Anatolia a little later. 105 Although some scholars believe, at least with respect to pigs, that domestication appeared at different places independent of appearance elsewhere, others believe that, once developed, animal domestication spread rather rapidly to other areas, probably as a result of exchange networks between agricultural societies of the Levant and the areas of the Zagros and T a u r u s ranges. As domesticated cereals went northward into the Zagros area, domesticated goats, sheep, and cattle came to the Levant. 1 0 6 T h e spread of animal cultivation southward into the western Negev and northern Sinai was slow. N o sure signs of it have been found that antedate the Bronze Age, though its appearance in the Nile Valley by ca. the seventh millennium B. P. may imply its existence in the dry steppes of the southern Levant at this time or a little before. 107 T h e transition from a subsistence strategy based on scavenging to one grounded primarily on hunting to one rooted in hunting and gathering can be traced in the effects of dietary change on the physical development of prehistoric man. For example, the tooth and j a w size and to some extent tooth wear were earlier discussed for Australopithecus and early Homo populations. Dental studies on Mousterian populations (H. sapiens neanderthalensis and early H. sapiens sapiens) in the Near East showed few caries, only moderate wear caused by attrition, and
105
Bökönyi, " D o m e s t i c a t i o n of A n i m a l s , " p p . 3 9 1 - 9 3 ; A n d r e w G a r r a r d , S u s a n C o l l e d g e , a n d Louise M a r t i n , " T h e E m e r g e n c e of C r o p C u l t i v a t i o n a n d C a p r i n e H e r d i n g in the ' M a r g i n a l Z o n e ' of the S o u t h e r n L e v a n t , " in The Origins and Spread of Agriculture and Pastoralisrn in Eurasia. D a v i d R . H a r r i s , ed. ( L o n d o n : L C L Press, 1996), p p . 2 0 8 - 1 0 ; T c h e r n o v , " E n v i r o n m e n t a l a n d S o c i o e c o n o m i c B a c k g r o u n d , " p p . 6 4 - 6 8 ; W e n k e , Patterns in Prehistory, p p . 2 4 0 - 4 2 ; Bar-Yosef a n d M e a d o w , " O r i g i n s of A g r i c u l t u r e in t h e N e a r E a s t , " p p . 84—90; K e n t V . F l a n n e r y , " E a r l y Pig D o m e s t i c a t i o n in the Fertile C r e s c e n t . A R e t r o s p e c t i v e L o o k , " in The Hilly Flanks and Beyond. Essays on the Prehistory of Southwestern Asia. T . C u y l e r Y o u n g , J r . , Philip E. L. S m i t h , a n d P e d e r M o r t e n s e n , eds. Studies in A n c i e n t O r i e n t a l Civilization N o . 3 6 ( C h i c a g o : T h e O r i e n t a l Institute, 1983), p p . 1 6 3 - 8 8 ; a n d Miller, " S e e d E a t e r s of the A n c i e n t N e a r E a s t , " p. 5 2 1 . 106 pjg S : F l a n n e r y , " E a r l y Pig D o m e s t i c a t i o n , " p p . 1 8 2 - 8 3 ; Brian F. Byrd, " T h e Dispersal of F o o d P r o d u c t i o n Across the L e v a n t , " in Transitions to Agriculture in Prehistory. A n n e Birgitte G e b a u e r a n d T . D o u g l a s Price, eds. ( M a d i s o n , Wise.: P r e h i s t o r y Press, 1992), p. 55; i d e m , " F r o m Early H u m a n s to F a r m e r s a n d H e r d e r s , " p. 234; T c h e r n o v , " E n v i r o n m e n t a l a n d S o c i o e c o n o m i c B a c k g r o u n d , " p. 68. At A b u H u r e y r a , as well as at Ç a y ô n t i in s o u t h e a s t e r n T u r k e y , the shift f r o m reliance o n gazelle to t h e h e r d i n g of d o m e s t i c s h e e p a n d g o a t s o c c u r r e d within a short p e r i o d of time. See M o o r e , " T r a n s i t i o n f r o m F o r a g i n g to F a r m i n g in S o u t h w e s t Asia," p. 628. 107
G a r r a r d et al, " E m e r g e n c e of C r o p C u l t i v a t i o n , " p p . 2 0 4 - 2 6 .
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rare cases of tooth loss. T o judge from results of relatively few studies on the health of prehistoric man, overall Paleolithic populations appear to have enjoyed fairly good health. By the U p p e r Paleolithic period life expectancy was about thirty-five years for males and thirty years for females. T h e trend during the Epipaleolithic period toward sedentism with its resultant decrease in stresses incident to frequent migrations proved beneficial to general health and longevity, especially for females. 108 Although Natufian teeth showed increased rates of caries, attrition, and tooth loss, the population as a whole was rather healthy. Nevertheless, the deterioration of the tooth surface and the increase in dental disease seen a m o n g the Natufians has been linked with a change of diet and of food processing techniques. 109 T h e transition from a hunter-gatherer-fisher lifestyle, or an essentially semi-sedentary one involving the gathering and processing of wild cereals, to an agricultural lifestyle centered on the raising of domesticated plants and animals, however, involved not only dietary changes but significant technological developments in food processing. T h e use of ground-stone grinding and pounding tools and later cooking in clay vessels had physiological effects of a different nature a n d ones that were clearly unintended. This can best be seen at Neolithic Abu Hureyra, in northern Syria. T h e hunter-gatherer inhabitants of Epipaleolithic Abu Hureyra subsisted on gathered cereals, such as einkorn wheat and barley, berries, and seeds, as well as hunted game, especially gazelle. After an unexplained lapse in occupation between ca. 10,000 and 9,800 B. P., the Neolithic populace consumed various cultivated cereals, all requiring processing, in addition to gathering other plant foods and hunting game. 1 1 0 Recent study by T h e y a Molleson of the skeletal evidence of the Neolithic population revealed some interesting facts. T h e bones showed specific injuries attributable to the position assumed by the worker while laboring long hours over a quern to grind grain for consumption. 1 1 1 T h e worker, 108
J . L a w r e n c e A n g e l , " H e a l t h as a C r u c i a l F a c t o r in t h e C h a n g e s f r o m H u n t i n g to D e v e l o p e d F a r m i n g in the E a s t e r n M e d i t e r r a n e a n , " in Paleopathology at the Origins of Agriculture. M a r k N a t h a n C o h e n a n d G e o r g e J . A r m e l a g o s , eds. ( O r l a n d o : A c a d e m i c Press, Inc., 1984), p p . 5 8 - 6 0 . By t h e Epipaleolithic p e r i o d t h e a v e r a g e life s p a n w a s ca. thirty years, rising to t h i r t y - f o u r b y the N e o l i t h ic Period. F e m a l e life e x p e c t a n c y a v e r a g e d ca. f o u r y e a r s b e h i n d that f o r males. S e e Patricia S m i t h , O f e r Bar-Yosef, a n d A n d r e w Sillen, " A r c h a e o l o g i c a l a n d Skeletal E v i d e n c e for D i e t a r y C h a n g e D u r i n g the L a t e P l e i s t o c e n e / E a r l y H o l o c e n e in the L e v a n t , " in ibid., p. 120. 109 A. B e l f e r - C o h e n , L. A. S c h e p a r t z , a n d B. A r e n s b u r g , " N e w Biological D a t a for the N a t u f i a n P o p u l a t i o n s in Israel," in Natufian Culture in the Levant, p p . 4 1 1 - 2 4 ; a n d Patricia S m i t h , " T h e D e n t a l E v i d e n c e f o r N u t r i t i o n a l S t a t u s in t h e N a t u f i a n s , " in ibid., p p . 4 2 5 32. 110 O n Epipaleolithic A b u H u r e y r a , see H i l l m a n et al, " P l a n t - f o o d E c o n o m y D u r i n g the Epipalaeolithic P e r i o d at Tell A b u H u r e y r a , S y r i a , " p p . 2 4 0 - 6 8 ; M o o r e , " A b u H u r e y r a 1 a n d the A n t e c e d e n t s of A g r i c u l t u r e o n the M i d d l e E u p h r a t e s , " p p . 277 94. 111 T h e y a M o l l e s o n , " T h e E l o q u e n t Bones of A b u H u r e y r a , " Scientific American 2 7 1 , no. 2 (Aug. 1994): 7 0 - 7 5 .
Unintended consequences to food processing
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from skeletal evidence identified usually as a w o m a n or young girl, situated the quern on the ground, knelt down, and placed the grain on it. She then, as conccivcd by Molleson, holds the rubbing stone with both hands. O n her knees. . . , with toes bent forward, she pushes the stone toward the far end of the quern, ending the stroke with her upper body almost parallel to the ground so her arms are al or near the level of her head. On reaching the far end of the quern, she jerks back to her starting position. I call this part of the grinding action the recoil. The movement that raises the arms as the grinder pushes forward employs the deltoid muscles of the shoulder. During this stroke, the arms also turn, a motion accomplished by the biceps muscles.112
Impact of pottery on food processing
T h e position and movements contributed to overdeveloped muscles of both arms, enlarged knee joints, and injured vertebrae of the lower back. T h e toes, naturally curled to support the kneeling grinder, in some individuals developed enlarged metatarsal joints, cartilage damage, and osteoarthritis. Injuries were not confined just to the workers. T h e y also fell upon consumers, as teeth received severe wear patterns and sometimes breaks or chips from the rock powder or the incompletely ground kernels of grain, which could be quite hard. O n e evident plus derived from this diet, however, is that it produced little or no tooth decay. This was not the case, however, after the advent of pottery. Although pottery making may have begun in the mid-tenth millennium B. P. in the southern central Sahara of Egypt, it appeared at many places throughout Anatolia, Mesopotamia, and the Levant almost simultaneously around 8,000 B. P. T h e earliest pots were merely cups, vases, and dishes, probably sun-dried or heated in bon-fires or ovens rather than fired in kilns; later more sophisticated and larger vessels were m a d e in kilns. Although used earlier by mobile populations engaged in hunting and gathering, pottery proved a boon for sedentary life styles. With the domestication of plants and animals clay pots provided a way to store milk, processed cereals, and other foods, and especially offered the opportunity to boil water and to cook. W h o first invented the clay pot is unknown, but its creation was most likely associated with women who carried much of the burden of gathering, processing, and cooking. 113
112
Ibid., p p . 7 1 - 7 2 . Egypt: A n g e l a E. Close, " F e w a n d F a r B e t w e e n . E a r l y C e r a m i c s in N o r t h A f r i c a , " in The Emergence of Pottery. Technology and Innovation in Ancient Societies. W i l l i a m K . Barnett a n d J o h n W . H o o p e s , eds. ( W a s h i n g t o n a n d L o n d o n : S m i t h s o n i a n Institution Press, 1995), p p . 2 3 3 7 ; ־W e s t e r n Asia: A. M . T . M o o r e , " T h e I n c e p t i o n of P o t t i n g in W e s t e r n Asia a n d Its I m p a c t o n E c o n o m y a n d Society," in ibid., p p . 3 9 5 3 ; ־C h a r l e s K e i t h Maisels, The Emergence of Civilization from Hunting and Gathering to Agriculture, Cities, and the State in the Near East ( L o n d o n : R o u t l e d g e , 1990), p. 88. S i m pie kilns, c a p a b l e of raising t e m p e r a t u r e s to ca. 800" C . , w e r e b y t h e m i d - n i n t h m i l l e n n i u m B. P. 113
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T h e use of clay pots to cook cereals brought significant change to the h u m a n diet. T h e ability to heat food at high temperatures, especially to boil liquids, opened up a wider range of potential foods that were safer, tastier, and, because heat releases carbohydrates from the grains, easier to digest. Cooked foods, such as porridges, were softer and so kinder to the teeth. This fact may have had at least one physiological effect on the development of Homo sapiens sapiens. Softer foods may have arrested any tendency of h u m a n teeth to develop high crowns, a condition typical of animals that eat an abrasive diet. 114 Molleson et al attribute other long-range effects to the development of cooking in pottery vessels. T h e consumption of cooked foods, such as porridge, they contend, increased women's fat reserves thus allowing for a higher conception and more successful birth rate. Additionally, softer foods made early weaning of infants more prac.ticable a n d so shortened potential times between pregnancies. Both of these effects led to increased populations. These benefits, however, did not come without their price. Concomitant with the increased birth rate may have been an elevated infant mortality rate, although the reasons for the elevated numbers of infant burials are unclear. And finally, since cooked foods are softer, they tend also to be stickier and so to adhere to the teeth. This allows for the growth of bacteria and results in an increase in tooth decay over the previous period. 1 1 5 Pots facilitated not only cooking and boiling but also detoxification and probably fermentation. Archaeologists have recently claimed to have discovered at the Neolithic site of Hajji Firuz Tepe, located in the northern Zagros Mountains of Iran, a pot, dating to ca. 5 4 0 0 - 5 0 0 0 B. C., that contained a yellowish residue. A series of scientific tests on the remains confirmed the presence not only of the calcium salt of tartaric acid, a strong indication of wine, but also traces of terebinth resin, an additive used in later times to inhibit the transformation of wine into vinegar. This residuum provides the earliest chemical evidence for winemaking. T h e technological process by which wine was m a d e during the sixth millennium B. C., however, remains unknown. 1 1 6 b e i n g used to m a k e lime f r o m limestone o r chalk. S e e ibid., p. 45. F o r w o m e n a n d p o t t e r y , see W i l l i a m A. L o n g a c r e , " W h y Did T h e y Invent P o t t e r y A n y w a y ? " in ibid., p p . 2 7 7 - 8 0 , a n d E h r e n b e r g , Women in Prehistory, p a s s i m . 114 T h e y a M o l l e s o n , K a r e n Jones, a n d S t e p h e n J o n e s , " D i e t a r y C h a n g e a n d the Effects of F o o d P r e p a r a t i o n o n M i c r o w e a r P a t t e r n s in the L a t e N e o l i t h i c of A b u H u r e y r a , N o r t h e r n S y r i a , " JHumEvol 2 4 (1993): 4 6 5 . M o u l i n s {Agricultural Changes at Euphrates and Steppe Sites, p p . 8 7 8 9 ) ־, o n the o t h e r h a n d , questions s o m e of the conclusions of M o l l e s o n et al. 115 M o l l e s o n , " E l o q u e n t B o n e s , " p. 73. Studies of e n a m e l h y p o p l a s i a in teeth of p o p u l a t i o n s living in the L e v a n t also t e n d to c o n f i r m earlier w e a n i n g of infants a n d so d e c r e a s e d intervals b e t w e e n births. See S m i t h et al, " A r c h e o l o g i c a l a n d Skeletal E v i d e n c e , " p. 124. 110 For the resinated w i n e f r o m I r a n , see P a t r i c k E. M c G o v e r n , D o n a l d L. G l u s k e r , L a w r e n c e J . E x n e r , a n d M a r y M . Voigt, " N e o l i t h i c R e s i n a t e d W i n e , " Mature 381 (6 J u n e 1996): 4 8 0 - 8 1 . F o r a detailed discussion of a n c i e n t viniculture, see b e l o w C h a p t e r F o u r .
Cooking
Wine making
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CHAPTER THREE
2. Europe Spread of agriculture into Europe
General consensus reigns over the proposition that, beginning ca. 9000 B. P., agriculture spread from Anatolia into a Europe already predisposed to a sedentary, farming lifestyle. T h e precise mechanism by which it spread, however, remains a source of endless debate. In general, the protagonists range themselves into two camps. T h e first adheres to the idea of diffusion, or "Wave of Advance," which states that the knowledge of plant and animal domestication spread from southwestern Asia by colonists who slowly, irregularly, but inexorably moved westward. T h e plants introduced into cultivation included the various wheats (einkorn, emmer, club, c o m m o n , d u r u m , and bread), barley, and legumes; animals included sheep, goat, pigs, and cattle. 117 T h e second group favors "acculturation" by indigenous populations. T h e y attribute the earliest expansion of farming to the introduction of the knowledge of agriculture by Aegean sailors returning from Anatolia and then to the imparting of this knowledge to other Europeans. Although some proponents allow for some colonization, they all maintain that expansion of farming across the continent was essentially through transference of the information from one indigenous population to another. 1 1 8 Whatever the precise mechanism, the spread of European agricultural communities can be traced from east to west. O n c e established in Anatolia, the knowledge of agriculture spread across the Aegean to Greece. Farming, for example, can be documented in the late 9th millennium B. P. at Franchthi Cave in the Peloponnese, at several sites in Thessaly in northern Greece, and at Knossos on Crete. 1 1 9 From there farmers, or at least the knowledge of agriculture, spread to Italy, Sardinia, Corsica, and into
117
Albert J . A m m e r m a n a n d L. L. C a v a l l i - S f o r z a , The Neolithic Transition and the Genetics of Populations in Europe (Princeton: P r i n c e t o n University Press, 1984), esp. p p . 6 3 8 4 ; ־C o l i n R e n f r e w , " L a n g u a g e Families a n d the S p r e a d of F a r m i n g , י יin Origins and Spread of Agriculture and Pastoralism, p p . 7 0 - 9 2 ; T . D o u g l a s Price, A n n e Birgitte G e b a u e r , a n d L a w r e n c e H . Keeley, " T h e S p r e a d of f a r m i n g into E u r o p e N o r t h of the Alps," in Last Hunters-First Farmers, p p . 9 5 - 1 2 6 ; a n d T j e e r d H . V a n A n d e l a n d C u r t i s N . R u n n e l s , " T h e Earliest F a r m e r s in E u r o p e , " Antiquity 6 9 (1995): 481-500. 118 T h o r p e , Origins of Agriculture in Europe; R a n d o l p h E. D o n a h u e , " D e s p e r a t e l y S e e k i n g C e r e s : A Critical E x a m i n a t i o n of C u r r e n t M o d e l s for the T r a n s i t i o n to A g r i c u l t u r e in M e d i t e r r a n e a n E u r o p e , " in Transitions to Agriculture in Prehistory, p p . 7 3 ~ 8 0 ; R o b i n W . D e n n e l l , " T h e O r i g i n s of C r o p A g r i c u l t u r e in E u r o p e , " in Origins of Agriculture. An International Perspective, p p . 7 1 - 1 0 0 ; J u l i a n T h o m a s , " T h e C u l t u r a l C o n t e x t of t h e First U s e of D o m e s t i c a t e s in C o n t i n e n t a l C e n t r a l a n d N o r t h w e s t E u r o p e , " in Origins and Spread of Agriculture and Pastoralism, p p . 3 1 0 2 2 ; ־Alasdair W h i t t l e , Europe in the Neolithic. The Creation of New Worlds ( C a m b r i d g e : C a m b r i d g e University Press, 1996). " ייPaul H a l s t e a d , " T h e D e v e l o p m e n t of A g r i c u l t u r e a n d Pastoralism in G r e e c e : W h e n , H o w , W h o a n d W h a t ? " in Origins and Spread of Agriculture and Pastoralism, p p . 2 9 6 - 3 0 9 ; C h r i s t o s D o u m a s , " T h e A e g e a n D u r i n g t h e N e o l i t h i c , " in History of Humanity, 1: 5 0 1 - 1 0 .
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the Franco-Iberian Cardial during the eighth millennium B. P. 120 At about the same time farming spread into the Balkans, probably via the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus, reaching the Carpathians and the Ukraine by the late 8th millennium B. P. From the Balkans and northern Italy farming moved into central Europe in the 7th millennium B. P. This earliest farming culture of central Europe, termed Linearbandkeramik, or LBK, (5400-3800 B. C., cal.) spread rather rapidly from the Hungarian plain westward into northern France. 121 111 the 6th and 5th millennia B. P. agriculture became established in southern Scandinavia and in Britain and Ireland during the following millennium or a little after. Both contending camps agree that the spread of farming into northern Europe was by adoption of the practices by indigenous populations rather than by colonization. 122 Agriculture in Europe came at different times in different places but generally can be said to have had its earliest appearance in eastern and southeastern Europe and its latest in northern Europe and Britain. T h e same can be said of the spread of animal domestication. T h e caprovinc-bascd animal husbandry of Southwest Asia spread along with the knowledge of farming, though its arrival in any one place may not exactly coincide with the beginning of plant cultivation and some areas may have concentrated in a different mix of animal species. Central Europe, for example, raised more cattle than sheep and goats. In any case, all five caprovine species were domesticated in every part of Europe by the end of the 6th millennium B. P. 123 As the knowledge of plant and animal domestication swept across Europe, it also carried with it the knowledge of food processing. In Greece, for instance, excavations have yielded examples of pestles, pounders, grinders, and querns. Hearths in and outside houses include those that were pebble-lined and plastered, raised on platforms, or constructed in oven-like shapes. Although Early Neolithic remains included few coarse pottery used for cooking, later stages yielded an a b u n d a n c e of cooking vessels. In the Late Neolithic large terracotta jars were used for storage, and there is evidence that communities in the Argolid 120
J e a n G u i l a i n e , " W e s t e r n M e d i t e r r a n e a n C u l t u r e s D u r i n g the N e o l i t h i c , " in History of Humanity, 1: 5 1 1 - 1 5 ; D e Laet, " E u r o p e D u r i n g the N e o l i t h i c , " in History of Humanity, 1: 4 9 0 - 9 1 . 121 P e t e r Bogucki a n d R y s z a r d Grygiel, " T h e First F a r m e r s of C e n t r a l E u r o p e : A S u r v e y Article," J FA 20, n o . 4 ( W i n t e r 1993): 3 9 9 - 4 2 6 ; Price et al, " S p r e a d of F a r m i n g into E u r o p e N o r t h of the Alps," p p . 9 5 - 1 0 7 ; T h o m a s , " C u l t u r a l C o n t e x t of t h e First U s e of D o m e s t i c a t e s , " p p . 3 1 0 - 2 2 ; W h i t t l e , Europe in the Neolithic, p p . 1 4 4 - 7 7 . 122 Price et al, " S p r e a d of F a r m i n g into E u r o p e N o r t h of the Alps," p p . 1 0 7 - 1 4 ; D e n n e l l , " O r i gins of C r o p A g r i c u l t u r e in E u r o p e , " p p . 8 4 - 8 7 ; T h o r p e , Origins of Agriculture in Europe, p p . 63-181. 123 Bökönyi, " D o m e s t i c a t i o n of A n i m a l s , " p p . 394; Bogucki a n d Grygiel, "First F a r m e r s of C e n t r a l E u r o p e , " p. 4 0 9
spread of animal domestication
Spread offood processing tools
76
Linearbandkeramik (LBK) culture and daily products: cheese
CHAPTER THREE
were importing andésite millstones from the island of Aegina. 124 In eastern Europe, in areas of Bulgaria, one-room houses of the Late Neolithic frequently had a section set aside for quern, hearth, and oven. In the Eneolithic (ca. 4 2 0 0 - 2 8 0 0 B. C.) saddle querns were sometimes dug into the floor near an oven. Ovens varied between horseshoe-shaped, square, or dome-shaped, depending on location and culture. 125 Cereal processing implements, such as sickles and saddle querns, also characterize LB Κ communities of central Europe and bear witness to cereal cultivation as their primary subsistence strategy. T h e y apparently also engaged in the herding of animals, primarily cattle. While some of the animals were raised for their meat, there is strong evidence that dairy products formed a significant part of their diet, although lactose intolerance may have limited their intake of milk. Milk by-products, however, have little or none of the offending agent. If the ceramic sieves found in many small LBK sites were used for making cheese, and possibly yogurt, as has been suggested, they would constitute the earliest evidence known for dairying, predating that from Uruk in Mesopotamia by over two millennia. These ceramic sieves, small terracotta vessels with numerous holes about two or three millimeters in diameter, may have been used to strain curds from the whey of milk to make cheese. Similar vessels are known from other Neolithic cultures, such as the Lengyel, Rössen, and Funnel Beaker cultures. They also bear a strong resemblance to similarly-shaped vessels from Early Bronze Age cultures, especially in the Apennine Mountains of Italy, which have been identified as milk-boilers or cheese strainers. 126 Cheese comes in a form convenient to transport and to store for a significant period of time. Consequently, it can serve as a supplement to a grain diet as well as provide a hedge against a period of grain deficiency. This combination of herding and cereal cultivation by some of the Neolithic
124
J e a n - P a u l D e m o u l e a n d C a t h e r i n e Perlés, " T h e G r e e k Neolithic: A N e w R e v i e w , " JWorldPrehist 7, n o . 4 (Dec. 1993): 3 5 5 - 4 1 6 ; K a r e n D . Vitelli, " W e r e Pots First M a d e for F o o d s ? D o u b t s f r o m F r a n c h t h i , " WorldArch 21, n o . 1 J u n e 1989): 1 7 - 2 9 . 125 R u t h T r i n g h a m , Hunters, Fishers and Farmers of Eastern Europe, 600(h3000 Β. C. ( L o n d o n : H u t c h i n s o n U n i v e r s i t y L i b r a r y , 1971), p p . 1 1 2 - 1 3 , 156, 162, 184. 12(1 P e t e r I. Bogucki, " C e r a m i c Sieves of the L i n e a r P o t t e r y C u l t u r e a n d T h e i r E c o n o m i c Implic a t i o n s , " Of A 3, n o . 1 (1984): 15 30; i d e m , " T h e A n t i q u i t y of D a i r y i n g in T e m p e r a t e E u r o p e , " Expedition 28, n o . 2 (1986): 5 1 - 5 8 ; Price et al, " S p r e a d of F a r m i n g i n t o E u r o p e N o r t h of the Alps, י יp. 99; A n d r e w S h e r r a t t , " T h e Secondai ·)־E x p l o i t a t i o n of A n i m a l s in the O l d W o r l d . " (1983, revised), in Economy and Society in Prehistoric Europe ( E d i n b u r g h : E d i n b u r g h University Press, 1997), p p . 2 0 5 08. B a r k e r c o m p a r e s t h e "milk boilers" to m e t a l versions used by m o d e r n Italians to m a k e cheese. See G r a e m e B a r k e r , Prehistoric Farming in Europe ( C a m b r i d g e : C a m b r i d g e U n i v e r sity Press, 1985), p p . 8 0 - 8 1 , esp. Fig. 30. See also Haskel J. G r e e n f i e l d , " T h e O r i g i n s of Milk a n d W o o l P r o d u c t i o n in the O l d W o r l d , " CurrAnth 29, no. 4 ( A u g . - O c t . 1988): 5 7 3 - 9 3 .
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populations of Europe was brought out in stark reality by the discovery in 1991 of the body of the " i c e m a n / ' a Late Neolithic itinerant herder who met his death in the Ötztaler Alps on the border between Italy and Austria ca. 3300 and 3200 B. C. 127 Items found with him included small pieces of Hint, one of which was perhaps a sickle, some grains of barley and wheat, materials for lighting a fire, a copper axe, and a bow and arrows.
3. Egypt Beginning around 12,500 B. P. increased rainfall in the highlands raised the volume of water in the Nile, causing greater flooding and initiating the so-called "Wild Nile" period. Between the tenth and ninth millennia B. P. the Arkinian and Shamarkian cultures of the Middle Nile region in Nubia subsisted on a variety of hunted mammals, various plants, and particularly fish, including deepwater fish caught perhaps from boats with nets or harpoons. 1 2 8 Excavations at Site E-75-6 at Nabta, in the eastern Sahara, yielded remains of four houses. O n e of them, dating to 8550 B. P., had six hearths and seventy-four "cooking holes," each ranging from ca. ten to twenty centimeters in diameter. T o cook the food, it appears that hot ash had been gathered around (apparently at Nabta, nonceramic) vessels placed in the holes. Various seeds of diverse grasses and herbs have been found in conjunction with these holes. Excavations have also yielded grinding stones and remains of wild sorghum grains and seeds of other wild grasses. Barley can be dated to ca. 7900 B. P. 129 In general, the subsistence strategies of Late Pleistocene populations of the Nile Valley, such as the Nubian cultures, the El kabian and Tarifian populations of U p p e r Egypt, and the Q a r u n i a n inhabitants of the Fayum, between the ninth and seventh millennia B. P., centered on seasonal consumption of such staples as fish, root foods, and a broad base of other plant a n d animal foods as necessary. At K o m O m b o , Isna, Edfu, and El K a b , and in Nubia, at W a d i Haifa, evidence 127
K o n r a d S p i n d l e r , The Man in the Ice (New Y o r k : H a r m o n y Books, 1994), esp. p p . 1 8 6 - 2 5 4 . R a n d i H a a l a n d , " S e d e n t i s m , C u l t i v a t i o n , a n d P l a n t D o m e s t i c a t i o n in the H o l o c e n c M i d d l e Nile R e g i o n , , יJ FA 22, no. 2 ( S u m m e r 1995): 1 5 7 - 7 4 ; W e t t e r s t r o m , " F o r a g i n g a n d F a r m i n g in E g y p t , ' יp p . 1 8 3 - 8 5 ; D o u g l a s J . B r e w e r a n d R e n é e F. F r i e d m a n , Fish and Fishing in Egypt. Vol. 2 of T h e N a t u r a l H i s t o r y of Egypt ( W a r m i n s t e r : Aris a n d Phillips, 1989), p p . 6 - 7 . 129 W e n d o r f a n d Schild, " S o m e Implications,'" p p . 1 1 7 - 2 7 ; Fekri A. H a s s a n , " T o w a r d a M o d e l of Agricultural D e v e l o p m e n t s in P r c d y n a s t i c E g y p t , " in Origin and Early Development of Food-Producing Cultures, p. 222; A n g e l a E. Close a n d F r e d W e n d o r f , " T h e B e g i n n i n g s of F o o d P r o d u c t i o n in the E a s t e r n S a h a r a , " in Transitions to Agriculture in Prehistory, p. 69; F r e d W e n d o r f a n d A n g e l a E. Close, " E a r l y Neolithic F o o d - E c o n o m i e s in t h e E a s t e r n S a h a r a , " in The Followers of Horus. Studies Dedicated to Michael Allen Hoffman, 1944-1990. R e n é e F r i e d m a n a n d B a r b a r a A d a m s , eds. ( O x f o r d : O x b o w , 1992), p p . 1 5 5 - 6 2 . 128
The ״iceman״
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spread of agriculture into Egypt
CHAPTER THREE
of animal bones document the availability of wild cattle, jackals, hyena, gazelle, antelopes, the wild ass, and various birds, along the river and at the edge of the desert. T h e river itself yielded fish and turtles. Fayum inhabitants relied heavily on fish from the lake and river. Most popular a m o n g shallow water species was the catfish (clarìas sp.); deep-water fish included the Nile perch (.Lates niloticus). Fish also formed a significant part of the Neolithic diet at M e r i m d a and elOmari. Plant foods consumed by people living near wetlands were probably similar to those eaten at Wadi Kubbaniya ten thousand years earlier, although there is littie evidence for grinding tools used to process them. T w o technological innovations, however, may be attributed to this time period: deep-water fishing, and, during "Wild Nile" periods to make up for decreased availability of fish and plant foods, controlled burning. T h e latter would have served to attract game animals and, perhaps as an unintended consequence, to stimulate tuber growth and so to increase plant resources as well. T h e unpredictability of Nile flooding, however, would have always left hunter-gatherers unsure of their food supply; one year might bring feast, the next could bring famine. Constant insecurity m a d e Egyptian inhabitants receptive to plant and animal domesticates entering Egypt from Southwest Asia during the late sixth millennium B. C. 130 While the climate in Egypt from ca. 12,000 B. P. had alternated between dry and wet periods, the period between 7,000 and 6,000 B. P. was particularly dry. It is at this time, perhaps ca. 5200 B. C., that agriculture, probably via colonists from Southwest Asia, makes its appearance in the Nile Valley at the western Delta site of Merimda. 1 3 1 T h e settlement patterns of Neolithic M e r i m d a in its earliest phase were seasonal and temporary. In the later phases, however, the Merimdans show an increasing shift from foraging to farming. So, for example, heavy mortars set in m u d were used to process foods, pits lined with mud served for storage, and hearths seem to have been used over a long period of time for cooking food. In Phase V, they employed storage pits made of large baskets sunk into the ground, plastered with mud, and protected by woven lids. These basket silos, measuring on average ca. 6 0 - 1 3 5 cm. in diameter and 60 cm. in depth, probably served as communal storage facilities. Large vessels, or pithoi, with a
130
VVctterstrom, " F o r a g i n g a n d F a r m i n g in E g y p t , " p p . 1 9 2 - 9 8 ; G a u t i e r , " Q u a t e r n a r y M a m mais a n d A r c h a e o l o g y of Egypt a n d the S u d a n , " p p . 4 6 - 4 7 ; H o f f m a n , Egypt Before the Pharaohs, p p . 8 7 - 9 0 ; D a r b y et al, Food: the Gift 0J Osiris. 2: 460; a n d W e n k e , Patterns in Prehistory, p. 376. 131 Close, "Plus Ç a C h a n g e , " p p . 4 3 - 6 0 ; R a n d i H a a l a n d , " S e d e n t i s m , C u l t i v a t i o n , a n d Plant D o m e s t i c a t i o n in t h e H o l o c e n e M i d d l e Nile R e g i o n , " p p . 1 5 7 - 7 4 ; W e t t e r s t r o m , " F o r a g i n g a n d F a r m i n g in E g y p t , " p p . 1 9 8 - 2 0 4 , 2 1 2 - 1 4 ; Fekri A. H a s s a n , " P r e d y n a s t i c of E g y p t , " p p . ' 1 4 0 - 4 4 , 1 5 0 - 5 2 ; a n d i d e m , " D e s e r t E n v i r o n m e n t a n d O r i g i n s of A g r i c u l t u r e in E g y p t , " Norwegian Archaeological Review 19, n o . 2 (1986): 6 3 - 7 6
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capacity of ca. 60 kg. of grain, and in-ground bins also served for food storage. T h e M e r i m d a n s were a mixed farming-herding population that cultivated, harvested, and processed domesticated wheat and barley as well as raised domestic cattlc, sheep, goats, and pigs. T h e cereals, as well as the goat and sheep, neither of which were indigenous to Egypt, probably arrived from the Levant. Cattle, native to Northeast Africa, had probably been earlier domesticated in the eastern Sahara, while pigs may also have been domesticated locally. 132 Increased reliance upon these domesticates led to the establishment of the p e r m a n e n t agricultural communities that one finds in the Egyptian Prcdynastic period. Soon after its appearance at M e r i m d a agriculture spread westward into the Fayum oasis. T h e r e it combined perhaps with elements of the "Saharan Neolithic" from farther south already present. 1 3 3 T h e Neolithic population of the Fayum, called Fayum A, subsisted on herding animals, cultivated cereals, a n d both shallow and deep-water fish. At the K o m W site excavators found shallow "fire-holes," excavated into the rock between 15 cm. and 30 cm., which had apparently been used as hearths. T h e inhabitants set cooking pots into the holes and placed combustible material around them. Some of the extant pots contained fish bones. 134 A m o n g tools found were sickles, sticks probably for threshing grain, and stone querns. Storage was also an important part of life in the Fayum, as evidenced by underground "silos," most of which were lined with plaited straw or reeds. At K o m K, two areas contained storage facilities as well as "lire-holes." O n e sector, the " U p p e r Granaries," yielded fifty-six or more pits. O n e granary held up to 364 kg. of grain, both of wheat and, especially, barley. Averaging between three and four feet in diameter and between one and two feet in depth, they were probably covered by straw mats. A n oval basket was found in one silo. 132
A b b a s S. M o h a m m e d - A l i , " E v i d e n c e of Early F o o d P r o d u c t i o n in N o r t h e a s t A f r i c a : a n A l t e r n a t i v e M o d e l , " in Origin and Early Development of Food-Producing Cultures, p. 68; G a u t i e r , " Q u a r t e n a r y M a m m a l s , " p. 52; K r z y z a n i a k , " L a t e P r e h i s t o r y of E g y p t , " p. 4 0 3 . E g y p t i a n cattle m a y h a v e b e e n d o m e s t i c a t e d as early as the t e n t h m i l l e n n i u m B. P. by h u n t e r - g a t h e r e r colonists f r o m the Nile Valley w h o subsisted o n small m a m m a l s , plants, a n d the b y - p r o d u c t s of cattle, such as milk a n d b l o o d . T h e cattle themselves w e r e p r o b a b l y n o t c o n s u m e d . T h e a r g u m e n t for t h e i n d i g e n o u s d o m e s t i c a t i o n of cattle is ecologically b a s e d . A n g e l a E. Close, "Plus Ç a C h a n g e , " p. 55; A n g e l a E. Close a n d F r e d W e n d o r f , " T h e B e g i n n i n g s of F o o d P r o d u c t i o n in the E a s t e r n S a h a r a , " in Transitions to Agriculture in Prehistory, p p . 6 3 - 7 2 ; Bökönyi, " D o m e s t i c a t i o n of A n i m a l s , " p. 395; Achilles G a u t i e r , " A r c h a e o z o o l o g y of the Bir K i s e i b a R e g i o n , E a s t e r n S a h a r a , " in CattleKeepers of the Eastern Sahara: The Neolithic of Bir Kiseiba. F r e d W e n d o r f , R o m u a l d Schild, a n d A n g e l a E. Close, eds. (Dallas: S o u t h e r n M e t h o d i s t University, 1984), p p . 4 9 . 7 2 ־ 133 Z a h i H a w a s s , Fekri A. H a s s a n , a n d Achilles G a u t i e r , " C h r o n o l o g y , S e d i m e n t s , a n d Subsist e n c e at M e r i m d a Beni S a l a m a , " JEA 74 (1988): 3 1 - 3 8 ; K r z y z a n i a k , " L a t e P r e h i s t o r y of E g y p t , " p. 399; a n d H a s s a n , " P r c d y n a s t i c of E g y p t , " p. 141. 134 W e t t e r s t r o m , " F o r a g i n g a n d F a r m i n g in E g y p t , " p p . 2 0 4 - 1 1.
Spread of animal domestication into
llw Fayum
Granaries
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Nearby were threshing sticks, grindstones, a saddle quern, a quartzite grain-rubber, sickles, and wide-mouthed vessels used, it has been surmised, for parching the grain before grinding. 1 3 5 T h e Fayum A population had no permanent structures, and may have moved seasonally in h a r m o n y with the fluctuations of Lake Fayum (mod. Birket Q a r u n ) which, prior to the 1st millennium B. C., was connected to the Nile River and so was affected by the annual flooding of the river. Farming only became established in the upper and middle-Nile areas during the following millennium in what is usually designated the Predynastic period.
133
G e r t r u d e C a t o n - T h o m p s o n a n d E. W . G a r d n e r , The Desert Fayum. 2 Vols. ( L o n d o n : Royal A n t h r o p o l o g i c a l Institute, 1934), Vol. 1, p p . 41 54־, a n d Vol. II, Plates X X I V X X X I ; R o b e r t J . W e n k e , J a n e t E. L o n g , a n d Paul E. Buck, " E p i p a l e o l i t h i c a n d N e o l i t h i c Subsistence a n d Settlem e n t in t h e F a y y u m O a s i s of E g y p t , " JFA 15, no. 1 (Spring 1988): 2 9 5 1 ; ־K r z y z a n i a k , " L a t e Prehistory of E g y p t , " p. 4 0 3 . A f u r t h e r o n e h u n d r e d a n d n i n e g r a n a r i e s w e r e f o u n d a short d i s t a n c e a w a y . W e t t e r s t r o m , " F o r a g i n g a n d F a r m i n g in E g y p t , " p p . 2 0 5 - 0 6 .
81
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS T O PART ONE
Developments in food technology during the Prehistoric period went, almost literally, h a n d in hand with the evolution of m a n . Efficient processing tools were not possible before m a n had the m a n u a l dexterity to manipulate them, and the food processes themselves were inconceivable until m a n possessed the intellectual capacity to conceptualize them and to plan ahead. T h e first develo p m e n t came only with the a p p e a r a n c e of Homo habilis, or possibly Australopethieus gahri, at ca. 2.5 mya, while the second finds its greatest practitioner in Homo sapiens sapiens nearly 2.4 million years later. In between lay a long, slow process. Between the invention of stone tools, most likely by H. habilis, and the appearance of H. sapiens sapiens in ca. 100,000 B. P. one can only point to two m a j o r advances in food technology. First is the use of stone tools to butcher meat. Australopithecine diet was probably overwhelmingly vegetarian, perhaps subsidized by insects, grubs, small animals, and the like. W h a t tools were used were no more than what m o d e r n chimpanzees and capuchin monkeys employ in the wild. Stone tools, however, gave m a n the capability of extending his diet to include meat, at first scavenged and later hunted. T h e i r use m a d e processing more efficient and more rapid in face of dangers from carnivores and other competitors. T h e sharp flakes facilitated the process of quickly removing the meat from the bone for immediate consumption or transport, while the cores enabled him to break the bones to extract the marrow. Butchery was further improved at ca. 1.6 mya with the invention by II. erectus of the h a n d axe and by Neanderthal m a n of the more efficient Mousterian tools. T h e making and control of fire, the second advance in food technology, may have appeared as early as 1.6 mya in South Africa. Its use in cooking food probably occurred no earlier than ca. 500,000 B. P. in C h i n a and most likely not before the appearance of hearths in Mousterian contexts in Europe. W h e t h e r any of the Lower and Middle Paleolithic toolkits and fire were used to process plant foods is unknown, though it is prima facie likely. At the end of the Middle Paleolithic, therefore, it remains difficult to speak of food technology in any meaningful sense. It is clear, however, that the prerequisites for technical advancement in the processing and preparation of food were being laid and that these advances in food technology were inextricably linked with the pace of h u m a n evolution. 1 T h a t pace quickened significantly in the Late Paleolithic. 1 R i c h a r d G . Milo, in a recent study of M i d d l e Stone Age finds in the Klasies River M o u t h of South Africa, suggests that h o m i n i d s in this a r e a were skilled h u n t e r s w h o wielded composite
Two major advances: butchery tools
Fire
82 Advances attributable to H. sapiens sapiens
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS TO PARI' ONE 82
With H. sapiens sapiens came not only the ability to fashion better tools, particularly blades, but to use those tools to create other tools made of different materials, such as bone and antler. Tools, such as throwing spears and the bow and arrow, made m a n a more effective hunter, while increased intellectual capacity, which allowed him to understand the habits of animals and to cooperate with other men, made him a more efficient hunter. Although, even a m o n g the earliest hominids, the very act of making tools could have fostered cooperation and communication a m o n g individuals, the advanced intelligence of modern m a n allowed him not only to envision future needs and events, and so to plan ahead for them, but also to conceive of himself and his relationship with his fellow man and his environment. This set man on the road to more complex social interactions and to an increased ability not just to survive in a hostile environment, particularly during the Ice Age, but also to some extent to control his environment. H e began to build better living quarters, whether in the caves of France or in temporary structures in open areas, such as houses made of m a m m o t h bones in eastern Europe and Russia. These accommodations also included more sophisticated hearths to provide heat, light, and the possibility to cook food. Food resources broadened to include both plants and animals to ensure a more varied and more dependable diet. He hunted large and small animals, birds, and fish, and gathered plants, some of which, such as at W a d i Kubbaniya in Egypt at the end of the Last Glacial M a x i m u m , were transformed through basic groundstone tools into a form more readily digestible and palatable. Little advancement in technology was made over the next 10,000 years, even though mortars, pesties, and querns became slightly more elaborate, for instance, with the development of trough and saddle querns. In the Neolithic period cooking and boiling of water in clay pottery broadened the kinds of foods eaten and the forms in which they were consumed. O n e major innovation attributable to this period is the development of the ability to ferment grape juice into wine. Homo sapiens sapiens began to store cxccss food, as seen in the case of m a m m o t h meat arranged in pits in the cold climates of eastern Europe and Russia or dry cereal placed in lined or plastered silos in Egypt, either because of over-production or as a hedge against future shortages. Ultimately, man progressively took up a more sedentary lifestyle, beginning especially with the Natufian culture of the Levant, weapons and adopted sophisticated and varied hunting strategies based on planning a n d coopération within a social framework. Milo concludes that, in hunting at least, Middle Stone Age early Homo sapiens in the Klasies River M o u t h exhibited behaviors more advanced than their technology would suggest them capable. Since m u c h of the evidence for this conclusion is circumstantial and is at odds with evidence f r o m elsewhere, the conclusion must remain tentative. See Richard G. Milo, "Evidence for Hominid Prédation at Klasies River M o u t h , South Africa, and its Implications for the Behaviour of Early M o d e r n H u m a n s , " JAS 25 (1998): 9 9 - 1 3 3 .
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83
and shortly after began to control both plants and animals for his benefit through domestication. This occurred first in Southwest Asia in the 9th millennium B. P., and by 3000 B. C. the Neolithic lifestyle was dominant throughout the Old World. By the end of the Neolithic period society had become more complex. Agriculture was being practiced from the Fertile Crescent of Southwest Asia to Spain and from Egypt to northern Europe and Britain. Houses were being constructed of more permanent materials, such as mud brick and in some places, at least in part, stone, and becoming more organizationally complex with areas specifically set aside for food processing and cooking. Architecture, especially in Greece and western Europe, was tending toward the monumental with religious and non-domestic buildings becoming more common. 2 Although it is quite likely that a sexual division of labor developed within the hunter-gatherer societies of the U p p e r Paleolithic, it can be clearly seen in Neolithic communities, where the processing of foods, such as grinding grain and cooking, became the domain of women. In fact, they may have played the m a j o r role in developing the technology itself. 3 T h e egalitarianism of late Epipaleolithic and early Neolithic society was, by the Bronze Age, giving way to stratification. As populations increased and societal structures became more hierarchical village communities were beginning to develop into larger population centers and ultimately into formal states encompassing much wider areas. T h r o u g h o u t the prehistoric period man's subsistence strategies modified as his preferences for certain types of foods changed with his capabilities to acquire more and different kinds. So, for instance, the essentially vegetarian diet of the australopithecines gave way to the more carnivorous diet of H. habilis and subsequent hominids who, either individually or in cooperative groups, began to scavenge and hunt large animals for food. Middle and Late Paleolithic hunter-gatherers subsisted on a more omnivorous diet, which included both meat and plants. Both foods required varying degrees of processing, meat in the form of butchery, while some plants were inedible or unsafe without basic processing with simple tools. By the Epipaleolithic period the diet had broadened from several mainly large animals to concentration on a few specific species and to a wide variety of small animals, plants, fowl, and fish.4 At the transition to the
Prehistoric subsistence strategies
- Sec, e. g., P i e r r e - R o l a n d G i o t , "Atlantic E u r o p e d u r i n g t h e N e o l i t h i c , " in History of Humanity, 1: 5 7 0 88; G u i l a i n c , "\Vestern M e d i t e r r a n e a n C u l t u r e s , " p p . 5 1 9 2 2 ; ־ D é m o u l e a n d Perlés, " G r e e k N e o l i t h i c , " p p . 390; S h e r r a t t , Economy and Society in Prehistoric Europe, p p . 3 3 3 71. ;i See, e. g., H a a l a n d , " S e d e n t i s m , C u l t i v a t i o n , a n d Plant D o m e s t i c a t i o n , " p p . 157 74; E h r e n b e r g , Women in Prehistory, p p . 5 0 62, 77 107. 4 A rock p a i n t i n g , f o u n d in La A r a n a shelter in e a s t e r n S p a i n a n d d a t i n g to t h e Mesolithic perio d , ca. 6 0 0 0 B. C . , s h o w s the g a t h e r i n g of h o n e y a n d constitutes the earliest e v i d e n c e for this food in t h e h u m a n diet. See E v a C r a n e , The Archaeology of Beekeeping (Ithaca: C o r n e l l University Press, 1983), p p . 1 9 - 2 2 , esp. Fig. 4.
84
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS TO PARI' ONE 84
Neolithic and to a more sedentary lifestyle, the gathering of cercals, such as wheat and barley, from wild stands and then the cultivation of those grains and of pulses set the stage for the final development, the domestication first of plants and then of animals. Advances in food technology down through the Neolithic period were a mixed blessing. Long hours spent by women and girls in a kneeling position pounding grain with mortar and pestle or grinding it on a quern placed great strain on their back, legs, and feet, frequently causing injury to muscles, joints, a n d bones. T h e use of ground-stone tools often left small portions of the stone a m o n g the kernels, some of which were incompletely ground or crushed, potentially resulting in chipped or broken teeth. T h e introduction of pottery led to an increased consumption of cooked, a n d so softer, foods, some of which adhered to the teeth. Consequently, from PPNB on caries and probably other periodontal diseases, abscesses, and tooth loss increased. 5 And finally, greater reliance on cereal foods in the Neolithic period allowed for an increased birth rate, while, at the same time, contributing to higher infant mortality. Before proceeding to discuss developments in food technology during the historical period, it will be helpful to summarize what processes and which tools were already in place by the end of the Neolithic period: Milling
Pounding, crushing, and chopping
Milling. Milling is the process whereby plant material, such as roots and seeds, are reduced in size and appearance into a form more readily usable as a food. This can be done essentially in two distinct ways: pounding and grinding. Specifying that a tool is a p o u n d e r rather than a grinder is not easy, since a stone could be used in one way at one time and in another way at another time. Indeed, sometimes the two processes proceed in tandem, as, for instance, pounding and crushing in a m o r t a r is often preparatory to the grinding of cereals into flour. Nevertheless, it will be convenient to discuss them separately since they use different methods and forces. Pounding, crushing, and, chopping are the processes of reducing food through percussion force from a larger to a smaller form to aid digestion. T h o u g h unprovable, it is a prioii likely that australopithecines used wooden sticks and unmodilied stones to crush nuts and other plant foods, much as modern great apes do. In a general sense, teeth, especially the posterior molars, worked by strong j a w muscles, such as that possessed by P. hoisei and other robust australopithecines, can be considered a tool. T h e y made excellent food processors as they could easily crush, grind, and tear the food, whether plant or animal. Mixed with sali-
' יS m i t h et al, " A r c h a e o l o g i c a l a n d Skeletal E v i d e n c e , " p p . 1 2 4 2 5 ־.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS T O PARI' ONE
85
va the resulting material could be easily consumed. But over time, as diet changed and the teeth and jaws of genus Homo became smaller, teeth ceased being so effective. By 2.5 mya, however, Homo habilis, at Olduvai Gorge and elsewhere in Africa, knew about p o u n d i n g and crushing through experiences in stone-knapping (or bi-polar flaking) to alter cobblestone into choppers and other tools typical of the Oldowan toolkit. W h e n employed in butchery the hand-held cores, often of basalt or quartz, could be used to crush bones to extract marrow. This was done with a forceful blow delivered vertically on the bone placed on a hard surface. A major and long-lasting innovation came with the introduction of the Acheulian hand-axe by / / . erectus. O n e can assume that some of these tools were used on plants, but information derived from wear analysis is inconclusive at best. Even in the Late Paleolithic when mortars and pestles appeared a m o n g the tools of H. sapiens their use on plants is only conjectural, as they are often found in relation with red ochre, which was reduced to a powder through pounding. Nevertheless, that some pounding and crushing was performed on plant materials too fibrous or too toxic to be eaten in their natural form, such as roots, tubers, and rhizomes, can be assumed. Pounding of plant material in a stone m o r t a r with a stone pestle was probably done from a kneeling position. Long, wooden pestles, unlikely to have survived the millennia, may have been used from a standing position with deep mortars, similar to Natufian limestone or basalt mortars from the Levant, which have depths ranging up to 50.5 m m . Stone mortars and pestles have been found in Neolithic sites throughout the Old World. 6 Grinding is the reduction through shear forces of small pieces of food into even Grinding smaller and finer ones between two hard surfaces. This was accomplished by the use of two stones, a lower grinding slab, or quern, and an upper h a n d stone, or muller. 7 Sometimes the quern could be portable, but most often it was too heavy and was left in situ for use later upon return to the same place. T h e object of grinding is achieved by placing the plant material, such as grain, seeds, or nuts, on the bottom stone and rubbing it with a muller back and forth or in a circular motion. T h e r e is some indication that the type of wear on a quern might indicate the type of plant processed, at least in a general fashion. 8 T h e process was
,
יB r u c e S c h r o e d e r , " N a t u f i a n in the C e n t r a l B é q a a Valley, L e b a n o n , " in Natufian Culture in the Levant, p p . 7 2 - 7 3 . Cf. also E d w a r d s , " W a d i H a m m e h 2 7 , " p p . 1 2 9 - 3 6 . 7 T e r m i n o l o g y of these t w o stones used in m o d e r n l i t e r a t u r e c a n v a r y widely. So, f o r e x a m p l e , a m o n g t h e t e r m s used to r e f e r to t h e l o w e r stone a r e g r a i n - r u b b e r , g r i n d i n g s t o n e , q u e r n , o r milling stone; for t h e u p p e r stone, muller, r u b b e r , o r g r i n d e r . F o r t h e v a r i o u s t e r m s see Kraybill, " P r e - a g r i c u l t u r a l Tools for t h e P r e p a r a t i o n of F o o d s , " p . 4 8 8 . fi Kraybill, " P r e - a g r i c u l t u r a l T o o l s f o r t h e P r e p a r a t i o n o f F o o d s , " p p . 5 0 7 - 0 9 ; R o u b e t , " G r i n d i n g S t o n e s of Site E - 7 8 - 3 , W a d i K u b b a n i y a , " p. 4 8 1 .
86
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS TO PARI' ONE 86
practiced perhaps as early as 130,00 B. P. in Egypt, but clearly in Florisbad, South Africa by ca. 49,000 B. P., a n d in Eastern Europe at Molodova I in the Ukraine a few thousands of years later. Evidence for grinding as part of food processing, however, is, like that for pounding and crushing, difficult to interpret archaeologically. 9 Grinding slabs of the Late Paleolithic, found in Egypt, Southwest Asia, and Europe, can be grouped into various types, including flat, basined, trough, and saddle querns. T h e earliest basined grindstones comc from the Late Paleolithic at Ein Aqez, in the central Negev of Israel. Cuphole slabs, such as those found at Netiv H a d g u d , combined the pounding and crushing of the m o r t a r and pestle with the grinding capabilities of the quern. Stone querns of various types, mortars, and pestles spread with agriculture into Europe and into Egypt. 10 Bu1che1y
Butchery. T h e dismantling of an animal carcass into smaller pieces preparatory to transportation, consumption, or preservation of the meat is called butchery. T h e first documented m a n - m a d e tool used in food processing was probably created for this purpose and began with the Oldowan toolkit about 2.5 mya. T w o general types of butchery implements can be identified. First were the larger, core elements. T h e blunt edges were useful for breaking bones to extract the marrow, while the sharper ones, particularly beginning with the Acheulian handaxes and cleavers of H. erectus, were handy for separating pieccs of meat at the joints to dismember the animal into small pieces for easier transport to a home-base or central place. T h e smaller and sharper flakes served to skin, scrape, and slice the meat from the bone. T h e Lower and Middle Paleolithic toolkits were general, all-around tools as each one could be used for several purposes. O n e can only conjecture a specific use for a particular tool, except in the few cases where microwear analysis of some kinds of stone in combination with a study of cutmarks on animal bones can indicate, though usually in a broad sense only, that certain tools were indeed used to butcher animals. Crushing and breaking of bone with blunt force or cutting off fleshy parts with sharp flakes remained the basic food-processing value of stone tools for thousands of years, though the efficiency of the tools improved over time, such as with the development of Mousterian backed knives and side scrapers.
!l
T r o e n g , Worldwide Chronology, p p . 4 4 - 4 5 . Kraybill, " P r e - a g r i c u l t u r a l T o o l s for the P r e p a r a t i o n of F o o d s , " p. 513; Bar-Yosef et al, " N e t i v H a d g u d , " 4 0 9 11; T r i n g h a m , Hunters, Fishers and Fanners, passim; H a w a s s et al, " C h r o n o l ogy, S e d i m e n t s , a n d Subsistence at M e r i m d a , י יp. 36; W e n k e et al, " E p i p a l e o l i t h i c a n d Neolithic S u b s i s t e n c e , " p. 39; C a t o n - T h o m p s o n a n d G a r d n e r , Desert Fayum, I: 3 1 - 3 2 , esp. Vol II: Pl. V I I . 2 ; a n d S h e r r a t t , Economy and Society in Prehistoric Europe, p p . 3 2 2 3 0 ־, esp. Fig. 12.4 10
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS T O PARI' ONE
87
T h e next important innovation came with the standardization in shape and specialization of use characteristic of Late Paleolithic blade tools of H. sapiens sapiens. T a n g e d and knotched blades, side and end scrapers, and burins were typical. Appearing also at this time was the use of antler and bone tools, and especially the process of hafting worked stone onto wooden or antler shafts to create spears, javelins, and arrows for hunting and axes and knives for butchery. Neolithic sites frequently yield a wide variety of lithics, both of flint and of stone, useful for axes, some hafted onto wood or bone handles, as well as flint knives and scrapers in wooden sleeves." Storage. Storage of food was not possible until m a n had the intellectual capacity to plan ahead and was sedentary enough to establish necessary facilities to which he could return periodically. 12 This can be seen first archaeologically during the Late Paleolithic in the northern climes of eastern Europe and Russia where m a m m o t h meat was stored in underground pits. In Southwest Asia storage appears with the need to conserve cereals in a dry place until they could be processed, cooked, and eaten. Storage facilities could take the form of stone vessels or baskets. By the Neolithic period m a n was using pits lined with stone, straw, or plaster, so-called silos, to store wheat and barley. From the late PPNB and after pottery, both large and small, was used to store foods of various kinds.
Fond storage
Fire. T h e use of fire to cook meat may go back to 0.5 mya to the campfires o f / / . erectus in his cave at Zhoukoudian in China. H e may have gotten his fire through natural means and cooked as the opportunity allowed. T h e first major advance came in the late Middle Pleistocene with the use of controlled campfires and hearths by Neanderthal man. H. sapiens sapiens in the Late Paleolithic and Epipaleolithic may have been raising temperatures of fires by draft-trenches. T e m p e r atures reached by campfires and hearths, particularly those with draft-trenches, are sufficient for any food processing required. T h e real problem was finding a container to hold the food or liquid while being heated. Ostrich eggs or wet
Fire
11
O f e r Bar-Yosef, " S t o n e T o o l s a n d Social C o n t e x t in L e v a n t i n e P r e h i s t o r y , " in Perspectives on the Past. G e o f f r e y A. C l a r k , e d . (Philadelphia: University of P e n n s y l v a n i a Press, 1991), p p . 371 95; B a r k e r , Prehistoric Fanning in Europe, p p . 1 18 20, esp. Fig. 43; T h o r p e , Origins of Agriculture in Europe, p p . 109 14; W h i t t l e , Europe in the Neolithic, p p . 2 7 6 82; T r i n g h a m , Hunters, Fishers and Farmers, p p . 7 5 - 7 8 , esp. Fig. 11. 12 F o r a t h e o r e t i c a l a p p r o a c h to q u e s t i o n s r e g a r d i n g w h y s t o r a g e b e c a m e a subsistence strategy, a n d w h a t w e r e the r a m i f i c a t i o n s of storage, see P e t e r R o w l e y - C o n w y a n d M a r e k Zvelebil, " S a v i n g it f o r L a t e r : S t o r a g e b y Prehistoric H u n t e r - G a t h e r e r s in E u r o p e , " in Bad Year Economics. Culturat Responses to Risk and Uncertainty. Paul H a l s t e a d a n d J o h n O ' S h e a , eds. ( C a m b r i d g e : C a m b r i d g e University Press, 1989), p p . 4 0 56. T h e y stress p l a n n i n g , t e c h n o l o g y , a n d b e h a v i o r a l flexibility.
88
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS TO PARI' ONE 88
leaves folded to hold water, placed on hot coals or a low fire, may have served the purpose. T h e temperature of water placed in wooden containers or in natural depressions in stone might he raised with rocks heated in a nearby fire. Potboilers, that is, hot stones placed in water, served to heat water in the Perigordian cave of Abri Pataud in southwest France, and boiling pits have been suggested for the settlement at Dolni Vêstonice at ca. 25,000 B. P. By the PPNB m a n had the ability to construct kilns to create temperatures up to 800° C., hot enough to lire pottery. Pottery was the perfect container with which to cook. It could withstand high temperatures; it was also water tight, portable, and with some due care easily handled. As such it generated even more ways to cook food of different kinds. Cooking was at first restricted to the roasting of meat, perhaps thrown into the fire or skewered on a stick a n d held over an open flame. Later, a stationary spit, such as found at Mezhirich in the Ukraine, could be built to perform the same task. At Late Paleolithic Noshra I and in Epipaleolithic Mureybit in Southwest Asia, archaeologists have identified pits that may have been used to roast meat. Some plants require heat to reduce them to a softer consistency to make them palatable and digestible, while others require detoxification to render them safe to consume. Still others, particularly cereals, become brittle when roasted and so easier to process with a pounding or grinding tool. Identifying where these activities occurred is difficult since few plant remains have been identified archaeolofficallv ο / from before the end of the Last Glacial M a x i m u m . Evidence from Wadi Kubbaniya in Egypt shows that some plant-food processing was taking place by 18,000 B. P. By the Neolithic Period, cooking and boiling bccamc more c o m m o n since pottery could withstand high temperatures. Preservation
Fermentation. T h e presence of tartaric acid in residue in a ceramic pot found in the Zagros Mountains of Iran provides chcmical evidence for wine. By implication this confirms also that inhabitants of this part of the Near East by the midsixth millennium B. C. understood the technological processes for fermenting grape juice. Several important questions, however, remain to be answered: what was first fermented into an alcoholic drink, how was it done, how early did this first appear, and where? Speculation on the first two questions includes honey, collected perhaps as early as the last Glacial M a x i m u m , left standing in the rain, and bruised berries or fruit with a high sugar content gathered but not immediately eaten. Both of these would ferment naturally into an intoxicating wine. T h e earliest m a n - m a d e fermented drink may have been a kind of beer similar to those m a d e today by some inhabitants of South America and Africa who chew various plants or, particularly, grains, to mix the pulp with saliva. Saliva serves as an amylolytic agent to hydrolize the starch, creating sugars that would then
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS TO PARI' ONE
89
ferment into alcohol. T h e discovery may have arisen from the need to prechew grains before feeding them to children, the sick, or the aged. 1 3 Conjectured Processes. Several processes, often necessary for the consumption of certain foods known or assumed to have been eaten, cannot be verified archaeologically. Soaking in w a r m or cold water, for example, can be used to soften plant material, such as seeds, before processing to detoxify it by removing harmful chemicals, such as tannins, to remove indigestible starches, and to assist fermentation. 14 T h e downside of soaking is that through leaching some important vitamins and minerals will be lost. Plants known or conjectured to have been eaten in prehistory, such as at Wadi Kubbaniya, which would have required soaking before consumption, include fibrous roots, rhizomes, tubers, and some nuts. During the late Epipaleolithic and the following Neolithic period, as the h u m a n diet grew more dependent on cereals and less on meat, nutrients normally obtained from the latter had to be gotten elsewhere. O n e source was fish, which had to be eaten soon after catching as it spoils quickly following death. T o prevent this fish can be preserved for a period of time through drying, smoking, and salting. Meat can also be preserved in this fashion and stored away. Outside of freezing, practiced in northern climes, the exact process by which meat and fish were rendered storable is difficult to confirm, since the apparatus necessary to dry, smoke, and salt the materials were probably made of wood or basket materials and so are unlikely to have survived over time.
Conjectured processes
Food technology by the end of the Neolithic is a technological and cultural phen o m e n o n separate from crafts and agriculture, though all of these developed out of the physical and intellectual evolution of H. sapiens sapiens throughout the Old World. T h e distinction between food technology and craft is fairly clear. Craft, by definition, is a skilled activity often associated with products having nothing to do with food, such as the making of pots and gold a n d silver jewelry. In general, craft is confined to identifiable specialists employing a narrowly focused talent. Food technology, on the other hand, includes activities that everyone can do, and often does, on a daily basis. O f course, some were better at doing these things, like grinding seeds, than others, and by the Neolithic period many activi-
13
K e i t h H . S t e i n k r a u s , " N u t r i t i o n a l l y Significant I n d i g e n o u s F o o d s Involving a n Alcoholic F e r m e n t a t i o n , " in Fermented Food Beverages in Nutrition. C l i f f o r d F. G a s t i n e a u , William J. D a r b y , a n d T h o m a s B. T u r n e r , eds. ( L o n d o n : A c a d e m i c Press, 1979), p p . 3 7 4 3 ; ־D o n Brothwell a n d Patricia Brothwell, Food in Antiquity. E x p a n d e d E d i t i o n (Baltimore: T h e J o h n s H o p k i n s University Press, 1998), p p . 1 6 4 - 6 5 ; F o r b e s , Studies, 3: 6 1 - 6 2 ; C r a n e , Archaeology of Beekeeping, p p . 19 20. 14 S t a h l , " P l a n t - f o o d Processing," p p . 175 76.
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SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS TO PARI' ONE 90
tics concerned with food processing were performed specifically by women. But not all were. As will be seen, individuals engaged in food processing, particularly from the late Neolithic on, were often men w h o were organized into identifiable groups, but the activity itself remained one that was basically independent of specialized skills. Information on ancient food technology, both archeological and literary, from the Bronze Age on grows at an ever increasing rate. A detailed study of the phen o m e n o n everywhere during antiquity, therefore, would make for a book of greater length than allowed. From this point on, therefore, our focus will narrow to developments in food technology during the historical periods of three major cultures: the Ancient Near East, Greece, and Rome. T h e ancient Near East is not a monolithic area; it contains two quite distinct cultures, Egypt and the Asiatic ־N e a r East. T h e latter, broadly speaking, encompasses a wide geographical area, including Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, Syria, a n d areas bordering them, and contains many different cultures. Since agriculture and the domestication of animals began in areas of the Asiatic Near East, technologies associated with food processing for the most part appeared there earlier than in Egypt where these innovations lagged behind by at least 1000 years. However, the extant archaeological and literary evidence for ancient Egypt is far greater and more varied. This derives from a n u m b e r of factors revolving around geographical, ecological, and cultural differences, which contributed to the preservation (or the lack of it) of artifacts, plus the degree and frequency of modern excavations of the respective areas. It will, therefore, be more beneficial to our understanding of food technology to study its development in Egypt first, since the information derived from the a b u n d a n t Egyptian material will enable us to interpret and to understand better the less extensive Near Eastern evidence.
PART T W O EGYPT AND T H E NEAR EAST
CHAPTER
THREE
EGYPT I
From as early as ca. 4000 B. C. two areas defined Egypt geographically and its Geography people culturally. Ancient Egypt per se began in the south near Elephantine (modern Aswan) at the First Cataract (going upstream; that is, south) and extended northward to Memphis, just below Cairo. This area forms the Nile Valley proper, or U p p e r Egypt. T h e inhabitable land extends only a short distance on either side of the river in some places up to perhaps fifteen miles in 1 each direction, in others less. Its b o u n d a r y with the desert is sharp. North of M e m p h i s extends a small portion of the valley and the great expanse of the fertile Delta region. This area, called Lower Egypt, extends to the Mediterranean Sea. In the Delta, where flood levels, and so also the corresponding levees, arc significantly lower than farther south, the Hood plains tend to form swampy areas. Nevertheless, exccpt for its northernmost regions, the area was not uninhabitable even in prehistoric times. T h e vegetation a n d land use mirrored that in the Nile Valley. 2 T o the west, the freshwater lake area, called el Fayum, was sparsely inhabited in the Predynastic period, but the population of this region expanded somewhat during the Twelfth Dynasty and particularly later, during the third century B. C., when Ptolcmaic rulers greatly extended the cultivable land. 3 T o the cast and west of the Nile desert oases supported a small, essentially n o m a d i c population. O n the whole, however, life concentrated along the Nile banks. During its course of about 700 miles, the Nile River from Elephantine northward has, over the millennia, scoured out a deep and narrow valley, a n d during its annual overflowing deposited clay a n d silt along its route. This sediment the "Black L a n d " in sharp contrast to the " R e d L a n d " of the desert is the source of the fertility of the earth which supported the population and gave rise to Herodotus' famous dictum that Egypt was "the gift of the river." 4 Before the
1
M a x C a n ׳, The Geographic Background of Greek and Roman History ( O x f o r d : O x f o r d University Press, 1949), p. 207; W e t t e r s t r o m , " F o r a g i n g a n d F a r m i n g in Egypt," p. 167. 2 K a r l W . Butzer, Early Hydraulic Civilization in Egypt. A Study in Cultural Ecology (Chicago: U n i v e r sity of C h i c a g o Press, 1976), pp. 2 2 9 6 9 3 ,25 ;־H o f f m a n , Egypt Before the Pharaohs, p. 27. :i Butzer, Early Hydraulic Civilization, p p . 92 93. 1 H e r o d o t u s 2.5.1: δώρον του ποταμού. Cf. A r r i a n Anab. 5.6.5.
Nile River
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Aswan d a m was constructed in 1970, annual flooding regulated life along the river. T h e melting of the snows in the mountains and the spring rains sent torrents of water into the Nile. T h e increasing volume of water reached Elephantine by July and steadily raised the Nile height until its banks overflowed. T h e flood reached the lower Nile valley by early to late September. Because the year's food supply as well as the safety of the inhabitants and their possessions depended u p o n knowing when the Nile was beginning to flood and, based upon records from previous years, how m u c h water might be expected, the ancient Egyptians established Nilometers at various places along the river's course, such as at Elephantine, Memphis, a n d elsewhere, to measure the height of inundation. Figures recorded in the Fifth Dynasty on the Palermo Stone indicate that during Dynasties I V (ca. 3 0 5 0 2 3 6 0 ־B. C.) the rise of the Nile near M e m p h i s averaged ca. 4 cubits, or about 7 feet, but over the years in question there seems to have been a steady decrease in the average amount. 5 Literary testimony of the G r a e c o - R o m a n period proclaims that a flood height of 14-16 cubits (20.5-23.4 feet) brought a good crop; anything below 8 1 2 ־cubits (11.7-17.6 feet) produced a famine. 6 T h e uncertainty today of what point served as the base of reference to measure the inundation renders any interpretation of the n u m bers somewhat difficult. T h e large increase of Nile heights recorded between pharaonic and R o m a n times probably relates to the rise in the bed of the river as silt continually built up over the centuries, as well as to the level of the established zero point used for the Nilometers. This was no doubt true in Predynastic times as well. 7 W h a t is certain about the archaeological record and literary evidence is that, although there was a regularity in the timing of the floods, there was no guarantee of the a m o u n t of water which the Nile from year to year would bring. T h e Egyptian farmer had no way to predict whether the year's floods would bring feast, famine, or something in between. T o the ancient
5
H e r m a n n Kees, Ancient Egypt. A Cultural Topography (London: F a b e r a n d F a b e r , 1961), p. 50; B a r b a r a Bell, " T h e Oldest R e c o r d s of the Nile Floods," Geographical Journal 136 (1970): 5 6 9 - 7 3 . (i H e r o d o t u s 2.13; S t r a b o 8.1.3, 17.1.3 [C788]; Pliny H N 5.10, 58; 18.47; 36.11; P l u t a r c h De Is. et Osir. 43. In that s a m e p e r i o d the N i l o m e t e r at E l e p h a n t i n e m e a s u r e d record floods of u p to 26 cubits (38.1 feet). See I G R R 1.1290 (late 2nd cent. Α. I).). T h e R o m a n cubit was a b o u t 17.57 inches, r o u g h l y equivalent to the c o m m o n E g y p t i a n cubit of 17.72 inches. For PMich. Inv. 5 7 9 5 (late 2 n d cent. A. D.), see O r a s m u s Merrill Pearl, " T h e I n u n d a t i o n of the Nile in the S e c o n d C e n t u r y A . D . , " T A P A 87 (1956): 5 1 - 5 9 . 7 H o f i m a n , Egypt Before the Pharaohs, p. 29. T h e differences in m e a s u r e m e n t s p r o b a b l y lie in exactly w h e r e the Hood is m e a s u r e d , since the height c a n vary considerably between E l e p h a n t i n e , w h e r e t h e river flows in a n a r r o w c h a n n e l , a n d the Delta w h e r e it spreads out considerably. Additionally, it matters w h e t h e r o n e is speaking of a rise a b o v e a fixed point on a Nilometric scale or a b o v e the " n o r m a l " height of the Nile at a particular place. Cf. Pearl, " I n u n d a t i o n , " 11. 7, pp. 5 6 - 5 7 ; Kees, Ancient Egypt, p p . 4 8 - 5 2 .
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Egyptian the river presented a paradox: predictable floods brought unpredictable results. T h e Nile formed a convex floodplain, characterized on either side by natural levees, which marked out older low-water channel banks and which rose above the alluvial flats created by the deposition of sediment during floods. These areas became lower the farther they were from the main watercourse. T h e levees and the large and small secondary Nile channels cut through the flats creating distinctive flood basins. 8 It was in these various basins that Egyptian farmers produced the food to feed a growing population. Floodwaters would rise above the river banks, overflow or breach levees, and inundate successively lower basins. T h e alluvial flats accommodated an average water depth of about 1.5 meters. Low floods, however, would fail to inundate some basins or do so only partially, resulting in periods of want or famine. 9 Following the receding of the waters in October and November, the land was planted, giving rise to the harvest in late spring and early summer. This annual recurrence of events created an Egyptian year of three divisions or seasons: inundation, cultivation, and harvesting (drought). 10 T h e exact process and route by which agriculture spread throughout Egypt The Predynastic remains debatable, but it seems certain that the first fully developed agricultural cultures, ca. society was established along the upper (southern) and middle Nile valley by ca. 4000 3000 B. C. 4000 B. C. T h e period defined by the appearance of a series of societies leading to the development within the space of a single millennium of a centralized state, and so conventionally treated separately from the Neolithic cultures, is called the Predynastic period." T h e first culture, denoted the Badarian culture from its appearance at El-Badari, was characterized by a mixed agricultural and Badarian herding lifestyle that was still somewhat seasonal in settlement pattern. Typical artifacts included pottery, flint sickles in straight hafts, fishhooks of bone and
H
Butzer, Early Hydraulic Civilization, pp. 15 18. O n natural irrigation in Egypt, see Christopher J . Eyre, " T h e Agricultural Cycle, Farming, a n d W a t e r M a n a g e m e n t in the Ancient Near East," in Civilization of the Ancient Near East. J a c k M . Sasson, John Baines, G a r y Beckman, a n d K a r e n S. Robinson, eds. 4 vols. (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1995), 1: 178 80. 9 Butzer, Early Hydraulic Civilization, pp. 5 1 - 5 3 . O n famine in Egypt, see Etienne Drioton, " U n e représentation de la famine sur un bas-relief égyptien de la V ׳׳Dynastie," Bulletin de l'Institut d'Egypte '25 (1942-1943): 4 5 - 5 4 , a n d J . V a n d i e r , IM famine dans l'Égypte ancienne (Cairo: l'Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale, 1936). 10 H e r o d o t u s 2 . 2 0 - 2 5 ; Kees, Ancient Egypt, p. 48; Barry J . K e m p , Ancient Egypt. Anatomy of a Civilization (London: Routledge, 1989), pp. 7 11; William C. Hayes, The Scepter of Egypt. 2 Vols. rev. (New York: Metropolitan M u s e u m of Art, 1990): 1: 3 - 5 ; Allan Chester J o h n s o n , Roman Egypt. Vol. 2 of An Economic Survey of Ancient Rome. T e n n e y Frank, ed. 6 Vols. (Baltimore: T h e J o h n s H o p kins University Press, 1936), pp. 15-19. 11 See esp. Fekri A. Hassan, " T h e Predynastic of Egypt," JWorldPrehist 2, no. '2 (1988): 135-85.
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LOWER EGYPT
1. Pelusium 2. Tell el-Dab'a 3. Buto 4. Lake Mareotis 5. Merimda 6. Heliopolis 7. Abu Ghurab 8. Giza 9. Cairo 10. Maadi 11. Memphis 12. Saqqara 13. Helwan 14. Medum 15. Abusir 16. Kahun 17. Crocodilopolis 18. Lake Fayum/Moeris 19. Nile River 20. Beni Hasan 21. Amarna 22. Deir el-Gebrawi 23. Hemamieh 24. Panopolis 25. Abydos 26. Dendera 27. Deir Ballas 28. Naqada 29. Thebes (iricl. Medinet Habu, Deir el Bahri, Deir el-Medina, Malkata) 30. Armant 31. Luxor 32. Isna 33. El Kab 34. Kom Ombo 35. Kubbaniya : 36. 1st Cataract 37. Elephantine 38. Wadi Haifa : 39. 2nd Cataract 40. Mirgissa I 41. Nabta Playa j 42. 'En Besor 3. Egypt and Southwest Asia
UPPER EGYPT
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flint, bows and arrows, and spears. T h e Badarian subsistence strategy centered on wheat, barley, cattle, sheep, goats, and fish. Animals were kept in enclosures, while grain was stored in basket silos similar to those found at M e r i m d a , although some could be quite large, with a capacity of 1.9 m 3 . 12 T h e Amratian (also called N a q a d a I) culture, which succeeded the Badarian ca. 3900 3650 B. C., is somewhat similar to it in its artifactual remains. It introduced gold and copper working, however, and apparently began to participate in long-distance trade. Above ground circular mud-huts, such as those found at H e m a m i e h , served for food-storage. Although their original height is unknown, these mud-huts apparently exceeded the storage capacity of earlier in-ground storage pits and basket silos. 13 T h e third period, called the Gerzean (or N a q a d a II and III), spread from Upper Egypt to the Delta between ca. 3500 B. C. and the beginning of the Early Dynastic period in ca. 3050 B. C. This period saw a population increase, the development of extensive long-distance trade with Nubia to the south and with Syria and Palestine to the cast, and innovations in pottery and lithics. Kilns capable of temperatures of ca. 1200 C allowed for high-quality pottery and the mass production of smelted, cast, and h a m m e r e d products in copper, silver, and gold. Tools, such as knives, maceheads, and adzehcads, were m a d e of copper and flint.14 Rectangular houses began to replace the oval huts of the Badarian and Amratian cultures. N a q a d a n culture relied more heavily on domesticated cereals, cattle, goats, pig, a n d sheep than on wild foods, though fish remained c o m m o n to their diet. Site M A 21, situated between G u r n a and Armant, yielded oven pits and both flat and shallow hearths. O n e oven pit, measuring 70 cm. χ 20 cm., had stone-lined walls and floor. Storage pits were above ground, whereas in other places, such as in the N a q a d a region, they tended to be small and in ground. Livestock pens seem characteristic of this latter area as well. 15 Great change characterized the Gerzean period, particularly at such centers as Hierakonpolis, N a q a d a , and Abydos. Scholars generally agree that by 3050 B. C. a bona fide unified state had been formed encompassing both U p p e r and 12
W e t t e r s t r o m , " F o r a g i n g a n d F a r m i n g in E g y p t , " p p . 214 17; Brewer a n d F r i e d m a n , Fish and Fishing, p. 7. 13 Hassan, "Predynastic of Egypt," pp. 153 54; W e t t e r s t r o m , " F o r a g i n g a n d F a r m i n g in Egypt," p p . 2 1 7 - 2 0 . י 14 K r z y z a n i a k , " L a t e Prehistory of Egypt," p p . 4 0 4 10. Prentiss S. D e Jesus, " C o m m e n t s on the D e v e l o p m e n t of Pyrotechnology in Early Societies," in Origin and Early Development of Food Producing Cultures, pp. 283 85. See also HolTman, Egypt Before the Pharaohs, passim; for a recent s u m m a r y of the archaeological evidence relating to the Predynastic cultures, see K a t h r y n A. Bard, " T h e Egyptian Predynastic: A Review of the E v i d e n c e , " JFA 21, no. 3 (Fall 1994): 265 88. 15 Hassan, "Predynastic of Egypt," pp. 154-57; W e t t e r s t r o m , " F o r a g i n g a n d F a r m i n g in Egypt," pp. 220 24; Brewer a n d F r i e d m a n , Fish and Fishing, pp. 7 9.
Amratian
Gerzean (Naqada)
Rise of the state
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Archaic period
Lower Egypt. How this developed remains a topic of active debate. K a t h r y n Bard, recently summarizing the various positions, concludes that the state was ultimately based on the control of irrigation agriculture, which provided for a surplus of food to support a large population and which required an increasingly complex system of workers, artisans, and elites. T o Bard, the Egyptian state evolved out of the Predynastic mortuary cult of U p p e r Egypt, particularly as seen at Naqada. 1 6 She identifies several areas of social change during this period that contributed to the growth of a complex society: a growing class differentiation and the emergence of elites, increased economic interaction, and the propensity of cemeteries to become foci for status symbolism and competition and for the development of mortuary cults encompassing acceptance of an ideology requiring the participation of the whole community. She also recognizes that other factors, political and military, played a role in the unification of Egypt as well. O t h e r scholars believe the impetus for a unified Egypt arose in Hierakonpolis, where the Scorpion macehead and the N a r m e r palette were found. 1 7 T h e Early Dynastic, or Archaic, period, conventionally encompassing Dynasties I and II, was a period of political consolidation, socioeconomic integration, and cultural assimilation between U p p e r and Lower Egypt. Egyptian history is a record of the fortunes and vicissitudes of a series of rulers divided into dynasties that form the five m a j o r periods, the Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, New Kingdom, Late period, and Ptolemaic period, interspersed with intermediate eras, down to its incorporation into the R o m a n Empire. Since our purpose is not to follow the political, military, and social history of ancient Egypt but to investigate specifically the role of food technology in Egyptian society, the following discussion will center a r o u n d particular foods, or groups of foods, which underwent processing, keeping in mind four questions. First, what role did food processing and processed foods play in Egyptian society? Second, what technological processes did the Egyptians utilize? Third, what innovations in food technology can be attributed to the ancient Egyptians? And fourth, can changes over time be detected? T h e remainder of this chapter focuses on two integrally related products, bread and beer, while wine and oil production, processing of fish,
16
K a t h r y n A. Bard, From Fanners to Pharaohs. Mortuary Evidence for the Rise of Complex Society in Egypt (Sheffield: Sheffield A c a d e m i c Press, 1994), esp. p p . 1 - 5 ; R o b e r t J . W e n k e , " T h e Evolution of Early Egyptian Civilization: Issues a n d Evidence," JWorldPrehist 5, no. 3 (Sept., 1991): 2 7 9 - 3 0 8 . See also Lech K r z y z a n i a k , " T r e n d s in the Socio-economic D e v e l o p m e n t of Egyptian Predynastic Societies," in Acts of the First International Congress of Egyptology, Cairo, October 2-10, 1976. W a l t e r F. Reineke, ed. (Berlin: A k a d e m i e , 1979), p p . 4 0 7 - 1 2 . 17 B a r d , From Fanners to Pharaohs, pp. 111-18; R. T . Ridley, 77le Unification of Egypt (Deception Bay, Australia: Shield Press, 1973), pp. 60 62; Michael Rice, Egypt's Making (London: Routledge, 1990), pp. 8 2 - 1 6 8 ; Hassan, "Predynastic of Egypt," p p . 154-75.
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beef, and pigs, and the secondary products associated with them, form the topics of the subsequent chapter.
A. Cereal Processing 1. Storage Egyptians planted cereals in the fall after the receding of floodwaters a n d harvested them in the late spring or early summer. N u m e r o u s wall paintings from all periods show workers in the fields harvesting grain with sickles. O t h e r laborers, sometimes with the assistance of oxen, thresh the grain, which is then winnowed. Loaded into sacks or baskets the cereals are carried to the granary for storage, redistribution, or processing. 18 Granaries held only grain that h a d been threshed and winnowed. Archaeological evidence indicates that stored cereals included predominantly two-row (Hordeum distichum L. emend. Lam.) or six-row (H. vulgare L.) barley and e m m e r wheat (Trìticum dicoccum Schübl.), in the form of e m m e r spikelets or hulled barley grains, not cleaned grains. 19 T h e r e seems to be no evidence for the storage of ilour, the end product of grinding grain. Storage in pits lined with straw has already been noted for the Neolithic period in the Fayum at K o m K, where the large n u m b e r of pits in closely arranged formations bespeaks a c o m m u n a l storage system. Whereas in the Delta at Predynastic M a a d i large terracotta vessels and silos indicate either c o m m u n a l storage or the warehousing of trade items, grain storage sites in U p p e r Egypt seem suited to the small group or individual level, at least so far as the archaeological evidence indicates. It has been plausibly conjectured, however, that as the Pre-
18
Pits and silos
See, for e x a m p l e , scenes f r o m the O l d K i n g d o m T o m b s of Asa in Deir El G e b r a w i a n d of R e ' - e m - K u y , of A k h e t h e t e p , a n d of N i a n c h c h n u m a n d C h n u m h o t e p in S a q q a r a . See N o r m a n de G a ri s Davies, Tin ׳Rock Tombs of Deir El Gebrawi. Part II: Tomb of %au and Tombs of the Northern Group (London: Egypt Exploration F u n d , 1902), p p . 1 9 2 7 ־, a n d Pis. X V I I (Asa); Hayes, Scepter of Egypt, 1: 9 4 - 1 0 2 , Figs. 54, 57 (Re'-em-Kuy); N o r m a n dc Garis Davies, The Mastaba of Ptahhetep and Akhethetep at Saqqareh. Part II: The Mastaba. 'The Sculptures of Akhethetep (London: Egypt Exploration F u n d , 1901), p p . 13-14, Pis. V I I - V I I I ; A h m e d M . M o u s s a a n d H a r t w i g Altenmüller, Das Grab des Nianchchnum und Chnumhotep (Main a m R h e i n : Philipp von Z a b e r n , 1977), T a f . 58 59 ( N i a n c h c h n u m a n d C h n u m h o t e p ) . For M i d d l e K i n g d o m examples, sec the T o m b s of A m e n e m h e t at Beni H a s a n a n d of Antefoker in T h e b e s . Percy E. N e w b e r r y , Beni Hasan. Part 1 (London: K e g a n Paul, F r e n c h , T r ü b n e r & C o . , 1893), pp. 9 - 3 8 , Pl. X I (Amenemhet); N o r m a n de G a r i s Davies, The Tomb of Antefoker, Vizier of Sesostris /, and of His Wife, Senet (No. 60) (London: G e o r g e Allen & U n w i n , 1920), p p . 9 1 0 ־, Pl. III. For a N e w K i n g d o m e x a m p l e , see the T o m b of Paheri at El K a b . J . J . T y l o r a n d F. LI. Griffith, The Tomb of Paheri at El Kab (London: T h e Egypt Exploration F u n d , 1894), pp. 13 15, Pl. III. 19
Delwen S a m u e l , "Ancient Egyptian Cereal Processing: Beyond the Artistic R e c o r d , " CArchJ 3, no. 2 (Oct. 1993): 278.
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Early granaries
CHAPTER THREE
dynastic period came to a close and the areas of U p p e r and Lower Egypt moved toward integration under a centralized authority, control of surplus grain for the benefit of the c o m m u n i t y at large increased. 2 0 T h e appearance, size, and capacity of the granaries are difficult to estimate. Grain-storage facilities excavated in Early Dynastic Hierakonpolis were m a d e of m u d a n d provided cool, dry places for grain, but as extant the walls do not reach to their full height and lack a roof. Excavations from First and SecondΟ Dynasty royal tombs at Helwan, located across the Nile River from Saqqara, yielded models of clay granaries as well as actual granaries, in the latter of which some wheat, barely, and lentil seeds still remained. O n e of the models represented a cluster of four granaries surrounded by a low wall. A similar arrangement of small granaries appears in Saqqara as a hieroglyph in the T o m b of Ptah-hetep, in a wall painting in the T o m b of Ti, as well as in conjunction with a servant statue, all dating to the Fifth Dynasty. These early granaries a p p e a r in the shape of large vessels, rounded at the top with a raised m o u t h through which to pour the grain a n d a small rectangular opening near the bottom from which to extract it (PI. 4).21 T h e size of these granaries is difficult to ascertain since convendons of scale in Egyptian painting allow for a wide variation depending upon what or w h o is being highlighted in the sccnc and the importance attached to 20
C a t o n - T h o m p s o n , 77te Desert Fayum, pp. 41 54; I b r a h i m R i z k a n a a n d J ü r g e n Seeher, Maadi III. The Non-lithic Small Finds and the Structural Remains of the Predynastic Settlement (Mainz: Philipp von Z a b e r n , 1989), p. 76; J a m e s O . Mills, " B e y o n d Nutrition: Antibiotics P r o d u c e d T h r o u g h G r a i n Storage Practices, T h e i r Recognition a n d Implications for the Egyptian Predynastic," in Followers of Moms, pp. 2 9 - 3 0 . G r a i n silos, m e a s u r i n g 2.70 m. in d i a m e t e r a n d up to 3.0 m. in d e p t h a n d d a t i n g to the Badarian Period, have been f o u n d at Deir T a s a . See Hassan, "Predynastic of Egypt," p. 153. 21 Zaki Youssef S a a d , Royal Excavations at Saqqara and Helwan (1941-1945) (Cairo: L'Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale, 1947), pp. 26 a n d Pl. X I , 109-12 a n d Plates X L I X and LVII; idem, Royal Excavations at Helwan (1945 1947) (Cairo: L'Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale, 1951), pp. 40 41 a n d Pl. L V I I b ; idem, The Excavations at Helwan. Art and Civilization in the First and Second Dynasties ( N o r m a n : University of O k l a h o m a Press, 1969), pp. 6 2 6 3 ־, a n d Pis. 2 2 , 2 3 ־ 86 87. N o m e a s u r e m e n t s were given either for the small or large pottery g r a n a r y models f o u n d at H e l w a n . For model granaries f r o m a Fourth-Dynasty t o m b at El K a b , see T h o m a s F. Strasser, " S t o r a g e a n d States o n Prehistoric C r e t e : the Function of the K o u l o u r a s in the First M i n o a n Palaces," JMA 10, η ύ . 1 (1997): 84 86, esp. Fig. 10. For the T o m b of Ti see Lucicnc É p r o n , François D a u m a s , a n d Georges G o y o n , Le Tombeau de Τι (Cairo: L'Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale, 1939), Pis. L X V I a n d L X X ; N o r m a n de Garis Davies, The Mastaba of Ptahhetep and Akhethelep at Saqqareh. Part I. The Chapel of Ptahhetep and the Hieroglyphs (London: Egypt Exploration F u n d , 1900), Pl. X I I , no. 239. See also Moussa a n d Altenmüller, Das Grab des Manchchnum and Chnumhotep, pp. 126-28, T a f . 54a, a n d Fig. 24. T h e t o m b dates to ca. 2 3 6 0 - 2 3 5 0 B. C . For the servant statue, sec J a m e s H e n r y Breasted, Egyptian Servant Statues (New York: P a n t h e o n Books, 1948), p. 10 a n d Pl. 9A. Breasted also notes that S a q q a r a T o m b 2105 (Second or T h i r d Dynasty) had an actual g r a n a r y built into its m a s t a b a . It took the f o r m of a double row of thirty u n b a k e d m u d j a r s , n o d o u b t representing real g r a n a r y bins. Ibid., p. 12.
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the scene itself by the artist. Within registers small, relatively unimportant items, such as vessels, tools, birds, and so on, are usually rendered to scale; houses, on the other hand, are frequently represented proportionally smaller. H o w this relates to granary size is difficult to discover. Evidence of small and large pottery granaries found in tombs at Helwan c o m p a r e favorably with similarly shaped granaries represented in Old K i n g d o m paintings and, so, implies that the latter accurately reflect the proper scale. 22 O n the other h a n d , an ivory model from a First-Dynasty tomb at Abydos has been thought to represent a granary. If accurate, it would represent what was in reality a rather tall structure, since it is shaped like a tower with a ladder leading up to a window just below a platform. At Helwan excavators have also uncoverccl a rectangular c o m p o u n d containing five circular structures whose walls were m a d e of mud-brick. T h e y m a y have originally reached three meters high a n d h a d a base wider than the top. As extant, the diameters vary between 1.10 m . and 1.20 m. Located in proximity to a First-Dynasty t o m b they have been tentatively identified as part of a granary court for use by the deceased in the afterlife. This identification gains support from the appearance in the late Fifth or early Sixth-Dynasty T o m b of Unas-Ankh at T h e b e s of a painting that shows five rather large granaries having domed-roofs a n d small doors about chest high from which a worker appears to be extracting grain. Unas-Ankh carried the title of "Overseer of the T w o Granaries." In sum, then, it appears that there were both small a n d large granaries at the beginning of the historical period. 2 ' Middle and New Kingdom granaries present a much different appearance. Those shown in t o m b paintings, such as in the Middle-Kingdom T o m b s of Antefoker at T h e b e s and of A m e n e m h e t and of Khety at Beni H a s a n as well as in the N e w - K i n g d o m T o m b of Paheri at El Kab, appear quite large. 24 T h e y seem to be rectangular structures with flat, or sometimes dome-shaped, roofs
22
Heinrich Schäfer, Principles of Egyptian Art. E m m a B r u n n e r - T r a u t , ed., a n d J o h n Baines, ed. a n d trans. ( O x f o r d : C l a r e n d o n Press, 1974), pp. 230 34; G a y Robins, Egyptian Painting and Relief (Aylesbury: Shire Publications Ltd., 1986), p. 19; J a c q u e s V a n d i e r , Manuel d'Archéologie Egyptienne. T o m e IV: Bas-Reliefs et Peintures Scènes de la Vie Quotidienne (Paris: A. a n d J. Picard a n d C o . , 1964), pp. 13-29. 23 Abydos: H. Z. Levinson a n d A. R. Levinson, " S t o r a g e a n d Insect Species of S t o r e d G r a i n a n d T o m b s in Ancient Egypt," Zeitschrift für angewandte Entomologie 100, no. 4 (Nov. 1985): 325, Fig. 1. H e l w a n : S a a d , Royal Excavations at Helwan (1945-1947), p. 20 a n d PI. X V I I I b a n d X l X a . T h e b e s : M o h a m e d Saleh, Three Old-Kingdom Tombs at Thebes (Mainz a m R h e i n : Philipp von Z a b e r n , 1977), pp. 1 4 - 1 5 a n d Pl. 3. Levinson a n d Levinson ("Storage a n d Insect Species," p. 324) estimate that d o m e - s h a p e d g r a n a r i e s m e a s u r e d ca. 5.0 111. high a n d 2.0 m . in d i a m e t e r at the base. T h e y d o not, however, indicate the basis for these figures. 24 Davies, Tomb of Antefoker, p. 10 a n d Pl. X V ; Percy N e w b e r r y . Beni Hasan, 1: Pl. X I I I (Amene m h e t ) a n d ibid., 2: Pl. X V I I (Khety); a n d T y l o r a n d Griffith, Tomb of Paheri, p. 15 a n d Pl. III.
Middle and New
Kingdom granaries
102
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Fig. 6. Drawing of wall painting from T h e b a n tomb, depicting Egyptian domed granaries. From Wilkinson, Maimers and Customs, 2: 136, No. 122.
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reached by ladders (Fig. 6). Paintings and reliefs often show workers, under the watchful eye of a scribe, carrying sacks of grain up ladders to the roof where they empty them through holes in the ceiling. 25 T h e painting from the T o m b of Khety, for example, depicts just such a scene within a large area surrounded by a wall that has a single entrance and encloses two rows of ten dome-shaped granaries. Mudbrick granaries insulated the grain from the hot sun and provided an environment of low-humidity and cool temperatures for the threshed grain. Its crevices, however, offered refuge for insects that could infest the grain. T h e Egyptians developed several types of pest repellents, such as smoke from burning gazelle dung or mice dung and urine smeared on the granary walls and floor. Nevertheless, grain spoilage rates may have reached ten percent. 2 6 T h e appearance of the interiors of granaries can be gathered from a series of models found in First-Intermediate and Middle-Kingdom tombs, especially from the early Twelfth-Dynasty T o m b of Meket-re at Thebes. Although controversy remains over whether the models represent granaries open to the sky or not, the interior arrangements are essentially consistent from one granary model to another. T h e grain was stored in bins, which are sometimes shown equipped with sliding hatches at ground level and surrounded by a central area in which granary workers and grinders busy themselves at their jobs, while a scribc documcnts receipts and withdrawals. Some models have staircases leading to the roof. 27 T o m b models seem to represent granaries associated with large well-to-do, 25
Granary models
Cf. the relief on the exterior of the Eleventh-Dynasty s a r c o p h a g u s of Ashait f r o m T h e b e s , n o w in the Egyptian M u s e u m in C a i r o . M o h a m e d Saleh a n d H o u r i g S o u r o u z i a n , The Egyptian Museum Cairo. Peter D e r M a n u e l i a n a n d Helen J a c q u c t - G o r d o n , trans. (Mainz a m R h e i n : Philipp von Z a b e r n , 1987), Pl. 69b. See also the T o m b of Antefoker at T h e b e s Davies, Tomb of 'Antefoker, Pl. XV). 26 Levinson a n d Levinson, "Storage a n d Insect Species," pp. 3 3 4 - 3 5 ; P a p y r u s Ebers, in Cyril P. Bryan, Ancient Egyptian Medicine. The Papyrus Ebers (1930. R e p r i n t C h i c a g o : Ares Publishers Inc., 1974), p. 166; P. B. A d a m s o n , " P r o b l e m s over Storing F o o d in the Ancient N e a r East," WO 16 (1985): 7, 11-12. 27 H . E. YVinlock, Models of Daily Life in Ancient Egypt from the Tomb of Meket-re at 'Thebes ( C a m bridge, M A : H a r v a r d University Press, 1955), p p . 2 5 - 2 7 , 87 88, a n d Pis. 2 0 - 2 1 , 24. O n the d a t e of this t o m b a n d f u n e r a r y models generally, see most recently D o r o t h e a Arnold, " A m e n e m h a t I a n d the Early T w e l f t h Dynasty at T h e b e s , " Metropolitan Museum Journal 26 (1991): 5 48. See also Breasted, Egyptian Servant Statues, pp. 1 0 1 6 ; ־M i r i a m S n e a d , Egyptian Life ( C a m b r i d g e : H a r v a r d University Press, 1986), p. 30, Fig. 39 (Middle K i n g d o m granary). For the roof controversy, cf. YVinlock, Models, p. 25, with B a r r y J . K e m p , " L a r g e M i d d l e K i n g d o m G r a n a r y Buildings (and the Archaeology of Administration)," S 113 (1986): 121. M i d d l e K i n g d o m g r a n a r y models have also c o m e f r o m S a q q a r a , Asyut, M i r , a n d el Lisht. See Hayes, Scepter of Egypt, 1: 2 6 4 - 6 5 ; Cecil M . Firth a n d Battiscombe G u n n , Ted pyramid Cemeteries. 2 Vols. (Cairo: L'Institut Français d'Archéologie O r i e n t a l e , 1926), pp. 5 2 - 5 4 , a n d Pl. 30 ( T o m b of Gcmni), a n d Levinson a n d Levinson, " S t o r a g e a n d Insect Species," p. 326, a n d Fig. 4.
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Bureaucratic oversight ofgranaries, grain, and grain products
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perhaps u r b a n , homes. Barry K e m p argues that the models are abbreviated versions of the type of large-roofed, multi-chambered storage facilities found at Middle Kingdom K a h u n in the Fayum and several military forts, such as Uronarti and Mirgissa, located along the Nile River in the area of the Second Cataract in Nubia. From archaeological remains, he estimates the storage capacity of the granaries and the n u m b e r of people who could be fed annually from them. So, for instance, all granaries connected to large houses at Kahun had a combined capacity of 2,636.7 cubic meters, a volume that could feed from 5,273 to 9,092 people per year depending upon the size of the distribution. K e m p concludes that the granary evidence indicates the lack of a single centralized granary; instead, the larger houses acted as redistributive centers for the communities. 2 8 During the New Kingdom, dome-shaped granaries predominate over the flatroofed type, and a p p e a r in paintings in groups of three to five located in courtyards or on the roofs of homes. T h e capacities of granaries in this period varied and could be quite large. Two silos at A m a r n a , for example, had base diameters of ca. 8.0 m. The large central granary of Rameses II in the Ramesseum at Thebes was composed of many separate vaulted storage rooms arranged in series. Each room measured between ca. 4.0 m. and 6.0 m. in height, while a distance at ca. 6.50 m. intervened between each roof opening. 2 9 Little can be said about the locations of state granaries or the details of their operation, but the importance to the Egyptian state of their proper management appears clearly in the persistence of the title "Overseer of the Double G r a n a r y " (;imy-r snwty), that is, for the granaries throughout Egypt, and in the fact that the vizier often assumed this position himself. 30 Literary sources and tomb scenes provide information on bureaucratic titles that seem to proliferate as the Egyptian bureaucracy increased over time. These titles refer not only to administrators of the granaries, such as the scribe and counter of grain from Thebes, but also to those who managed the bread and beer supplies at various levels in society, both on private estates and for state or religious entities. A m o n g the multi-
-H K e m p , " L a r g e M i d d l e K i n g d o m G r a n a r y Buildings," p p . 120 36; idem, Ancient Eg)pt, pp. 1 4 9 - 5 7 . T h e figures for U r o n a r t i are 770.37 m. 3 with a feeding capacity of f r o m 1541 to 2656 people; those for Mirgissa a r e 1063.69 m. 3 , for b e t w e e n 2127 a n d 3668 individuals. E p i g r a p h i c evidence f o u n d at U r o n a r t i a n d Mirgissa c o n f i r m s the presence of granaries there. Interestingly, the height of the granaries at K a h u n , U r o n a r t i , a n d Mirgissa, estimated at a little over 3.0 m., is similar to the estimated height of the five First-Dynasty circular granaries at H e l w a n . 29 Levinson a n d Levinson, " S t o r a g e a n d Insect Species," pp. 325 28, a n d Figs. 8 10. 30 Nigel Strudwick, Hie Administration of Egypt in the Old Kingdom. The Highest Titles and Their Holdeis (London: K P I , 1985), pp. 251 75. T w e n t y - t w o of the thirty-seven M e m p h i t e overseers were also viziers.
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plicity of titles associated with production, record keeping, and disposition of these commodities are references to those w h o actually performed the work of processing the grain, such as miller (male a n d female), baker, and brewer (male and female). Some titles seem m o r e specific or explanatory, such as Brewer of the Vizier, Brewer W h o Makes Bread, and Brewer of Divine-offerings of Sobk of Crocodilopolis. O t h e r titles a p p e a r to designate those in administrative positions superintending the processing of grain into bread and beer, such as Overseer of the Bakeries for the Ov erseer of the Workhouse, Overseer of the Bakery, Overseer of the Bakery of A m u n , and Overseer of the Bakery of Ptah, as well as helpers, scribes perhaps, in the storerooms and, no doubt, hangers-on w h o seem to find positions in every bureaucracy. A m o n g these occur references to storekeepers, attendants, and butlers of the beer or bread pantry, a counter of loaves of bread, and the hall-keeper of the bakers. 31
2. Bread and Beer In 1953 Robert Braidwood posed a question predicated on the idea that domestication of cereals was related to the making of bread and beer. He asked which came first, bread or beer, to a group of eight archaeologists and anthropologists. 32 For various reasons, some favored beer, others bread, still others opted for food in the form of a gruel or mush first a n d then bread and beer, in that order. In general, the latter idea prevailed. T h e question was reopened thirty-four years later by Solomon Katz and M a r y Voigt w h o accepted the priority of gruel but, arguing from what Katz termed "biocultural evolution," favored the precedence of beer over bread. 3 3 They, as did earlier Braidwood and his colleagues generally, assume that this occurred where agriculture began, that is, in Southwest Asia in areas where cereals occur naturally. T h e earliest extant evidence pointing to beer consumption includes a stamp seal from T c p c Gawra, in northeastern Iraq, dating to ca. 4000 B. C., which seems to show two individuals sip31
T h e list was taken f r o m William A. W a r d , Index of Egyptian Administrative and Religious Titles of the Middle Kingdom (Beirut: A m e r i c a n University of Beirut, 1982), passim; John C o l e m a n Darnell, " T h e C h i e f B a k e r , " JEA 75 (1989): 2 1 6 - 1 9 ; a n d Lisa M a n n i c h e , Lost Tombs. A Study of Certain Eighteenth Dynasty Monuments in the Theban Necropolis (London: Κ PI, 1988), p. 7 (counter of b r e a d loaves), 136-57 (scribe a n d c o u n t e r of grain). O n the f e m a l e b r e w e r , see also William A. W a r d , Essays on Feminine Titles of the Middle Kingdom and Related Subjects (Beirut: A m e r i c a n University of Beirut, 1986), pp. 121 22, a n d G a y Robins, Women in Ancient Egypt ( C a m b r i d g e : H a r v a r d U n i v e r sity Press, 1993), pp. 118-19. 32 R o b e r t J. B r a i d w o o d , " S y m p o s i u m : Did M a n O n c e Live by Beer A l o n e ? " AmerAnthr 55, no. 1 (1953): 5 1 5 - 2 6 . 33 S o l o m o n H. K a t z a n d M a r y M . Voigt, " B r e a d a n d Beer: T h e Early U s e of Cereals in the H u m a n Diet," Expedition 28, no. 2 (1987): 23 34.
Priority of bread or beer
106
.S'ummary of bread and beer production
Predynastic bakeries and breweries at Hierakonpolis
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ping beer through a straw, and, from the following millennium, beer residue from a pottery vessel from Godin T e p e , in the Zagros Mountains of Iran, and Sumerian texts that contain recipes for beer production. 3 4 Although the first clear evidence for beer, a n d probably bread as well, derives from Mesopotamia, the best and most a b u n d a n t archaeological and art historical evidence for the technological processes are found in Egypt. Consequently, we will turn first to the Egyptian material and return later to the Mesopotamian evidence. T h e a m o u n t of grain to be processed was retrieved from the granary and taken to the place selected for processing; baking and brewing were apparently often carried out in different parts of a single location, as indicated, for example, in the bakery-brewery model from the Middle Kingdom Tomb of Mcket-re. Following p o u n d i n g in the m o r t a r to separate the grains from the chafT, the cereal was sifted to remove the latter. T h e clean grain was then ground to the desired fineness on a h a n d quern. Dough was m a d e by mixing the flour with water and other desired additives, a n d then kneading. At this point, the process of bread and beer making diverged. If flat bread were the object, the dough would be shaped and baked in the ashes or, as shown in the New Kingdom T o m b of Rameses III (Fig. 10), in an oven. 3 5 If leavened bread were required, yeast in the form of b a r m (the frothy portion of fermenting beer) could be added to the dough and the mixture placed into bread molds that were then heated in the oven. For beer production, the dough, probably m a d e from the flour of malted grain and perhaps mixed with the juice of dates and pomegranates, was partially baked into loaves. After being mixed with water and allowed to ferment for a period of time, they were broken up and mashed by h a n d through a mesh screen placcd over a vessel that caught the expressed liquid. T h e beer was next placed in j a r s to ferment further; soon afterward, it was decanted into a m p h o r a e and sealed. T h e earliest recognizable breweries in Egypt come from Sites Hk-24A (the "Platform Site") and H k - 2 5 D (the " V a t Site") on the Nile floodplain near Hierakonpolis, excavated by J e r e m y Geller in 1988-89, and dated to ca. 3 5 0 0 - 3 4 0 0 B. C. 3 6 Geller suggests that evidence from these sites, plus other similar ones pre-
34
Ibid., p. 29, esp. Fig. 10; R u d o l f H . Michel, Patrick E. M c G o v e r n , a n d Virginia R. Badler, " C h e m i c a l Evidence for Ancient Beer," Nature 360 (5 Nov. 1992): 24. 3 • יG a r d n e r Wilkinson, The Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians. 6 Vols. 2d ed. (London: J o h n M u r r a y , 1841-42), 2: 385; Wilson, Egyptian Food and Drink, p. 13, Fig. 10 (after Rosellini). 36 J e r e m y R o g e r Geller, " P r e d y n a s t i c Beer P r o d u c t i o n at Hierakonpolis, U p p e r Egypt: A r c h a e ological Evidence a n d Anthropological Implications," P h . D . diss. W a s h i n g t o n University, 1992; idem, " F r o m Prehistory to History: Beer in Egypt," in Followers of Horns., pp. 1926 ;־a n d idem, " B r e a d a n d Beer in F o u r t h - M i l l e n n i u m E g y p t , " Food and Foodways 5, no. 3 (1993): 2 5 5 - 6 7 . Previously, the earliest archaeological evidence for Egyptian b r e a d a n d b e e r - m a k i n g actually c a m e
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viously excavated but unrecognized as breweries, such as at Ballas, M a h a s n a , and Abydos, implies that beer production was widespread during the Predynastic era. H o w far back into this period this might be true is unknown. T h e eight facilities at Abydos, for instance, had been excavated in the early twentieth century and tentatively identified as kilns used to parch grain. 37 Each kiln was composed of two rows of bell-shaped jars, ca. 50 cm. or more deep, sunk into the ground about 15 cm. and supported by a coating of clay and mudbricks. T h e tops of the jars remained open to the sky. O n e kiln contained thirty-five jars. Although openings were made to allow fuel to be added to the lire banked around each jar, a low wall of mudbrick enclosed the kilns. Finds of wheat gave rise to the conjecture that the kilns were used to parch grain, something not readily identified in Egyptian artistic or literary evidence. 38 Geller's interpretation of the Abydos installation as a brewery ultimately derives from his work at Hierakonpolis. T h e Hierakonpolis sites (Hk-24, or " T h e Big M o u n d , " but especially Hk-24A and Hk-25D) consist of a combination of brewery, granary׳, and pottery kiln installations located within 100 meters of each other. Site Hk-25D supported a bakery, composed of six small hearths made of mud, straw, and pottery sherds. Measuring ca. 1.0 m. in diameter, they are poorly preserved. Site Hk-24A consisted of six clay vats, identified as "mash tuns," each with a capacity of about sixteen gallons of beer. Crudely m a d e a n d conical in shape with flat bottoms, the vats measured ca. 50 cm. in diameter at their widest point and ca. 60 cm. in depth (as extant). T h e y were partially inserted into a platform and supported by m u d and sherds. T h e platform, 2.0 m. χ 7.0 m., and vats were apparently enclosed by a rectangular structure that left the tops of the jars accessible. A heavy coating of mud on the jars' exteriors shielded them from the fires in the kiln and allowed the liquid to warm slowly and evenly, a process essential in mashing prior to fermentation. Residue found in the vats contained spikelets and grains of e m m e r wheat (Triticwn dicoccum), a little barley (Hordeum vulgare), and carbonized sugar and carboxylic acids, which typically form in the mashing and fermentation processes. T h e combined capacity of the excavated vats
f r o m an Egyptian outpost at ' E n Besor, in the n o r t h w e s t e r n Negev. D a t i n g to the First Dynasty, b r e a d molds a n d beer j a r s provide evidence for the p r e p a r a t i o n a n d c o n s u m p t i o n of both food items. R a m G o p h n a a n d D a n Gazit, " T h e First D y n a s t y Egyptian Residency at Έ η Besor, 5 ' Tel. Aviv 12, no. 1 (1985): 9 - 1 6 . 3 לT . Eric Peet a n d W . L. S. Loat, Vie Cemeteries of Abydos. Part III. — 1912-1913 (London: T h e Egypt Exploration F u n d , 1913), pp. 1 - 7 , a n d Plate 1. F o r Ballas a n d M a h a s n a , see Geller, " P r e dynastic Beer Production at Hierakonpolis, U p p e r Egypt," p p . 135 40. 38 Delwen S a m u e l , " T h e i r Staff of Life: Initial Investigations o n Ancient Egyptian Bread Baking," Amarna Reports V. Barry J . K e m p , ed. (London: Egypt Exploration Society, 1989), p. 258.
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approached ca. 100 gallons. If one assumes a two-day fermentation period for each batch, typical for bouza, a modern locally produced Egyptian beer, the capacity may have approached 300 gallons per week, or more. T h e brewery probably supplied several families, since this a m o u n t of beer would clearly exceed what one would expect for household usage. In addition to site Hk-24A, evidence for six other vat sites have come to light in and around Hierakonpolis. Geller hypothesizes that the predynastic bakery-brewery-pottery kiln complex m a y represent a prototype of the later Pharaonic bakery-brewery system operated by specialist brewers and bakers for an elite. 39 Identification of the sites at Hierakonpolis as breweries and bakeries rests heavily on information derived from the literary a n d archaeological data of the Pharaonic period. These include tomb paintings and models, which show in detail the processes as they were apparently performed in historical times, and on knowledge of the technology of m o d e r n brewing and baking. T h e available evidence is a b u n d a n t for all periods of Egyptian history and comprises a wide variety of materials. Before turning to the details of ancient Egyptian baking and brewing, however, we must first understand the role of beer and bread in Egyptian life. T h e importance of bread (t) and beer (fingt) can be seen in the Egyptian language, which in its written form employs pictures or hieroglyphs. T h e origin of hieroglyphs is hidden in the Egyptian Predynastic or Archaic periods, and probably derives from pictorial "property" marks incised on pottery before firing. These marks came to represent ideas; then, the ideas were associated with words, speech, and communication. T h e system was not static and so incorporated new signs when needed a n d discarded others when no longer valued. A basic set, however, persisted, and changed little over time, though variations did occur. A m o n g the signs included in Gardiner's list of Middle Kingdom hieroglyphs, some of which extend back to the Old Kingdom, we find several relating to the preparation of beer and bread (Fig. 7).40 For example, A34 shows a man pounding with a pestle in a mortar. A36 represents a man working beer mash
39
Geller, "Predynastic Beer P r o d u c t i o n at Hierakonpolis, U p p e r Egypt," pp. 168 73, esp. p. 171: " L a r g e breweries such as those at Hierakonpolis a n d A b y d o s reinforce the inference of directed p r o d u c t i o n a n d selective redistribution by p o w e r f u l individuals or institutions — chiefdorn or temple d u r i n g the Predynastic." Sec also idem, " B r e a d a n d Beer in Fourth-Millenniurn Egypt," pp. 261 65. 10 William S. Arnctt, The Predynastic Origin of Egyptian Hieroglyphs. Evidence for the Development of Rudimentär} ׳Forms of Hieroglyphs in Upper Egypt in the Fourth Millenium (sic) B. C. (Washington: University Press of A m e r i c a , 1982), [ ) 5 - 2 1. ;כןW . V. Davies, Reading the Past. Egyptian Hieroglyphs (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987), pp. 4 - 5 ; Alan G a r d i n e r , Egyptian Grammar. 3rd ed. (Oxford: Griffith Institute, 1957), p p . 1 10.
109
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A36:
A 3 7:
T29:
U28
U31:
U32:
W21:
W22:
XI:
A34:
Φ
m
M43:
*1
Ω
X2:
0
a
Fig. 7. Hieroglyphic symbols associated with food technology. F r o m G a r d i n e r , Egyptian Grammar.:i
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Bread and beer in art, mythology, and literature
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on a sieve placed over a vessel, while A37, actually a more c o m m o n sign, seems to show a m a n kneading mash in a vat. Sometimes the products themselves, or a container holding the product, form the hieroglyph. So, for instance, X I represents bread, X 2 a loaf of bread, and W 2 2 a beer-jug. A m o n g other hieroglyphs associated with food processing are U32, the m o r t a r and pestle, and U31, an instrument thought to be used in baking, perhaps a rake used to remove embers from the baking floor. 41 T h e fact that a combination of the bread-loaf and beerj u g ideograms formed a generic sign for "food" emphasizes the fundamental value that these two products assumed in the Egyptian mind. 4 2 T h e notion that bread and beer formed staples of life appears also in mortuary art, mythology, and literature. Utterances in the Pyramid texts of the Old Kingdom frequently include references to bread and beer, often in combination. So, for example, Utterance 373 from the T o m b of Teti implores the p h a r a o h , when he arrives at the gate of heaven, to gather himself together a n d " T a k e your bread that rots n o t , / Your beer that sours not" and pass through the gate. In Utterance 406 the speaker asks the god R e to bring certain things for Teti, including "Life, prosperity, health, a n d j o y , / Bread, beer, and clothing,/ Things on which Teti may live!" 43 T h e representation of bread and beer as symbolic of the basic sustenance of life itself is seen as well in the representation of these items in paintings on the walls of many tombs, or engraved on stelae and other m o n u m e n t s not only of p h a r a o h s but of lesser mortals as well. In addition, sometimes inscriptions referring to bread and beer as emblematic of all food in general arc included with the illustrations. For example, the stela of C o u n t Indi, who lived during the Eighth Dynasty, includes above the carving of Indi and his wife this entreaty: "A thousand of bread, a thousand of beer, a thousand of oxen, a thousand of fowl, a thousand of ointment jars, a thousand of clothing, a thousand of everything good, for the revered Indi." 4 4 T h e expression "thousand 41
Hilary• Wilson, " P o t - b a k e d B r e a d in A n c i e n t E g y p t , " Varia Aegyptica 1 (1988): 95. T h e sign for b r e a d was also used in c o m b i n a t i o n with o t h e r hieroglyphs to form basic concepts. So, the c o m b i n a t i o n of the i d e o g r a m for " c r o s s r o a d s " o r "village," " t r e e , " a n d " b r e a d " renders the c o n c e p t of " E g y p t " itself. Arnett, Predynastic Origin of Egyptian Hieroglyphs, pp. 8 - 9 . 43 Q u o t e d f r o m M i r i a m L i c h t h e i m , Ancient Egyptian Literature. A Book of Readings. 3 Vols. (Berkeley: University of C a l i f o r n i a Press, 1973), 1: 4 1 - 4 2 ( U t t e r a n c e 373), 4 3 ( U t t e r a n c e 406). Cf. also S a m u e l A. B. M e r c e r , The Pyramid Texts. 2 Vols. (New York: L o n g m a n s , G r e e n e a n d C o . , 1952), 1: 137 ( U t t e r a n c e 406); L o r e d a n a Sist, " L e b e v a n d e nei Testi delle P i r a m i d i , " in Drinking in Ancient Societies. History and Culture of Drinks in the Ancient Near East. Lucio M i l a n o , ed. History of the Ancient N e a r E a s t / S t u d i e s - V I (Padua: S a r g o n srl, 1994), p p . 1 3 3 - 3 5 . 44 L i c h t h e i m , Ancient Egyptian Literature, 1: 8 4 8 5 ־. Cf. also the stela of the treasurer T j e t j i (ibid., pp. 9 0 - 9 1 ) , a n d , particularly, the stela of K i n g W a h a n k h Intef II (ibid., pp. 9 4 - 9 6 ) , w h o is also shown offering j a r s of beer a n d milk to the gods. For similar stelae, see Hayes, Scepter of Egypt, 1: 3 3 0 - 3 4 . Cf. also M e r c e r , Pyramid Texts, 1: 136 ( U t t e r a n c e 400), 288 ( U t t e r a n c e 667), 297 (Uttera n c e 675), a n d 3 0 0 ( U t t e r a n c e 676). 42
EGYPT I
of (beer and bread)" represents the wish that Indi have all the food he wants in abundance. T h e offering list engraved on the mortuary temple of the T w e n tieth-Dynasty p h a r a o h Rameses III at Medinet H a b u at T h e b e s lists bread and beer as its most numerous offering, 5500 loaves of bread and 204 jars of beer daily. And finally, it seems that in one mythological story, found in several New Kingdom tombs but probably derived from a Middle Kingdom text, beer was the implement for the salvation of mankind. T h e god Re entices the "Eye of R e " (the goddess Hathor) to drink beer colored with ochre so that she would become drunk and stop her slaughter of humans. 4 5 Post-pharaonic inscriptions in the temple at D e n d e r a refer to H a t h o r as "the intoxicated one," while elsewhere she is referred to as "the inventress of brewing." Often associated with her is Menqet, "the goddess who makes beer." 4 6 T h e importance of bread and beer in mortuary cult, mythology, and art reflects their status in Egyptian daily life. So, for instance, lacking money the Egyptians based their economy on a system of barter. Often the value of items being bartered was expressed in terms of a weight of copper or of a quantity of grain. A study of commodity prices paid by necropolis workers in New Kingd o m T h e b e s shows that mats and baskets could be valued in terms of barley. Wages were also usually set in terms of numbers of food items, such as fish or vegetables, but particularly bread-loaves or jars of beer. Often it is clear that at least a portion of the particular commodities was not actually being distributed. 47 A laborer, for example, received for a day's work a standard wage valued in bread and beer or a quantity of grain to make them, while a higher-ranked administrator might receive a multiple of this wage, sometimes far more than he could possibly consume. 4 8 Apparently, the amount of bread and beer was not seen as an actual a m o u n t of the commodities, but as an abstraction, which as a 45
R a m e s e s III: Barry J . K e m p , Delwen S a m u e l , a n d R o s e m a r y Luff, " F o o d for an Egyptian City: Tell e l - A m a r n a , " in Whither Environmental Archaeology? R o s e m a r y Luff a n d Peter R o w l e y - C o n wy, eds. (Oxford: O x b o w Books, 1994), p. 146; " E y e of R e " : Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, 2: 1 9 7 - 9 9 . 46 H . F. Lutz, Viticulture and Brewing in the Ancient Orient (Leipzig: J . C . Hinrichs'sche Buch h a n d lung, 1922), p p . 110-13; W o l f g a n g Hclck, "Bier," in LÄ, col. 791. 47 J a c . J . J a n s s e n , Commodity Prices From the Ramessid Period. An Economic Study of the Village ofNecropolis Workmen at Thebes (Leiden: E . J . Brill, 1975), p p . 1 2 2 2 5 ( ־prices in terms of barley), 4 5 5 - 9 3 (wages). See also B a r b a r a S. Lesko, " R a n k , Roles, a n d Rights," in Pharaoh's Workers. The Villagers of Deir el Medina. L e o n a r d H . Lesko, ed. (Ithaca: C o r n e l l University Press, 1994), pp. 15 39. 48 K e m p , Ancient Egypt, p p . 124-28, indicates that the s t a n d a r d wage for a l a b o r e r consisted of ten loaves of b r e a d a n d a m e a s u r e of beer, usually b e t w e e n 1 / 3 a n d 2 full jars. Cf. J a n s s e n , Commodity Prices, p p . 4 6 0 - 7 4 , w h o says that at T h e b e s in the Ramessid period, a laborer received a m o n t h l y w a g e for himself a n d his large family of 3 3 / 4 liters of barley a n d w h e a t c o m b i n e d to be m a d e into b r e a d a n d beer by the laborer himself. H e m i g h t also receive d u r i n g the m o n t h deliveries of b r e a d , cakes, a n d vessels of beer.
Bread and beer in the Egyptian economy
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Conventions in Egyptian art and understanding scenes of bread and beer making
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wage implied the relative importance of the individual. 49 W h a t was done with the amounts in excess of what could actually be eaten or easily stored away is unknown, but they were probably kept as a recorded "value" which could be used to "purchase" other items. T h e form this "value" might take may be implied in the wooden tokens carved in the shape of bread and bearing numbers referring to amounts of grain or numbers of bread-loaves, such as those given to soldiers in the Nubian fort at Uronarti. 5 0 Wages in bread and beer paid to workers consumed the attention of a n u m b e r of bureaucratic scribes who carefully supervised the removal of grain from the granary and its conversion into flour. T h r o u g h precise mathematical calculation they computed the ratio of grain used to bread and beer produced, while always being careful to keep track of the portion lost during the milling and baking. Distributed rations would be valued according to how many loaves of bread or jugs of beer could be produced per hekat (= 4.78 liters) of grain. This baking value, called a pesu, figures prominently in various mathematical papyri which illusträte the Egyptian penchant for pure mathematical manipulation as well as for practical problem solving. 51 T h e technological processes necessary to convert wheat and barley to bread a n d beer are illustrated in great detail in paintings (Fig. 8) and reliefs as well as with wooden models, but care must be taken in interpreting the scenes represented. So, for instance, Egyptian artists ignored foreshortening and perspective and focused on profile views of participants who a p p e a r in scenes that are essentially two-dimensional. Gay Robins notes, From the Early Dynastic Period, artists began to divide the drawing surface into horizontal registers placed vertically above one another. The surface was, however, neutral in relation to space and time, and the system of registers was purely a method of ordering the material placed upon it. It was never developed to indicate spatial relationships between the different registers or pictorial depth by placing objects further away from the viewer in higher registers. Nor did the system give any information about the relationship of the different scenes in time. Although scenes are often loosely linked by theme or location either horizontally within a
9
י׳ See, e. g., G e o r g e A n d r e w Reisner a n d Noel F. W h e e l e r , in Uronarti, ShalJ'ak, Mirgissa. Vol. 2 of Second Cataract Forts. 2 Vols. (Boston: M u s e u m of Fine Arts, 1967), pp. 34—35, esp. Pl. X X V I I ; K e m p , Ancient Egypt, p. 124, a n d Fig. 44. 51 C h a r l e s F. Nims, " T h e Bread a n d Beer P r o b l e m s of the M o s c o w M a t h e m a t i c a l Papyrus," JEA 44 (Dec. 1958): 5 6 6 5 ; ־G a y R o b i n s a n d C h a r l e s Shute, Vie Rhind Mathematical Papyrus. An Ancient Egyptian Text (New York: D o v e r Publication, Inc., n.d. [ L o n d o n , 1987]); A n t h o n y Spalinger, "Baking D u r i n g the Reign of Seti I," BIFAO 86 (1986): 307 52; a n d K e m p , Ancient Egypt,, pp. 117-28. 50
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register or in different registers in sequences up and down the wall, the same basic set of scenes may exist in different versions which arrange individual scenes in varying order, making it plain that their position on the wall and the placing of one scene in relation to another does not itself give information about the order in which to read them. 52 Delwen Samuel has recently stressed that to understand Egyptian technological processes archaeological, archaeobotanical, ethnographic, and modern experimental evidence must be used in conjunction with artistic representations, since the latter stressed the iconography of the activity over its accurate or complete rendering. Incorporating m o d e r n cereal processing techniques and experimental archaeology, for example, she argues that, in opposition to the usual interpretation of grain processing scenes in wall paintings, sieving occurred after p o u n d i n g in mortars and before grinding on the quern. 5 3 With these caveats in mind, we can now turn to a detailed discussion of technological processes involved.
Pounding
a. Milling Milling, or the transformation of cereal into flour, involved three separate processes. First, the e m m e r spikelets were p o u n d e d and crushed to separate the grain from the chaff. As shown in numerous paintings and models, usually two individuals at a time, generally men, held long (perhaps one meter in length), undoubtedly wooden, pestles and in rhythm struck the spikelets placed in a mortar, which, to j u d g e from actual examples, were often m a d e of limestone. The workers p o u n d e d in an up-and-down or r o u n d a b o u t motion depending on whether the m o r t a r was deep or shallow. 54 T h e hieroglyphic determinative for
52
Robins, Egyptian Painting and Relief, p. 18. Cf. also Schäfer, Principles of Egyptian Art, pp. 163-66, 193-96; V a n d i e r , Manuel, 4: 1329 ;־W h i t n e y Davis, The Canonical Tradition in Ancient Egyptian Art ( C a m b r i d g e : C a m b r i d g e University Press, 1989), pp. 3 5 - 3 7 . logical Anthropology and the Study of Ancient Egypt. W . Vivian Davies a n d Roxie Walker, eds. (London: British M u s e u m Press, 1993), p. 156; idem, "Ancient Egyptian Cereal Processing," pp. 2 7 6 . 8 3 ־ a n d C h n u m h o t e p (C). K.), Antefoker (M. K.), Rekh-mi-re (N. K.). YVinlock, Models, Pis. 2 2 2 3 ; ־ M o u s s a a n d Altenmüller, Das Grab des Nianchchnum und Chnumhotep, T a f . 23; Davies, Tomb of Antefoker, Pl. X I ; a n d N o r m a n dc Garis Davies, Tomb of Rekh-mi-rē' at Thebes (New York: M e t r o p o l i t a n M u s e u m of Art, 1944), Pl. L. See also J o h n Storck a n d W a l t e r D o r w i n T e a g u e , Flour for Man's Bread (Minneapolis: University of M i n n e s o t a Press, 1952), p p . 4 3 - 4 7 . T h e coordination between two m e n with pestles is shown in a p a i n t i n g in the T o m b of Antefoker w h e r e the m a n holding the upright pestle calls a cadence, " D o w n . " T h e other, whose pestle has c o m e d o w n into the m o r t a r , replies, " R i g h t . " Davies, Tomb of Antefoker־, p. 15. A relief f r o m the m a s t a b a of K a e m r e h u , in S a q q a r a , d a t i n g to the late Fifth Dynasty, shows three individuals, two m e n and o n e w o m a n , p o u n d i n g grain in a tall m o r t a r . See Saleh et al, The Egyptian Museum Cairo, no. 59. Hillman notes
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6
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the word " p o u n d " is the mortar and pestle (Fig. 7). M o d e r n archaeological testing with mortar and pestle has shown that the process of pounding is helped by slightly wetting the grain beforehand. This aids in separating the grain from the chaff and produces a mixture of whole and broken grains, small a n d large pieces of chaff, and some remaining spikelets. 55 Although it seems likely, there is, however, no conclusive evidence, literary or archaeological, that the Egyptians actually soaked the grain just before milling. Parching or roasting grain before pounding, a process used later by the Romans, not only assisted in separating the grain during milling but also sweetened the flour and promoted fermentation, a step important in beer-making. But, as with soaking, it is difficult to prove that Egyptians parched their grain prior to pounding, as there is no sign of it in the paintings or models. 56 Exposure to the hot Egyptian climate may have rcndercd the grain sufficiently dry and brittle to facilitate milling. T h e next step in milling involved grinding the grain to produce flour, a process represented in most paintings and by servant statues and models. T h e instrument, found in tombs and workmen's villages, was a flat or saddle quern made of granite, limestone, basalt, or other hard stones. Rotary querns were unknown in Egypt until just prior to the Ptolemaic period. As seen in many Old Kingdom tomb paintings, such as found in the T o m b of Re'-em-Kuy (Fig. 8), at Saqqara, as well as servant statues (PI. 6), the common quern was a flat stone behind which the grinder, usually a female, knelt down and with a short spherical or ovoid stone worked a few grains at a time in a back-and-forth motion to reduce them to flour. 57 Whether the Egyptians intentionally added sand to the cereal before grinding to aid the production of flour, as sometimes thought, is questionable,
that m o d e r n f a r m e r s in T u r k e y a n d elsewhere prefer w o o d e n m o r t a r s a n d pestles as the s t a n d a r d tools to dehusk g l u m e wheats, such as e m m e r , einkorn, a n d spelt. See G o r d o n Hillman, " T r a d i tional H u s b a n d r y a n d Processing of Archaic Cereals in Recent T i m e s : the O p e r a t i o n s , Products a n d E q u i p m e n t W h i c h Might Feature in S u m e r i a n Texts. Part I: T h e G l u m e W h e a t s , " BullSumAgri 1 (1984): 129-30. 55 Delwen Samuel, " C e r e a l Food Processing in Ancient Egypt, A C a s e Study of Integration," in Whither Environmental Archaeology? R o s e m a r y Lull" a n d Peter R o w l e y - C o n w y , eds. (Oxford: O x b o w Books, 1994), p p . 155-56; idem, " T h e i r Staff of Life, pp. 2 5 9 - 7 0 ; idem, "Ancient Egyptian C e r e a l Processing," p. 280. Cf. also D a r b y et al, Food: the Gift of Osiris, 2: 506. 56 As noted above (p. 107), the Predynastic " p a r c h i n g kilns" of Abydos have b e e n lately interpreted as mash tuns in a brewery. D a r b y et al, Food: the Gift of Osiris, p. 506; S a m u e l , " T h e i r Staff of Life," p. 258. O n the practical value of p a r c h i n g , see below, C h a p t e r Five, p. 200. 57 Cf. the p a i n t i n g in the T o m b of T i (Epron et al, L· Tombeau de Τι, Pis. LXVII). For a saddle q u e r n a n d grinding stone f o u n d in the T o m b of T u t a n k h a m o n , sec D a r b y et al, Food: the Gift of Osiris, Fig. 12.2. For the saddle q u e r n , see C h a p t e r Five, p. 183. A Middle K i n g d o m w o o d e n servant statue, n o w in the C a i r o M u s e u m , shows a m a n grinding grain, as does also a stone ushebti figure of the N e w K i n d g o m . Breasted, Egyptian Servant Statues, pp. 21, 23. See also Robins, Women in Ancient Egypt, p p . 118-19.
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since modern archaeological experiments have shown that it is unnecessary. T h e mortar and pestle worked quite well to reduce the cereal grains and spikelets. 58 Although Samuel argues that sieving occurred between the pounding and grinding steps, nothing prevents sieving following each activity. By the Middle Kingdom, the usual grinding instrument was the saddle quern, which was not only more efficient than the flat stone but, when raised on a base, also more comfortable for the grinder. T h e worker could kneel or, if the quernstone was raised high enough, as shown in t o m b paintings and models, stand behind it. W o o d e n models of bakeries and breweries commonly show grinders arranged side-by-side or facing each other. T h e Meket-re bakery-brewery model shows dual querns, that is, two querns arranged side-by-side on a single base (PI. 7). T h e stones sloped down and away from the worker so that as the grain was ground the flour would fall naturally into a basin where it could be scooped up and placed in another container to await the next step. Servant statues from all periods usually represent the grinder wearing a cloth cap to prevent dust from covering her hair. 59 M o d e r n archaeological experimentation has verified the efficiency of the saddle quern, particularly when the quern emplacement afforded a wall to the miller's back against which she could place her feet or lower back to provide more leverage and so exert a m o r e powerful thrusting stroke in the grinding process. This seems, in fact, to be represented in the bakery-brewery model from the T o m b of Meket-re and in the positioning of the quern emplacements in some of the houses in the workmen's village at Amarna. 6 0 Repetitive grinding of the grain, a process called today "gradual reduction," to provide finer grades of flour, therefore, was usually unnecessary, though it could have been done. T h e texture of the flour ultimately depended upon the skill and persistence of the miller. 61 T h e cereal was next "cleaned" by passing it through a circular wicker sieve made of reed, rush, or palm (PI. 5). T h e sieving process can be seen in paintings from the Old K i n g d o m T o m b s of T i and of Khenty as well as through servant statues of the same period, which show women seated and sieving flour into a basket tray. 62 T h e process was labor intensive and rather inefficient, since the reed mesh was somewhat coarse and trapped only the largest particles. T h e
58
S a m u e l , " T h e i r Staff of Life," p. '268. See, e. g., T o m b s of Antefoker (M. K.) a n d of R e k h - m i - r e c (N. K.); Winlock, Models, Pis. 2 2 2 3 ; ־Breasted, Egyptian Servant Statues, p p . 1725־. ·i() Winlock, Models, PI. 22; S a m u e l , " T h e i r Staff of Life," p p . 2 6 7 - 6 8 . ßl S a m u e l , " T h e i r Staff of Life," pp. 2 6 7 - 6 9 ; idem, "Ancient Egyptian C e r e a l Processing," p. 281 ; Storck a n d T e a g u e , Flour, p. 5 3 '2 יÉ p r o n et al. L· Tombeau de Ti, Pis. L X V I I ; Saleh, Three Old-Kingdom Tombs, p. 20, a n d Pl. 1 1 (Sixth-Dynasty T o m b of Khenty). For statues, see Breasted, Egyptian Servant Statues, p. 25. 59
7
5
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n u m b e r of repetitions and fineness of the mesh used determined the cleanness of the flour.63 T h e intended use of the bread also probably influenced the degree of sieving performed. Flour for bread to be consumed no doubt was more carefully sieved than that earmarked for symbolic or ceremonial use in tomb or temple. Bread found in tombs was often contaminated by incompletely ground or whole kernels, stone flakes detached f r o m the m o r t a r or quern during p o u n d i n g or grinding, or pieces of sand blown into the mix by the wind. T h a t lack of care in sieving might have grave consequences can be seen in the story of a chief baker to the Pharaoh. Imprisoned, he was ultimately executed because of gritty bread served to the ruler. 64 Even so, the quality of bread consumed was probably less than would be considered acceptable today. Studies on h u m a n teeth from bodies found in tombs dating from Predynastic to Hellenistic times have shown that Egyptians often suffered from dental abscesses due to wear on the biting surface that had given rise to infection of the exposed pulp. 6 5 b. Bread Making O n c e the grain had been pounded, sieved, and ground to the desired fineness, the next step was to make the dough. T h e baker added water to the flour that he had placed on a low, flat stone surface, on a table, or in a bowl. He then kneaded the dough until it reached the desired consistency. Kneading was performed either by hand, as shown in paintings in the T o m b s of Re c -em-Kuy (O. K.), Antefoker (M. K.), and K e n - a m u m (N. K.), or by standing in a large vat and treading with the feet, as illustrated in an Old Kingdom relief from Saqqara and now in the Cairo Museum. 6 6 Centuries later, the latter process drew the condemnation of
e:i
S a m u e l , " A n c i e n t Egyptian Cereal Processing," p. 281. For e x a m p l e s of sieves recovered f r o m tombs, see Wilson, Egyptian Food and Drink, p. 12, Fig. 9; J o h n K.. M c D o n a l d , Egypt's Golden Age. The Art of Living in the New Kingdom 1558 1085. C a t a l o g u e of T h e Exhibition (Boston: M u s e u m of Fine Arts, 1982), p. 138, no. 135. frt S a m u e l , " T h e i r Staff of Life," p p . 256 58, 269 70; F. Filce Leek, " T e e t h a n d B r e a d in A n c i e n t Egypt," JEA 58 (1972): 132. Leek attributes to the Talmud the story of the chief b a k e r a n d the Biblical J o s e p h , a l t h o u g h D a r b y et al (Food: the Gift of Osiris, p. 508) note that this is u n c o n firmed in the Bible. 65 Leek, " T e e t h a n d B r e a d in Ancient Egypt," p p . 1 2 6 - 3 2 ; J a m e s E. Harris, Paul V . Ponitz, a n d Brian K. Ingalls, " D e n t a l H e a l t h in Ancient Egypt," in Mummies, Disease and Ancient Cultures, 2d ed. ( C a m b r i d g e : C a m b r i d g e University Press, 1998), p p . 5 9 - 6 8 . N o r m a n de Garis Davies, The Tomb of Ken-amun at Thebes (New York: Metropolitan M u s e u m of Art, 1930), p. 51 a n d PI. Ι Λ Ί Ι 1 . For the relief ( C G 1561) in the C a i r o M u s e u m , see Yvonne H a i p u r , " T h e Identity a n d Positions of Relief F r a g m e n t s in M u s e u m s a n d Private Collections," JEA 71 (1985): 3 9 - 4 0 , a n d Fig. 9. It is often difficult to distinguish w h e t h e r servant statues represent servants k n e a d i n g d o u g h or grinding grain. Sec, e. g., Breasted, Egyptian Semant Statues, p p . 26 27. Cf. also the bakery-brewery m o d e l f r o m the T o m b of Meket-rc, which shows servant statues in the bakery p a r t kneading d o u g h by h a n d , but by feet in the brewery section. Winlock, Models, p. 28, a n d PI. 22 23.
Dough
118
Sourdough
Yeast
Texture of the dough
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Herodotus who accuses the Egyptians of his own day of kneading dough with their feet but gathering m u d and dung with their hands. 67 A concave platform uncovered at Middle Kingdom Merimda in the Delta, in the context of a baker's oven and bread molds, has been tentatively identified as a kneading trough. 6 8 Dough received different treatment depending upon its ultimate use. At the very least water and perhaps salt were added to the flour to produce the dough. This could be formed into flat cakes of various shapes for cooking in a pan, on embers, or, as in the New Kingdom, in an oven. Milk, eggs, spices, honey, dates, figs, and ground tiger-nuts might also be added, particularly if sweet cakes and the like were being prepared. If the bread were to be m a d e in molds or if it were desired that the bread or pastry rise, then leaven was necessary. Wet dough, if left to stand overnight, begins to ferment on its own, since naturally occurring microorganisms, or wild yeasts, can initiate the fermenting process. This produces sourdough, which can function as a "starter" for the next day's batch. Yeast might also be added. So, for instance, a variety of wild yeast, called Saccharomyces winlocki, has been detected in dried residues of Egyptian beer dating between the Predynastic period and New Kingdom times. An EighteenthDynasty specimen was found to be almost pure. 6 9 Its use in bread would follow naturally since breweries a n d bakeries often operated under the same roof. Recognition of an illustration in which leaven is a d d e d to the dough is difficult. Vandier, following Montet, however, identifies just such a scene in the T o m b of Ti, where one worker adds wet dough to bedja-molds while another pours something into a differently shaped container. He also cites a frequently occurring scene in which a worker mixes with his hands a material in a large vat standing near a fire that will heat the molds. T h e term designating this material is héza, which Vandier identifies as the Old K i n g d o m word for leaven. 7 0 W h e t h e r Egyptians, like the Greeks, added lichens to bread dough to sweeten it or to render it more porous, or even added it at all, remains a matter of controversy. 71 T h e texture of the dough probably depended upon its intended use,
67
H e r o d o t u s 2.36: Θυρώσι το μεν σ τ α ΐ ς τοΐσι ποσί, τον δέ πηλόν τησι χερσί, και την κόπρον αναιρέονται. S t r a b o (17.2.5) f o u r centuries after H e r o d o t u s confirms the observation. 68 H j a l m a r Larsen, " O n Baking in Egypt D u r i n g the M i d d l e K i n g d o m . A n Archaeological C o n t r i b u t i o n , " ActaArch 7 (1936): 52. 09 Hilary Wilson, " A R e c i p e f ü r O f f e r i n g Loaves Γ JEA 74 (1988): 2 1 4 - 1 7 ; idem, " P o t - b a k e d B r e a d , " p p . 9 5 - 9 6 ; idem, Egyptian Food and Drink, pp. 1 4 - 1 5 ; D a r b y et al, Food: the Gift of Osiris, p p . 5 0 9 - 1 2 ; Winlock, Models, p. 28; V a n d i e r , Manuel, 4: 273 74; Lucas, Ancient Egyptian Materials, pp. 15-16; K a t z a n d Voigt, " B r e a d a n d B e e r , " p. 30. 70 V a n d i e r , Manuel, 4: 286 88. T h e scene eited by V a n d i e r c o m e s f r o m Giza. Cf. also Salch et al, Egyptian Museum Cairo, no. 59. 71 Cf. Wilson, Egyptian Food and Drink, pp. 14-15, a n d idem, "Pot-baked Bread," pp. 9 6 - 9 7 , with F. Filce Leek, " F u r t h e r Studies C o n c e r n i n g Ancient Egyptian Bread,' 5 J FA 59 (1973): 2 0 1 - 0 2 .
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but may have varied according to the type of mold being used. In the Old Kingd o m T o m b of T i the dough being poured into bedja-molds seems quite liquid, but in the Middle Kingdom T o m b of Antefoker it appears much thicker and was apparently pre-shaped before being inserted into the conical molds. 72 A recent study of starch residues in New K i n g d o m bread samples from A m a r n a and Deir el-Medina using scanning electron microscopy indicates that at least these particular examples were baked using a dough that was only coarsely kneaded and that was quite moist when baked. 7 3 O n c e the dough was ready, it had to be formed into the desired shape and Types of breads and baked. Literary, epigraphic, and archaeological sources account for numerous pastries kinds of Egyptian bread (PI. 8). Estimates range from twelve to fifteen different types of breads, cakes, biscuits, a n d pastries m a d e during the Old K i n g d o m to between thirty and fifty for the New Kingdom. 7 4 T h e identity and nature of some breads can be understood from finds of actual examples in tombs, while others are recognized solely from their forms represented in the paintings. Most, however, are recorded only in literary sources, and many of these are known by n a m e alone. So, for example, a m o n g the breads found in the hieratic text of Papyrus Anastasi IV, a list of preparations for a Pharaoh's arrival, are listed ssrtloaves, known from t o m b paintings as a round loaf or cake, and krst, a "festival b r e a d " called kyllestis-bread by the Greeks. This was probably a sour barelycake, specifically mentioned by Herodotus, Hecataeus, and Nicander. O n the other hand, the exact nature of tt- and ^/-loaves, a m o n g others listed, remains a mystery. 75 T h e differences a m o n g all these grain products undoubtedly revolve around type of flour used, shape and color of final product, method of baking, ingredients, and religious or secular purpose. 7 6 Bread could be made from barley or
72 73
Épron et al, Le Tombeau de Ti, Pl. L X V I I 7 ; Davies, Tomb of Antefoker, Pl. IX.
Delwan Samuel, "Investigation of Ancient Egyptian Baking a n d Brewing M e t h o d s by C o r relative Microscopy, 1 "Science 273 (26 J u l y 1996): 489' 74 M a x W ä h r e n , Brot und Gebäck im Isben und Glauben der alten Ägypter (Bern: Schweizerischen Archiv für Brot- und G e b ä c k k e n d e Institut zur wissenschaftlichen Bearbeitung und F ö r d e r u n g der Brot- und G e b ä c k k u n d e , 1963), p. 55; Strouhal, Life of the Ancient Egyptians, p. 127; H e n r i Wild, s.v. "Backen," LÀ, col. 594. Barry K e m p , considering various subcategories, has recently placed the n u m b e r of New K i n g d o m breads a n d cakes as high as eighty-one! See K e m p et al, "Food for an Egyptian City," p. 146. 75 Ricardo A. C a m i n o s , iMte-Egyptian Miscellanies (London: O x f o r d University Press, 1954), p. 199. H e r o d o t u s 2.77; Hecataeus a n d Nicander, in A t h e n e n a e u s 3.114.C-D. O n Kyllestis as a foreign word, see K e m p et al, "Food for an Egyptian City," p. 146. 76 Pierre M o n t e t , Everyday Life in Egypt in the Days 0J Ramesses the Great. A. R. Maxwell-Hyslop a n d M a r g a r e t S. Drower, trans. (1958; reprint, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1981), p. 86; K e m p et al, "Food for an Egyptian City," p. 146.
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Methods of baking bread
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e m m e r wheat. 7 7 Some breads were soft; still others had fruits added before cooking. O n e example was composed of a layer of mashed dates between two layers of dough, while another was m a d e from figs. Breads seem to differ most in shape, with round, oval, and triangular being the most prevalent. R o u n d ones were sometimes scored to allow for the escape of gases during fermentation or baking. Flat, pancake-like bread occasionally h a d a raised edge, while others came a little thicker and with a central concavity, probably to receive a garnish when served a n d eaten. O t h e r forms included semicircles, indented squares, and cones. The last shape was m a d e from molds and can be seen most often in paintings of bread-making activities, such as in the T o m b of Antefoker, or in the m a n y scenes of offerings to the deceased or to the gods. In the latter instances, they a p p e a r most often sitting on tabletops, stylistically represented in blade-like fashion, as if the conical-shaped mold-baked bread has been cut in half lengthwise. In the New Kingdom, breads also a p p e a r as long or round rolls and in animal and h u m a n form, as in the T o m b of Rameses III (Fig. 10).78 T h e Egyptians baked bread in a n u m b e r of different ways. T h e simplest, and probably the oldest, m e t h o d was to preform the dough by hand, usually as a round, flat pancake, and place it directly on ashes, as shown in the Old Kingd o m T o m b of N i a n c h c h n u m a n d C h n u m h o t e p at Saqqara and the Middle K i n g d o m T o m b of Antefoker at Thebes. 7 9 A second straightforward method, as seen in the T o m b of Khenty and represented by several servant statues, was to construct a simple open oven. O n top of a base formed by three stones erected on edge was placed another stone laid flat. T h e fire between the uprights turned the horizontal stone just above it into a hot griddle on which the dough could be placed. 8 0 Exactly how the Egyptians created the fires to bake bread and to cook
77
A c c o r d i n g to Davies, the p a i n t i n g in the N e w K i n g d o m T o m b of Rekh-mi-re c shows cakes b e i n g m a d e f r o m pulses, w h i c h , like grain, have been p o u n d e d , sieved, k n e a d e d , a n d the d o u g h placed into conical molds. See Davies, Tomb of Rekh-mi-repp. 4 3 - 4 4 , a n d Pis. X L I X L. 7H S a l i m a I k r a m , " F o o d for Eternity. W h a t the Ancient Egyptians Ate & D r a n k . Part 2: G r e e n s , Bread, a n d Beer," KMT. A Modern Journal of Ancient Egypt 5, no. 2 ( S u m m e r 1994): 57; L u d w i g B o r c h a r d t , " E i n B r o t , " £ Ā S 6 8 (1932): 7 3 7 9 ־, esp. T a f . I l l ; J o h a n n e s Grüss, " U n t e r s u c h u n g von Broten aus d e r Ägyptischen S a m m l u n g d e r Staatlichen M u s e e n zu Berlin," in ibid., pp. 79 80; W ä h r e n , Brot und Gebäck, pp. 17 29; D a r b y et al, Food: the Gift of Osiris, ])p. 5 1 5 26, esp. Figs. 12.12-14; S t r o u h a l , Life of the Ancient Egyptians, p. 127; Wild, " B a c k e n , " LÀ, cols. 5 9 5 - 9 6 ; Wilson, Egyptian Food and Drink, p. 15-18; a n d S a m u e l , "Ancient Egyptian Bread a n d Beer," p. 157. T h e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of b r e a d in offering scenes in M i d d l e K i n g d o m a n d later representations is n o t without s o m e controversy. Sec C h a r l e s E. W o r s h a m , " A R e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of the So-called B r e a d Loaves in Egyptian O f f e r i n g S c e n e s , " JARCE 16 (1979): 7 - 1 0 . 79 M o u s s a a n d Altenmüller, Das Grab des Nianchchnum und Chnumhotep, p. 153, a n d T a f . 76; Davies, Tomb of Antefoker, p. 14, a n d Pl. V I I I . H0 Saleh, Three Old-Kingdom Tombs, Pl. 1 1 ( T o m b of Khenty); Breasted, Egyptian Servant Statues, pp. 2 8 - 2 9 . See also S a m u e l , " T h e i r Staff of Life," p. 254; Wild, " B a c k e n , " / J , col. 596; D a r b y et
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is uncertain. O n e hint comes from hieroglyphs identified as "fire-drills" (Fig. 7). Better evidence comes from Middle K i n g d o m K a h u n where excavators have uncovered a complete firestick apparatus, composed of a drill cap, wooden matrix, firestick, and how. Inserting one end of the firestick into a hole in the matrix and holding the drill cap firmly on the other while exerting downward pressure, the operator moved the bow horizontally back and forth to rotate the firestick. T h e friction generated sparks which would ignite any combustible material, such as leaves a n d twigs. H o w early this system of fire making began is unknown, but hieroglyphs of the fire drill a p p e a r as early as the First and Second Dynasties (Fig. 7: U28). 81
9
The most frequently represented method of forming and baking bread involved bread molds. Bread baked in terracotta molds appeared as early as the beginning of the Old Kingdom, and their use may have extended back into the late Predynastic period. T h e frequent a p p e a r a n c e of these hand-formed vessels has been taken by one scholar to indicate increasing social and state complexity at this early date. 8 2 T h e obvious advantage of molds is that they facilitate baking in large quantities a n d provide some degree of standardization of size or weight. Used throughout the Old Kingdom, these early molds, called bedja (bbd.?), were rather thick containers measuring 1323 ־cm. high, 18-25 cm. in diameter, 7 - 1 4 cm. deep, and weighing between ca. 3.30 kg. and 6.50 kg. Rough on the exterior they were coated on the interior with thin fine-grained clay. Found in houses they probably represent the c o m m o n container for baking daily bread. T h e y are also depicted in Old Kingdom tombs, such as the T o m b s of Ti, of Nianchchn u m and C h n u m h o t e p , and of Re c -em-Kuy (Fig. 8) in S a q q a r a a n d the T o m b of Asa at Deir el-Gebrawi, and by various servant statues (PI. 9). 83 T o j u d g e
al, Food: the Gift of Osiris, Fig. 12.6; V a n d i e r , Manuel, 4: 274; L u d w i g B o r c h a r d t , "Die Dienerstatuen aus den G r ä b e r n des alten Reiches," £ Ä S 35 (1897): 124 (No. 240); a n d Ursula V e r h o e v e n , Grillen, Kochen, Backen im Alltag und im Ritual Altägyptens. Ein Lexikographischer Beitrag. Rites Egyptiens IV (Brussells: F o n d a t i o n Egyptologique R e i n e Elisabeth, 1984), pp. 155-68. H1 Hilda Petrie, Egyptian Hieroglyphs of the First and Second Dynasties (London: Q u a r t i c h , 1927), nos. 8 3 1 - 3 4 , a n d G a r d i n e r , Egyptian Grammar, p. 519 (U 28). F o r b e s (Studies, 3: 58) notes that Egyptian texts refer to a " b r i n g e r of the flame w h o r u b s the drill." For the fire-drill at K a h u n , see A. R. David, The Pyramid Builders of Ancient Egypt. A Modem Investigation of Pharaoh's Workforce (London: R o u t l e d g e & K e g a n Paul, 1986), p p . 1 5 1 - 5 2 . 82 W e n k e , "Evolution of Early Egyptian Civilization," p. 307; T h o m a s von d e r W a y , "Investigâtions C o n c e r n i n g the Early Periods in the N o r t h e r n Delta of Egypt," in The Archaeology of the Nile Delta, Egypt: Problems and Priorities ( A m s t e r d a m : N e t h e r l a n d s F o u n d a t i o n for Archaeological R e s e a r c h in Egypt, 1988), p. 247; M i c h a e l C h a z e n a n d M a r k L e h n e r , "An Ancient Analogy: Pot Baked Bread in Ancient Egypt a n d M e s o p o t a m i a , " Paléorient 16, n o . 2 (1990): 27. 83 C h a z a n a n d L e h n e r , " A n Ancient A n a l o g y , " pp. 2 1 - 3 5 ; N o r m a n de G a r i s Davies, The Rock Tombs of Deir El Gebrawi. Part II. Tomb of ^'au and Tombs of the Northern Group (London: Egypt Exploration F u n d , 1902), pp. 2 5 - 2 6 , a n d Pl. X X ; Breasted, Egyptian Servant Statues, pp. 27 29, PI.
Bread molds
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Fourth-Dynasty bakeries of Giza
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from paintings, a rather fluid dough was poured into the flat-bottomed "flower pot-shaped" bowl that had been preheated. A conical-shaped lid was then placed on top, and the bread allowed to bake without further heat. 111 this sense, the covered mold served as its own self-contained oven. T h e large mouths would have assisted in extracting the baked bread, but the molds may have been tempered with grease to create something akin to a non-stick surface. 84 T h e bread was extracted by removing the lid, using sticks, if necessary, to separate the bread from the sides of the mold, and turning the bottom bowl over onto a flat surface to allow the bread to fall out. Recent archaeological excavations near the pyramids of Giza supplement the art historical evidence for baking bedja-bread. South of the pyramids and near a large rectangular structure, denoted the "Pedestal Building" and tentatively identified as a granary, excavators have uncovered a series of twelve bakeries abutting against a second large mudbrick edifice. T o j u d g e from finds of fish remains, this second building appears to have been devoted to food processing. 85 Evidence of recovered seals date this complex to the Fourth-Dynasty reign of Menkaure. Each bakery, measuring ca. 17 ft. in diameter and 8 ft. wide, contained broken bread-molds ranging u p to 14 in. in diameter and 14 in. deep, a hearth for heating the molds, and three vats that probably contained the separate materials used to make the dough: water, flour, and ferment. O n e bakery contained a fourth vat that may have served for kneading the dough. A low wall surrounding the interior of the rooms provided storage and workspace. T h e rooms also contained a trench that had once accommodated a double row of pots in which the bread was baked. According to experiments carried out on a replica patterned after the Giza bakeries, the dough, m a d e with both e m m e r wheat and barley, was placed into bread molds that were then inserted into a shallow trench and surrounded by hot coals. T h e lids, heated in a hearth, were placed on top of the molds. T h e result was an edible bread loaf that was large, rather heavy, and capable of feeding several people. T h e excavator suggests that liquid dough that had been allowed to ferment for a while would probably have produced a lighter product. 8 6 T h e context of the bakery a n d food processing building, whether an attachment to some great household yet to be discovered or part of the workmen's village, remains to be determined.
2 8 a - b . T h i s b r e a d mold is d e n o t e d T y p e Λ in H e l e n J a c q u e t - G o r d o n , "A T e n t a t i v e T y p o l o g y of Egyptian Bread M o u l d s , " in Studien zur altägyptischen Keramik. D o r o t h e a Arnold, ed. (Mainz a m R h e i n : Philipp von Z a b c r n , 1981), p p . 1 1 - 1 2 . See also Wild, " B a c k e n , " LÀ, col. 595. 84 C h a z a n a n d L e h n e r , " A n A n c i e n t A n a l o g y , " p. 29. 85 Z a h i H a w a s s a n d M a r k L e h n e r , "Builders of the P y r a m i d s , " Archaeology 50, no. 1 (Jan.-Feb. 1997): 3 0 - 3 8 . 86 M a r k L c h n e r , " R e p l i c a t i n g a n A n c i e n t Bakery," Archaeology 50, no. 1 (Jan.-Feb. 1997): 36.
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Between the Old and Middle Kingdoms the bread mold underwent alteration. Now longer than the bedja-mold, it was conical in shape, incapable of standing on its own, and had thin walls. This last characteristic would have rendcred it less capable of retaining heat and so less likely to have been preheated. Width-to-height ratios varied from 2:5 to 1:5. Those found at M e r i m d a in the Delta, for example, had internal measurements that would have produced bread measuring ca. 20 cm. tall and 6 8 ־cm. wide." 7 T h e baking scene from the T o m b of Antefoker shows women molding thick dough into a conical shape to be placed into the similarly shaped bread mold. Nearby is a low hearth on top of which have been placed molds. Apparently the bread mold was heated in the fire to bake the bread. 8 8 T h e molds, usually from nine to thirteen at a time, are piled in layers lying head-to-foot one atop the other. T h e lire was lit and the dough baked. Servant statues and paintings in tombs representing this particular process frequently show a m a n or w o m a n squatting nearby and tending the lire. He holds his hand to his face to shield it from the heat. 8 9 After the bread had cooked and then been allowed to cool, the molds were removed from the stack one at a time and the bread extracted. Removal of the bread from the slender narrow-mouthed mold would have been rather difficult unless the interior surface had been tempered with grease before baking. Consequently, many were probably broken to extract the bread. The expendable nature of these easily made conical molds, however, can be seen in the numerous fragments of bread molds that are strewn over various sites, for example Middle K i n g d o m M e r i m d e and, particularly later, New Kingdom Amarna. 9 0
Conical bread molds
A trough-shaped mold was also found at M e r i m d a . It had a fiat bottom with a diameter, in at least one example, reaching 60 cm. Its use is uncertain, but it may have been an oven-cover of the type shown in the T o m b of Antefoker from Thebes. Here the cover is being placed on top of a horizontal slab, or bakestone, which is being heated by a fire placed underneath. 9 1
Trough-shaped bread
87
C h a z a n a n d L e h n e r , " A n Ancient Analogy," p. 27; Larsen, " O n Baking in Egypt," p. 54. Larsen, " O n Baking in E g y p t / ' pp. 5 1 5 5 ; ־S a m u e l , " T h e i r StaiT of Life," pp. 2 5 4 - 5 5 , c o n t r a Wild, " B a c k e n , " LA, col. 595. For conical molds, see also N e w b e r r y , Beni Hasan, 1 : Pl. X I I ( T o m b of A m e n e m h e t , X I I Dynasty); Davies, Tomb of Antefoker. Pl. X I I A ; Winlock, Models, PI. 65, no. 12 (basket of b r e a d f r o m model of bakery-brewery f r o m the T o m b of Meket-re). M i d d l e K i n g d o m conical b r e a d molds constitute T y p e s Β a n d C of J a c q u e t - G o r d o n ' s typology. See J a c q u e t - G o r d o n , " T e n t a t i v e Typology,' 5 pp. 12-19, Figs. 4—5. 89 K a t e Bosse-Griffiths, "A Baker's Posture," JEA 59 (1973): 2 1 9 - 2 0 ; V a n d i e r , Manuel, 4: 275; Breasted, Egyptian Semant Statues, Fig. 28; Davies, Tomb of Antefoker, Pl. XIB. 90 Wilson, "Pot-Baked B r e a d in Ancient E g y p t , " p p . 8 7 - 9 1 ; Larsen, " O n Baking in Egypt," p. 52. 91 Larsen, " O n Baking in Egypt," pp. 5 1 - 5 7 , a n d Fig. 9; Davies, Tomb of Antefoker, Pl. IXA; Wilson, "Pot-Baked Bread in Ancient Egypt," pp. 94~95. 88
mold
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Food processing at Amarna
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Although the width-to-height ratios of New K i n g d o m molds ranged from 2:5 to 1:5, the length tended to vary considerably, from 10 cm. to 30 cm. T h e y are found primarily in temple environments, occasionally in tombs, but apparently not in private houses, except at Amarna. 9 2 Excavators have uncovered bread molds and ovens at A m a r n a both in private homes in the workmen's village and in the main site near the Great and Small Aten temples. A new type of mold, found thus far only in Chapel 556 in the workmen's village at A m a r n a , is hemispherical in shape and characterized by the presence on the base of a projection, or "toe." Barry K e m p also detected this feature on bread molds illustrated in a painting from the T o m b of K e n - a m u n at Thebes. 9 3 The intense excavations conducted at A m a r n a throughout the twentieth century makes it one of the best archaeological sites at which to study the baking process in the New Kingdom. This fact has recently sparked the creation of a project designed specifically to recover a n d plot artifacts relevant to bread and beer production in the city and to conduct experiments to understand better the technological processes employed. A survey of over 700 mortars and quern emplacements shows that m a n y were associated with private houses as well as with large buildings connected with nearby temples. This was particularly the case in the workmen's village, located less than a mile from the main city. Here mortars and querns are c o m m o n artifacts found in houses. 94 Grain was ground either in a courtyard or small room at the front of the house, and bread was baked in a small round oven located in the kitchen sited to the rear of the house or in a small domed room in the courtyard separate from the main house. T h e wives and female children usually did most of the grinding and baking; in workmen's villages, such as at A m a r n a and Deir el-Medina, however, the government sometimes provided female slaves to relieve the workmen's wives from this onerous task. Grinding of grain associated with temples was no doubt entirely performed by temple slaves. 95 Kitchens may also have been sited on the roof of
92
J a c q u e t - G o r d o n ("Tentative Typology, 5 ' p p . 19-21), w h o classifies this mold as T y p e D , notes its f r e q u e n t a p p e a r a n c e a m o n g t e m p l e f o u n d a t i o n deposits, such as at Deir el-Bahari, El Kab, and Karnak. 93 Barry J . K e m p , " P r e l i m i n a r y R e p o r t o n the El-1 A m a r n a Survey, 1978," JE-1 65 (1979): 10; Davies, Tomb of Ken-amun, Pl. LVIII; P a m e l a J . Rose, "Description of the Bread M o u l d s , " in Amarna Reports IV, p p . 7 6 7 7 ־, esp. Figs. 6.6 -6.8 94 S a m u e l , " C e r e a l Food Processing in Ancient Egypt, 55 p. 157; idem, " T h e i r Staff of Life," pp. 253-90. 9 • יEvidence of "Soul Houses, 55 models of houses t h a t a p p a r e n t l y had been placed on the g r o u n d above the grave of the deceased a n d that reflect the a p p e a r a n c e of the o r d i n a r y Egyptian house of the late M i d d l e K i n g d o m , m a y indicate that this held true earlier as well. Figurines of w o m e n g r i n d i n g grain begin at this time to be included in these models. T h e y particularly a p p e a r placed in the c o u r t y a r d b e n e a t h the stairs leading u p to the roof w h e r e d o m e d granaries were
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the usually one-story structures. In the city, houses of the prosperous population had a similar design, but were larger and usually had one or more circular brick granaries, ca. 3.50 m. in diameter, located to the rear of the house. 9 6 In the annex to Chapel 556 in the workmen's village near A m a r n a excavators found two types of oven. T h e first, a "box oven," apparently operated as a kiln to make bread molds. An experimental replica based on the one found in the annex was able to reach a temperature of 540° C within twelve minutes. T h e second type of oven, round in shape, served to bake bread which was used in ritual meals served in the chapel. 9 7 T h e combination of a box and round oven found in the same establishment, as in the annex to C h a p e l 556, is likewise seen in the wooden bakery-brewery model from the T o m b of Meket-re (Fig. 9).9ί! T h e round ovens are of two general types. O n e is a free-standing clay oven liner, such as that found in the annex of C h a p e l 556; the other is a ceramic liner encased in mud-brick, illustrated by the one discovered in a room in the M a i n Chapel of the workmen's village. 99 T h e interior diameter of the former oven measured ca. 29 cm. T h e top was open to the sky, while at the bottom there was a small hole to stoke and feed the fire inside. 100 An experimental replica based on the encased oven from the Main C h a p e l was used to bake bread in molds formed in imitation of ancient ones. Filled with dough the replica molds were
installed. See YV. M . Flinders Petrie, Gizeh and Rifeh ( L o n d o n : British School of A r c h a e o l o g y in Egypt, 1907), p p . 1 4 - 2 0 , esp. Pis. X V I I I , no. 118, a n d X I X , no. 43, X X I I ; N o r m a n de G a r i s Davies, " T h e T o w n H o u s e in Ancient Egypt," MMS 1 (1928-29): 2 4 9 - 5 0 . For g o v e r n m e n t - p r o vided female workers, see M o r r i s Bierbricr, The Tomb-Builders of the Pharaohs (1982; reprint edition, C a i r o : T h e A m e r i c a n University in C a i r o Press, 1989), pp. 7 0 - 7 1 . 96 K e m p et al, " F o o d for a n Egyptian City," pp. 149-51; J o h n D . C o o n e y , Amarna Reliefs from Hermopolis in American Collections (New York: T h e Brooklyn M u s e u m , 1965), pp. 7 3 - 7 4 . For a discussion of the Egyptian house a n d its a r r a n g e m e n t , especially at T h e b e s , see Davies, " T o w n H o u s e in A n c i e n t Egypt," p p . 2 3 3 55. For the A m a r n a house, see K e m p , Ancient Egypt, p p . 2 9 4 - 3 0 5 , a n d Ian S h a w , "Ideal H o m e s in Ancient Egypt: the Archaeology of Social A s p i r a t i o n , " CArchJ 2, no. 2 (1992): 147-66. 97 Paul T . Nicholson, " E x p e r i m e n t a l D e t e r m i n a t i o n of the P u r p o s e of a 'Box O v e n ' , " Amarna Reports V. Barry J . K e m p , ed. (London: T h e Egypt Exploration Society, 1989), pp. 241 52. O n the function of private chapels a n d their annexes, sec A n n H. B o m a n n , The Private Chapel in Ancient Egypt. A Study of the Chapels in the Workmen 's Village at El Amarna with Special Reference to Deir el Medina and Other Sites (London: K e g a n Paul International, 1991), p p . 57 79. 9H Barry J . K e m p , " R e p o r t on the 1986 Excavations. C h a p e l 5 5 6 , " in Amarna Reports V, p p . 6 3 - 7 6 ; Winlock, Models, pp. 2 7 - 2 9 , esp. Plates 22, 23, 64, a n d 65. 99 Lisa H e i d o r n , " R e p o r t o n the 1986 Excavations. T h e C o m p l e t i o n of the M a i n C h a p e l a n d F u r t h e r E x a m i n a t i o n of A n i m a l Pens 3 0 0 , " in Amanta Reports IV, p. 56. 10(1 K e m p , " R e p o r t on the 1986 Excavations. C h a p e l 5 5 6 , " p. 73. Wild ("Backen,"·Li, col. 597) gives exterior d i m e n s i o n s of circular ovens generally as 0.75 m . in d i a m e t e r at the base, n a r r o w ing to ca. 0.50 m . at the top. T h e height reaches ca. 0.75 m . T h e e x a m p l e of a cylindrical oven housed in the Staatliches M u s e u m in Berlin m e a s u r e s 61 c m . high. See W ä h r e n , Brot und Gebäck, p. 21, A b b . 6.
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Bread-making tables
Dough cakes in circular strainer or screen Fermentation vat Mixing tray
g Walls removed for perspective Fig. 9. Drawing of the bakery-brewery model from the Twelfth-Dynasty T o m b of Meket-re at Thebes. Based on Kemp, Ancient Egypt, p. 121, Fig. 42. Courtesy of Routledge.
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placed around the interior of the test oven and baked to over 600" C for fortysix minutes. After cooling, the mold had to be broken to extract the intact bread loaf. 101 Paintings from the T o m b s of Rameses III (Fig. 10) and of K e n - a m u n indicate that flat breads were also baked in round ovens. T h e baker shown in the painting from the latter t o m b seems clearly to be removing bread from inside the oven, but in the illustration of the court bakery in the T o m b of Rameses III the dough appears to have been placed on the outside of the oven to bake. Although E r m a n , apparently accepting this scene as an accurate representation, believes the dough was placed on the outside, recent scholars, citing methods used in t a n n u r ovens in m o d e r n Arab countries, argue that the bread was baked by arranging the dough along the curved wall inside the oven. 102 W h a t appears to be dough attached to the exterior of the oven is most likely an artistic convention to indicate to the viewer the bread baking on the inside of the oven and so hidden from view. Houses and bakery-brewery establishments were not the only place where beer and bread could be made. T h e Middle Kingdom T o m b of Meket-re has also yielded models of boats, two of which were kitchen boats. T h e y m a y rcpresent two different boats that accompanied the vizier on his river travels to provide him and his attendants with food. But since one boat (designated "S" by Winlock) illustrates bread-making while the other (Model "R") shows beer production, and, keeping in mind the close relationship of these two activities elsewhere, the boats may actually represent two aspects of a single tender. 103 O u t side the cabin of Model S two women grind grain into flour, four men mix dough and shape it into bread, and one man kneads dough in a vat while another tends the oven. T h e oven, tall and square in shape, resembles the box ovens shown in the bakery-brewery model and those found in the workmen's village at A m a r n a . Inside the cabin one man kneads dough in a vat with his feet while simultaneously shaping dough into bread; other men arc shaping dough into bread as well. All these activities recall scencs in tomb paintings and models of 101
S a m u e l , " T h e i r Staff of Life," pp. 2 7 0 - 7 7 . Exterior of the oven: Adolf E r m a n , Life in Ancient Egypt. H . M . T i r a r d , trans. (London: M a c m i l l a n a n d C o . , 1894), p. 191; a n d Wilson, Egyptian Food and Drink, p. 13, Fig. 10. Interior of the oven: S a m u e l , " T h e i r Staff of Life," p. 255, esp. Fig. 12.1; Wild, " B a c k e n , " LÀ, col. 597; D a r by et al, Food: the Gift of Osiris, p. 512, a n d Figs. 12. 8a-b. Storck a n d T e a g u e (Flour, p. 69, Fig. 35) believe that the oven s h o w n in the T o m b of R a m e s e s III had shelves on the inside o n w h i c h the d o u g h was placed to bake. Cf. also the p a i n t i n g f r o m the T o m b of N e b a m u n dating to the reign of T h u t m o s i s III, in W a l t e r Wreszinski, Atlas zur altägyptischen Kulturgeschichte (Leipzig: J . C . H i n richs'sche B u c h h a n d l u n g , 1923), T a f . 125. For t a n n u r ovens, see below, C h a p t e r Five, p. 207. גסיWinlock, Models, p p . 5 7 - 5 9 , 9 6 - 9 7 , Pis. 4 0 - 4 4 , 7 5 - 7 6 ; Hayes, Scepter of Egypt, 1: 269. M o d e l R resides in the m u s e u m in C a i r o , while the M e t r o p o l i t a n M u s e u m houses M o d e l S. 102
Kitchen boats
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\|>ייי
Fig. 10. Bakery scene from T o m b of Rameses III. After I. Rosellini, I Monument! dell Egitto e della Nubia (Pisa, 1834), II, Pl. L X X X V . From Darby et al, Food: the Gift of Osiris, Fig. 12.14. Courtesy of Academic Press.
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bakeries and artifacts from archaeological excavation in workmen's villages and elsewhere. W h a t makes the kitchen boat unusual is that both querns on which the women grind the grain and the box oven used to bake the bread are portable. R a t h e r than the broad base of the dual querns shown in the bakerybrewery model, these are single querns raised on a platform supported by four legs. T h e oven rests on a similar n u m b e r of legs. Baking a n d brewing aboard ship on long journeys was probably not u n c o m m o n . Sinuhe, an exile during the reign of the Twelfth-Dynasty p h a r a o h Sesostris 1, for example, comments that on his trip back to Egypt from Syria, "I set sail, with kneading and brewing beside me, until I reached the h a r b o u r of Itj-tawi." 1 0 4 T o this point discussion of baking has centered on paintings, models, and sculpted reliefs illustrating scenes of small-scale bakeries. Methods used in these establishments consist either of a small fire to bake bread on coals or to heat bedjfi-molds, or a few conical molds placed in a fire or oven, or a small oven a r o u n d whose interior walls Hat breads were placed for baking. How did the Egyptians feed large populations? Old Kingdom bakeries recently excavated near the Giza pyramids and Middle Kingdom bakeries connected to wealthy households acting as distribution centers, such as at K a h u n , or associated with military forts, as at Uronarti, have been previously remarked upon. Numerical evidence provided by the bakery records of Seti I at M e m p h i s and archaeological discoveries of bakeries near palaces at Malkata and Deir el-Ballas provide information on New K i n g d o m establishments. 1 0 5 T h e best site in which to study the physical remains of large-scale, state-run bakeries, however, is A m a r n a , a city built, occupied, a n d a b a n d o n e d within a space of less than twenty years. Not built over subsequently, the remains allow investigation of the entire city. T h e royal palace, temples, and administrative buildings m a d e up the Central City, to the north and south of which lay houses of all social classes. Outside the city to the south were various shrines, while to the east was the workmen's village. 106 Large institutional bakerics have come to light in the Central City near the Large a n d Small Aten tempies. N e a r the Great Aten temple lay a building complex composed of a series of up to 110 separate baking chambers measuring ca. 11 m. χ 14 m. In the rear of each of these vaulted rooms was located from one to three oven installations
104
T r a n s l a t i o n f r o m R . B. Parkinson, The Tale of Sinuhe and Other Ancient Egyptian Poems, 19401640 BC ( O x f o r d : C l a r e n d o n Press, 1997), p. 39. 105 Peter L a c o v a r a , The New Kingdom Royal City (London: K e g a n Paul International, 1997), p. 46, a n d Figs. 6 a n d 21 ; H a w a s s a n d L e h n e r , "Builders of the P y r a m i d s , " p p . 3 0 - 3 8 ; Spalinger, " B a k i n g D u r i n g the R e i g n of Seti I," p p . 3 0 7 - 5 2 . 106 K e m p et al, " F o o d for a n Egyptian City," pp. 136-38, esp. p. 135, Fig. 14.1.
Large-scale baking
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composed of cylindrical interiors measuring ca. 60 cm. in diameter and set into a brick bcnch. At the bottom was a small hole to allow a draft while lighting the oven. T h e r e were also a few square ovens built of mud-brick. /VII total, the bakery comprised between 200 and 300 ovens. T h e estimated daily bread-producing capacity, assuming the efficient use of 200 ovens for five bakings each day, comes to over 20,000 loaves per day.11)7 T h e i r active use is suggested by numerous bread molds found scattered throughout the building and deposited in a d u m p outside the city. 1 " 8 T h e operation of these bakery complexes — the one near the Small Aten tempie is a smaller version of the one near the large temple — can perhaps best be understood from a sculpted relief from A m a r n a , but found reused at H e r m o p o lis, showing what appears to be the interior of two domed bakeries erected sideby-side (PI. 10).109 T h e baker on the left seems to be placing a bread pan on (removing it from?) the top of an oven; round bread loaves can be seen on a shelf to his rear. 111 the second bakery, a man, shielding his face from the heat of the oven, prepares bread in molds, some of which a p p e a r to be stacked vertically in the oven. Although not represented here, working with these ovens was not without its dangers. A New K i n g d o m hieratic papyrus, which purports to be the boasting of a scribe about the superiority of his profession, offers this warning to anyone w h o might wish to be a baker: 110 The baker regularly bakes and puts bread onto the fire, his head being inside the oven and his son holding fast his feet. In the event of slipping from his son's hand he thereby falls down into the oven's bottom. Be the scribe, he is ahead of all manner of work in this world. Since, as the A m a r n a relief and m a n y paintings and servant statues show, the lire was undoubtedly hot enough to require the shielding of one's face, the image of a baker actually getting into the oven, even if only partially, is clearly an exaggeration. Although bakers are often enough shown 111 paintings reaching into a, presumably, cool oven to retrieve the bread, 1 1 1 the precarious maneuver described by the scribe is, to my knowledge, unattested in any painting, sculpturc, or model.
107
Ibid., p p . 1 4 7 - 4 8 . Ibid., p p . 1 4 7 - 4 8 ; i d e m , " P r e l i m i n a r y R e p o r t on the E l - c A m a r n a Survey, 1978," pp. 5 - 1 2 . 109 C o o n e y , Amarna Reliefs, pp. 7 3 - 7 4 ; Cyril Aldred, Akhenaten and JVefertiti (New York: Brooklyn M u s e u m , 1973), no. 69. 110 Q u o t e d in C a m i n o s , Late Egyptian Miscellanies, p p . 5 0 - 5 6 , r e p e a t e d f r o m a different p a p y r u s on pp. 3 1 7 - 3 1 9 . 111 So, for e x a m p l e , the T o m b s of K e n - a m u n (Davies, Tomb of Ken-amun, Pl. LVIII) a n d of R a m e s e s III (Wilkinson, Manners and Customs, 2: 385). 108
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T h e A m a r n a relief shows two general types of bread being produced, flat breads and mold-formed breads. T h e f o r m e r was probably used primarily for consumption, while the latter especially served ceremonial purposes. 112 T h e fact that the king's house with its large granary and the bakeries lay side-by-side between the Great and Small Aten temples emphasizes the centrality of the king who ceremoniously distributed rations to his officials. 113 It is worth noting, however, that, to a c c o m m o d a t e the need for large quantities of bread for both secular and religious purposes, the ancient Egyptians, preferring what they knew best to the innovation of a new, more efficient solution, constructed not a single large bakery with huge ovens, but a series of small ovens each with a limited capacity. Barry K e m p concludes, This cellular approach to a large-scale operation oilers a paradigm for the whole ancient system. It was a system based on a ready supply of cheap labour. This is why we can say that in organization the ancient Egyptians could be very effective, but we cannot say that they were at all efficient. T h e appearance of two breweries in an incomplete register above the two bakeries on the A m a r n a relief implies that the same condition held true for beer production as well. 114 b. Beer Production Beer preparation involves a more complex process than making bread. 1 1 5 Beer is the end product of a two-step process in which barley, soaked in water, germinates to produce amylolytic enzymes, which break clown the starches of the grain into sugars (maltose). These, in turn, undergo fermentation through the action of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), which produces other enzymes, particularly zymase, which convert the sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide. T h e first step in this process is malting. Barley grains are soaked in water, traditionally for a period of two or three days, followed by a day of drying to initiate germination, or the sprouting of roots. T h e n follows a lengthy period of from one to 112
K e m p , Ancient Egypt, p. 289. K e m p notes that b r e a d molds are rarely f o u n d in residential sections of the city. 113 K e m p , Ancient Egypt, p. 288; i d e m , " " F o o d for an Egyptian City," p. 141, Fig. 14.4. 114 K e m p , Ancient Egypt, pp. 2 8 9 - 9 1 , esp. p. 291. See also C o o n e y , Amarna Reliefs, pp. 7 3 - 7 4 , a n d Aldred, Akhenaten and Nefertiti, no. 69. 115 H a r o l d M c G e e , On Food and Cooking. The Science and Lore of the Kitchen (New York: C h a r l e s Scribner's Sons, 1984), pp. 4 6 6 - 8 1 ; W . A. H a r d w i c k , " T h e Brewing of Beer," in Fernented Food Beverages in Nutrition. Clifford F. G a s t i n e a u , William J . D a r b y , a n d T h o m a s B. T u r n e r , eds. (New York: A c a d e m i c Press, 1979), p p . 133-40; E. Neige T o d h u n t c r , "A Historical Perspective on Ferm e n t a t i o n Biochemistry a n d N u t r i t i o n , " in ibid., p p . 8 3 9 8 ; ־a n d Lucas, Ancient Egyptian Materials, p p . 10-16.
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three weeks during which the barley, having been piled to a depth of ca. six inches a n d stirred daily, dries in the sun at a constant temperature of ca. 15° C. In antiquity this necessarily restricted malting to the cooler parts of the year, usually O c t o b e r to April. The resulting material is called "green malt." T h e malt is then piled up to raise the temperature to a m a x i m u m of ca. 38 ' C., a temperature that kills the rootlets of the sprouting cereals arresting the enzymatic activity and halting further germination. Consequently, the enzymes (diastase) present in the aleurone surrounding the endosperm, which would otherwise begin to decline over time, remain at a high level. T h e malt can then, if desired, be roasted in an oven to " c u r e " it. T h e degree of kilning affects the flavor and color of the beer eventually produced. T h e higher the temperature, usually 80° C. a n d above, the deeper the color and stronger the taste. T h e malt can be stored for months, then ground in preparation for use in beer m a k i n g . " 6
Modem bouza
The second step, brewing proper, comprises three stages. T h e first stage, mashing, includes crushing the malt, perhaps mixing in some unmalted grain, and soaking it in a vat (tun) of hot water to reactivate the enzymes and to convert most of the starch to sugar, particularly maltose and glucose. T h e second stage entails lautering, or straining, the mixture to extract the clear liquid, called wort, which is then boiled and allowed to cool. T h e modern brewer then would have added hops, an ingredient unknown before the fourteenth century A. D. D u r i n g the final stage the brewer adds yeast to the liquid and allows it to stand while fermentation, the conversion of sugars to alcohol and carbon dioxide, takes place. H e then decants the beer into containers for storage and shipment. Perhaps the best way to understand not only how the ancient Egyptians made beer and how that relates to bread-making — but also what that beer looked like is to review how m o d e r n Egyptians make a local brew, which apparently has been produced in Egypt for centuries. In the early 19th century J o h n Burchhardt traveled to Nubia and, a m o n g other sights seen, describes how the inhabitants m a d e a concoction that they called, and is still denoted today, bouza.uy This beer-like drink has also been m a d e the object of several scientific studies. 118 116
M c G e e , On I-'ood and Cooking, pp. 4 7 0 - 7 3 ; M a r v i n A. Powell, " M e t r o n Ariston: M e a s u r e as a Tool for S t u d y i n g Beer in Ancient M e s o p o t a m i a , " in Drinking in Ancient Societies, pp. 9 4 - 9 6 ; K a t z a n d Voigt, " B r e a d a n d B e e r , " p. 30; H a r d w i c k , " B r e w i n g of Beer," p. 134; Stahl, " P l a n t - f o o d Processing," pp. 179-80. " 7 J o h n Lewis B u r c k h a r d t , Travels in Nubia. 2 n d ed. (London: John M u r r a y , 1822), pp. 132-33,
201 202. 118
Lucas, Ancient Egyptian Materials, p. 11; S a b r y R. M o r c o s , S. M . Hegazi, a n d S o r a y a T . ElD a m h o u g y , " F e r m e n t e d Foods of C o m m o n Use in Egypt. II. T h e C h e m i c a l C o m p o s i t i o n of Bouza a n d its Ingredients," 'Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 24 ( 1973): 1 157-61 ; a n d Keith H . Steinkraus, "Nutritionally Significant I n d i g e n o u s Foods Involving an Alcoholic F e r m e n t a tion," in Fermented Food Beverages in Nutrition, p p . 35 59.
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W h e a t , less often barley or millet, is coarsely ground, mixed with water and yeast, kneaded, and formed into dough. T h e thick loaves are only partially baked to avoid killing the yeast. After breaking up the loaves, water and some moistened wheat, which has previously been allowed to stand in the open air for three to five days (that is, malted) and then coarsely ground, are added and the entire mixture allowed to ferment in a wooden barrel for twenty-four hours. A little bouza from a previous batch can be a d d e d to hasten the process. T h e mixturc is then strained and any solid pieces of bread and grain are pressed by h a n d on a sieve to extract any remaining liquid. T h e resulting beer, ready for immediate consumption, is rather thick and pale-yellow, having a sour, but agreeable, taste a n d an alcohol content ranging between four a n d seven per cent, depending upon the length of the fermentation process. Perhaps as much as sixteen per cent of the liquid by weight is solid material not extracted through sieving. With modern production methods a n d products in mind we can now turn to ancient methods of beer making:. Zosimos, an Egyptian from Panopolis in U p p e r Egypt of the late third or early fourth century A. D., has left a short description of beer-making (Περί Ζύθων Ποιήσεως) in Egypt during the R o m a n period: 1 1 9 Taking some white, clean, good-quality barley soak it for a day, then draw it off, or even lay it out in a windless place until early the next day and again soak it for five hours. Throw it into a perforated vessel with a handle and soak it. Dry it until il becomes like a lump. And when it becomes so, dry it in the sun until it falls. The dough (?) is pungent. Further, grind (it) and make loaves, adding leaven just as for bread. Bake (them) partially and when they turn light dissolve [them inj fresh water and strain (them) through a strainer or fine sieve. Others baking bread
1,9
T h e textual r e a d i n g as well as h o w it is to be translated a n d u n d e r s t o o d present p r o b l e m s . Cf., e. g., the G r e e k text given by C h . G . G r u n e r (^psimi Panopolitani de Zythorum confectionefrogmentum [Sulzbach, 1814]) a n d the (English) translation of Lutz (Viticulture and Brewing, p p . 78 79, a n d note 3) with that (including a F r e n c h translation) of M . Berthelot (Collection des Anciens Alchimistes Grecs. 3 Vols. [Paris: G e o r g e s Steinheil, 1887], 3: 372, 356). Cf. also the English translation of Lucas (Ancient Egyptian Materials, p. 14), w h o does not p r o v i d e an ancient text. W i t h o n e slight modification, 1 have a d o p t e d the G r e e k text given by F r a n z Olck, s. v. "Bier," R E 3 (1899): col. 459, which agrees closely with that of Berthelot: Περί Zú0cov Ποιήσεως· Λαβών κριθην λευκην καθαρίαν καλήν βρέξον ήμέραν μίαν και ανάσπασον ή και κοίτασον έν ανηνέμω (ανειμένω) τόπω εως πρωΐ, καί πάλιν βρέξον ώρας πέντε· επίβαλε εις βραχιώνιον αγγειον ήθμοειδές και βρέχε· προαναξήρανε εως ού γένηται ώς τίλη (τύλη) · και ύτιγένηται ψύξον έν ήλίψ εωςού πέση, το μάλιον γαρ πικρόν · λοιπόν άλεσον καί ποίησον άρτους προσβάλλων ζύμην ώσπερ (προς) άρτον· και οπτα οψότερον και οταν έπανθώσιν διάλυε (εις) ΰδωρ γλυκύ καί ήθμιζε δια ίθμού ή κοσκινού λεπτού - ά λ λ ο ι δε όπτώντες άρτους βάλλουσιν εις κλουβόν μετά ύδατος καί έψούσι μικρόν, ϊ ν α μη κοχλάστ! μήτε ןץχ λ ι α ρ ο ν καί ανασπώσι καί ή θ μ ί ζ ο υ σ ι ν και περισκεπάσαντες (περισκευάσαντες) θερμαίνουσι καί ανακρίνουσιν (ανακλίνουσιν). I wish to thank my colleague, Bob Harris, for his suggestions a n d enlightening conversations over h o w to interpret the G r e e k text.
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CHAPTER THREE t h r o w t h e m i n t o a vessel a l o n g w i t h w a t e r a n d b o i l it a little, s o t h a t it n e i t h e r f r o t h s n o r is it l u k e w a r m . A n d t h e y d r a w it u p a n d s t r a i n it. A n d h a v i n g c o v e r e d it t h e y h e a t it a n d l a y it a s i d e .
Ancient beer making from art historical and archaeological evidence
T h e malting described by Zosimos (lines 1-6) recalls that for making m o d e r n bouza, as does also the fermentation and sieving of the material (lines 6-9). T h e process of adding yeast to the dough and only partially baking the bread also agrees with m o d e r n bouza making. T h e last part (lines 9-13) seems to be a quick way to make a beer that was probably not very alcoholic. But are we any closer to understanding the Pharaonic Egyptian method of making beer? Problems inherent in interpreting bread making from tomb paintings apply as well to beer preparation, as do also the caveats. A case in point is the painted relief from the Fifth-Dynasty mastaba of K a e m r e h u at Saqqara. 1 2 0 Beer and bread making a p p e a r in one horizontal register. N e a r the center three people p o u n d grain in a deep mortar. T h e scene to the right shows bread-making activity (represented in order f r o m left to right): forming dough to fit molds, sifting, grinding on a quern, kneading, and heating molds over a fire. T o the left of the three pounders is a beer-making scene (reading right to left): sifting, forming dough to fit molds, expressing liquid from the beer-bread through a strainer into a vat, adding water to flour to make dough, preparing jars to receive the beer, scaling jars after having filled t h e m with beer. It is conceivable that all this activity occurs in a single location, as shown in the bakery-brewery model from the T o m b of Meket-re (Fig. 9). T h e bread being baked at the far right of the register may have been prepared for the beer-making represented to the left of the three pounders. Nevertheless, Hour sifting, dough-making, a n d loaf-forming are shown both to the left and to the right of the mortar-pestle scene. 121 It seems clear then that, as in bread-making scenes in other t o m b paintings, 110 attempt has been m a d e in the mastaba of K a e m r e h u to show the steps in brewing in their proper sequence. Unfortunately, the ancient Egyptians have left no descriptions in writing of their beer-making process from which we can order the steps. W o o d e n models, servant statues, a n d t o m b paintings and reliefs have often been recognized as illustrating various steps similar to those described in post-pharaonic and modern recipes for making beer. W e are left then to try to construct from these sources a logical sequence followed by the ancient brewers. 111 addition, scientific analysis of the few remains of actual materials used in the
120
Saleh et al, Egyptian Museum Cairo, no. 59. It should he noted that in the b a k e r y - b r e w e r y m o d e l f r o m the T o m b of Meket-re q u e r n s are s h o w n in both b a k e r y a n d brewery, b u t ovens a p p e a r only in the bakery side. Winlock, Models, Pis. 22, 23. 121
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process, such as dried residue of spent grain, beer, and its sediment, provide assistance in understanding the steps and the order in which they occurred. 1 2 2 T h e Egyptian process of bread and beer making diverged at the point where dough was prepared. If beer was the end product desired, the grain, either e m m e r wheat or barley or a combination of both, would probably first be malted. Unfortunately, this step has not been recognized in any tomb painting or model, but its employment in Pharaonic times is generally accepted. T h e r e may be some papyrological evidence for it in the Middle Kingdom, but when it initially came into use is unknown. 1 2 3 T h e first step represented in paintings is making dough to prepare the beerbread. This entailed grinding the dried malt, adding water to create dough, and forming it into loaves to fit into the molds. So, for example, this can be seen in the T o m b of Antef oker, where the m a n mixing the dough says something about dates that may have been added. T h e reason for the dates is not given, but, besides imparting a sweet taste, it may have served as a primer to intensify fermentation by increasing the sugar content. O t h e r additives to beer, such as bitter orange peel, resin, and safllower, have also been attested, but for what purpose has not been established in every instance. 1 2 4 T h e dough was then placed in molds and baked lightly in an oven at about 50° to 55° C. 1 2 5 This activity is frequently omitted from the paintings and may only be implied, as in the model from the T o m b of Meket-re and the relief from the mastaba of K a e m r e h u , by the appearance of ovens in the adjacent bread-making scene. Mashing, a process designed to reactivate the enzymes to continue the conversion of cereal starches to sugar, follows. This step involves crumbling the beerbread in water and letting it stand for a period of time, perhaps a week at most. W h e t h e r the water is hot when added or the material is heated in a vat is uncertain. In any case, the temperature could not exceed 70° C.; anything higher
122
See, e. g., Lutz, Viticulture and Brewing, 86קנן. 7 2 ; ־W o l f g a n g Helek, Das Bier im Alten Ägypten (Berlin: Gesellschaft für die Geschichte u n d Bibliographie des Brauwesens Ε. V., 1971), p p . 1 5 - 4 2 ; V a n d i e r , Manuel, 4: 2 7 6 - 8 3 ; M o n t e t , Scènes de la Vie Privée, p p . 242 54. T h e earliest identifiable pictorial representation of b r e w i n g in a relief f r o m a private t o m b comes f r o m the T h i r d D y n a s t y m a s t a b a of M e r s y a n k h at Giza. See D o w s D u n h a m a n d William Kelly S i m p s o n , The Mastaba of Qiieen Mersyankh III. G7530 7540. Vol. 1 of G i z a M a s t a b a s (Boston: M u s e u m of Fine Arts, 1974), pp. 190"2־, PI. X l l a a n d Fig. 11. 123 Lucas, Ancient Egyptian Materials, p. 14; S a m u e l , "Investigation of Ancient Egyptian Baking a n d Brewing M e t h o d s , " p. 488. Forbes (Studies, 3: 65) says that malting developed p r i o r to brewing w h e n the process served to m a k e cereals m o r e palatable. 124 Davies, Tomb of Antefoker, Pis. X I X I I ; Geller, " B r e a d a n d Beer in F o u r t h - M i l l e n n i u m Egypt," p p . 2 6 1 - 6 2 ; Lucas, Ancient Egyptian Materials, p p . 14 15; D a r b y et al, Food: the Gift of Osiris, p p . 5 4 3 - 4 7 . See D a r b y ' s discussion for o t h e r interpretations of dates shown in this scene. 125 Forbes, Studies, 3: 66.
Preparing beer-bread
Mashing
136
Fermentation
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would deactivate the α-amylase. 1 2 6 Gellcr interprets the containers at Predynastic Hierakonpolis as enclosed mash tuns heated by lires placed around them. For later periods heating of mash over a fire is difficult to identify, though it may be illustrated in the A m a r n a relief n o w in the Brooklyn Museum. 1 2 7 Various vats shown in beer-making scenes may be mash tuns, though they cannot be readily differentiated from vats used in the final fermentation process. Breasted identilies figures shown in beer-making scenes standing inside a tall vat as kneading mash with their feet. This may also be reflected in the hieroglyphic ideogram or determinative for brewer, A37 (Fig. 7).128 T h e most frequently depicted activity, and the one which most clearly identifies the scene as beer-making, is manually working the mash on a circular strainer to express the liquid through a sieve into a large vat (Pis. 11 a n d 13). This appears in all beer-making scenes, is the representative hieroglyphic sign for brewer ( ) and brewing, a n d is frequently depicted by servant statues. T h e best examples come from the tombs of Ti, R e r - e m - K u y (Fig. 8), Khenty, Antefoker, and K e n - a m u n , the model from the T o m b of Meket-re (Fig. 9), and n u m e r o u s servant statues (PI. 12).129 Actual wicker strainers, though sometimes, such as at Rifeh, in the form of a large conical bowl with a hole in the bottom, have been found in tombs. 1 3 0 T h e strained liquid, callcd wort today, would then be decanted into a n o t h e r vat where yeast would be added to hasten the fermentation process. It m a y not be coincidence that some scenes, for which Vandier
' י'־D e l w e n S a m u e l , " A r c h a e o l o g y of A n c i e n t Egyptian Beer "Journal of the American Society of Brewing Chemists 54, no. 1 (Winter 1996): 8. 127 F o r b e s says that a h e a t i n g t e m p e r a t u r e of 50" C . initiates r a p i d conversion of the starch a n d assists the f e r m e n t a t i o n later. See F o r b e s Studies, 3: 67; Geller, "Predynastic Beer Production at Hierakonpolis, U p p e r E g y p t , " p p . 1 0 4 - 1 1 ; ibid., " F r o m Prehistory to History," p p . 2 1 - 2 4 . For the A m a r n a relief, see C o o n e y , Amarna Reliefs, p. 74. Boat M o d e l S f r o m the T o m b of M e k e t - r e shows a pot resting on the p o r t a b l e oven. W h a t it held is u n k n o w n . T h a t it held beer m a s h is a possibility, particularly if this m o d e l a n d M o d e l R , the brewery b o a t , w h i c h shows stowed beer jars, a large j a r possibly r e p r e s e n t i n g f e r m e n t i n g beer, a p o r t a b l e brazier, a n d baskets of (perhaps) b r e a d , actually p o r t r a y two different representations of o n e b o a t . Sec Winlock, Models, p p . 5 7 - 5 8 , a n d PI. 44. 120 Breasted, Egyptian Savant Statues, p p . 32 33; Davies, Rock Tombs of Deir El Gebrawi, p. 26, a n d PI. 20. Cf. the O l d K i n g d o m relief f r o m S a q q a r a w h i c h shows a similar scene in a register devoted to m a k i n g beer. H a r p u r , "Identity a n d Positions for Relief F r a g m e n t s , " ])p. 39 41, a n d Fig. 10. 129
É p r o n et al, L· Tombeau de Ti, Pis. L X V I , L X X ; Saleh, Three Old-Kingdom Tombs, Pl. 1 1 ( T o m b of Khenty); Davies, Tomb of Antefoker, Pl. X I ; Davies, Tomb of Ken-amun, Pl. LVIII; Winlock, Models, Pis. 22, 23, 44; Breasted, Egyptian Servant Statues, p p . 3 0 - 3 5 , a n d Pis. 29b, 3 0 - 3 1 . See also S t r o u h a l , life of the Ancient Egyptians,127 .כן, Fig. 136 (Fifth Dynasty, S a q q a r a ) . 130 G h a l i o u n g u i , " F e r m e n t e d Beverages in Antiquity," p. 8, Fig. 4 (from the T o m b of T u t a n k h a m u n ) ; Petrie, Gizeh and Rifeh, p. 23 (Rifeh, E i g h t e e n t h Dynasty). T h e Rifeh bowl still c o n t a i n e d a pressed cake of barley m a s h a n d grains.
l
1
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would identify an individual mixing leaven with dough to make bread, also show nearby a brewer expressing the mash through a strainer. This is the case, for instance, in the painting f r o m the mastaba at Giza which Vandier specifically cites. In other words, if Vandier is correct, the leaven might also have been added to the wort in beer-making as well as to the dough to make leaven bread. Indeed, the yeast in the container used both to leaven bread and to prime the wort may have derived from b a r m produced in previous beer batches. T h e mass remaining on the sieve could be soaked and kneaded a second time to produce a lesser-quality beer, while the dregs left over could be eaten or fed to animals as fodder.'3! O n c e the wort has fermented the desired length of time, as illustrated in the Tombs of Antefoker and of N i a n c h c h n u m and C h n u m h o t e p , it would be decanted into a m p h o r a e or other types of vessels for storage until ready to be transported or consumed. As the model kitchen-boats from the T o m b of Mcketre imply, and as Sinuhe indicates in his tale of exile and return, beer was often consumed immediately after production as part of the daily meals. If warehousing or transportation was envisioned, storage vessels were prepared beforehand by having the insides coated with a thin layer of clay. This served to make the walls of the vessel impermeable and may have helped to clarify the fermented brew. 132 O n e type of beer j a r , the ώ-vessel, was the container in which beer was issued to workmen at Deir el-Medina. T h e term may have derived f r o m metallurgy, in which ώ-vessels were used to hold slag skimmed off during casting. 111 this sense, ώ-vessels, as beer jars, held the wort transferred from the fermenting vat into smaller containers. 1 3 3 W e r e Pharaonic beers always m a d e with partially cooked bread in the m a n ner implied by t o m b paintings (at least, as understood f r o m our interpretations of the depictions), as described by Zosimos, a n d as illustrated in making bouza? Delwen Samuel has recently subjected b r e a d a n d beer remains to optical a n d scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and has d r a w n some interesting conclusions. 134 T h e material, found in w o r k m e n ' s villages at Deir el-Medina and
131
Forbes, Studies, 3: 71. Saleh, Three Old-Kingdom Tombs, Pl. 1 1 (Khenty); Davies, Tomb of Antefoker, Pl. X I I ; a n d M o u s s a a n d Altenmüller, Das Grab des Nianchchnum und Chnumhotep, T a f . 23. See also D a r b y et al, Food: the Gift of Osiris, p. 547; G h a l i o u n g u i , " F e r m e n t e d Beverages in Antiquity," p. 7. R o b e r t L. Miller ("Z).v-Vessels, Beer M u g s , Cirrhosis a n d C a s t i n g Slag," Göttingen Miszellen 115 [1990]: 7 5 7 9 ) ־suggests that the Egyptians m a y have also used m a r s h plants a n d flowers to clarify their w a t e r a n d beer. 133 Miller, "Dj-vessels," pp. 6 3 - 8 2 . Cf. Geller, " P r e d y n a s t i c Beer P r o d u c t i o n at Hierakonpolis, U p p e r Egypt," p. 145. O n b e e r j u g s , see Helck, Das Bier, p p . 46 52. 134 S a m u e l , "Investigation," pp. 4 8 8 - 9 0 . 132
Storage
Beer without beerbread?
138
CHAPTER THREE
A m a r n a , date to the fourteenth century B. C. All b r e a d samples were m a d e of e m m e r wheat, while the beer residues contained cither e m m e r or barley or a combination of both. T h e bread samples showed evidence of fermentation, including some yeast cells, a n d so indicate that the bread was leavened. In the beer samples, the grain h a d been less efficiently processed since coarse husks r e m a i n e d . T h e S E M s showed two different microstructural patterns for the starch; some granules were pitted, while others were fused. F r o m this, Samuel concludes that the Egyptians used a two-step process in making beer that did not utilize lightly baked b r e a d . First, they malted some grain a n d heated it. T h e n , they a d d e d this malt to a container with water a n d sprouted, but u n h e a t e d , grain. T h i s sugar a n d starch concoction was strained into a n o t h e r vessel where yeast was a d d e d a n d fermentation allowed to proceed. Samuel, consequently, interprets the straining scenes in t o m b paintings and servant statues as filtering out chaff from the m a s h e d malt, not as expressing liquid from the soaked and crumbled bread. 1 3 5 The residue in the vessels studied by Samuel, therefore, was apparently spent grain, that is, the strained chaff f r o m a beer batch that had had the liquid decanted. The absence of evidence for yeast in the residue indicates that the grains did not come from leavened bread a n d that the yeast was a d d e d to the liquid after decanting to allow the transformation to alcohol a n d c a r b o n dioxide. M a n y questions remain, however. So, for instance, were all New K i n g d o m beers m a d e by this two-step process? W e r e O l d and Middle K i n g d o m beers also processed in a m a n n e r similar to this variety, or does this indicate a change over time in how the Egyptians brewed beer? Appearance and taste
W h a t ancient Egyptian beer looked like, how strong it was, and of what consistency it was remain matters of conjecture. From what we know about bouza, we can easily imagine that in a p p e a r a n c e and consistency Pharaonic beer was a dark-yellow, thickish liquid, though some m a y have been more akin to a soup than a drink. T h e taste, d e p e n d e n t upon the type of grain used and the by-products of yeast fermentation, was probably, like m o d e r n bouza, somewhat sour but pleasant. T h e use of only malted grain produces a rather heavy and full-flavored beer. Consequently, m o d e r n brewers add unmalted cereal grains to produce a lighter beer. 1 3 6 O n e might assume, then, that beer prepared with partially cooked bread m a d e of malt, as indicated in Egyptian tomb paintings, would diffcr somewhat in taste and flavor f r o m that made by the two-step process described by Samuel for the New Kingdom variety. Literary and epigraphic sources indicate that the Egyptians produced various 135 1311
S a m u e l , " A r c h a e o l o g y of A n c i e n t Egyptian Beer," p. 8. H a r d w i c k , " B r e w i n g of B e e r , " p p . 1 3 4 - 3 8 .
4
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types of beer. 137 So, for example, seventeen different varieties a p p e a r in medical papyri alone, but, unfortunately, the names tell us little about how they were m a d e or in what way they differ one from another. As early as the T h i r d Dynasty there was something called "sweet beer" (hnqt ndmt) mentioned on an offering stela, and the Pyramid Texts mention "dark,' 5 "iron," and "garnished" beers. As with the medical papyri, however, nothing can be learned about the production, color, or taste of these products. Does "sweet" beer indicate that a sweetener, such as honey or dates, has been added? If so, when? During the production or after? T h a t the term refers to an additive at all remains mere conjecture. Does "dark" beer distinguish a separate process or imply ingredients different from a lighter beer. W h a t does one make of beers referred to as "the joybringer," or "the heavenly"? Does the " N u b i a n " beer of the Pyramid Texts refer to an import or to a beer prepared in a certain fashion? These questions must remain unanswered until more work can be done on the little archaeological remains available from excavation. T h u s far tests on recovered beer lees have revealed no ingredients which would have given to the beer a distinctive taste. 138 T h e strength of Egyptian beer, assuming it was similar to the four to seven per cent alcohol typical of m o d e r n bouza, was probably not too strong, though taken in large enough amounts could cause drunkenness. T h e potency of the beer would probably depend upon the ratio of grain to water, the length of time given to fermentation, and whether during fermentation the liquid was fortified with a sweet additive to increase the sugars. 139 Excessive drinking did occur a n d attracted the condemnation of several writers. A teacher in the New Kingdom warns his student of the dangers of drinking too much beer, while a scribe of the same period issues a similar admonition to anyone w h o spends too much time in the beer shops. 140 In what m a n n e r the ancient Egyptian consumed beer within the household setting is unknown, but a painted relief, possibly from A m a r n a , provides a hint at how it may have been done in the Eighteenth Dynasty. A Syrian sits in a chair and drinks from a rather large beer siphon (PI. 14). Although he is the only one shown drinking, his wife sits opposite him while a youth helps him hold the
137
Cf. Lutz, Viticulture and Brewing, p p . 7 2 7 4 ; ־Helck, Das Biet, p p . 15-20. S a m u e l , "Investigation," p. 488. For "sweet b e e r , " f o u n d in a T h i r d - D y n a s t y t o m b at S a q q a r a , see Geller, " F r o m Prehistory to History," p. 21. Cf. also F o r b e s Studies, 3: 82, note 15. For " N u b i a n " beer, see M e r c e r , pyramid Texts, p. 4 8 ( U t t e r a n c e 151). D a r b y et al (Food: the Gift of Osiris, p. 549) speak of a n o t h e r possible beer i m p o r t called " t h e beer of K e d i . " 139 Helck, "Bier," LA, col. 790. F o r b e s (Studies, 3: 72) says that an alcoholic content of 12% was possible if sweet additives w e r e e m p l o y e d . 140 N. el-Guebaly a n d A. el-Guebaly, "Alcohol A b u s e in Ancient Egypt: T h e R e c o r d e d Evid e n c e , " The International Journal of the Addictions 16, no. 7 (1981): 1 2 1 6 - 1 7 . 138
Types of beer
Drunkenness
Drinking of beer
140
Beer and nutrition
CHAPTER THREE
siphon. An actual beer-siphon, found in a house also in A m a r n a , consists of two parts, each m a d e of lead and connccted by a reed straw. T h e end of the siphon that was placcd inside the beer j u g has small holes in it to serve as a filter allowing only liquid to be d r a w n up into the siphon. This was joined by a reed straw to a reinforced right angle that was in turn fitted with another straw through which the drinker could draw the filtered beer from the jug into his mouth. The use of beer siphons may have been an innovation introduced during the New K i n g d o m a n d under foreign influence, since it cannot be confirmed for earlier periods. The use of straws to drink beer in m a n y places in the ancient N e a r East, documented by scenes inscribed on cylinder seals (PI. 19) and by archaeological remains in U r dating to the third millennium B. C. and before, however, make the earlier use by Egyptians quite likely.141 Drinking through a beer siphon also recalls the way m o d e r n bouza is consumed in Egypt today. Several individuals sitting a r o u n d a vat of bouza drink the brew through long straws, which serve to filter out any solid material remaining in the beer. 1 4 2 C o m m u n a l beer consumption may have played a m a j o r role outside the ancient Egyptian family as well, though there is little evidence to prove it. Anthropological studies have documented the social role of alcohol consumption in strengthening c o m m u n a l ties and confirming social hierarchies in various cultures ancient and modern. Shared drinking would be important within the social context of the workmen's villages in m u c h the same way as the p h a r a o h ' s ostentatious disbursement of bread a n d beer to his retainers provides a potent symbolism of his primacy. 1 4 3 Egyptian men, women, and children on a daily basis consumed beer more as a food than as a drink. Without knowing it, their penchant for consuming fresh, relatively unfiltered beer, as with bread, provided them with a nutritious food. If, as seems likely, ancient Egyptian beer resembled m o d e r n Egyptian bouza, it offered an excellent source of protein a n d m a n y of the Β vitamins (for example,
141
K a r l - H e i n z e Priese, "Stele eines syrischen Söldners," in Ägyptisches Museum. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (Mainz: Philipp von Z a b e r n , 1991), p p . 129-30; F. LI. Griffith, " A D r i n k i n g S i p h o n f r o m Tell E l - A m a r n a h , " JEA 12 (1926): 22 23; Stead, Egyptian Life, p. 30, Fig. 40. Syrian cylinder seals, d a t i n g to ca. 2 0 0 0 1900 B. C., show a single individual d r i n k i n g beer t h r o u g h a straw. See Beatrice Teissier, Ancient Near Eastern Cylinder Seals from the Marcopoli Collection (Berkeley: University of C a l i f o r n i a Press, 1984), pp. 2 0 0 03, Figs. 3 5 2 - 6 0 . Cf., also, the seal design f r o m T e p e G a w r a in n o r t h e r n I r a q , d a t i n g to ca. 4 0 0 0 B. C . , w h i c h shows two individuals d r i n k i n g beer f r o m a large vessel t h r o u g h bent straws. See K a t z a n d Voigt, " B r e a d a n d Beer," p. 31, Fig. 10. 142 Cf. K a t z a n d Voigt, " B r e a d a n d Beer," p. 28, Fig. 6a. 143 Geller, "Predynastic Beer P r o d u c t i o n at Hierakonpolis, U p p e r E g y p t , " p p . 3 2 - 4 6 ; Michael Dietlcr, " D r i v e n by Drink: T h e R o l e of D r i n k i n g in the Political E c o n o m y a n d the C a s e of Early Iron Age F r a n c e , " JAnthArch 9 (1990): 3 5 2 - 4 0 6 ; A l e x a n d e r H . J o f f e , "Alcohol a n d Social C o m plexity in A n c i e n t W e s t e r n Asia," CurrAnth 39, no. 3 (June 1998): 2 9 7 - 3 0 0 ; a n d K e m p , Ancient Egypt, p. 288.
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niacin, thiamine, riboflavin, and pyridoxine) that contribute to a healthful diet. Additionally, there is some speculation that Predynastic and Early Dynastic grain storage in mud-brick silos under some conditions may have fostered the growth of the Strept07nycetes microbe that produced antibiotic tetracyclines that would have been consumed in the form of bread and beer. This m a y have served to provide consumers with some degree of immunity against infection, although grain storage conditions may have also encouraged fungal growth and development of mycotoxins harmful to h u m a n s and animals alike. 144 Beer was not the sole fermented drink m a d e and consumed by ancient Egyptians, nor were bread and alcoholic beverages the only foods processed. These other foods and drinks form the subject of the following chapter.
144
As alcoholic beverages arc filtered, clarified, or distilled nutrient c o n t e n t decreases. T h e nutrients in Egyptian b e e r would stem primarily f r o m the cereals, a n y additives, a n d yeast. Geller, " B r e a d a n d Beer in F o u r t h - M i l l e n n i u m E g y p t , " p. 259; T o d h u n t e r , "Historical Perspective o n F e r m e n t a t i o n Biochemistry a n d Nutrition,'" p p . 9 5 96; D a r b y , " N u t r i e n t C o n t r i b u t i o n s of F e r m e n t e d Beverages," pp. 6 1 - 7 9 ; Stahl, "Plant-food Processing," pp. 178-81. F o r the nutritive value of b r e a d , see L o r d Horclcr, C h a r l e s D o d d s , a n d T . M o r a n , Bread. The Chemist1y and Nutrition of Flour and Bread, with an Introduction to Their History and Technolog)) (London: C o n s t a b l e a n d C o m p a ny Ltd., 1954), pp. I 3 2 5 ־l ; for tetracyclines, see Mills, " B e y o n d N u t r i t i o n , " pp. 2 7 - 3 5 ; for mycotoxins, see A d a m s o n , " P r o b l e m s over S t o r i n g F o o d , " p p . 7 - 1 5 .
C H A P 1ER F O U R
E G Y P T II
B. wine (irp) Origin of Egyptian winemaking
T h e grapevine ( Vitis vinifera L.) is not indigenous to Egypt. Its precise origin is open to dispute, but it seems to have developed from a wild progenitor (sylvestris), which grows naturally in areas stretching from southern Europe through portions of the N e a r East to as far east as Turkmenistan and Tadzhikistan. C h a r r e d seeds of the cultivated grape have been documented at Tell esh-Shuna in the J o r d a n Valley in levels datable to the mid-fourth millennium B. C. Later fourth millennium finds of grape pips have come from Jericho, Arad, and Lachish. 1 T h e grape, therefore, was probably first cultivated in southern Anatolia and spread southward into the Levant; from there it m a d e its way into the Egyptian Delta certainly by the Early Dynastic period, and probably earlier. 2 T h e best evidence for a southwest Asian origin for wine in Egypt comes from recent archaeological finds at Abydos. T h r e e rooms of a royal tomb — perhaps to be ascribed to Scorpion I and dated to ca. 3150 B. C. — contained numerous whole or fragmented wine jars, originally perhaps representing up to 700 containers having a combined capacity of ca. 1,200 gallons of wine. Analysis of the clay indicated that the bottle-shaped jars, with narrow mouths that had been sealed, came from the southern Levant. T h e clay seals, however, were m a d e of Egyptian mud. It remains possible that the Levantine jars had been previously imported, emptied of its contents, and used, then refilled with wine m a d e in Egypt and sealed with Egyptian clay. If so, this would indicate Egyptian wine production at this early date. It remains more likely, however, that the vessels constitute archaeological evidence for early trade in wine from the southern
1
T h e wild p r o g e n i t o r bears the botanical n a m e Vitis vinifera L. subsp. Sylvestris (C. C . Gmelin) Berger. Daniel Z o h a r y , " T h e Domestication of the Grapev ine Vitis Vinifera L. in the N e a r East," in The Origins and Ancient Plistoty of Wine. Patrick E. M c G o v e r n , S t u a r t J . Fleming, a n d S o l o m o n H . K a t z , eds. (Philadelphia: G o r d o n a n d Breach Publishers, 1995), p p . 2 4 - 2 8 ; Z o h a r y a n d H o p f , Domestication of Plants in the Old World, p p . 144-50. 2 L a w r e n c e E. Stager, " T h e Firstfruits of Civilization," in Palestine in the Bronze and Iron Ages. P a p e r s in H o n o u r of O l g a T u f n e l l . J o n a t h a n N . T u b b , ed. ( L o n d o n : Institute of Archaeology, 1985), p. 173; Patrick E. M c G o v e r n , " W i n e ' s Prehistory," Archaeology 51, no. 4 (July-Aug. 1998): 32-34.
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Levant to Egypt. As Patrick M c G o v c r n suggests, the jars with their wine were probably imported into Egypt from the Levant where they were restoppered and sealed before being placed in the tomb. 3 Several pieccs of circumstantial evidence also point to the southern Levant as the origin for Egyptian knowledge of viticulture. First, in historic times the most esteemed vineyards concentrated in the Delta, in desert oases to the southwest, and in the Fayum, becoming scarcer as one traveled upstream along the Nile Valley. U p p e r Egypt did not acquire vineyards until the Ptolemaic Period. 4 Secondly, the Egyptian word for vine and vineyard, kanou or kamou, apparently derives from Semitic, and probably goes back to ca. 3000 B. C. T h i r d , the original h o m e of Ssm.w (Shesmu), the winepress god whose hieroglyphic sign was the sack press, may have been the M e m p h i t e city of Letopolis in Lower Egypt. 5 Finally, workers in the Egyptian wine industry were traditionally associated with foreigners, a situation that may also imply an origin outside of Egypt for viticulturc. 6 T h e Abydos wine j a r s also provide early evidence for the importance of wine to Egypt's rulers. Early Dynastic pharaohs, for example, associated wine with
Patrick E. M c G o v c r n , " W i n e for Eternity," Archaeology 51, no. 4 (July-Aug. 1998): 3 0 - 3 1 ; G ü n t e r Dreyer, " R c c e n t Discoveries at A b y d o s C e m e t e r y U , " in The Nile Delta in Transition, 4"'-3"< Millennium B. C. Proceedings of the S e m i n a r Held in C a i r o , 21 24 O c t o b e r 1990, at the N e t h e r lands Institute of Archaeology a n d A r a b i c Studies. Edwin C . M . van d e n Brink, ed. (Tel Aviv: E d w i n C . M . v a n d e n Brink, 1992), p p . 2 9 3 - 9 9 . 4 Dimitri Meeks, "Oléiculture et viticulture d a n s l'Egypte p h a r a o n i q u e , " in La Production du Vin et de l'Huile en Méditerranée. BCH Suppl. X X V I . Marie-Claire Amourctti a n d J e a n - P i e r r e Brun, eds. (Paris: De Boccard, 1995), p. 14; Christine Meyer, " W e i n , " LA, col. I 169; Kees, Ancient Egypt, p p . 8 1 - 8 2 ; a n d Wilson, Egyptian Food and Drink, pp. 27 28. Annette Lerstrup suggests that the vintage sccne f r o m the O l d K i n g d o m T o m b of N i a n c h c h n u m a n d C h n u m h o t e p at S a q q a r a represented wine m a k i n g in the Eastern Delta. See A n n e t t e Lerstrup, " T h e M a k i n g of W i n e in Egypt," Göttinger Miszelleη 129 (1992): 63. Geller notes the find of g r a p e pips in residue f r o m the Vat Site at Predynastic Hierakonpolis in U p p e r Egypt, which he dates to ca. 3 5 0 0 - 3 4 0 0 B. C. T h e y p r o b a b l y arrived as a trade item, however w h e t h e r in the form of raisins or as part of wine residue is u n k n o w n . Geller, "Predynastic Beer Production at Hierakonpolis, U p p e r Egypt," pp. 110-11. G r a p e pits have also been identified in fourth-millennium B.C. El O m a n , located slightly southeast of Cairo, but their interpretation a n d dating remain contentious. T . G . H . J a m e s , " T h e Earliest History of W i n e a n d its I m p o r t a n c e in Ancient Egypt," in Origins and Ancient History of Wine, pp. 199-200; Stager, "Firstfruits," p. 182, note 1. T h e a r g u m e n t by D a r b y et al that wine first entered Egypt t h r o u g h N u b i a a n d central Africa seems unlikely. Sec D a r b y et al, Food: the Gift of the Nile, p. 552. 5
Kamou or kanou: Dimitri Meeks, " M i g r a t i o n des plantes, migration des mots d a n s l'Egypte a n c i e n n e , " in Des hommes et des plantes. Plantes méditerranéennes, vocabulaire et usages anciens. C a h i e r d'Histoire des T e c h n i q u e s , 2 (Aix-en-Provence: Université de Provence, 1993), p. 75; Ssm.w: M a r k Ciccarello, " S h e s m u the Letopolite," in Studies in Honor of George R. Hughes. Studies in Ancient O r i e n t a l Civilization, N o . 39 (Chicago: T h e O r i e n t a l Institute, 1976), pp. 52 54. 6 L e o n a r d H . Lesko, " E g y p t i a n W i n e P r o d u c t i o n d u r i n g the N e w K i n g d o m , " in Origins and Ancient History of Wine, pp. 224, 2 2 7 - 2 9 ; M c G o v e r n , " W i n e for Eternity," p. 31.
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Horus, with one king referring to it as "the Beverage of the Body of Horus." T h e vessels also presage the c o m m o n practice in dynastic times of supplying wine for the funerary requirements of the royal family. Texts from early dynastic tombs vaunt the wines from the royal vineyards of the Delta region rather than imported wines. T h e Pyramid text of Unas, last king of the Fifth Dynasty, for example, listed a m o n g five varieties of wine "wine of the north," "Buto wine," and "Pelusium wine." 7 In sum, then, it seems likely that in the fourth millennium B. C. Egypt learned about wine and winemaking f r o m inhabitants of the southern Levant with w h o m they engaged in trade for the beverage and probably for the vine itself. This trade was driven by the desire of the elite for the drink, especially as a m a j o r commodity to be stored in the t o m b for use in the afterlife. T h e popularity of wine a m o n g the rulers led ultimately, by the First Dynasty, to the establishment in the Delta of royal vineyards, probably operated by foreigners. This dating m a y find support in the possible identification of the hieroglyph for the winepress on a seal dated to the reign of the First-Dynasty Pharaoh Den. T . G. H. J a m e s , however, has recently questioned this attribution. He prefers to identify the hieroglyph as an oil press a n d to associate the earliest hieroglyph clearly indicating vine cultivation — a grape vine on a trellis — to the Second Dynasty at the latest. 8 Wine in religious life
Wine assumed a place of honor in religious and funerary rites. T h e gods themselves were seen as drinkers of wine. T h e Pyramid T e x t of Pepi I, for exampie, describes the gods as "clad in red linen, living on figs, drinking wine, anointed with unguent." Priests could count on wine to be part of their daily ration, and rulers offered huge quantities of the beverage to the temples of the gods.
7
D a r b y et al, Food: the Gift of Osiris, p. 5 5 5 (Horus); A l e x a n d e r PiankofT, The !3yramid of Unas (Princeton: P r i n c e t o n University Press, 1968), p. 92 (Utterances 153-57). 8 J a m e s , "Earliest History of W i n e , " p p . 2 0 0 01. J a m e s bases his suggestion not on perceived differences b e t w e e n oil presses a n d winepresses b u t on the s h a p e of the j a r that a p p e a r s below the press in the seal impression a n d that he believes should b e i n t e r p r e t e d with the press. H e c o m m e n t s that this type of j a r with wide m o u t h a n d two handles has n o parallel in the a r c h a e o logical evidence a n d so c a n n o t be c o n n e c t e d with wine. H e suggests that the j a r m a y be an oil j a r , a n d , h e n c e , the press is a n oil press. For m o r e on the close c o n n e c t i o n b e t w e e n wine a n d oil presses, sec below, C h a p t e r Five. W i n e press hieroglyph: W . M . Flinders Petrie, The Royal Tombs of the First Dynasty. 2 Parts (London: Egypt Exploration F u n d , 1900), 1: 44, a n d Pl. X X I I I , nos. 37 38. Petrie identifies the sign as "possibly" a winepress. V i n e trellis: idem, The Royal Tombs of the Earliest Dynasties. 2 Parts (London: Egypt Exploration F u n d , 1901), 2: 54, a n d Pl. X X I I I , nos. 1 9 1 - 9 3 , 196; Pl. X X I V , nos. 202, 2 0 4 (seal of K h a s e k h e m w y ) . See also Hilda Petrie, Egyptian Hieroglyphs of the First and Second Dynasties ( L o n d o n : Q u a r i t c h , 1927), Pl. X X V I I , no. 6 4 4 (wine press), a n d Pl. X V I I , nos. 3 9 9 - 4 0 0 (vine trellis). Cf. also Stager, "Firstlruits," p. 174; Lucas, Ancient Egyptian Materials, p. 16: Lutz, Viticulture and Brewing, p p . 46 48; a n d Kees, Ancient Egypt, p. 185.
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Rameses III, for example, in the Papyrus Harris boasted of providing over 156,000 jars of wine to temples in Thebes, Heliopolis, and Memphis. 9 T o m b paintings and offering stelae often show the king offering jars of wine to the gods or exhibiting the food and drink he will enjoy in eternity. Paintings frequently depict banquets in which wine is prominently served and wine jars are conspicuously displayed. Sometimes diners a p p e a r to imbibe a little too much. 1 0 Wine also played a conspicuous role in various areas of daily life. It appears prominently as a medicine in the medical papyri, such as the Ebers Papyrus, which frequently cites it, along with beer, as a vehicle for the delivery of different kinds of medicines to cure a variety of internal and external ills. Wine itself in some instances was probably seen as the primary medicine, or at least was felt to possess efficacious powers." Wine also receives mention in various literary genres, such as love poems and wisdom literature, in the latter instance often because of wine's intoxicating powers. 12 Lesko thinks that wine did not present the problern that beer did in regard to over-consumption, because, unlike beer, which was consumed daily, wine was probably drunk less often, primarily during special occasions such as jubilee years and festivals. Besides, the expense of wine probably rendered it a scarce commodity a m o n g those of the lower classes. 13 While beer was a staple in the diet and was issued as part of a workman's daily wage, wine remained the drink of the upper class throughout Pharaonic times. T h e Egyptian word for vineyard ( k?nw) also signifies an orchard or garden. In several tomb paintings, such as in the Eighteenth-Dynasty T o m b of K e n - a m u n at Thebes, grapevines along with other plants can be seen arranged
9
Wine in daily life
Wine, the beverage of the elite
L i c h t h e i m , Ancient Egyptian Literature, 1: 4 4 4 5 ־ ( U t t e r a n c e 440); D a r b y ct al, Food: the Gift of Osiris, p. 574; M e y e r , " W e i n , " LA, cols. 1173 77. For w i n e in the Pyramid T e x t s , sec Sist, " B e v a n d e nei Testi P i r a m i d i , " pp. 130-33. 10 Depletions of d r u n k e n n e s s a n d even v o m i t i n g a p p e a r in some t o m b paintings. See, e. g., D a r b y et al, Food: the Gift of'Osiiis, p p . 5 7 9 87, esp. Figs. 14.13 (fragment f r o m Brussels M u s e u m , N o . E. 2877); N e w b e r r y , Bern Hasan, 2: Pl. X V I ( T o m b of Khety); T y l o r a n d Griffith, Tomb of Paheri, Pl. V I I ; a n d Wilkinson, Manners and Customs, 2: 167 68 (drunkenness), 393 (banquet). See also M e y e r , " W e i n , " LA, cols. 1 1 7 3 - 7 4 ; L e o n a r d H . Lesko, King Tufs Wine Cellar{Berkeley: B. C . Scribe Publications, 1977), pp. 1 2 1 3 ־ ( T o m b of H o r e m h e b ) , 35 ( T h e b a n T o m b 49); J a m e s , " E a r liest History of W i n e , " pp. 2 0 2 - 0 3 ; J e r e m y A. Black, " A n c i e n t Egypt," in The Oxford Companion to Wine. J a n c i s R o b i n s o n , ed. (Oxford: O x f o r d University Press, 1994), p. 356. O n w i n e in Egyptian society, especially in religion, see M u - C h o u Poo, Wine and Wine Offering in the Religion of Ancient Eg}׳pt (London: K e g a n Paul International, 1995). 11 D a r b y et al, Food: the Gift of Osiris, pp. 5 7 9 - 8 7 ; Lesko, " E g y p t i a n W i n e P r o d u c t i o n , " pp. 2 2 9 - 3 0 ; Poo, Wine and Wine Offering, p p . 30 31. 12 Cf., e. g., Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, 1: 4 4 4 5 ( ־Pyramid T e x t of Pepi I, U t t e r a n c e 440); I k r a m , " F o o d for Eternity. W h a t the A n c i e n t Egyptians Ate a n d D r a n k . P a r t 2," p. 58. 1:5 Lesko, " E g y p t i a n W i n e P r o d u c t i o n , " p. 229; J a n s s e n , Commodity Prices, pp. 3 5 0 - 5 2 ; Poo, Wine and Wine Offering, p p . 27 29.
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The wine hieroglyph
Technology of modem wine making
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about a large pond. This relationship between wine and gardens highlights the close association between wine consumption and elite status, since few individuals would be wealthy enough to own sufficient land to support a garden capable of sustaining even a modest orchard. Possession of vineyards and wine served as a symbol of high rank a n d royal favor. Metjen, overseer of the royal estates of the Fourth-Dynasty P h a r a o h Snefru, for example, boasts that his estate included a large pool with fig trees a n d grapevines planted around it. H e goes on to brag that his vines produced large quantities of wine. 14 T o m b paintings exhibiting one or two trellised vines loaded with grapes depict daily work in vineyards. T h e Fifth-Dynasty T o m b of Ptahhotep in Saqqara, for example, shows a grapevine trained on a crossbar supported by two forked poles at each end. T o the left a worker pours water from a vessel onto the ground at the base of the vine. A rim of m u d or plaster, which has often been mistaken for a pot, maintains water around the roots. Not until the Eighteenth Dynasty were vines watered by irrigation, and even then this method was limited to temple or royal estates. Apparently the trellising was rather low, since scenes usually show men kneeling to pick grape bunches from the vine. 15 This basic form of arbor apparently went back to the beginnings of viticulture in Egypt, as it is the hieroglyph for wine and forms the determinant for hieroglyphic words associated with grapevine and grape (Fig. 7: M43). 1 6 N o literary source describes the technological process that the Egyptians used to produce wine, nor have wooden models or servant statues portraying any aspect of winemaking come to light. W e must, therefore, rely on the little archaeological material available, such as wine jars, and the fairly a b u n d a n t art
14
Meeks, " O l é i c u l t u r e et viticulture," p. 19; Lesko, King Tut's Wine Cellar, p. 15; Davies, Tomb of Ken-amun, Pl. X L V I I ; J a m e s , "Earliest History of W i n e , " p. 204; Stager, "Firstfruits," p. 174; Lerstrup, " M a k i n g of W i n e in E g y p t , " p p . 6 3 - 6 4 . Cf., also, L i c h t h e i m , Ancient Egyptian Literature, 2: 173 (Papyrus Lansing, Twentieth Dynasty). 15 Davies, Mastaba ofPtahhetep and Akhethetep at Saqqareh, 2: Pl. X X I , a n d Paget a n d Pirie, Tomb of Ptah-hetep, Pl. X X X I I I ; J a m e s , "Earliest History of W i n e , " p. 205; Meeks, " O l é i c u l t u r e et viticult u r e , " p. 19; Lesko, King Tut's Wine Cellar, p. 13. T h e p a i n t i n g in the E i g h t e e n t h - D y n a s t y T o m b of P a h e r i at El K a b shows a similar a r b o r with b a n k e d roots, but the vines obscure the trellising. T y l o r a n d Griffith, Tomb of Paheri, Pl. I V . F o r an interpretation of the vineyard scene in the T o m b of T i at S a q q a r a , see J a m e s , "Earliest History of W i n e , " p. 206. Cf. similar scenes f r o m Eight e e n t h - D y n a s t y t o m b s of K h a e m w a s e t ( T h e b a n T o m b N o . 261), illustrated in S n e a d , Egyptian Life, p. 31, Fig. 41, a n d o f W a h , f o u n d in Wreszinski, Atlas, T a f . 68. Cf. also the a r b o r scene in the T o m b of N a k h t ( T h e b a n T o m b N o . 52), which lacks the m u d rim a r o u n d the roots. N o r m a n de G a r i s Davies, The Tomb of Nakht at Thebes (New York: T h e M e t r o p o l i t a n M u s e u m of Art, 1917), Pl. X X V I . 16 G a r d i n e r , Egyptian Grammar, p. 4 8 4 (M43); Petrie, Egyptian Hieroglyphs, Pl. X V I I , nos. 3 9 9 - 4 0 0 . For different types of trellising, see Lerstrup, " M a k i n g of W i n e in Egypt," p p . 6 2 - 6 3 , esp. Fig. 1, p. 78.
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historical evidence. 17 For the same reasons as explained earlier for bread and beer, however, due caution must be exercised in interpreting these artistic representations. Even so, a firm understanding of the technology involved is possible. M o d e r n wine making involves three basic steps: crushing of the grapes, fer- Crushing menting of the grape juice, and aging or maturing of the wine. 18 Since grapes have naturally occurring yeasts (especially Saccharomyces ellipsoideus) on their skins while still in the orchard, they will begin to ferment within a few hours of being picked and placed in containers where the bottom ones may become crushed. For this reason processing usually occurs in facilities near the orchard. Although some cultures may still initially crush grapes by treading in wooden vats, today machines perform most of the work. T h e crushed material is composed of grape skins, seeds, and a liquid called must. Crushing the grapes allows the yeasts, which in nature reside on the surface of the grape skin, to come in contact with the sugar found on the inside. W a t e r comprises up to eighty per cent of the latter, while sugars, such as glucose and fructose, and various acids (particularly tartaric and syringic acid), tannins, minerals, and a m i n o acids make up between twelve and twenty-seven per cent. At this point, m o d e r n vintners commonly add sulfur dioxide to assist fermentation and prevent spoilage and either sugar or acid as necessary to ensure a balance of the two during the fermentation process. If white wine is the desired result, the skins and seeds are immediately removed to reduce the tannic material that gives wine its color. Color deepens and taste sharpens the longer the seeds and skins remain. Fermentation can be tricky, as the vintner tries initially to allow the liquid sufficient oxygen so the yeast can multiply, but later to restrict the air so the yeast will excrete more alcohol as it reacts with the sugars and a m i n o acids in the must. Additionally, the fermenting liquid needs a cool environment (ca. 2 Γ C, or below) to encourage the yeast to make more alcohol and to imbue the liquid with a stronger aroma. T h e fermentation process varies as well according to whether white or red wine is being made. White wine requires a must free of seeds and skin and kept at a low temperature; red wine can take higher temper-
17
L e r s t r u p (" M a k i n g of W i n e in Egypt," p. 61) has identified seventy-five t o m b s a n d o n e ternpie with w i n e - m a k i n g scenes: o n e temple a n d twenty-nine t o m b s of the O l d K i n g d o m (primarily f r o m G i z a a n d Saqqara), eight M i d d l e K i n g d o m t o m b s , forty-two N e w K i n g d o m t o m b s (all f r o m T h e b e s ) , three Late-period t o m b s (also T h e b a n ) , a n d o n e G r a e c o - R o m a n t o m b . 18 M y discussion of the technological aspects of m o d e r n wine m a k i n g follows M c G e e , On Food and Cooking, pp. 4 4 6 - 5 7 , Lucas, Ancient Egyptian Materials,17 .כן, Lesko, King Tut's Wine Cellar, p. 20; J a n Lee Prickett, " A Scientific a n d Technological Study of T o p i c s Associated with the G r a p e in G r e e k a n d R o m a n Antiquity," P h . D . Diss. University of K e n t u c k y , 1980, p. 50; a n d V e r n o n L. Singleton, "An Enologist's C o m m e n t a r y on A n c i e n t W i n e s , " in Origins and Ancient History of Wine, pp. 67-70.
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Aging
The ancient process: a question of technique
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atures (up to 27° C) and longer exposure to skin and seeds (between four and fourteen days). T he skins, once removed, arc pressed again to obtain more must, which, however, is not added back to the liquid squeezed out earlier, though small amounts can be added to other wines. Following fermentation the wine is clarified and aged to produce a smooth wine with an alcohol content ranging from ten to fourteen per cent. Aging involves racking the wine, that is, repeatedly separating the liquid from the sediment. D u r i n g this period care is taken to allow C 0 2 gases formed from residual fermentation to escape the container in order to avoid an explosion. At this point some wines are blended with other varieties. W h e n the wine has aged sufficiently, it is decanted into bottles and corked to prevent exposure to air and bactcria that initiate production of vinegar. T h e corks are also covered with foil to assist in producing an airtight seal. Ancient Egyptian wine processing began with crushing the grapes to extract the juice. 1 9 T w o methods a p p e a r prominently in the art historical evidence: treading with the feet and squeezing in a sack press. Lutz observes that tomb paintings that depict treading concentrate in T h e b e s or south of the city, while squeezing in a sack press is confined to tombs located north of the city, but proffers no explanation. T h e reason for the apparent distribution remains unknown, but may derive from the accident of preservation. 2 0 This fact does, however, raise the question of the coexistence of the two techniques. Since mechanical squeezing in a sack is a m o r e efficient a n d sophisticated process than treading with the feet, it is logical to conclude that the latter appeared earlier than the former. T h e evidence upon which to decide the point, however, is scant, apparently contradictory, a n d subject to diverse interprétation. T h e earliest artistic evidence for any kind of wine processing, for example, involves the sack press. Although a fragmentary painting in the T o m b of Nefermat and Atet at M e d u m , dating to the reign of Snefru, first king of the Fourth Dynasty, lacks the complete motif c o m m o n to scenes involving sack presses, clearly visible are two men manipulating a pole at one end of a sack. 21 T h e a p p e a r a n c e of the hieroglyph of the winepress god Ssm.w in the Pyramid Text from the T o m b of Unas at S a q q a r a argues for an even earlier date for the emergence of the sack press. Although the tomb dates to the end of the Fifth Dynasty,
19
L e r s t r u p (" M a k i n g of W i n e in E g y p t , " p p . 65 67) includes vine tending, g r a p e picking, a n d t r a n s p o r t i n g the g r a p e s to the vats as p a r t of the process. Since these d o not involve food technology as I have defined it, I h a v e for the most p a r t omitted discussion of these steps. 20 Lutz, Viticulture and Brewing, p. 56. 2' W . M . Flinders Petrie, Medum ( L o n d o n : David N u t t , 1892), p p . 2 6 - 2 7 , a n d Pl. X X V . F o r a detailed discussion of sack presses, sec p. 1 5 4 - 6 0 .
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internal evidence dates the text itself to an earlier time. Ssm.w's hieroglyph appears in Spell 403a-b of Utterances 273 274, within that portion of the Pyramid Text called the "Cannibal H y m n , " which probably dates to the T h i r d Dynasty or before. 2 2 And, finally, the hieroglyph appearing on a First-Dynasty cylinder seal — whether representing a winepress, an oil press, or a combination of the two is debatable — clearly resembles sack presses erected on wooden frames illustrated in Middle and New K i n g d o m tombs. 2 3 Artistic depictions of treading, sometimes in addition to squeezing with a sack press, on the other h a n d , appear only in tomb paintings or reliefs a n d no earlier than the Fifth Dynasty. 2 4 Little more can be said on the subject without additional evidence. Contradictions also a p p e a r in regard to the sack press itself. T h e hieroglyph appearing on the First-Dynasty cylinder seal, as well as the hieroglyph of Ssm.w, the winepress god, takes the form of a sack press erected on a wooden frame. This setup imparts to the sack a stability lacking in the process whereby two groups of men, one at each end, hold the sack off the ground while twisting each end with poles. T h e technique employing the f r a m e is clearly more efficient and, logically, should date later than the technique without the frame. T h e evidence, however, points otherwise. 111 Old K i n g d o m t o m b paintings where pressing is represented the technique shown is that without a frame, while the earliest t o m b representation of a sack-press in a f r a m e does not a p p e a r before the Eleventh Dynasty T o m b of Baqt III at Beni Hasan. 2 5 T h e questions of whether treading chronologically preceded squeezing as a technology in grape processing, and, in regard to squeezing, whether the sack press with a f r a m e antedates the one without it cannot be securely answered with the evidence presently at hand. T h e sack press without a frame and the one with it may have come into Egypt together, or, alternatively, the former may have entered first, followed soon after
22
Piankoff, Pyramid of Unas, p. 45, a n d Plate 29; M e r c e r , Pyramid Texts, 2: 182. F o r b e s (Studies, 3: 76) dates the earliest sack press to the T h i r d Dynasty. 2:5 Hieroglyph as wine press: Petrie, Royal Tombs of the First Dynasty, p. 44; as oil press: J a m e s , "Earliest History of W i n e , " p p . 200 01. M e e k s ("Oléiculture of viticulture," p. 21, a n d n o t e 122) suggests that winepresses m a y have also served to process o t h e r food items, such as olive oil. For sack press in a f r a m e , see esp. the M i d d l e K i n g d o m T o m b s of C h n u m h o t e p a n d of Baqt III, at Beni H a s a n . N e w b e r r y , Beni Hasan, 1: Pl. X L V I , a n d 2: Pl. VI. For the E i g h t e e n t h - D y n a s t y T o m b of P u y e m r e at T h e b e s , see Wreszinski, Atlas, T a f . 13; a n d V a n d i e r , Manuel, 5: Fig. 115.2. See discussion o n oil, below pp. 164 65. 24 Fifth-Dynasty t o m b s with scenes of t r e a d i n g a n d s q u e e z i n g include the T o m b of N e f e r a n d K a - h a y , P t a h - h o t e p , a n d N i a n c h c h n u m a n d C h n u m h o t e p , all at S a q q a r a . A h m e d M . M o u s s a a n d H a r t w i g Altenmüller, 'The Tomb of Nefer and Ka-hay (Mainz a m R h e i n : Philipp von Z a b e r n , 1971), p. 24, a n d Pis. 8 9 ; ־Davies, Mastaba of Ptahhetep and Akhethetep at Saqqareh, 1: Pl. X X I ; Paget a n d Pirie, Tomb of Ptah-hetep, Pl. X X X I I I ; a n d M o u s s a a n d Altenmüller, Das Grab des Nianchchnum und Chnumhotep, T a f . 39. 25 N e w b e r r y , Beni Hasan, 2: Pl. VI.
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Treading vats
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by the latter. The fact that no extant evidence exists for the sack press in the ancient N e a r East further complicates the matter. In any case, this much can be said. T h e sack press without the frame was operating by the Fourth Dynasty, while the a r r a n g e m e n t with a wooden f r a m e was known by the early Eleventh Dynasty and probably much earlier. 26 If, as seems to be the case, treading and pressing together appear earlier and more often north of Thebes, both technologies may have came into Egypt when viticulture arrived in the Delta from Southwest Asia in the first half of the third millennium B. C. Since deciding whether treading or pressing came first does not a p p e a r to be possible at this time, most scholars prefer to see the two techniques as sequential steps in a single process, a n d interpret the scenes accordingly.27 Both treading with the feet and squeezing in a sack press were contemporaneous technologies by the Fifth Dynasty at the latest. Workers processed the grapes as soon after picking as possible in facilities loeated near the vineyards. 2 8 In the paintings from the T o m b of Paheri, for example, one part of the register shows a group of two men and one w o m a n picking grapes from an a r b o r and placing them into baskets. T o their right, two males carry full baskets of grapes toward a vat into which another worker is d u m p i n g his load of grapes. Lack of archaeological material and difficulty in interpreting the paintings render difficult any attempt to determine the construction a n d shape of the treading vats. Although Lutz thinks that the vats were m a d e of wood, and Montet favors stone, Lesko supposes m u d brick coated with
26
Both technologies f o r squeezing g r a p e s w e r e p r o b a b l y o p e r a t i n g c o n t e m p o r a n e o u s l y with the d e v e l o p m e n t of the hieroglyphic script. T h e (probably later) press with f r a m e , possessing a c o n c r e t e form a n d so b e i n g easier to express as a p i c t o g r a p h , was readily a d o p t e d as a hieroglyph. T h e (probably older) press without a f r a m e , a l t h o u g h less suited to a b b r e v i a t e d pictorial representation, was p r o b a b l y a m o r e well-known a n d so m o r e recognizable m e t h o d to process grapes into wine. As a result, it b e c a m e the c a n o n i c a l artistic expression in t o m b painting. O n l y in the M i d d l e K i n g d o m did the sack press with f r a m e m a k e its a p p e a r a n c e on Egyptian walls. Artists h a d a reluctance, o n c e established, to m a k e radical c h a n g e s in conventional ways of depicting scenes of daily life a n d a propensity to copy basic representations f r o m o n e t o m b to a n o t h e r , t h o u g h f r o m time to time inserting or c h a n g i n g s o m e elements of detail for artistic variation. Like the essentially conservative d e v e l o p m e n t of Egyptian hieroglyphs, artistic representation of the older sack press t e n d e d to survive long after, in reality, the t e c h n i q u e it r e p r e s e n t e d h a d been s u p e r c e d e d by a newer, m o r e efficient one. For tradition a n d innovation in Egyptian art, see Schäfer, Principles of Egyptian Art, esp. p p . 1 4 9 - 5 3 ; for a discussion of the relationship between the Egyptian script a n d artistic c h a n g e , see ibid., pp. 255 58. 27
J a m e s , "Earliest History of W i n e , " p. 206; D a r b y et al, Food: the Gift of Osiris, p. 560; Meeks, " O l é i c u l t u r e et viticulture," p. 21; Wilson, Egyptian Food and Drink, p. 31; a n d Forbes, Studies, 3: 75-77. 28 T y l o r a n d Griffith, Tomb of Paheri, Pl. IV. Cf. also the E i g h t e e n t h - D y n a s t y T o m b of Intef ( T h e b a n T o m b 155), illustrated in Lesko, " E g y p t i a n W i n e P r o d u c t i o n , " p. 2, Fig. 14.1.
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plaster. 29 T r e a d i n g troughs of the Old K i n g d o m , such as shown in the T o m b of Nefer and Ka-hay, seem to have been raised only slightly above ground level and so were not very deep. M a n y New Kingdom tombs, however, such as the T o m b s of Khaemwaset and o f N a k h t (Fig. 11), show vats raised fairly high and apparently deeper. 3 0 Although shape is difficult to discern from two-dimensional tomb paintings, treading vats in all periods were probably circular. Since periodic cleaning of the vats would have been necessary to remove grape skins and seeds, a round shape would have made the work easier to accomplish and would have assured that none of the grapes slipped into a corncr of the vat and escaped being crushed. Several individuals, the cxact n u m b e r doubtless determined by the size of the trough, trod the grapes with their feet. T h e purpose of crushing the grapes in this fashion is to squeeze out the juice without damaging the skins and seeds that, when bruised, secrete an astringent fluid and impart to the must a dark color and bitter taste. Treaders steadied themselves in the slippery vat by holding onto ropes attached to a horizontal pole above their heads (Fig. 12). Forked poles secured in a vertical position on the outside of and at each end of the vat supported the crossbar. Sometimes the men grasped only the rope, at other times only the horizontal pole. 111 some scenes they hold onto the rope with one hand and the waist of a companion with the other. 31 Some paintings, such as in the Old Kingdom T o m b s of Mereruka and of Nefer and Ka-hay at Saqqara, show figures kneeling near the vat and striking sticks or clappers together in a rhythmic fashion to assure that treaders kept in step. In the New Kingdom T o m b of Rekh-mi-rē C workers appear to chant as they tread the grapes. As in the case with marching soldiers, random treading could potentially create chaos and result in someone tripping. 32
29
Lutz, Viticulture and Brewing, p. 53; Pierre M o n t e t , Everyday Life, p. 106; J a m e s , "Earliest History of W i n e , " p. 206; Lesko, King Tut's Wine Cellar, p. 17; Davies, Tomb of Nakht, Pl. X X V I ; Black, "Ancient E g y p t / ' p. 356. L e r s t r u p ( " M a k i n g of W i n e in E g y p t , " pp. 6 9 - 7 0 ) , citing the installation f o u n d at Tell el-Dab c a, believes that s o m e treacling vats w e r e i n d e e d m a d e of stone, but cites a Ptolemaic vat m a d e of m u d b r i c k covered with a kind of c e m e n t . She also notes vats in N u b i a m a d e of sandstone covered with c e m e n t . F o r Tell e l - D a b ' a , see below p. 153. 30 M o u s s a a n d Altenmüller, Tomb of Nefer and Ka-hay, PI. 9; Wilson, Egyptian Food and Drink, p. 29, Fig. 28; Davies, Tomb ofNakht, Pl. X X V I . Cf. also Black, "Ancient Egypt," p. 356. 31 Lucas, Ancient Egyptian Materials, p. 17; G h a l i o u n g u i , " F e r m e n t e d Beverages," p. 10; Davies, Tomb of Rekh-mi-rē', Pl. X L V . Cf. the T o m b of U s e r h e t , w h e r e treaders a p p e a r to hold o n t o grapevines tied to the horizontal pole (Wreszinski, Atlas, T a f . 12). Horizontal pole only: N e w b e r ry, Beni Hasan, 1: Pl. X I I ( T o m b of A m e n e m h e t ) , 2: Pl. X V I ( T o m b of Khety); pole a n d c o m p a n ion: Paget a n d Pirie, Tomb of Ptah-hetep, Pl. X X X I I I . a n d M o u s s a a n d Altenmüller, Tomb of Nefer and Ka-hay, PI. 9. O t h e r variations a p p e a r as well. See, Lutz, Viticulture and Brewing, p p . 5 3 - 5 4 . 32 M o u s s a a n d Altenmüller, Tomb of Nefer and Ka-hay, PI. 9; D a r b y et al, Food: the Gift of Osiris, Fig. 14.2 ( T o m b of Mereruka); Davies, Tomb of Rekh-mi-re', p. 42, a n d PI. X L V ; Lerstrup, " M a k ing of W i n e in Egypt," p. 70; J a m e s , "Earliest History of W i n e , " p. 206.
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Fig. 11. Wall painting f r o m the Eighteenth-Dynasty T o m b of Nakht at Thebes. At top, treading grapes to make wine; wine a m p h o r a e a p p e a r at upper right of treading vat. Note the spout placed high up on vat. At bottom, catching and processing of birds. From Davies, Tomb of Nakht, PI. X X V I . Courtesy of the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Georgia Libraries.
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Old K i n g d o m t o m b paintings show vats lacking any sj30uts, so workers at that time may have allowed the crushed grapes, seeds, and must to remain together in the vat for a period of time, perhaps a week, during which fermentation would have begun. Only then would the liquid have been drawn off and fermentation allowed to proceed. This would naturally have created a rather strong red wine. New Kingdom vintage scenes, such as in the T o m b of Nakht (Fig. 11), show treading vats constructed with spouts that allowed the must, while treading was underway, to drain out into a small vat. W h e n full, workers transferred the must into jars for fermentation. Since the holes seem to have been placed high on the vats, one can assume that the must drawn off was treated differently from what remained in the vat. T h e latter material would have remained with the skins and seeds and would have required bailing out a n d scparating later. Perhaps the first must drawn off went into making a white wine, or at least a lighter red wine, while the last portion was destined for a darker red wine. In the New Kingdom, a more substantial roof-structure, supported by pillars, protected workers from the sun while they trod the grapes. 3 3 Following treading and drawing off the must, the remaining material was removed from the vat and strained through a cloth; at least, that seems to be what is represented in the painting from the Middle K i n g d o m T o m b of Baqt III. 34 Paintings from tombs of the Late period, of which there are very few showing vintage scenes, take as their model the simple, shallow treading vat typical of the Old K i n g d o m . T h e y a p p e a r to show the vats as somewhat wider at the top than at the bottom, though it has been doubted that this was necessarily so. T h e painter of the treading scene depicted in the T o m b of Petosiris, which dates to the early Ptolemaic period, however, took as his model the deep New K i n g d o m vat with spouts. 35 Archaeological evidence for treading vats has not been forthcoming, although remains of a Pharaonic treading vat of the Eighteenth-Dynasty m a y have been found at Tell el-Dab'a in the northeastern part of the Delta. T h e identification remains tentative, but its location in a temple precinct in an area perhaps associatcd with a known Nineteenth-Dynasty vineyard lends credence to the sugges-
33
T h a t the ancient Egyptians knew white wine before the G r a e c o - R o m a n period is questionable. See below p. 163. For N e w K i n g d o m roof structures, see Davies, Tomb of Nakht, Pl. X X V I , a n d Black, "Ancient Egypt," p. 356. 34 Davies, Tomb of Nakht, PI. X X V I ; J a m e s , "Earliest History of W i n e , " p. 206, 212; Lesko, King Tut's I Vine Cellar, p. 18; N e w b e r r y , Beni Hasan, 2: Pl. V I ( T o m b of Baqt). As pressing, not treading, is shown in the T o m b of Baqt, whose paintings d o not survive in their entirety, the sieving m a y refer to a step following pressing. See below p. 160. 35 Lerstrup, " M a k i n g of W i n e in Egypt," p. 69; Gustave Lefebvre, Le tombeau de Petosiris. 3 Vols. (Cairo: L'Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale, 1923-24), 3: Pl. X I I (late fourth century B. C.).
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tion. 36 With room only for one or two treaders, the shallow, rectangular vat, cut into the limestone and measuring ca. 1/28 m. χ 0.62 m., inclined slightly to allow the must to run off. This created a depth at its upper end of ca. 2.0 cm., and ca. 7.0 cm. at the other end. At the lower level an overflow channel, ca. 5.0 cm. wide and 1.6 m. long, conducted the liquid toward the bottom of the incline where it divided into two channels, each of which led to a reservoir (not extant). T h e capacity of the single vat was ca. thirty-five liters. Neither in size, shape, nor construction does this pressing establishment correspond to evidence from art historical sources. If the vats illustrated in tombs represent actual treading troughs m a d e of perishable materials, wood or plastered mud brick, and located in the open near the vineyard, they would be less likely to endure the centuries. T h e survival of this emplacement, if it is a winemaking installation, however, gives reason to hope for subsequent discoveries. Mechanical squeezing: the sack press
O n c e the grapes had been pressed and the must d r a w n off and placed into open vessels to ferment, workers turned to the crushed skins and seeds to extract any liquid not expressed by treading. This was performed through torsion with a linen or cloth sack in a process that the Egyptian termed "wringing out the linen." As found in many Old K i n g d o m tombs, such as the T o m b of Ptah-hotep and of N i a n c h c h n u m and C h n u m h o t e p , the sack press operated on a rather basic principle, but its actual manipulation may have been anything but simpie. 37 T h e preparation of the sack to receive the grape skins does not appear in any t o m b painting and so is open to various interpretations. T h e crushed grape skins and seeds were apparently placed onto a long piece of cloth or linen, which was then wrapped around them to create a bag or sack to enclose the material. 3 8 Then, each end was knotted and a long pole slipped through the knot. W h a t happens next constitutes the canonical representation of pressing employed by all t o m b artists. Although there are problems with the interpretation of some
36
Meeks, " O l é i c u l t u r e et viticulture," p. 22, a n d Fig. 4. Lesko ("Egyptian W i n e Production, י י p p . 2 2 8 - 2 9 ) , while a c c e p t i n g the identification as a w i n e m a k i n g installation, does not exclude the possibility that it h a d been an abattoir. 37 Cf. also s o m e M i d d l e K i n g d o m tombs, such as the T o m b s of A m e n e m h e t a n d of K h e t y at Beni H a s a n (Newberry, Beni Hasan, 1: Pl. X I I ; 2: Pl. X V I , respectively) a n d T e h u t i - h e t e p at El Bersheh (Percy E. N e w b e r r y , El Bersheh [ L o n d o n : Egypt Exploration F u n d , n. d. (1894)], 1: Pis. X X V a n d X X X I ) . T h e reference to " w r i n g i n g out the linen" c o m e s f r o m the latter t o m b . See Pierre M o n t e t , Scenes de la vie privée dans les tombeaux égyptiens de l'Ancien Empire (Strasbourg: Librairie Istra, 1925), p. 269. 3H Paget a n d Pirie (Tomb of Ptah-hetep, p. 28) believe that the b a g c a m e ready p r e p a r e d with loops o n the ends. M o u s s a a n d Altenmüller think that the b a g was tied at each e n d a n d split lengthwise to receive the g r a p e skins. See M o u s s a a n d A l t h e n m ü l l e r , Tomb of Nefer and Ka-hay, p. 24.
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Fig. 12. Drawings of painted scenes of grape processing from the walls of three different Egyptian tombs at Thebes. From top to bottom: (1) treading in a large treading vat, (2) treading in a shallow treading vat, (3) squeezing grapes with a bag press without a frame. Note the methods used by treaders to keep their balance while treading. From Wilkinson, Manners and Customs, 2: Plate X.
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details of the scene (discussed below), the general procedure for squeezing the grapes is clear. T w o or more individuals composing a team and placed at each end of the sack grasp the pole and, holding the sack over a large bowl, begin to rotate them in opposite directions. As the men twist the pole, they exchange ends and continue to turn. This action twists the sack, drawing it up and squeezing the grape skins, thereby expressing any remaining must, which falls into the bowl. Although the m a n e u v e r would naturally be rather unwieldy, it does work. T h e artistic rendering of the pressing scene raises several interesting questions, however. In some examples one worker of each team seems to float above his c o m p a n i o n , while in others the top worker appears to stand upon the other (Fig. 12).39 A fifth person in this scene, and in m a n y other instances as well, complicates matters further. He appears between the two teams of workers and seems to perform a feat of acrobatic virtuosity. While his companions twist their poles, the center figure appears to place both feet on one pole, or one foot on one pole and another on the other, all the while pushing the poles apart with both hands. His actions a n d those of his companions have drawn m u c h attention from scholars w h o have yet to agree on their interpretation. Vandier interprets the scene in terms of Egyptian artistic convention, explaining that the artist renders the workers in the same plane though in reality they are not. Schäfer adds that the different versions illustrate the gradual coming together of the two figures over time, as artists ". . . rendering the schema of their predecessors gave in to the temptation to place the figures on top of one another; it should not be thought that the upper pair actually stand on their companions' backs." 1 " T h e fifth worker, in this view, actually stands behind the sack press (from the viewer's perspective) and attempts to keep the poles from coming together, which they would naturally do as the sack, twisted tighter and tighter, draws up. H e is shown above the scene, because to depict him naturally would partially obscure him behind the sack a n d bowl. His other duty was probably to make any adjustments to the sack as necessary a n d to ensure that the must fell into the bowl and not onto the ground. 4 1 It is difficult to imagine the four workers, two on each end, twisting the full sack, which must have been heavily laden with grape skins and must, supporting the weight of the fifth work-
;!i)
Floating: N e w b e r r y , Beni Ilnsan, 1: Pl. X I I ( T o m b of A m e n e m h e t ) ; s t a n d i n g on c o m p a n i o n : ibid., 2: Pl. X V I ( T Ū m b of Khety). 40 Schäfer, Principles of Egyptian Art, p p . 200 02. 41 V a n d i e r , Manuel, 4: 2 3 2 4 ; ־M o n t e t , Scenes de la vie privée, pp. 2 6 9 7 3 ; ־idem, Everyday Life, p p . 1 0 6 - 0 7 ; J a m e s , "Earliest History of W i n e , " p p . 2 0 6 - 0 7 ; Lutz, Viticulture and Brewing, p. 55; a n d D a r b y et al, Food: the Gift of Osiris, p. 560. Lei strup ( " M a k i n g of W i n e in E g y p t , " p. 71, a n d Fig. 14) believes that two m e n , o n e on each side of the sack, w o r k e d to keep the poles a p a r t . T o m y knowledge, however, n o artistic representation shows two m e n in this position.
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er and maintaining the sack directly above the j a r . Nevertheless, it is h a r d to clismiss the idea that there was something to the representation as portrayed. 4 2 T h e artist of the pressing scene in the T o m b of Ptah-hotep, for example, uses overlapping figures to imply a depth of field. T h e two b a c k g r o u n d workers hold the poles a b o u t midway up while the workers in the f o r e g r o u n d grasp the poles n e a r the top. T h e scene a p p e a r s to represent the point in time at which the twisting has e n d e d a n d the poles are being held still to allow the fifth worker, seemingly standing with one foot on each pole, to push t h e m apart. T h e sack is shown tightly twisted as must pours out into the bowl. T h e pressing scene in the T o m b of N i a n c h c h n u m a n d C h n u m h o t e p provides a m o r e elaborate parallel. Using overlapping individuals, the artist represents eight workers: three on one side working a pole, four on the other, and one in the usual high-wire position. O n e worker on the left side has one foot braced against the shoulder of a c o m p a n i o n , while a worker on the right side places his foot on the thigh of a fellow worker w h o is kneeling. Additionally, on the right side, the fourth worker has w r a p p e d a rope a r o u n d the high end of the pole a n d pulls down in unison with his companions. Sccnes from these two t o m b s clearly have m u c h in c o m m o n , as well as with similar scenes f r o m other tombs. T h e most obvious similarity is the degree of acrobatic contortion engaged in by the workers. This athleticism apparently caught the attention of the artist in the T o m b of Nefer and Ka-hay. O n e worker standing at each end of the sack holds his end of the pole down toward the ground, while the other, seemingly bracing his foot on the back of his c o m p a n i o n , rises up while at the same time pulling his end of the pole down to twist the sack. 43 T h e artist, however, has replaced the fifth h u m a n worker with a b a b o o n . He braces one foot on one pole, while the other appears to rest on the sack itself. With both hands grasping one of the poles, he strains to keep the two poles apart. Clearly, this particular artist, w h o elsewhere in the relief portrays a b a b o o n in a boat-building scene, has a sense of h u m o r . T h e suggestion has been m a d e that the b a b o o n represents a linguistic joke. T h r o u g h p a r o n o m a s y the b a b o o n (jrn) stands for the descriptive word r n, m e a n i n g "to t u r n , " alluding to the twisting of the poles. Although there m a y be a hint of a p u n here, the same association seems incongruous in the scene
42
Paget a n d Pirie (Tomb of Ptah-hetep, p. 28) believe that the representation is true to reality; to t h e m the fifth figure really docs use his entire b o d y to keep the poles s e p a r a t e d . 43 T h e pressing motif f r o m the N e w K i n g d o m T o m b of P u y e m r e shows a similar scene. H e r e , on both sides, o n e w o r k e r kneels a n d holds his e n d of the pole d o w n , while the second grasps the pole a n d , b r a c i n g o n e foot against the pole n e a r his c o m p a n i o n , pulls d o w n to tighten the sack. See Wreszinski, Atlas, T a f . 13.
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with the b a b o o n standing on the ship where the idea of turning is less obvious. 44 The artist must have known (or heard) that operation of the sack press required several people at a time, and that in manipulation of the poles to its greatest efficiency the workers had to p e r f o r m some rather interesting maneuvers. It can be doubted that the precise positions shown in the illustrations were in all instances performed in reality. T h a t a worker stood on the shoulder of his standing companion seems unlikely, but to brace himself he may have placed a foot on the back or on the upper part of the leg of one w h o was kneeling and holding his end of the pole down. Likewise, it is improbable that the fifth worker actually stood on the poles or on the sack itself, though it is a reasonable conjecture that he may have used one foot in his efforts to force the poles apart, while placing his other foot on the ground to steady himself. 45 These feats were possible, but they required agile individuals. T h e innovative artist of the T o m b of Nefer and Ka-hay, therefore, inserted a b a b o o n , a very deft animal, in his scene as a h u m o r o u s variation on a c o m m o n theme. Within the limits of Egyptian artistic convention, adherence to a canon, and his understanding of the procedure, therefore, the artist may be attempting to represent, however inadequately, what actually occurred, or what he thought to have occurred, in operating the sack press. 46 T h e difficult maneuvers required the cooperation of several strong individuals, one of w h o m had to be light and considerably spry. It comes as no surprise, then, that the Egyptians looked for a better way to squeeze grapes. The stationaiy sack press
Although some Middle Kingdom tombs illustrate the previously described method of squeezing grape skins, two from Beni Hasan depict a more efficient version, which required fewer workers and was easier to operate (Fig. 13). It allowed for greater leverage in twisting the sack while at the same time prevented the sack from contracting when twisted. In the Eleventh-Dynasty T o m b of Baqt III the sack is shown supported by a wooden f r a m e built of two uprights strengthened by a horizontal b e a m at the top and anchored in a platform where
14
Paget a n d Pirie, Tomb of Ptah-hetep, Pl. X X X I I I ; M o u s s a a n d Altenmüller, Tomb of Nefer and Ka-hay, p. 24, n. 137. F o r the pressing scene, see ibid., Pl. 12; for boat scene, PI. 19. Lerstrup ( " M a k i n g of W i n e in Egypt," p. 71) links the b a b o o n on the ship with the twisting of ropes. B a b o o n s a p p e a r in o t h e r t o m b paintings as well, such as in the T o m b of N i a n c h c h n u m a n d C h n u m h o t e p , b u t d o not play an integral p a r t in the activity p o r t r a y e d . See M o u s s a a n d Altenmüller, Das Grab des Nianchchnum und Chnumhotep, T a f . 24, a n d A b b . 10. 45 Wilkinson (Manners and Customs, 2: 152, note) previously m a d e this suggestion. 4 ' יFor a discussion of the artistic c a n o n a n d the a r t i s t s relationship to it, see W h i t n e y Davis, The Canonical Tradition in Ancient Egyptian Art ( C a m b r i d g e : C a m b r i d g e University Press, 1987), esp. p p . 5 9 - 1 1 5 , 198-224.
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Fig. 13. Drawing of wall painting from T o m b 15, at Beni Hasan, depicting Egyptian bag press in a frame. From Wilkinson, Manners and Customs, 2: 153, No. 140.
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they are further braced at the bottom. O n e end of the bag is tied and then anchored by a rope to the post on the right side of the frame, while the second end is tied off with a rope that is then fed through a hole in the left upright. A pole is placcd through a loop tied in this latter rope. T h r e e men twist the pole while a fourth worker tends to the sack to ensure that the must falls into the jar placed beneath it. By this means, the necessity of the middle worker having to force the poles apart during squeezing is eliminated. T h e scene in the TwelfthDynasty T o m b of C h n e m h o t e p , although closely following this arrangement, shows a variation in the m a n n e r of securing the bag to the uprights. O n the right side, the sack seems to be anchored to a knob-like projection on the post. O n the left side — the painting is heavily d a m a g e d here — it appears that the sack itself has been inserted through the hole in the upright and tied into a knot through which the pole has been inserted. 4 7 A painting on the wall of the Nineteenth-Dynasty temple of Seti I at Abydos shows a sack press in a frame. Here the pole is short and stubby, a n d is operated by one person. If, as has been suggestcd, this press was used to squeeze water f r o m animal fat, as part of a fat-rendering proccss, the a m o u n t of pressure required 011 the sack, and so the n u m b e r of people necessary to operate it, would be significantly reduced. 4 8 Following pressing, workers strained the must through a linen cloth to remove any seeds or other residue still remaining, and then set the liquid aside in open containers to ferment. These two steps are not clearly represented in the paintings, although this appears to be the purpose of workers shown to the left of the sack press in the T o m b of Baqt π ι . While three (four?) companions hold a linen cloth taut, a fourth pours a liquid through the cloth into a small jar. T o their left, a single worker stirs a large open container. W h a t this j a r holds is unknown, but must in the early stage of fermentation is a reasonable guess. 49 Not all paintings represent this activity, showing instead workers pouring a liquid directly into jars. T h e r e is no way to distinguish the liquid as must or wine that has already fermented.
47
W i t h o u t f r a m e : T o m b s of A m e n e m h e t a n d K h e t y at Beni H a s a n (Newberry, Beni Hasan, 1: X I I ; 2: XVI), a n d of T e h u t i - h e t e p at El Bersheh (Newberry, El Bersheh, 1: Pl. X X X I ) . W i t h f r a m e : T o m b of Baqt (Newberry, Beni Hasan, 2: Pl. VI) a n d of C h n e m h o t e p (ibid., 1: Pl. X L I V ) , b o t h at Beni H a s a n . See also Wreszinski, Atlas, T a f . 13, for a N e w K i n g d o m e x a m p l e of a f r a m e that has portions of the sack inserted t h r o u g h both uprights. T w o individuals o n each e n d twist the sack with a long pole. 48 Salima I k r a m , Choice Cuts. Meat Production in Ancient Egypt (Louvain: Uitgeverij Pccters, 1995), pp. 1 7 7 - 7 8 , a n d Fig. 55. 49 N e w b e r r y , Beni Hasan, 2: Pl. V I ( T o m b of Baqt). Cf. also T o m b of K h e t y (ibid., Pl. XVI). Lucas (Ancient Egyptian Materials, p. 27) notes t h a t the scene with the m a n stirring the pot (over a fire?) might represent the p r o d u c t i o n of g r a p e syrup. See also Albert N e u b u r g e r , The Technical Arts and Sciences of the Ancients. H e n r y L. Rose, trans. (New York: M a c m i l l a n C o m p a n y , 1930), p. 106, Fig. 170; D a r b y et al, Pood: the Gift of Osiris, 1: 440.
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After initial fermentation in open vessels, the wine was presumably racked (there is no clear evidence for this) and then transferred to wide-mouthed jars, which were sealed with a b u n g m a d e of clay and straw, and allowed to ferment further. It is unknown if the must expressed by pressing was added to what had already been obtained by treading. Questions also exist over whether the jars had been lined with resin or some similar sealant to assist in the fermentation process and to affect the taste. T h e fact that wood, and so resin, was a scarce commodity in Egypt, and so would be less likely to have been utilized for this rather m u n d a n e function, and the fact that wine jars were fanned to keep them cool imply that they were not coated. W i n e j a r s coated with resin are not securely identified until the G r a e c o - R o m a n period. 5 0 J a r s containing wine in the final stages of fermentation presented a practical problem. Any residual fermentation would produce gases that, unless vented, would crack the jars, if not produce an explosion. Egyptian vintners solved this problem by creating a small hole in the stopper to allow the gases to escape. 51 T h e problem with accumulating gases was also solved by using what Lesko calls a "secondary fermentation lock." 52 This took the form of a saucer with a small hole in the bottom, which was seated into the mouth of the vessel and sealed around the edges with clay. W h e n fermentation ceased — how the vintner knew this is unknown, perhaps by odor — the hole in the b u n g was filled. T h e final sealing of the wine jar prevented the organism Mycoderma aceti, which naturally occurs in the air, from reacting with the wine to convert the alcohol to acetic acid, or vinegar. 53
50
D a r b y et al, Food: the Gift of Osiris, p. 567; Lucas, Ancient Egyptian Materials, p. 19. C o a t e d : Lutz, Viticulture and Brewing, pp. 56 57; Wilson, Egyptian Food and Drink, p. 31. U n c o a t e d : M o n t e t , Everyday Life, p. 88; G h a l i o u n g u i , " F e r m e n t e d Beverages," p. 11, Lucas, Ancient Egyptian Materials, p. '20. F a n n i n g w i n e jars: N o r m a n de Garis Davies, The Rock Tombs of El Amarna. 6 Vols. (London: Egypt Exploration Society, 1903-1908), 6: Pis. IV (identified as the T o m b of Parennefer), X I X ( T o m b of T u t u ) , X X V I I I ( T o m b of Ay); T y l o r a n d Griffith, Tomb of Paheri, Pl. I l l ; Lise M a n n i c h e , Lost Tombs, A d d e n d u m 269, no. 1 16. Scenes of p r e p a r i n g vessels to receive the wine a n d sealing t h e m c a n be f o u n d in the T o m b s of A m e n e m h e t (Newberry, Beni Hasan, 1 : Pl. XII), N i a n c h c h n u m a n d C h n u m h o t e p (Moussa a n d Altenmüller, Das Tomb of Nianchchnum and Chnumhotep, T a f . 16), T h e b a n T o m b N o . 155 (Lesko, " E g y p t i a n W i n e P r o d u c t i o n , " Fig. 14.2), a n d T h e b a n T o m b N o . 261 (idem, King Tut 's Wine Cellar, p. 20). See also L e r s t r u p , " M a k i n g of W i n e in Egypt," p. 75. 51
Lesko, King Tut's Wine Cellar, pp. 2 0 - 2 1 . 111 s o m e vessels, the hole had been m a d e into the side of the vessel's neck. See D a r b y et al, Food: the Gift of Osiris, p. 561; Lucas, Ancient Egyptian Materials, p. 18. Since not all wine j a r s thus far f o u n d have this hole, L e r s t r u p ( " M a k i n g of W i n e in Egypt," p p . 7 3 - 7 4 ) d o u b t s that inserting a hole in the sealing o r in the neck of the jar was a necessary step. T h e r e f o r e , she hesitates to ascribe a specific p u r p o s e to the holes. 52 Lesko, King Tut's Wine Cellar, p. 20; J . E. Qiiibell, The Ramesseum (London: B e r n a r d Q u a r i t c h , 1898), p. 8. 53 Lucas, Ancient Egyptian Materials, pp. 18-19. T h e v i n t n e r did not always accurately estimate w h e n f e r m e n t a t i o n ceased, as the cracked wine j a r in the T o m b of T u t a n k h a m u n attests. Sec Lesko (King Tut's Wine Cellar, p. 21) for o t h e r e x p l a n a t i o n s of the b r o k e n j a r .
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Some wines were blended with others, but it is unknown at what point during the production process that would have occurred. 5 4 T h e vintner m a d e doubly sure of an airtight seal by covering the entire top of the j a r with a complete coating of clay. While the clay was still wet, the vintner made an impression in the stopper that identified the estate that made the wine. O n the shoulder of the vessel, he inscribed in ink a hieratic label that gave various facts about the wine, such as quality, the year in which it was m a d e (distinguished by regnal year), and location of the vineyard. T h e wine was then stored until ready for use. Amphorae from T u t a n k h a m u n ' s tomb (PI. 15) were made of red clay and whitewashed, and had two small handles and a pointed toe. This last characteristic rendered the vessel stronger and so more resistent to rough handling and more capable of holding the heavy liquid but incapable of standing upright unsupported. Storage scenes in tomb paintings often show them placed in wood racks or stone rings or merely leaning against each other or against the wall of the wine cellar. W h e n empty, the jars could be reused. 55 Varieties of wine
O u r knowledge of the varieties of Egyptian wines derives from epigraphic and archaeological sources. From Early Dynastic times sealed wine jars often carried labels that, besides the year of vintage, estate location, and n a m e of the winemaker, might also indicate other information that can distinguish varieties of wine. A list carved on the wall of the Old Kingdom T o m b of Khentika lists five wines displayed on the offering table of the vizier. These wines, which essentially became the canonical wines found on subsequent offering lists, all appear to have come from the Delta. T h e best examples of labeled wine jars come from the T o m b of T u t a n k h a m u n and from the cities of A m a r n a and Thebes. 5 6 So, for example, wines distinguishable by their origin include varieties from Buto, Hurseka (near Lake Mareotis), the "Western River," the Marshes (i. e. Lower 54
Blending d u r i n g w i n e m a k i n g finds c o n f i r m a t i o n in several wine j a r s at M a l k a t a that b o r e labels identifying the c o n t e n t s as " b l e n d e d . " Exactly w h a t the term signifies, however, is uncertain. Blending just p r i o r to drinking, however, is illustrated in a scene f r o m T h e b a n T o m b N o . 113, in w h i c h an individual at a b a n q u e t by m e a n s of long straws siphons off wines f r o m three different jars into a single large wine vessel. A n o t h e r m a n a p p e a r s to replenish the wines being mixed. See Lesko, King Tut's Wine Cellar, p. 31. F o r a n o t h e r possible e x a m p l e , see M a n n i c h e , Lost Tombs, p. 183, a n d PI.'58, no. 89. 55 Lesko, " E g y p t i a n W i n e P r o d u c t i o n , " p. 223; Lutz, Viticulture and Brewing, p p . 5 8 - 5 9 ; Lesko, King Tut's Wine Cellar, p. 2; Davies, Rock Tombs of El Amarna, 6 ( T o m b of Parennefer): Plate IV; M a n n i c h e , Lost Tombs, PI. 44. A l t h o u g h Bryant W o o d notes that a few wine vessels f o u n d at M a l k a t a h a d b e e n reused, with a second label a d d e d , he d o u b t s that reuse of wine a m p h o r a e was generally followed. Bryant G . W o o d , " E g y p t i a n A m p h o r a e of the N e w K i n g d o m a n d Ramessid Periods," BiblArch 50, no. 2 (June 1987): 82, note 5. Bryant (p. 76) also discusses the value of the p o i n t e d toe for Egyptian a m p h o r a e a n d notes (pp. 7 8 7 9 ) ־that Egyptian a m p h o r a e lacked the two handles until the late M i d d l e K i n g d o m .
1
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Egypt), and the South (i. e. U p p e r Egypt). 57 Some wines were noted as "sweet" as opposed to dry, while other terms indicated wines m a d e from fruits other than grapes, such as dates or palms. Pharaonic evidence for wine m a d e from pomegranates or figs is controversial. 5 8 Wines were also distinguished by appellatives referring to quality. " G o o d " was a c o m m o n description, but some were labeled "very good" and a few "very, very good." 5 9 T h e most controversial question concerns the color of Egyptian wine. T h r e e colors are attested in literature: black, white, a n d red. Darby et al note that color designations for wine may have connotations totally divorced from the grape itself. Black, for instance, may identify nothing more than a generic term for Egyptian wine, since another n a m e for Egypt is black (Km.t), referring to the black land. T h e term red might refer to wines from Lower Egypt, usually signified by the Red Crown, while white could denote the White C r o w n of U p p e r Egypt. 60 T h e question, however, as D a r b y et al indicate, is not that simple. Grapes shown in tomb paintings frequently a p p e a r in dark colors, but sometimes in red, green, pink, white, and blue or violet. Although Athenaeus (1.33) in the second century A. D. notes that Mareotic wine of Lower Egypt was white, little can be said about wine color of the Pharaonic period. Since the color of the grape and the presence of skins during fermentation determine the color of wine, several scholars believe that the Egyptians had both red a n d white wines. 61 V e r n o n Singleton, apparently accepting the proposition that Pharaonic Egyptians had white wine, further argues that their wine-processing technology would have required white grapes to produce white wine. Since, as he notes, wild grapes are naturally red and a mutant gene is necessary for a white grape, he concludes that the Egyptians selected for the white variety by planting cuttings from mutant vines. 62 This is, of course, speculation, based on the assumption that they had white wines to begin with. Not all scholars accept this point,
57
J a m e s , "Earliest History of W i n e , " pp. 2 0 3 - 0 4 (Khentika); William J . M u r n a n e , Texts From the Amarna Period in Egypt (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1995), p p . 9 5 - 9 7 , 223 8 י־ sources d a t i n g as late as the G r a e c o - R o m a n period, see D a r b y et al, Food: the Gift of Osiris, pp. 5 9 7 - 6 1 2 , a n d Lutz, Viticulture and Brewing, pp. 7 19. Cf. also Lucas, Ancient Egyptian Materials, pp. 22-24. 59 Quibell, Ramesseurn, p. 16; M u r n a n e , Texts, p p . 9 5 9 7 ; ־Lesko, " E g y p t i a n W i n e P r o d u c t i o n , " p. 225; I k r a m , " F o o d for Eternity: W h a t the A n c i e n t Egyptians Ate. Part 2," p. 58. 60 D a r b y et al, Food: the Gift of Osiris, p. 608. 61 Lucas, Ancient Egyptian Materials, pp. 1 7 - 1 8 . D a r b y et al (Food: the Gift of Osiris, p p . 5 5 6 - 5 7 ) refute the idea of Lutz (Viticulture and Brewing, p. 51) w h o , basing his conclusion o n the colors of g r a p e s in t o m b paintings, goes so far as to c o n c l u d e t h a t Egyptian grapes took on a variety of colors. 62 Singleton, "An Enologist's C o m m e n t a r y on A n c i e n t W i n e s , " p. 74.
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and some that do concede that from present archaeological evidence it is incapable of proof. 6 3
C. Oil Olive oil
Pharaonic Egyptians, in addition to medicinal uses, employed various kinds of vegetable oils, such as ben, safflower, a n d sesame, for cooking or as part of their diet. T o produce t h e m the nuts or seeds would have h a d to have been crushed in some fashion, most likely with a m o r t a r and pestle, as was done for plant materials used to make perfumes. If the suggestion of T . G. H . J a m e s that the hieroglyph on the First-Dynasty cylinder seal of Den was an oil press rather than a wine press is correct, then mechanical oil processing can be traced back to Early Dynastic times. T h e r e is little evidence for this, however, beyond a FifthDynasty tomb representation showing an unspecified plant material being squeezed in a sack press. T h e kind of oil requiring a sack press is unknown, but olive oil would be one a m o n g several candidates. 6 4 Misinterpretation of the Egyptian word for moringa tree (bag) as referring to the olive has caused some scholars to see an early use of olive oil. Nevertheless, the word for olive or olive tree, djoeit, is borrowed from Canaanite, and does not a p p e a r before the reigns of Seti I a n d Rameses II. T h e earliest physical evidence for olives does not antedate the Twelfth Dynasty, artistic rendering of the olive tree is unattested before the A m a r n a Period, and literary references to olive oil a p p e a r only in the Nineteenth Dynasty. 6 5 Finds of olive pits in workmen's villages at A m a r n a and Deir el-Medina imply that olives were eaten, although archaeological evidence proving that the Egyptians processed the oil themselves is lacking. A usual step before pressing involves crushing the olives. T h e r e is,
ü;i
Black, " A n c i e n t E g y p t , " p. 356; M e e k s , " O l é i c u l t u r e et viticulture," p. 23; Lesko, King Tut's Wine Cellar, p p . 17 19; M e y e r , " W e i n , " LA, col. 1171. D a r b y ct al (Food: the Gift of Osiris, p p . 5 5 6 57), while a c c e p t i n g the probability that the Egyptians h a d both red a n d white wines, a d m i t the lack of archaeological evidence for it. 64 Meeks, " O l é i c u l t u r e ct viticulture," p. 10; I k r a m , " F o o d for Eternity, י יp. 60; D a r b y et al, Food: the Gift of Osiris, p p . 7 8 0 - 8 9 ; Wilson, Egyptian Food and Drink, p p . 4 8 - 4 9 . For m o r t a r a n d pestie used to crush plant materials in p e r f u m e m a k i n g , see Lefebvre, Tombeau de Petosiris, 1 : 1 5 , a n d 3: Pl. X I (late f o u r t h c e n t u r y B. C.). 6 יM a r y A n n e M u r r a y , in Lisa L. G i d d y a n d 1). G . J c l f r e y s , " M e m p h i s , 1990," JEA 77 (1991): 5; D a r b y et al, Food: the Gift of Osiris, p p . 718 21, 7 8 4 - 8 5 ; Lucas, Ancient Egyptian Materials, p p . 3 3 3 35; Meeks, " O l é i c u l t u r e et viticulture," p p . 4 - 5 ; i d e m , " M i g r a t i o n , " p. 81; S h m u e l Ahituv, " O b s e r v a t i o n s on Olive Oil in Ancient Egypt," in Olive Oil in Antiquity. Israel and Neighbouring Countries from the JVeolthic to the Early Arab Period. D a v i d Eitam a n d Michael Holtzcr, eds. History of the Ancient N e a r E a s t / Studies־Vol. V I I (Padua: S a r g o n srl, 1997), pp. 4 1 - 4 3 .
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however, no archaeological, literary, or art historical evidence for this preliminary stage of olive oil production. It is possible that what olive oil production took place did so in conjunction with wine processing. T h e close connection between oil and wine can be seen in the fact that Ssm.w was the god both of the oil press and of the winepress, and his hieroglyph took the form of the latter. Pyramid Texts mention him in both capacities, though the oil referred to at this time may be from the moringa tree rather than the olive. 66 T h e vast olive groves bestowed upon various temples by Rameses III imply quantities of olives far in excess of what could be eaten. Some of it must have been processed into oil. It is interesting to note that during the New Kingdom oil production was entrusted to the kamou, or vintner. 6 7 Regardless of the fact that a close relationship existed between wine and oil processing in later periods, especially during the GraecoR o m a n era, and that the same affinity is implied by the dual aspects of Ssm.w, there is little evidence to show that olive oil was anything more than an imported item in Pharaonic Egypt. Little can be said beyond this until further information, literary or archaeological, is forthcoming.
I). Animal Processing 1. Butchery Scenes of butchery of cattle, fish, and fowl arc probably more frequently depict- Cattle ed in t o m b paintings and wooden models than any other scenes of food processing, except possibly the preparation of bread and beer. 6 8 Pharaonic Egyptians ate meat, though the amounts and kinds probably correlated to class. Since it was expensive and time consuming to raise cattle, beef consumption was a prerogative primarily of the upper classes. Indeed, ownership of livestock, particularly cattle, was for the ancient Egyptians a mark of prestige and wealth. T o m b paintings and wooden models frequently illustrate inspection of herds of cattle or cattle being led in ceremonial procession. 6 9 Butchery of cattle, its related Ghalioungi, " F e r m e n t e d Beverages in Antiquity," p. 5, Fig. 1; M e r c e r , Pyramid Texts, I, p. 93 (Spell 4 0 3 a - b of Utterances 114,( 273-274( ׳Spell 5 4 5 b of U t t e r a n c e 334), 242 (Spell 1552a of U t t e r a n c e 581); II: 187, 262; III: 752. Ciccarello ("Shesmu the Letopolite," p. 46), however, argues that Ssm.w's connection with oil does not a p p e a r before the Eighteenth Dynasty, w h e n his association with wine almost disappears. 67 D a r b y et al, Food: the Gift of Osiris, p. 785; Meeks, "Oléiculture et viticulture," p. 5. (iB Most of the discussion on butchery of animals is based on Salima Ikram's exhaustive study of b u t c h e r y in P h a r a o n i c Egypt, Choice Cuts: Meat Production in Ancient Egypt (Louvain: Uitgeverij Peeters, 1995). 69 Food of the wealthy: M o n t e t , Eveiyday Life, p. 89; cattle: Davies, Mastaba of Ptahhetep and Akhethetep, 1: Pl. X X X ; 2: Pl. X I V ; idem, Tomb ofKen-amun, Pl. X X X I I I ; Newberry, Beni Hasan, 1:
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activities, and the display of the butchcred parts, particularly the leg, were favorite religious and ceremonial motifs in tomb paintings dating from the late T h i r d or early Fourth Dynasty, and remained so until the New Kingdom. 7 0 O n e commonly represented scene preliminary to butchery was force-feeding animals in order to fatten them up. Additionally, most animals destined for the slaughterhouse had probably been castrated at an early age, although the process has not been recognized in any art historical source. Besides creating a more easily handled animal, castration has a favorable effcct on the texture and flavor of the meat. 7 1 Regardless of comments by classical authors and prohibitions c o m m o n to Muslim countries today, the ancient Egyptians did eat pork. Pigs rarely appear in scencs in t o m b paintings before the Eighteenth Dynasty, while archaeological excavations have recovered only sparse remains of pig bones for periods prior to the New Kingdom. Nevertheless, it seems likely that domesticated pig formed part of the diet as early as Neolithic times. 72 O n g o i n g studies of evidence from sites dating to the New K i n g d o m indicate that pork was an important item in the diet of the c o m m o n people. Nakht, the temple weaver of the TwentiethDynasty Pharaoh Sethnakhte, at Deir cl-Bahri, for example, apparently enjoyed pork, although, as the autopsy of his m u m m y indicates, he had contracted trichinosis f r o m the undercooked meat. Inhabitants of the workmen's villages at A m a r n a and Deir el-Medina raised pigs and goats in pens for their own consumption and, perhaps, for sale. 73
Pl. X X X ( T o m b of C h n e m h o t e p ) ; idem, El Bersheh, 1: Pl. X I I ( T o m b of Tehuti-hetep); Winlock, Models, pp. 1 9 - 2 2 (Model C), a n d Allan S. Gilbert, " Z o o a r c h a e o l o g i c a l O b s e r v a t i o n s on the S l a u g h t e r h o u s e of M e k e t r e , " JEA 74 (1988): 7 0 - 7 3 . 70 I k r a m , Choice Cuts, pp. 41, 82. F o r a list of t o m b s c o n t a i n i n g paintings displaying b u t c h e r y of cattle, in particular, see ibid., T a b l e I, p p . 2 9 7 - 3 0 3 . See also Winlock, Models, p p . 2 3 - 2 5 (Model E), a n d Gilbert, " Z o o a r c h a e o l o g i c a l O b s e r v a t i o n s , " p p . 7 8 - 8 9 . 71 Force feeding: Newberry, Beni Hasan, 1: Pl. X X X ( T o m b of C h n e m h o t e p ) ; Davies, Tomb of Kenamun, Pl. L X I ; Saleh, Three Old Kingdom Tombs, PI. 10 (Tonil) of Khenty); T o r g n y Säve-Söderbergh, The Old Kingdom Cemetery at Hamra Dom (El-Qasr I Va Es-Saiyad) (Stockholm: T h e Royal A c a d e m y of Letters, History, a n d Antiquities, 1994), PI. 10; Winlock, Models, pp. 2 2 2 3 ( ־Model D). Artistic representations of stabled cattle apparently lacking a scrotum has suggested to some the habit of castrating cattie, a n d so the presence of oxen in P h a r a o n i c Egypt. Not every scholar has accepted this inference. See Gilbert, "Zooarchaeological Observations," pp. 7 3 - 7 7 , esp. note 25, p. 75. 72 H e r o d o t u s 2.47. O n pigs in Egypt, sec V a n d i e r , Manuel, 5: Fig. 1 12; I k r a m , Choice Cuts, p p . 2 9 3 3 ־, especially T a b l e IV, p. 305, in w h i c h a r c listed t o m b s w h e r e pigs a p p e a r pictorially represented. See also H . M . Hecker, " A Z o o a r c h a e o l o g i c a l Inquiry into Pork C o n s u m p t i o n in Egypt f r o m Prehistoric to N e w K i n g d o m T i m e s , " JARCE 19 (1982): 5 9 - 7 1 , esp. T a b l e 1, p p . 6 3 - 6 4 ; R o b e r t L. Miller, " H o g s a n d Hygiene,' 5 JEA 76 (1990): 125-40. Large quantities of pig b o n e have also b e e n recovered f r o m M i d d l e K i n g d o m K a h u n . See Wilson, Egyptian Food and Drink, p. 35. 73 T h e evidence for trichinosis c o m e s f r o m the discovery of a Trichinella spiralis cyst in muscle fiber. Detection of t a p e w o r m ova also implies the c o n s u m p t i o n of m e a t . Nicholas B. Millet,
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Used as hieroglyphic symbol, included in offering lists, depicted frequently in relief, sculpture, and painting, and associated with certain deities, such as Horus, birds played a m a j o r role in Egyptian life. Poultry, including pigeons, doves, quail, partridges, ducks, geese, and various other aquatic birds, along with their eggs, was eaten by members of all social orders. 7 4 As with fish, the trapping of birds and processing them were often depicted in t o m b paintings. So, for exampie, birds are frequently shown being trapped with nets in marshy areas along the Nile. Like cattle, the Egyptians also force-fed some of the larger birds, such as geese, before butchering. 7 5
Fowl
T h e slaughter of cattle — butchery of pigs has yet to be recognized in any artistic representation — almost invariably followed the same sequence, though various steps in the process are often omitted in painted scenes from one tomb to another. 7 6 T h e animal was led either directly to the abattoir from the field where the herd was kept or first to a stable where it was force-fed a n d fattened, and then conducted to the place of slaughter where it was tied to a tethering stone. 77 T h e butcher' assistants felled the animal by lassooing his legs and tripping it, tied up its legs, and held it still. T h e butcher first slit the animal's throat, while an assistant held a bowl to catch the first blood that !lowed out. This he presented to a temple priest for inspection. 7 8 W h e t h e r the examination was to
Butchery of cattle
G e r a l d D. H a r t , T h e o d o r e A. R e y m a n , M i c h a e l R . Z i m m e r m a n , a n d Peter K. Lewin, " R O M I: M u m m i f i c a t i o n for the C o m m o n People," in Mummies, Disease, and Ancient Cultures. A i d a n Cockb u r n , Eve C o c k b u r n , a n d T h e o d o r e A. R e y m a n , eds. 2<״l ed. ( C a m b r i d g e : C a m b r i d g e University Press, 1998), pp. 9 1 - 1 0 5 . For w o r k m e n ' s villages, see K e m p et al, " F o o d for an Egyptian City," p p . 1 4 3 - 4 5 ; K e m p et al, Amarna Reports, 1: 4 0 - 5 3 ; 3: 3 4 5 9 ; ־a n d 4: 4 7 - 5 0 , 5 6 . 6 2 ־ 74 I k r a m , Choice Cuts, pp. 2.3 29; G a r d i n e r , Egyptian Grammar, pp. 467 74; Petrie, Egyptian Hieroglyphs of the First and Second Dynasties, Figs. X I I X V . 75 See, e. g., N e w b e r r y , Beni Hasan, 1: Pl. X X X ; idem, El Bersheh, Pis. X V I I a n d X X I ; Davies, Tomb of Ken-Amun, PI. LI; a n d H a r p u r , "Identity a n d Positions of Relief F r a g m e n t s , " p p . 3 5 - 3 6 . T r a p p i n g birds: V a n d i e r , Manuel, 5: 307 98; force-feeding birds: D a r b y et al, Food: the Gift of Osiris, 1: Fig. 6.17 ( T o m b o f M e r c r u k a ) ; N e w b e r r y , El Bersheh, 1: Pl. X X I I ( T o m b of T e h u t i - h e t ep); Breasted, Egyptian Servant Statues, pp. 4 4 - 4 5 ; Wilson, Egyptian Food and Drink, p. 39, Fig. 42 ( T o m b of K a g e m n i , Sixth Dynasty). O n the p u r p o s e of scenes of t r a p p i n g a n d processing birds in t o m b paintings, see c o m m e n t s in regard to fishing scenes in note 103, p. 174. 70 See esp. V a n d i e r , Manuel, 5: 128 306, w h o describes in detail the b u t c h e r y process shown in various t o m b s d a t i n g f r o m the O l d to the N e w K i n g d o m s . Cf., as well, I k r a m , Choice Cuts, pp. 4 1 - 5 4 ; M o n t e t , Scenes de la vie privée, pp. 150 79; a n d S t r o u h a l , Life of the Ancient Egyptians, p. 130. 77 Although several t o m b paintings illustrate force-feeding, the best representation of this p h a s e of the process c a n b e seen in the early M i d d l e K i n g d o m m o d e l (Model C) f r o m the T o m b of Meket-re. T h e stable has its front half o p e n to the sky, while the back p a r t is a covered stall w h e r e a t t e n d a n t s force-feed three a n i m a l s to f a t t e n e d t h e m . Winlock, Models, pp. 22 23, a n d Pis. 17, 59; Gilbert, " Z o o a r c h a e o l o g i c a l O b s e r v a t i o n s , " pp. 73 78. 78 T r u s s i n g the animal: V a n d i e r , Manuel, 5: Fig. 88. 3-4; slitting the a n i m a l ' s throat: Gilbert, " Z o o a r c h a c o l o g i c a l O b s e r v a t i o n s , " pp. 8 3 8 6 ; ־V a n d i e r , Manuel, 5: Fig. 95.1; a n d Strouhal, Life of the Ancient Egyptians, Fig. 139; inspection of blood: Paget a n d Pirie, Tomb of Ptah-hetep, Pl. X X X V I ;
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ascertain its purity or to determine f r o m its look a n d smell if the animal were healthy is unknown. Likewise, besides as an additive to medicines, it is uncertain for what purpose the blood was later used, whether employed in some ritual or prepared in some fashion as a food. In several paintings, near the butchery scene workmen attend to a kettle placed over a fire. W h a t the cauldron contains is uncertain, but some scholars identify it as blood being boiled to make a p u d ding. Next, the butcher ceremoniously removed the foreleg, flayed the animal, and set about butchering the rest of the carcass, either there or in another part of the abattoir. T h e portions of meat were processed into various prescribed cuts or shapes. 7 9 Abattoir
Remains of an abattoir in the Old K i n g d o m funerary temple of Raneferef near Abusir show a two-story building, 15.0 m. χ 27 m., possessed of an unroofed front room equipped with three tethering blocks. T h r e e other rooms, one of which still possessed a mud-brick chopping block, served for subsequent butchering. Signs of burning in fireplaces indicate that the meat was cooked in the same rooms in which it was jointed. T h e abattoir contained several other rooms for storing the meat. 8 0 Although numerous tomb paintings illustrate the butchery sccne, the wooden model of a butcher's shop from the Middle Kingd o m T o m b of Meket-re (PI. 16) provides an excellent visual conception of the complete process and offers a close structural parallel with the abattoir at Abusir. 81 T h e shop is divided into two parts. T h e front room has a tall ceiling with the front wall open near the top to allow circulation of air. T h e back room is divided into two stories, but with a ceiling shorter than the one in the front room. In the latter room attendants arc in the act of butchering two trussed-up animals lying on the floor. O n e m a n wields the knife; another holds a bowl to catch the blood. 8 2 Butchered meat already hangs on ropes stretched across the
Wilkinson, Manners and Customs, 2: 375. See also references in H e n r y G e o r g e Fischer, "'Milk in Everything C o o k e d ' (Sinuhe Β 9 1 - 9 2 ) , " in Varia. Egyptian Studies 1 (New York: T h e M e t r o p o l i tan M u s e u m of Art, 1976), note 14, p p . 98 99. 79 I k r a m (Choice Cuts, p p . 180 82) d o u b t s that, as o f t e n t h o u g h t , blood was used in foods, such as p u d d i n g . But, cf. Wilson, Egyptian Food and Drink, p. 41; Winlock, Models, p. 24; a n d Gilbert, " Z o o a r c h a e o l o g i c a l O b s e r v a t i o n s , " p p . 7 9 - 8 0 . R e m o v i n g foreleg: V a n d i e r , Manuel, 5: Fig. 86, 2-3. 80 S t r o u h a l , Life of the Ancient Egyptians, p. 130; I k r a m , Choice Cuts, pp. 91 93, a n d Fig. 19. Archaeological r e m a i n s of t h r e e o t h e r O l d K i n g d o m abattoirs have b e e n u n c o v e r e d at the cult temples of Userkaf, Neferirkare, a n d Niuserre. Ibid., pp. 93~94. 81 Winlock, Models, p p . 2 3 - 2 5 , a n d Pis. 18, 19, 21, 24, 6 0 - 6 1 (Model D). F o r the place of b u t c h e r y , see also I k r a m , Choice Cuts, p p . 8 1 - 1 0 8 , a n d Gilbert, " Z o o a r c h a e o l o g i e a l O b s e r v a tions," p p . 78 82. 82 I k r a m (Choice Cuts, pp. 46 48) suggests, based on h e r observations of m o d e r n Egyptian b u t c h e r y , that the bull's foreleg was p u m p e d back a n d forth to facilitate the blood flow so that the blood w o u l d spurt into the bowl r a t h e r t h a n flow d o w n t h e a n i m a l s neck.
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mezzanine level of the back room. T h e cuts of meat come in various sizes and shapes. Those in the model of Meket-re included rib sections cut into large flat pieces, round and shoulder cuts in circular shape, and, most frequently, limb muscles cut into the shape of equal-sided triangles. 83 New K i n g d o m abattoirs functioned in funerary temples at T h e b e s (Seti I a n d Rameses III), Abydos (Seti I), and A m a r n a (house of Panehsy, Overseer of the Cattle of the Aten, in the city, and various chapels in the workmen's village). 84 Butchery technology shows clear improvements over what had been practiced in the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods, both in terms of well-constructed tools and more elaborate preservation techniques. Flint knives, used in the Predynastic period and earlier, continued to be used until the First Dynasty when the Egyptians developed copper blades. From then on they employed both copper and flint knives, although, due to a shortage of flint, most New K i n g d o m knives were primarily m a d e of metal. 85 Knives came in numerous shapes, not all of which can be associated with a particular type of butchery, however. A few New Kingdom knives have the shape of the foreleg of a bull, and so were probably used most often for butchering cattle, although fishermen are shown using this type of knife in the T o m b of Puyemre at Thebes. Microwear analysis on Egyptian knives has shown that at least one form, called the "fish-tail" blade, was used to cut meat. 8 6 T h e Egyptians also had a metal "chopper" useful for cutting through bone. T h e butchery offish and fowl used knives similarly shaped but smaller than those used to butcher cattle. Fishermen, for example, processed fish with a triangular-shaped blade, more like a cleaver, a n d at least four other similarly shaped knives, including the "fish-tail" blade. T h e same types of knives served to cut up birds. 87
83
Butchery tools
Gilbert, "Z00archac01 Ū gica1 O b s e r v a t i o n s , " pp. 80 82, 86 88; VVinlock, Models, p p . 2 4 2 5 ־. Cf. Davies, Tomb of Antefoker, Pl. IX; Wreszinski, Atlas, 3: T a f . 255a. A p a i n t i n g f r o m the T o m b of D j h u t n o f e r at T h e b e s shows w o r k m e n carrying j o i n t s of meat a n d j a r s u p stairs to a r o o m w h e r e a w o r k m a n sits at a table; in the b a c k g r o u n d cuts of meat h a n g f r o m a rope. S a l i m a I k r a m , " D i d the Ancient Egyptians Eat Biltong?" CArchJ 5, no. 2 (Oct. 1995): 288. 8 י־I k r a m , Choice Cuts, pp. 9 6 - 1 0 6 . 85 I k r a m , Choice Cuts, pp. 66-69. H,i Leg-shaped knives: Susan K. Doll, in Egypt's Golden Age, p. 50, Figs. 20 21; Fish-tail knife: Ikram, Choice Cuts, p. 66. Butchers of cattle shown in the O l d K i n g d o m T o m b of Ti wield knives similar to Ikram's T y p e G . Sec E p r o n et al, L· Tombeau de Τι, 1: Pl. L. For a list of twelve Egyptian knives a r r a n g e d by shape, see Ikram, Choice Cuts, Fig. 14, page 64. T h e "fish-tail" knife is listed as T y p e J . 87 I k r a m , Choice Cuts, p p . 65-66, esp. Fig. 14. Ikram (p. 65) postulates that the triangular-shaped knife (Fig. 14K) m a y h a v e been used to scale fish. A l t h o u g h Ikram lists the knife shapes used by fishermen as 14C, D , I, J , a n d K. fishermen in the T o m b of T i use a knife similar to h e r T y p e G . See H e n r i Wild, Le Tombe de Τι (Cairo: L'Institut Français d'Archéologie O r i e n t a l e , 1953), 2: Pl. C X X I I I ; T y l o r a n d Griffith, Tomb of Paheri, Pl. IV (triangular blade); Brewer a n d F r i e d m a n , Fish and Fishing, p. 14, Fig. 1.8 ( T o m b of U r a r n a ) . For birds, see T y l o r a n d Griffith, Tomb of Paheri, PI. IV; Davies, Tomb of Antefoker, Pl. V I I I ; Wilkinson, Manners and Customs, 2: 388, Fig. 278.
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T h r o u g h the period of the Old Kingdom, blades and handles were m a d e of the same material, but in the Middle Kingdom handles were wrapped in leather strips. This m a d e grasping more comfortable for the user, and also allowed for a stronger grip when manipulating it to cut tough hides and bones. Scholars have yet to devote serious study to Egyptian knives, a n d a typology of shapes remains a significant lacuna. M o d e r n archaeological experimentation, however, has shown that flint knives were sharper and held their edge longer than metal ones. Some paintings show butchers with knife sharpeners, apparently wooden or perhaps basalt sticks, hanging from their belts or being used to retouch a dull blade. 8 8
Cooking meat
O n e interesting sidelight comes from excavations at the workmen's village near Amarna. 8 9 A study of cut marks on cattle, pig, and goat bones found that butchers carefully used small, sharp knives, or sometimes choppers, on the smaller animals but clcavers or axes wielded rather bluntly on the large ones. Rosemary Luff has suggested that the care and skill utilized for butchery of the smaller animals stemmed from a desire to obtain the greatest a m o u n t of the meat from animals that had been raised in pens in the village. She goes on to state that cattle bones, unlike those for pig and goat, received rough treatment, and showed signs of rude force imparted with heavy axes or cleavers. She proposes that this might have resulted from unskilled and less careful butchers who formed part of a work gang engaged in large-scale butchery for a temple inside the city. Following the initial butchery, the meat was probably carried to the workmen's village where villagers processed it further using knives. 90 T h e dry Egyptian heat required that animal foods be eaten soon after slaughter or the meat preserved in some fashion. If immediate consumption was desired, the animals could be cooked in a variety of ways. Meat animals, such as cattle, hogs, wild game, and the larger birds, could be roasted on a spit. 91 Meat was occasionally grilled, and possibly, fried, though again the evidence is sparse. In a New K i n g d o m house at Deir el-Medina excavators found a limestone grill bearing on its surface traces of grease and evidence of burning. T h e bottom had
H8
I k r a m , Choice C u t s , 7 3 70 . ;קנןBreasted, Egyptian Servant Statues,.36~35 R o s e m a r y Luff, " B u t c h e r y at the W o r k m e n ' s Village (WV), T e l l - e l - A m a r n a , Egypt," in Whither Environmental Archaeology? R o s e m a r y Lull" a n d Peter R o w l e y - C o n w y , eds. (Oxford: O x b o w Books, 1994), p p . 1 5 8 - 7 0 . 90 For the raising of pigs for food in the w o r k m e n ' s village at A m a r n a , see esp. J a n e t Richards, L i n d a H u l i n , Ian S h a w , a n d Barry K e m p , Amama Reports III, p p . 6 0 - 7 9 . See also K e m p , " F o o d for a n Egyptian City," p p . 1 3 9 4 5 ־, for the c o n v e y a n c e of m e a t in j a r s to the village a n d for raising pigs a n d goats. 91 V a n d i e r , Manuel, 4: 2 6 5 - 7 1 , a n d Fig. 121; D a r b y et al, Food: the Gift of Osiris, Fig. 6.24; Wilkinson, Manners and Customs, 2: 388, Fig. 278.3. 89
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been hollowed out to allow it to be placed over hot coals to cook the food placed on top. Fowl, which had been split open and cleaned in a m a n n e r similar to a process called spatchcocking, were found in an Eighteenth-Dynasty t o m b at Deir el-Medina, but whether they had been grilled is debatable. Fish may have also been prepared in this m a n n e r , but examples are lacking. 92 T h e most frequently represented cooking motif for a variety of animals was boiling. A relief from the Old Kingdom T o m b of N i a n c h c h n u m and C h n u m h o t e p shows cooks boiling fish in a cauldron placed over an open fire, while a painting from the T o m b of Rameses III depicts meat being similarly prepared. Paintings from the T o m b of K e n - a m u n show a similar scene, but here the cauldron rests on top of a box oven. 9 3 If any delay in consumption were anticipated, then the meat would have to be preserved and stored. Although the prevalent method of preserving meat was by drying, methods of preparation and storage varied according to the size of the animal and to the type and a m o u n t of meat to be processed. Large animals, such as cattle, pigs, sheep, and goats, were butchered and the meat cut into smaller pieces; most fish and fowl were preserved essentially whole. The model slaughter house of Meket-re (PI. 16) possessed a tall ceiling and clerestory opening in the front room that provided for an airy enclosure that served to cool the hanging meat and to facilitate its drying94. ־Meat cut into various joints and hanging on ropes to dry forms a c o m m o n motif in butchery scenes in n u m e r o u s t o m b paintings. 9 5 At A m a r n a and Malkata, excavators have found jars with a wide mouth and belly, measuring ca. 65 cm. tall and 25 cm. wide and bearing painted inscriptions identifying the contents as "preserved meat." 9 6 Although cattle are the usual animals shown in butchery scenes, it is a safe assumption that other large animals were preserved in a similar fashion. A m o n g the hanging joints of meat pictorially represented in several t o m b paintings are what a p p e a r to be long, narrow strips of'dried meat. Salima Ikram identifies them as biltong, and from this argues that the Egyptians not only dried
92
D a r b y et al, Food: the Gift of Osiris, p. 758 (frying); S a l i m a I k r a m , " F o o d F o r E t e r n i t y . W h a t the A n c i e n t E g y p t i a n s Ate & D r a n k . P a r t 1: M e a t , Fish, Fowl," KMT 5, no. 1 (Spring 1994): 32; i d e m , Choice Cuts," p. 161; J o h n K . M c D o n a l d , in Egypt's Golden Age, p. I l l , Nos. 9 2 9 3 ־ (grills). 93 Cattle: Wreszinski, Atlas, 2: T a f . 93b; 3: T a f . 255A; V a n d i e r , Manuel, 4: 2 6 0 - 6 2 , a n d Figs. 1 1 6 - 1 8 ; D a r b y et al, Food: the Gift of Osiris, 6.24; Davies, Tomb of Ken-amun, Pis. L I X , I.XVII; M o u s s a a n d Altenmüller, Das Grab des Nianchchnum und Chnumhotep, T a f . 37b; Davies, Tomb of Antefoker, Pl. VIII. See also, N e w b e r r y , Beni Hasan, 1 : Pl. X I I . 94 Gilbert, " Z o o a r c h a e o l o g i c a l O b s e r v a t i o n s , " p. 79, a n d note 35. 95 See, e. g., I k r a m , Choice Cuts, Fig. 18; V a n d i e r , Manuel, 4: Figs. I 16-18. 96 K e m p , " F o o d for a n Egyptian City," pp. 1 3 9 - 4 3 .
Meat preservation
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their meat, but also salted and spiced it.97 Conclusive evidence for processes other than drying, however, is mostly lacking. T h e best archaeological evidence comes from victual mummies, joints of meat w r a p p e d in linen and known primarily from New Kingdom tombs, such as those of A m e n h o t e p II and T u t h m o sis III. Although testing on several examples of biltong-like slabs and "steaks" yielded no evidence for spices, it did discover that the meat had been salted. T h e best evidence for salting and drying comes f r o m the preservation of smaller animais, birds and fish. Tomb paintings frequently depict birds being plucked and gutted, with heads and feet sometimes removed. T h e y are represented at one time hung up to dry and at another time being placed into a m p h o r a e (Fig. 11). W h a t was in the a m p h o r a e is unknown, but an a m p h o r a found in the T o m b of K h a contained plucked, beheaded, and eviscerated birds which showed signs of having been salted. 98 Drying and possibly salting (whether by kenching, layering, or brining is unknown), therefore, are the only two preservation techniques for which strong evidence exists." T h a t the Egyptians used combinations of these two processes plus other methods commonly employed today in the area and conceivably known by the ancient Egyptians, such as smoking, is at present incapable of proof. Fat rendering
Cooking and preservation of the animal itself was not the only source of animal foods that required processing. Animal byproducts were also important. In addition to m e a t and blood, cattle a n d other large animals provided two important byproducts: fat and milk. Fat was used as a food, a medicine, and a fuel for lamps, and the creating of fat was one of the purposes of castrating a n d forcefeeding some animals. T h e art historical evidence for fat rendering, that is the removal of water from fat by boiling and then pressing, is ambiguous at best. T w o scenes, identified as depicting fat rendering a p p e a r on the walls of a room in the temple of Seti I at Abydos. An inscription on one scene specifies that fat is being chopped up. But, since both scenes show sack presses at work, an instrument unnecessary to render fat and unparalleled either in ancient or modern 97
I k r a m , " D i d the Ancient Egyptians Eat Biltong?" pp. 283 89. I k r a m (Choice Cuts, pp. 145-74) discusses n u m e r o u s ways the Egyptians could have preserved m e a t , t h o u g h , she concludes, cvid e n c e is lacking for s o m e of the possibilities. 98 I k r a m , Choice Cuts, p. 157. O n p a g e 159, I k r a m seems less sure of the evidence. See, e. g., T y l o r a n d Griffith, Tomb of Paheri, Pl. IV; Davies, Tomb of Nakht, Pl. X X V I ; i d e m , T o m b of R e k h mi-rë', Pl. X L V I . F o r art historical evidence for poultry processing, see I k r a m , Choice Cuts, Figs. 16-17, a n d esp. T a b l e II, p. 303. Pigeon a n d quail w e r e served in the meal f o u n d in the FirstDynasty T o m b 3477 at S a q q a r a . T h e quail h a d b e e n g u t t e d a n d cooked, b u t the h e a d a n d wings r e m a i n e d . See E m e r y , Funerary Repast, p. 6. 99 Detailed discussion of the various m e t h o d s of salting will be p o s t p o n e d until the R o m a n Period w h e n evidence for it is u n e q u i v o c a l a n d m o r e plentiful.
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contexts of fat rendering, Ikram calls the entire interpretation into question. She does, however, reinterpret a scene in the model of the slaughterhouse from the T o m b of Meket-re, usually interpreted as boiling blood for pudding, as rendering fat. Archaeological evidence for the process is not forthcoming, but vessels identified by labels as having held ox, sheep, pig, or goose fat have been found at Malkata, A m a r n a , and Deir el-Medina. 1 0 0
2. Daily products T h e Egyptians butchered primarily oxen, reserving cows for breeding and for producing milk. Artistic representations of milking cows, such as a p p e a r on the wall of the O l d - K i n g d o m chapel of Akhethetep and in sunk relief on the Eleventh-Dynasty sarcophagus of Kawit, are not u n c o m m o n . Milk was used as a food and medicine, and strong, but inconclusive, evidence indicates that Pharaonic Egyptians processed milk into butter and cheese. 101 Chemical analysis of the contents of two jars found in the First-Dynasty T o m b of Hor-Aha at Saqqara concludcd that the vessels held cheese, but the type of animal from which the cheese came was undeterminable. A wall painting from the New Kingdom T o m b of Ipy at T h e b e s shows what a p p e a r to be balls of cheese being exchanged in a barter scene. This cheese m a y have come from goats, since several of the animals a p p e a r to the left within the same register and in the one just below it. Since no Egyptian word has been unequivocally connected with either cheese or butter and the interpretation of the physical and art historical evidence continues to be challenged, the question of the existence of either byproduct before the Ptolemaic period must remain open. 1 0 2
Butter and cheese
3. Fish Egyptians of all classes consumed fish. Although fish rarely appear in food offering lists or a m o n g painted offerings, they are frequently artistically represented 1()()
I k r a m , Choice Cuts, p p . 175-80, esp. Fig. 55; YVinlock, Models, p. 24; Gilbert, " Z o o a r c h a c o logical O b s e r v a t i o n s , " p. 79, n o t e 36. 101 Davies, Mastaba ofPtahhetep and Akhethetep, 2: Pl. X V I I ; Saleh et al, Egyptian Museum Cairo, N o . 68. See also, N o r m a n D e G a r i s Davies, The Rock Tombs of Deir el-Gebrawi. Part IP Tomb of^au and Tombs of the Northern Croup (London: Egypt Exploration F u n d , 1902), Pl. X I X ( T o m b of Asa). O n milk generally, see D a r b y et al, Food: the Gift of Osiris, p p . 760 72; Fischer, '"Milk in Everything Cooked 1 , י יp. 97; a n d Sist, " B e v a n d e nei Testi dclle P i r a m i d i , " pp. 135-37. 11)2 A h m e d Zaky a n d Zaky Iskander, "Ancient E g y p t i a n C h e e s e , " ASAE 41 (1942): 295 313. A c c e p t a n c e of P h a r a o n i c milk processing: I k r a m , " F o o d for Eternity. P a r t I," P· 32; Wilson, Egyptian Food and Drink, p. 47, Strouhal, Life of the Ancient Egyptians, p. 132. Denial of P h a r a o n i c milk processing: D a r b y et al, Food: the Gift of Osiris, p p . 772 75.
Fish in daily life
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in fishing and fowling scencs set in the marshes along the Nile. T h e apparent disconnect between these two facts may be attributable, as Brewer a n d Friedm a n suggest, to the fact that fish were food for c o m m o n people whose supply in eternity, as in life, was a concern of the deceased in whose tombs the fishing scenes appeared. T h e avoidance of fish by some upper class Egyptians may be attributable to individual taste or to local prohibitions, less likely to a general aristocratic aversion to fish.103 Λ cleaned, dressed, and cooked fish, for example, was included in the funerary meal found in a Second-Dynasty tomb at Saqqara, and fish consumption by the u p p e r classes, even the Pharaoh, in the Middle and, particularly, New Kingdoms is substantially documented. Fish was included in rations supplied to workmen at Deir el-Medina, formed a significant part of royal gifts to temples and of supplies to soldiers, and was consumed by temple priests. T h e fish, particularly the catfish (cla?ias), appears as hieroglyphic symbol from Predynastic times, a n d in the New Kingdom was venerated to the extent that one large area of the cemetery at G u r o b was devoted to fish burials. 104 Included a m o n g the species o f f i s h identified in tomb paintings are, in addition to the catfish, the mullet, or mugil (most frequently represented), tilapia, and Nile perch (Lates niloticus). Fresh water varieties, of which there were upwards of fiftysix species available, m a d e u p most of the fish consumed. Fishing techniques included harpoon, bident, hook and line (both hand held and with a pole), hand and cast nets, seine, and various types of traps, such as barricades, weirs, and baskets. 105 Fish processing
Since fish begin to spoil almost immediately following removal from water and subsequent death, immediate processing is necessary. Typical fish processing motifs a p p e a r in close proximity to marsh scenes, but this need not always be the case. If kept moist fish could be transported short distances. Excavators 103
It should be kept in m i n d that the fishing scenes p r o b a b l y h a d primarily religious or magical purposes, a n d w e r e not m e a n t to r e c o r d historical events. Nevertheless, Egyptians were clearly close observers of daily life a n d would naturally i n c o r p o r a t e m u c h that was characteristic of their world. Cf. Brewer a n d F r i e d m a n , Fish and Fishing, p p . 117־, w h o suggest t h a t the strong smell of fish m a y have played a p a r t , a n d , in t h e case of O l d K i n g d o m nobles at M e m p h i s , there m a y have b e e n s o m e t a b o o associated with fish. 104 See also E m e r y , Funerary Repast, p. 6 ( T o m b 3477); B r e w e r a n d F r i e d m a n , Fish and Fishing, pp. 15 17; G a r d i n e r , Egyptian Grammar, pp. 4 7 6 - 7 7 ; Petrie, Egyptian Hieroglyphs of the First and Second Dynasties, Figs. X V X V I . 100 T y p e s o f f i s h : Brewer a n d F r i e d m a n , Fish and Fishing, pp. 4 7 8 1 ; ־fishing techniques: V a n d i er, Manuel, 5: 5 3 2 - 6 3 5 ; I k r a m , Choice Cuts, p p . 36 39; B r e w e r a n d F r i e d m a n , Fish and Fishing, p p . 2 1 - 4 6 . See, e. g., N e w b e r r y , Beni Hasan, 1: Pis. X I I , X X I X , X X X I I , a n d X X X I V ; idem, El Bersheh, 2: PL. X V I ; M o u s s a a n d Altenmüller, Das Grab des Nianchchnum und Chnumhotep, T a f . 31; a n d Davies, Tomb of Ken-amun, Pl. L X I . A n old, but still useful work is O r i c Bates, "Ancient Egyptian Fishing," Harvard African Studies 1 (1917): 1 9 9 - 2 7 1 , esp. p p . 1 9 9 - 2 0 3 , for references to fishing scenes.
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have uncovered a food processing installation near the pyramids at Giza. Finds of n u m e r o u s fish bones, gills, and fins alongside flint blades imply that fish were processed in this building, which abutted a series of bakeries. Art historical evidence, such as that found in the T o m b of Re c -em-Kuy (Fig. 8), provides the clearest understanding of how fish were processed. T h e fisherman placed the fish down on its stomach onto a fiat surface or inclined table, and cut it from head to tail nearly through its body. He then eviscerated the fish, sometimes beheading it, a n d splayed it. W h e t h e r he scaled the fish before processing is unknown. H e then h u n g the fish, as was done with meat, on a line to dry. Some fish found in tombs were neither gutted nor slit, but apparently preserved whole. 106 W h e t h e r salt was used is unknown. S o m e evidence exists to indicate that Egyptians produced a product similar to caviar called botargo, but its nature is imperfectly understood. Herodotus in the fifth century B. C. says that Egyptians ate fish either raw, sun-dried, or preserved in brine, and operated fish processing factories, called ταριχεια, at Pelusium and Canopus. W h e n these fish salting factories first appeared is unknown. 1 0 7 N o evidence has appeared to indicate that fish provided any byproducts except roe. Fish eggs, particularly extracted from mullet, have been identified in several Old Kingdom tomb paintings, such as the T o m b s of Ptah-hotep and of Ti, interspersed a m o n g gutted and splayed fish or h u n g up to dry alongside them. W h e t h e r the eggs underwent processing beyond drying, such as salting to create a product similar to m o d e r n botargo, is unknown. It is also difficult to know the role of fish eggs in Egyptian society since they do not a p p e a r in t o m b paintings after the Old Kingdom. 1 0 8
106
I k r a m (Choice Cuts, 6 5.)כןpostulates that the triangular-shaped knife (Fig. 14K) m a y have been used to scale fish. O n drying fish, see I k r a m , Choice Cuts, pp. 148 49. Cf. M o u s s a a n d Altenmüller, Das Crab des Nianchchnum und Chnumhotep, T a f . 31, 37b; Paget a n d Pirie, Tomb of Ptah-hetep, Fig. X X X I I ; T y l o r a n d Griffith, Tomb of Paheri, Pl. IV; N e w b e r r y , Beni Hasan, 1: Pl. X I I . For art historical evidence for fish processing, see I k r a m , Choice Cuts, Fable III, pp. 3 0 4 05. O n the fish at G i z a , see Hawass, "Builders of the P y r a m i d s , " p. 34, a n d p h o t o g r a p h s on p. 37. T h e fish f o u n d in the First-Dynasty T o m b 3477 at S a q q a r a h a d b e e n gutted a n d h e a d r e m o v e d before b e i n g cooked. See E m e r y , Funerary Repast, p. 6. 107
L. K e i m e r , " L a b o u t a r g u e d a n s l'Egypte a n c i e n n e , " ΒΙΕ 21 (1938-39): 2 1 5 4 3 ; J Ū h n P. H u g h e s a n d R . G o r d o n W a s s o n , " T h e Etymology Ū f B o t a r g o , " AJPh 68 (1947): 4 1 4 - 1 8 ; G e o r g a cas, Ichthyological Terms, pp. 1 4 6 - 4 8 , 179-87. T h e preserved fish listed in the H a r r i s Papyrus, dated to the reign of R a m e s e s III (1198 1166 B. C.), m a y have b e e n dried r a t h e r t h a n salted fish, as was p e r h a p s the preserved fish m e n t i o n e d in the report o f W e n a m o n , in ca. 1 100 B. C . J a m e s H . Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt. 5 Vols. (Chicago: University of C h i c a g o , 1906), 4: nos. 243, 380, 394, 582. 108 Brewer a n d F r i e d m a n , Fish and Fishing, p. 12. For a discussion of fish eggs a n d a list of Egyptian t o m b s in w h i c h they a p p e a r , see K e i m e r , " L a b o u t a r g u e d a n s l'Egypte a n c i e n n e , " p p . 2 1 5 - 4 3 ; V a n d i e r , Manuel, 5: 6 4 3 - 4 8 , a n d esp. Fig. 263 ( M a s t a b a of N e b k a o u h o r ) . T h e term
Botargo
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Ε. Sweeteners Iloney
T h e Egyptians used several sweeteners, such as dates a n d figs, but the most important, especially a m o n g the upper classes, was honey. It served as a sweetener in its p u r e state, as an ingredient in pastries, as an additive to prime beer and wine, and as part of medicines. Honey also appears in lists of provisions, daily rations, and tribute. It has been identified in tombs as early as the Middle K i n g d o m — although the identifications have been challenged — and honeycombs appear a m o n g food offerings in an Eighteenth-Dynasty tomb at Thebes. T h e earliest evidence for beekeeping anywhere comes from Egyptian tomb paintings, including the Fifth-Dynasty sun temple of Niuserre at Abu G h u r a b , the Eighteenth-Dynasty T o m b of Rekh-mi-rē C at Thebes, and the Twenty-fifthDynasty Tomb of Pabesa. 1 0 9 T h e construction of Egyptian hives seems clear from the art historical evidence. Unfortunately, no actual hive has been found, although a model of a hive has been tentatively recognized in a Fifth-Dynasty rock-cut tomb at Mcmi, at El-Hawawish. 1 1 0 Egyptian hives consisted of horizontal tubes m a d e of unbaked m u d or clay stacked one atop another. A detailed discussion of beekeeping per se, like that of raising cattle, sheep, and goats, belongs properly to animal husbandry. The question here is whether the honey m a d e by bees was further processed by the keepers. For this little unambiguous evidence exists. O n e step in gathering honey was removing part of the honeycomb from the hive. Most of the honey would easily drain out, but to get all of it required pressing the comb. This was probably done by h a n d , possibly through a sieve over a honey j a r . N o clear artistic representation for this, however, has been found. After extraction f r o m the hives, the honey was stored in variously shaped jars m a d e of baked clay. T h e y were later transferred to small, biconical containers " b o t a r g o " dates only as far back as the third c e n t u r y B. C., a n d stems f r o m the G r e e k p h r a s e ωά τάριχα, "salted fish eggs." Sec Diphilus of Siphnos, in A t h e n a e u s 3 . 1 2 1 C . See also H u g h e s a n d YVasson, " E t y m o l o g y of Botargo," pp. 4 1 4 - 1 8 . 109 A total of five apiculture scenes have c o m e to light. E v a C r a n e , The Archaeology of Beekeeping (Ithaca, Ν. Y.: C o r n e l l University Press, 1983), pp. 3 5 - 4 4 ; Eva C r a n e a n d A. J. G r a h a m , "Bee Hives of the Ancient W o r l d . 1," Bee World 66, no. 1 (1985): 23 27; F. Filce Leek," " S o m e Evidence of Bees a n d H o n e y in Ancient Egypt," Bee World 56, no. 4 (1975): 141-48; E d w a r d Neufeld, "Apiculture in Ancient Palestine (Early a n d M i d d l e I r o n Age) W i t h i n the F r a m e w o r k of the Ancient N e a r East," Ugarit-Forschungen 10 (1978): 225 37; Forbes, Studies, 5: 7 9 - 8 5 ; G . K u é n y , "Scenes apicoles d a n s l ' a n c i e n n e E g y p t e , " JNES 9 J a n . - O c t . 1950): 8 4 - 9 3 . O n the uses of honey, see Lucas, Ancient Egyptian !Materials, pp. 25 26; S t r o u h a l , Life of the Ancient Egyptians, p. 133; Wilson, Egyptian Food and Drink, p p . 49 52; D a r b y , Food: the Gift of Osiris, ])p. 4 3 0 - 3 9 : Jean Leclant, " B i e n e , " LA, cols. 7 8 6 - 8 9 . 110 Eva C r a n e a n d A . J . G r a h a m , "Bee Hives of the Ancient W o r l d . 2," Bee World 66, no. 4 (1985): 1 4 8 - 4 9 . Cf. also, C r a n e , Archaeology of Beekeeping, p. 39.
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and sealed. W h a t , if anything beyond pressing, h a p p e n e d to the honey between hive a n d biconical jars is unknown. O n e suggestion has been m a d e that honey underwent different stages of pressing — a first pressing of the comb, a washing with water, and a final pressing of the c o m b — resulting in three "grades" of honey. And finally, the Ebers Papyrus mentions a "fermented" honey used in a medicinal concoction, but its meaning is unclear. 1 1 1
111
Neufeld ("Apiciulture," pp. 2 3 2 - 3 3 ) suggests that pressing m a y h a v e been the activity shown in the heavily d a m a g e d part of the p a i n t i n g f r o m the sun temple of Niuscrrc. For biconical h o n e y pots, see C r a n e , Archaeology of Beekeeping, pp. 3 7 - 3 9 ; Davies, Tomb ofRekh-mi-rē', Pl. X L V I I I . See also, K u c n y , "Scènes apicoles," p p . 9 1 - 9 3 (grades of honey), D a r b y et al, Food: the Gift of Osiris, p. 4 3 8 (fermented honey).
CHAPTER
FIVE
T H E A N C I E N T NEAR EAST
Geography
T h e term " N e a r East" is an inexact expression. It encompasses a wide geographic area, roughly defined by the term "Fertile Crescent," but embracing as well certain areas bordering u p o n but outside of it. T h e Fertile Crescent embodied an arc b o u n d e d on the southeast by the Persian Gulf, along the eastern side by the Zagros M o u n t a i n s of western Iran, on the north stretching in an east-west direction across northern Iraq and Syria by the southern steppes of Turkey's T a u r u s Mountains, on the west by the Mediterranean Sea, and on the southwest by Egypt. This belt incorporates a variety of topographical features, such as coastal and inland mountain ranges, large and small rivers, valleys, plateaus, a n d arid desert areas. Between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers lies the region the Greeks termed Mesopotamia, or the land "between the rivers." 1 Although both rivers arise in the mountains of Armenia, the Euphrates makes a wide swing toward the west, a n d then turns south-southeast. Cutting rather deeply into the ground along its northern stretches, the Euphrates runs m o r e slowly south of Mari and creates natural levees along its banks as it meanders toward the Persian Gulf. T h e Tigris, on the other hand, flows out of the Zagros Mountains and moves more directly south. During the spring melting snow in the mountains to the east feeds into m a j o r tributaries a n d augments the river's carrying capacity. T h e steep gradient and increased volume of water create a deep riverbed and render its flow more violent prone than that of the Euphrates. Consequently, the earliest h u m a n settlements in southern Mesopotamia concentrated along the more docile Euphrates and its tributaries where irrigation agriculture was possible. This tendency was also strengthened by the fact that as one travels southward the climate becomes drier a n d hotter. Only in the northern reaches of the rivers Syria, Palestine, and northern Mesopotamia — can farmers, relying on rainfall to support their crops, engage in dry farming. Farmers of lower Mesopotamia protected their fields with levees, since both rivers flooded in late spring. Sometimes the inhabitants built large canals that paralleled the main river. Farmers farther away f r o m the river cut branch canals to divert water to 1
T h e earliest use of the t e r m M e s o p o t a m i a is f o u n d in the history of Polybius (5.44.6), writing in the m i d - s e c o n d c e n t u r y B. C . Cf. also S t r a b o 11.12.2
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—
ο
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their fields. W a t e r control also involved a system of sluices and water flow regulators, plus frequent dredging to clear canals of silt. Following flooding, farmers prepared the ground with ploughs and sowed their seeds. At various times over the next few m o n t h s they irrigated their fields by diverse means, including shadufs, water-lifting devices designed to transfer water from one side of the dike to the other. Evaporation during the s u m m e r m o n t h s and changes in the water table in the alluvial plain often led to rapid salinization of the soil, ever decreasing crop yields, and ultimately a b a n d o n m e n t of some fields. T h e need to coordinate and oversee construction, maintenance, a n d m a n a g e m e n t of a system of canals and levees designed in a controlled fashion to conduct water from the rivers towards farmers' fields, and then to harvest, store, process, and redistribute the food, led ultimately to the creation of organized central authorities. 2
A. Prehistoric Period Chalcolithic period
Halaf culture
The Chalcolithic period in the ancient N e a r East developed out of the Pottery Neolithic period, and extended from about 5500 B. C. to roughly 3400 B. C. T h e transition from Neolithic to Chalcolithic at one end and f r o m Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age at the other, however, varied from one region to another. During this period, Neolithic settlements, such as at Teleilat el-Ghassul and Shiqmim in Palestine, grew into large farming villages. 111 some places, such as at Tell Halaf in Syria a n d U b a i d in southern Mesopotamia, farming villages began to emerge as u r b a n centers. These sites gave their names to two of the most important and widespread pottery cultures of the Prehistoric period. Halaf culture sites extend from the M e d i t e r r a n e a n area of northern Syria, such as at Ras S h a m r a , across upper Mesopotamia to the Zagros Mountains. Primarily farmers, Halaf inhabitants also raised sheep, goats, a n d some cattle. Using mortar and pestle a n d querns, they processed e m m e r wheat and barley. H o m e s , until the Late Halaf period, were generally circular in shape, topped by a domed roof and an attached rectangular anteroom. Examples excavated at Tell Turlu, in Turkey, show the tholos equipped with a hearth a n d bell-shaped storage pits. Late Halaf structures, such as at Arpachiyah a n d Yarim T e p e in northern Iraq, 2
Maisels, Emergence of Civilization, p p . 4 5 54; O d e d Borowski, "Irrigation," in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East. Eric M . Meyers, ed. 5 Vols. (New York: O x f o r d University Press, 1997), 3: 181 84; A. Leo O p p e n h e i m , Ancient Mesopotamia. Portrait of a Dead Civilization (Chicago: T h e University of C h i c a g o Press, 1964), pp. 35 42; I). T . Potts, Mesopotamian Civilization. The Material Foundations ( L o n d o n : T h e A t h l o n e Press, 1997), p p . 6 4 2 ; ־K a r e n R h e a N c m c t N e j a t , Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia (Westport, C o n n . : G r e e n w o o d Press, 1998), pp. 253 56; Eyre, "Agricultural Cycle, F a r m i n g , a n d W a t e r M a n a g e m e n t , " p p . 180 82.
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assumed a rectangular shape. Excavations in the latter site yielded small tholosshaped structures, ca. 2.0 m. or less in diameter, which were apparently grain storage facilities shared by inhabitants of surrounding houses. 3 T h e Ubaid culture originated in southern Mesopotamia and spread northward and westward overlaying the earlier Halaf areas. 4 This pottery culture is especially known from sites in southern Mesopotamia at Eridu, Ur, Ubaid, and Uruk, from northern Mesopotamia at Yarim Tepe, T e p e Gawra, and Arpachiyah, and from Syria at Ugarit (Ras Shamra). Ubaid farmers at Tell el-'Oueili, in lower Mesopotamia, grew barley and einkorn wheat on irrigated land. During the late Ubaid period, they harvested cereals using clay sickles, sometimes fixed with large flint teeth, and processed the grain with clay pestles. T h e y stored grain in granaries whose superstructure, unfortunately, is unknown due to poor préservation. Additionally, they raised cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs, and to a lesser extent hunted and fished for their subsistence. Carbonized olive a n d date stones found at Teleilat el-Ghassul in Palestine confirms the presence of these fruits in the Levant during the fourth millennium B. C. 5 Ubaid dwellings were generally m a d e of light materials, with only clan dwellings or granaries reaching significant size. In the Negev desert at Shiqmim, farmers in the mid-fifth millennium B. C., lacking a floodplain on which to live, survived in underground complexes of interconnected tunnels a n d chambers, a n d tilled the surface above. T h e y planted barley, wheat, and lentils, and raised cattle, sheep, and goats, and supplied their subterranean living quarters with hearths, stone tools, and storage pits. Eventually, by ca. 4300 B. C., they moved
3
N . Ya. M e r p e r t a n d R . M . M u n c h a e v , " Y a r i m T e p e III: the H a l a f Levels," in Early Stages in the Evolution of Mesopotamian Civilization. N o r m a n Yoffee a n d j e f f r e y j . Clark, eds. (Tucson, Arizona: T h e University of A r i z o n a Press, 1993), p p . 168 71, esp. Fig. 9.2.1 ; J a m e s Mellaart, in CAM1 1, 1 (1970), p p . 276—90; H a n s J . Nissen, "Prehistoric M e s o p o t a m i a , " in Oxford Encyclopedia ofArchaeology in the Near East, 3: 477; R u d o l f H . D o r n e m a n n , " H a l a f , Tell," in ibid., 2: 460; Stuart C a m p b e l l , " T h e H a l a f Period in Iraq: O l d Sites a n d N e w , " BiblArch, 55, no. 4 (Dec. 1992): 182 87. 1 U b a i d culture a p p a r e n t l y developed indigenously in s o u t h e r n M e s o p o t a m i a f r o m the earlier E r i d u a n d Hajji M u h a m m a d cultures. S o m e scholars a r g u e , however, that these two cultures show affinities with the Susiana culture in the Z a g r o s M o u n t a i n s of s o u t h e r n Iran. See Mellaart, in CAH3 1 , 1 : 2 8 4 - 8 9 , a n d Nissen, "Prehistoric M e s o p o t a m i a , " in Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East, 3: 477. 5 M a x E. L. M a l l o w a n , CAW 1, 1 (1970), p p . 327 421; H a n s J . Nissen, "Prehistoric M e s o p o t a m i a , " in Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East, 3: 4 7 7 7 8 ; ־N. Ya. M e r p e r t a n d R. M . M u n c h a e v , " Y a r i m T e p e III: the U b a i d Levels," in Early Stages in the Evolution of Mesopotamian Civilization. N o r m a n Yoffee a n d J e f f r e y J . Clark, eds. (T ucson, Arizona: T h e University of Ariz o n a Press, 1993), p p . 2 2 5 - 4 0 ; J e a n - L o u i s H u o t , " T h e First F a r m e r s at Oueili," BiblArch 55, n o 4 (Dec. 1992): 188 95, esp. plate on p a g e 195; idem, " U b a i d , " in Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East, 5: 2 5 1 - 5 2 ; T h o m a s E. Levy, " T h e Chalcolithic Period: Archaeological Sources for the History of Palestine," BiblArch 49, no. 2 J u n e 1986): 1 0 3 - 0 4 .
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Kilns
CHAPTER THREE
their dwellings above ground and used the tunnels and chambers for storage and processing of grain. Grinding stones and pottery storage vessels have been found in situ in chambers ranging in size up to thirteen feet by twenty-six feet and reaching eight feet high. O n e room, dating ca. 4 2 0 0 - 4 0 0 0 B. C., contained a grain silo a n d an alcove supplied with grinding equipment. At Tell Mefesh, in central Syria, the small mud-brick house had a courtyard with above-ground storage bins containing barley. At Uruk, whose origins go back to the late Ubaid period, large public structures, such as temples, make their appearance by the mid-fourth millennium B. C., during the subsequent Uruk Period of southern Mesopotamia. At Yarim T e p e , in northern Mesopotamia, Ubaid dwellings, m a d e of sun-baked m u d bricks, possessed of a rectangular ground plan, and with walls and floors plastered with mud, contained numerous storage rooms and living rooms equipped with grinding stones to process foods. So also at T e p e G a w r a and Arpachiyah rectangular buildings subdivided into many rooms were the norm. At T e p e G a w r a a temple of tholos design, similar to earlier Halaf structures but dating to the early Uruk period, was used at least partially as a dwelling. Exhibiting an external diameter of between eighteen and nineteen feet and a wall thickness of approximately a meter, it contained several rooms, one of which apparently served as a granary. 6 Craft specialization was also an important innovation of the Chalcolithic period. Pottery production expanded such that mass-produced ceramics came in greater varieties of shape and size, some of which were m a d e using an early form of the wheel. Controlled firing in pottery kilns allowed for variations in luster and color. Halaf kilns have come to light at sites near Carchcmish, at Yarim T e p e II, and especially at Arpachiyah. Excavations at the Ubaid site of Tell Abada, in the H a m r i n region of east central Iraq, for example, have revealed six different types of pottery kilns varying according to shape and size. Some were of rather simple construction, while others display greater development and specialization. U b a i d kilns reached temperatures higher than could Halaf kilns. T h e expansion of metallurgy to include the m a n u f a c t u r e of ritual objects from copper, recent scholarship argues, implies a shift from an egalitarian society where production was based on a household economy to a stratified society where manufacture, spurred by an increase of specialist artisans who catered to
6
R a i n e r M i c h a e l B o e h m e r , " U r u k - W a r k a , " in Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East, 5: 294; T h o m a s E. Levy, Alan J. W i t t e n , a n d D a v i d /Mon, " D e n i z e n s of the Desert, י יArchaeology 49, no. 2 (March-April 1996): 36 40; a n d M a l l o w a n , in CAW 1, 1 (1970), p p . 3 7 8 - 7 9 (Tepe G a w r a ) , 411 (Tell Mefesh); M e r p e r t a n d M u n c h a e v , " Y a r i m T e p e III: the U b a i d Levels," p p . 2 3 3 - 3 5 . O n the n o m e n c l a t u r e for late fourth millennium B. C . cultures in s o u t h e r n M e s o p o t a m i a , see n o t e 23.
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a social elite, exceeded domestic needs. Economic expansion can also be seen in the a p p e a r a n c e of specialist workshops in pottery and flint tools and in the production of ivory figurines and basalt statues and bowls. Some places became centcrs for long-distance trade in these items or in the raw materials needed to produce them. At Yarim T e p e , in northern Iraq, for example, archaeologists have uncovered a complex of rooms dating to the Ubaid Period, ca. 4500 B. C. O n e room yielded hundreds of querns a n d mullers shaped from local sandstone, far too m a n y for local use alone. Fliese were probably trade items awaiting transport elsewhere. 7 By the late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age I periods, the following crops were being cultivated in the ancient N e a r East: cereals (barley and wheat, both einkorn and emmer), various pulses, such as peas, lentils, chickpeas, a n d bitter vetch, and five fruit types, olive, grape, fig, pomegranate, and date. 8 O f these, those requiring processing include the cereals, to remove the tough outer covering, the olive, to separate the pit f r o m the meat and then to extract the juice from the latter, and the grape and date, to preserve them in dried form or to press out their juice to produce syrup or wine. T h e fourth millennium B. C. saw technological improvements over the Neolithic practice in processing each of these products.
1. Cereal Processing
7
Processing of cereals during the fourth millennium B. C. followed the basic procedures used during the Neolithic period. After the harvest, the cereal was threshed, then in some places stored in shallow pits lined with stone or plaster or in others in above-ground silos whose original shape remains uncertain. W h e n ready for processing, individuals used a pestle to pound the grains placed in mortars or they ground them on querns. At J e r i c h o during the Early Bronze Age, however, it seems that the saddle q u e r n (PI. 17), m a d e of basalt, sandstone, or limestone, replaced the Neolithic trough quern. In general, the length of the saddle quern exceeded its width by fifty per cent. Lengthwise the working surface is flat or slightly concave, while across its width the surface is flat or slightly
7
Postgate, Early Mesopotamia., p. 207, esp. Fig. 11.1; Levy, "Chalcolithic P e r i o d , " p p . 87—96; A. M . T . M o o r e , "Prehistoric Syria," in Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East, 5: 126; B o c h m e r , " U r u k - W a r k a , " in Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East, 5: 295; S a b a h A b b o u d J a s i m , '77ie Ubaid Period in Iraq. Recent Excavations in the Hamrin Region. 2 Vols. BAR I n t e r n a tional Series 267 ( O x f o r d : British Archaeological R e p o r t s , 1985), 1: 5 3 54; 2: Figs. 31 40; M o o r e , " I n c e p t i o n of Potting in W e s t e r n Asia," p p . 48 49. B Z o h a r y a n d H o p f , Domestication of Plants in the Old World, pp. 15-31 (cereals), 86 88( ־pulses), a n d 1 3 4 - 3 7 (fruits); Stager, "Firstfruits," p p . 17273־.
Saddle quem
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convex. T h e grinder, or muller, usually has an oval or sub-rectangular shape, and is slightly shorter than the q u e r n is wide. Although stone vessels continued in use, the mass production of pottery m a d e the cooking of gruels a n d other types of foods more readily possible, a n d flat breads were m a d e in small ovens similar to the modern Arabic tannurs. 9
2. Wine First evidence of wine production: Hqjji Firuz Tepe
Godin Tepe
G r a p e and olive processing changed significantly during the fourth millennium B. C. As noted in C h a p t e r T w o , the earliest evidence for wine comes from sixthmillennium B. C. Hajji Firuz T e p e in the northern Zagros range of western Iran. T h e Neolithic inhabitants produced wine probably from the wild progenitor (Vitis vinifera L. subsp. Sylvestris [C. C. Gmelin] Berger) of the domesticated variety of grape. 1 0 This wine, known from its residue found in a j a r , additionally contained resin from the Pistacia tree. Further evidence comes f r o m fourth-millcnnium B. C. Godin T e p e , lying in the central Zagros Mountains of western Iran. R o o m 18 (Early Period V, ca. 3500 3100 ־B. C.), the largest room of the complex, contained jars and carbonized material identified as lentils a n d barley. T h e residue of beer has been confirmed for one j a r , while others contained a wine residue, corroborated by the presence of tartaric acid detected by infrared spectroscopy. 1'he containers, with long n a r r o w necks, had apparently been stored on their sides." Clay stoppers, found not in situ but elsewhere in other rooms of the complex, m a y have served to seal jars of this type. Excavators have surmised from this material that R o o m 18 functioned during Early Period V as a storage area where food items were exchanged or distributed. R o o m 20, a private room dating to Late Period V, ca. 3 1 0 0 - 2 9 0 0 B. C., on the other hand, !l
R . S. Ellis, " M ü h l e . Β. Archäologisch," RIA (1995), 8: 401; K e n y o n a n d H o l l a n d , Excavations at Jericho, 5: 5 5 3 62, esp. Fig. 230, N o . 11, a n d PI. 2 1 ; J a s i m , Ubaid Period in Iraq, 1: 54. Levy ("Chalcolithic A g e , " p. 88) uses the term t a b u n to indicate the small o v e n at Teleilat el-Ghassul. For the distinction b e t w e e n the t a b u n a n d t a n n u r , see Forbes, Studies, 6: 62 63, esp. Fig 7; a n d C h a r l o t t e Scheifer, Cooking and Cooking Stands in Italy, 1400-400 B. C, Vol. 2, Pt. I of Acquarossa (Stockholm: Svenska Institutet i R o m , 1981), p p . 80, 106, note 359, a n d 107, note 365. 10 M c G o v e r n et al, "Neolithic Resinated W i n e , " p p . 4 8 0 - 8 1 . T h e wild g r a p e is indigenous to s o u t h e r n E u r o p e , the N e a r East, a n d the s o u t h e r n C a s p i a n belt. Collection of g r a p e s long prccede d cultivation, which c a n be c o n f i r m e d only as early as the Chalcolithic period, o r the Early Bronze I period, of the Levant. Z o h a r y a n d H o p f , Domestication of Plants in the Old World, p p . 143 50; Z o h a r y , " D o m e s t i c a t i o n of the G r a p e v i n e Vitis Vinifera L.," pp. 2 4 - 3 0 , a n d Stager, "Firstfruits," p. '173. 11 Virginia R. Badler, " T h e Archaeological Evidence for W i n e m a k i n g , Distribution a n d C o n s u m p t i o n at Proto-Historic G o d i n T e p e , I r a n , " in 771e Origins and Ancient History of Wine. Patrick E. M c G o v e r n , Stuart J . Fleming, a n d S o l o m o n H . K a t z ״eds. (London: G o r d o n a n d Breach PubUshers, 1995), p p . 4 5 - 5 3 ; Patrick E. M c G o v e r n a n d R u d o l p h H. Michel, " T h e Analytical a n d
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presented evidence for wine consumption. O n e of its wine jars had a small hole drilled into it near the bottom after it had been fired. The puipose of the hole is unknown, but may have served to allow for easy pouring from the mouth, or permitted the liquid to be drained without disturbing the sediment which had accumulated at the bottom. 1 2 Items that may have served in winemaking come from Room 2 and date to Late Period V. T h e y include a large funnel, which was perhaps used to hold the grapes while being pressed with a heavy, circular "lid," also found in close proximity. And finally, in the same room with the funnel, lid, and jars similar to those in Rooms 18 and 20, though lacking any wine residue, was a (partially excavated) mud-brick construction of ca. 6.0 cm. in depth that may have served as a treading vat. Uses for these elements are for now suppositions, but excavators citc comparative material found in winemaking contexts elsewhere a n d at later periods, such as in the Transcaucasia!! area (lids), Iron Age II Gibeon (funnels) in Jordan, and M i n o a n Crete (jars with holes drilled near the bottom). Nevertheless, lack of archaeobotanical evidence for grapes anywhere in the complex casts doubt on the conclusion that this wine was processed locally. Wine was stored and consumed here; that it was processed on site is less certain. Since there is little evidence to prove that the wine was a local product, identification of its origin remains an open question. 1 3 Godin T e p e sits astride the Great K h o r a s a n Road leading from lower Mesopotamia into Iran, and may have been a Sumerian or Elamite trading post. Chemical evidence for wine in southern Mesopotamia has been found in a spouted j a r in U r u k dated to the Late U r u k period (3500 3100 ־B. C.). Consider-
Archaeological C h a l l e n g e of Detecting Ancient W i n e : T w o C a s e Studies f r o m the Ancient N e a r East," in ibid., p p . 5 8 - 6 3 ; Virginia R. Badler, Patrick E. M c G o v c r n . a n d R u d o l p h H . Michel, " D r i n k a n d Be Merry! I n f r a r e d Spectroscopy a n d Ancient N e a r Eastern W i n e , " in Organic Contents of Ancient Vessels: Material Analysis and Archaeological Investigation. William R. Biers a n d Patrick E. M c G o v c r n , eds. M A S C A R e s e a r c h Papers in Science a n d Archaeology, Vol. 7 (Philadelphia: T h e University M u s e u m of Archaeology a n d A n t h r o p o l o g y , 1990), pp. '25-36; R u d o l p h H . Michel, Patrick E. M c G o v c r n , a n d Virginia R. Badler, " T h e First W i n e & Beer. C h e m i c a l Detection of Ancient F e r m e n t e d Beverages," Analytical Chemistry 65, no. 8 ( 1 5 April 1993): 4 1 2 A 413Λ; R u d o l f H . Michel, Patrick E. M c G o v c r n , a n d Virginia R. Badler, " C h e m i c a l Evidence for Ancient Beer," Nature 3 6 0 (5 N o v . 1992): 24. 12 Badler, "Archaeological Evidence for W i n e m a k i n g , " p p . 4 9 5 4 ־. Its position on the vessel m a k e s it unlikely that the hole served to allow gasses to escape d u r i n g f e r m e n t a t i o n . 13 Excavators refer to the m u d b r i c k construction as a " b i n . " T h e funnel m e a s u r e s ca. 0.50 m . in d i a m e t e r ; the lid weighes ca. 1.0 kilogram. Funnels h a v e also b e e n f o u n d in Late U r u k period contexts at Tell Brak in Syria a n d several sites in Anatolia. Badler, "Archaeological Evidence for W i n e m a k i n g , " p p . 5 1 - 5 2 ; Michel et al, "First W i n e & Beer," p p . 4 0 9 A - 4 1 2 A . Badler et al ("Drink a n d Be M e r r y ! " p p . 33 34) think that the wine m a y h a v e b e e n p r o d u c e d locally, since the vessels with tartaric acid deposits arc thus far u n i q u e to G o d i n T e p e .
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ing the great distance from the area where the grape naturally grows, the late a p p e a r a n c e in the cuneiform record for the word for the vine (Sumerian GEŠTUÎ), and the early literary evidence not only for the Sumerian word for beer (kaš) but also for the clear preference of that particular beverage by the inhabitants of Mesopotamia, this wine was probably imported as well. A likely source for the wine of Godin T e p e lies to the north in the area called Transcaucasia, with which Godin T e p e had contacts by the mid-fourth millennium B. C. Some scholars, therefore, lean toward assigning to that area the distinction of originating the art of making wine. Others, however, prefer an area more to the west, in southeastern Anatolia. 1 4 T h e wild grape grows naturally along the northern and southern boundaries of Anatolia, and Biblical tradition (Genesis 8 - 9 ) claims that N o a h planted vineyards (and then got drunk from the wine) on Mt. Ararat in eastern Turkey. Wild grape collection and, no doubt, consumption in fresh form or as raisins extend back at least to the Neolithic period, such as at ninth-millennium B. C. Çayônii. Cultivation, and perhaps processing, may date as early as the late fourth millennium B. C. in southern Turkey, in K u r b a n Höyük, for example. 1 5 Wine trade
T h e cultivation of the vine h a d spread from Anatolia as far as the southern Levant by the late Chalcolithic or Early Bronze Age. Archaeobotanical evidence for grapes has been found at Jericho, Lachish, Arad, and in J o r d a n at Tell Shuna North. Indirect proof for winemaking in the southern Levant comes from evidence for trading contacts between that area a n d Egypt, which date to the Levantine Early Bronze Age and the Egyptian Predynastic and Early Dynastic periods. An Egyptian trading post operated during this period in the northwestern Negev at 'En Besor. Excavations at North Sinai settlements have yielded Egyptian a n d Palestinian ceramics, bread molds, and baking trays, and in one Palestinian site containers were found with Nile mollusk shells and catfish spikes similar to ones found in Maadi. M a a d i imported Levantine ceramics, copper implements, beads, and other items. Wine apparently formed an important part of Egyptian-Levantine trade f r o m as early as ca. 3150 B. C., the date of Levan-
14
Virginia R e n k e Badler, Patrick Ε. M c G o v e r n , a n d D o n a l d L. Glusker, " C h e m i c a l Evidence for a W i n e Residue f r o m W a r k a (Uruk) Inside a Late U r u k Period S p o u t e d Jar," MDAI(B) 27 (1996): 3 9 - 4 3 ; M i c h e l et al, "First W i n e & Beer," p. 412A; Badler, "Archaeological Evidence for W i n e m a k i n g , " pp. 5 4 - 5 5 . 15 Z o h a r y a n d H o p f , Domestication of Plants in the Old World, pp. 144-48; Z o h a r y , " D o m e s t i c a t i o n of the G r a p e v i n e Vitis Vinifera L.," p. 28; R i c h a r d L. Zettler a n d N a o m i F. Miller, " S e a r c h i n g for W i n e in the Archaeological R e c o r d of Ancient M e s o p o t a m i a of the T h i r d a n d S e c o n d Millennia B. C . , " in Origins and Ancient History of Wine, p. 126; R o n a l d L. G o r n y , "Viticulture a n d Ancient A n a t o l i a , " in Origins and Ancient History of Wine, p p . 1 3 3 - 4 5 . G o r n e y , in a r g u i n g strongly for the p r i m a c y of A n a t o l i a n viticulture, explicitly rejects a T r a n s c a u c a s i a n c o n n e c t i o n .
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tine wine jars found in the burial c h a m b e r of Scorpion I at Abydos. Strong evidence also exists to suppose that viticulture and winemaking came into Egypt through these early contacts with the southern Levant. 1 6 In addition to wine and other agricultural products, Levantine-Egyptian trade included olive oil.
3.
Oil
Inhabitants of Palestine gathered the wild olive {()lea europaea L. var. Oleaster [Hoffmanns and Link]) for food and lighting during the Chalcolithic period. W h e n they began to cultivate the olive {Olea europaea L.) and to process its oil is unknown, but evidence for both has been claimed for many sites in the J o r d a n Valley ranging from the early to late fourth millennium B. C. A m o n g these are Teleilat el-Ghassul, Lachish, Pella, Tell Shuna North, Tell Abu Hamid, Shoam, Tel Megiddo, and particularly on the Golan Heights. 17 T h e latter site has yielded the earliest evidence for olive oil processing, dating to the Chalcolithic period. Oil processing embodies three basic steps: grinding or crushing the fruit a n d Chalcolithic removing the pit, pressing the meat and skins to extract the liquid, and separat- processing ing the oil from water also contained in the meat. At its most primitive level, this can be done by pressing olives placed on a flat or inclined surface with a large stone and catching the liquid as it runs off. T h e r e is some evidence that at Shabbe, on the Golan Heights, olives were crushed in cup mortars cut from the rock. At R a s m H a r b u s and elsewhere, also on the Golan Heights, however, a more elaborate system was used. Excavators have recovered from private homes 16
Z o h a r y a n d Hopf. Domestication of Plants in the Old World, p p . 148-49; T i m o t h y P. H a r r i s o n , " E c o n o m i c s with an E n t r e p r e n e u r i a l Spirit: Early Bronze T r a d e with Late Predynastic E g y p t , " BiblArch 56, no. 2 (June 1993): 8 1 - 9 3 ; S u z a n n e R i c h a r d , " T h e Early Bronze. T h e Rise a n d Collapse of U r b a n i s m , " BiblArch 50, no. 1 ( M a r c h 1987): 30; M c G o v c r n , " W i n e for Eternity, י יp p . 2 8 3 2 ; ־G o p h n a a n d Gazit, "First Dynasty Egyptian Residency at ' E n Besor," p p . 9 16. O n wine imports into Early-Dynastic Egypt, see above, C h a p t e r Four, p p . 1 4 2 - 1 4 3 . 17 Wild olives differ f r o m cultivated forms by possessing smaller fruit a n d yielding less oil. Levy, " T h e Chalcolithic P e r i o d , " p. 103; Nili Liphschitz, R a m G o p h n a , M o s h e H a r t m a n , a n d G i d e o n Biger, " T h e Beginning of Olive (Olea europaea) Cultivation in the O l d W o r l d : A Reassessment," JArchSci 18 (1991): 4 4 1 - 5 3 ; Nili Liphschitz, R a m G o p h n a , G e o r g e s Bonani, a n d A m i r Feldstein, "Wild Olive (Olea Europaea) Stones f r o m a Chalcolithic C a v e at S h o h a m , Israel a n d T h e i r Implications," Tel Aviv 23, no. 2 (1996): 135-41; Z o h a r y a n d H o p f , Domestication of Plants in the Old World, pp. 141-43; Stager, "Firstfruits," p. 176. David Eitam would place the cultivation of the olive tree in Israel as early as the sixth millennium B. C . , a n d the use of its oil for food in the Pottery Neolithic period. See D a v i d E i t a m , ' " B e t w e e n the [Olive] Rows, Oil Will b e P r o d u c e d , Presses Will be T r o d , ' (Job 24, 1 1)," in La production du vin et de l'huile en Méditenannée. M a r i e - C l a i r e A m o u r e t t i a n d J e a n - P i e r r e B r u n , eds. BCH Suppl. 26 (Athens: École Française d ' A t h è n e s , 1993), p. 65. By Palestine, I m e a n the region south of Syria, e x t e n d i n g f r o m Phoenicia to the b o r d e r of Egypt, including all of Israel. For the definition of ancient Palestine a n d its relationship with Israel, see D a v i d M . J a c o b s o n , "Palestine a n d Israel," BASOR 3 1 3 (Feb. 1999): 6 5 - 7 4 .
olive
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in excess of fifteen elongated basin-shaped vessels, which are similar to querns except that they possess upturned rims. While all basins arc fragmentary, their extant measurements range f r o m thirty to sixty-seven centimeters in length and from twenty-six to forty-eight centimeters in width. T h e elevated rims probably served to keep the moveable olives within the working area of the basin while being p o u n d e d and ground with small oval stones or flint choppers. O n c e the olives had been p o u n d e d and the pit removed, the liquid was apparently transferred, by pouring or ladling, into pottery containers possessing two handles and a pouring spout. Here the oil was allowed to separate from the water, after which the former was transferred to another container ready to use. 18 At Tel Megiddo, olive processing involved a small, smooth, slightly inclined area for crushing and pressing the olives a n d a shallow depression cut into the rock for collecting the oil, which flowed into it through a channel from the work surface. Workers apparently crushed the olives either by treading on them with their feet or by rolling a large stone back and forth over them. If the workers treaded the hard olives, they m a y have worn some protective covering over their feet, as was apparently done later by Boeotian Greeks in the second century A. D. 1 9 T h e crushed olives were then gathered up; it is unknown if the pits were removed before pressing. T h e olives — a n d this is only conjecture — may have been placed into a basket or laid out on a piece of cloth that was then wrapped over them. Large rocks placed on top expressed the liquid, which drained through channels cut into the rock into the collecting vat. T h e y could then skim the oil off the top and place it into terra-cotta containers. 2 0 Only small, smoothed areas accompanied by shallow depressions or cup holes cut into the rock betray processing sites; wooden pestles, foot coverings, baskets, and cloth, if used at all, have long since disappeared. Yet some confidence can be placed in designating these finds as olive oil processing sites. T h e ease of con-
18
Claire Epstein, " O i l P r o d u c t i o n in the G o l a n H e i g h t s d u r i n g the Chalcolithic Period," Tel Aviv 20, n o 2 (1993): 133 46; Stager, "Firstfruits," p. 177. O v e r forty-five Chalcolithic rock-cut installations, f o u n d at Khallet e - P h a q i a h a n d Khallet e - G a z a z , in the D o t h a n Valley, n o r t h e a s t of m o d e r n T e l Aviv, included small shallow c u p marks, m o r t a r s , a n d o b l o n g basins. T h e estimated olive oil capacity at the latter site, which c o n t a i n e d seven m o r t a r s a n d six c u p marks, has been estimated at 160 liters p e r year. See E i t a m , ' " B e t w e e n the [Olive] Rows',' יp p . 6 8 - 6 9 . 19 Pausanias G r a m m a t i c u s (fr. 239) m e n t i o n s a i κρουπέζαι, w o o d e n sandals, w o r n to crush olives with the feet: κρουπέζαι- Βοιωτία υποδήματα ξ ύ λ ι ν α , έν όις τάς έλαίας πατοΰσιν. H a r t m u t Erbse, Untersuchungen zu den attizistischen Lexika (Berlin: A d a d e m i e - V e r l a g , 1950), p. 191, no. 48. Cf. also Pollux Onomasticon 7.87; 10.153; C r a t i n u s I I . 2 2 5 M (=fr. 31 OK). T h e Bible contains a single reference to t r e a d i n g olives, Micah 6:15. 20 R a f a e l Frankel, S h m u e l Avitsur, a n d Etan Avalon. History and Technologγ of Olive Oil in the Holy Land. Edited by E t a n Ayalon a n d transi, by Jay C . J a c o b s o n (Arlington, V A : O l é a r i u s Editions, 1994), p p . 2 8 - 3 1 , esp. Figs. 16 19
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struction and use of these basic facilities guaranteed their continued use even when more complicated apparatus were developed. Small, "portable," examples with depressions and channels cut into stone slabs and designed to produce small amounts of oil, for example, were found at Megiddo. All these simple preindustrial methods for processing oil remained almost unchanged in Israel into the twentieth century. 2 1 That these ancient sites only processed olive oil cannot be taken for granted, as the simple facilities could also process grapes to make wine. Finds of olive pits a r o u n d or near the site can serve to distinguish the product processed, but lack of any botanical evidence leaves the question open. Nevertheless, since the grape did not a p p e a r in the Levant before the Early Bronze period, Chalcolithic installations probably served to process olive oil. Although olive oil was included a m o n g trade items with Egypt a n d perhaps elsewhere, processing apparently remained essentially a domestic operation until the Late Bronze or Iron ages.
B. The Historical Period O v e r a long expanse of time, stretching f r o m the beginning of the fourth millennium B. C. to the death of Alexander the Great, the ancient N e a r East saw the rise and fall of m a n y empires, some of which coexisted at various times. Unlike Egypt, the area as a whole at no time corresponded to a single political entity with clearly defined borders. T h e diverse parts of the Near East developed differently, often along divergent lines, while their inhabitants evolved distinctive lifestyles. O u r discussion, therefore, will focus on three areas a n d populations. T h e first will include those w h o inhabited the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers: the Sumerians and Akkadians to the south and the Assyrians to the north. T h e Hittites of Asia Minor, to the north of the Fertile Crescent per sc, form the second group, while the third includes the various inhabitants of Syria and Palestine. T h e chronological boundaries to be followed correspond generally to the rise a n d fall of empires in the three areas down to the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B. C. O f necessity, some overlap from one area to another is unavoidable, and some places discussed, such as Mari, on the middle Euphrates, properly belong to none of the contending states. The political and military fortunes of empires, however, are not the focus of this study. T h e development of food technology belonged neither to one empire or culture nor to a single time period. For a n u m b e r of reasons, evidence available for
21
Ibid., p p . 2 8 - 2 9 .
Ancient Near East defined
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the study of food technology in the ancient N e a r East is scattered over a wide geographic area and chronological range. T h e political and financial conditions of m o d e r n countries in the area have severely limited archaeological work, and over the millennia climatic conditions and encroachments of m o d e r n life have taken their toll on the fragile ancient remains, constructed more often of clay than of stone. Additionally, uniformity of ev idence varies significantly. For one time a n d place the a m o u n t of literary evidence may exceed the archaeological material; at another date and location the reverse may hold true. Non-literary evidence relating to food technology in the ancient N e a r East exists in far less volume than for Egypt. T h e archaeological material includes houses and buildings, particularly palaces, where food was prepared, tombs, and paleobotanical and paleozoological remains, while art historical evidence embraces primarily a few sculpted reliefs and cylinder seals depicting food preparation a n d consumption.22
1. Food Technology and the Rise of the State Stamp and cylinder seals
T h e earliest evidence for true cities is found in southern Mesopotamia in the city of Uruk during the Uruk and J e m d e t Nasr periods of the mid and late fourth millennium B. C. 2 3 Here, besides m o n u m e n t a l architecture a n d art, the developm e n t of record keeping using impressed tablets heralded the appearance of writing and of emerging political and economic organization. S t a m p seals of varying designs, such as geometric patterns, had been used in Chalcolithic times for apotropaic or decorative purposes; in the Halaf period they filled the more practical purpose of sealing containers. U b a i d seals expanded their decorative repertoirc to include h u m a n figures. S o m e clay tablets of the Uruk a n d J e m d e t Nasr periods bore impressions m a d e by cylinder seals fashioned of different kinds of stone. These impressions employed varied designs of decorative, symbolic, or narrative significance, a n d depict plants and animals, including humans engaged in diverse activities both secular and religious. T h e motivation behind their use is unknown, but they probably served as marks of ownership of items bearing clay sealings. Cylinders seals of the U r u k period a n d later are particularly helpful in investigating food technology, as some motifs include grain storage 22
R o s e m a r y Ellison, " M e t h o d s of F o o d P r e p a r a t i o n in M e s o p o t a m i a (c. 3 0 0 0 6 0 0 BC)," JESHO 27, n o . 1 (Jan. 1984): 89. 23 W h e r e a s in Palestine the chronological n o m e n c l a t u r e refers to the period between ca. 3400 a n d 3000 B. C . as the Early Bronze Age, in s o u t h e r n M e s o p o t a m i a it is divided between the U r u k p e r i o d (ca. 3 4 0 0 3200), n a m e d for the city of U r u k , a n d the J e m d e t N a s r p e r i o d (ca. 3 2 0 0 - 3 0 0 0 B. C.), called such f r o m the central M e s o p o t a m i a n city of J e m d e t N a s r , located a b o u t sixty miles south of B a g h d a d .
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structures and b a n q u e t scenes illustrated with seated figures in the act of drinking. 24 H o w writing per se developed remains a matter of some controversy. Denise Schmandt-Besserat, for example, contends that it began as early as Neolithic times in places like Mureybit III (ca. 8 0 0 0 - 7 0 0 0 Β. C.), which had a need to record accounts of grain harvested and stored, and, perhaps, numbers of animais maintained. This need increased as production capacity expanded and developed in tandem with changes in social structure, the formation of an elite class, and the rise of a bureaucracy to oversee storage and distribution of surplus products. At first, record keeping involved a system of concrete counting with simple clay tokens of various geometric shapes. O n e token shape, for example, indicated one measure of a specific commodity, such as oil, while a token of another shape designated a second item. Some tokens were apparently linked together on strings. Later, in the fourth millennium B. C., complex tokens bore various kinds of linear a n d punched markings. Signs began to replace threedimensional tokens when these counters were sealed within a clay envelope that bore an imprint of the shape of the enclosed tokens. T h e n , solid clay tablets replaced entirely the token and envelope, when abstract counting could be indicatcd by the use of impressed and incised signs and pictographs. SchmandtBesserat's thesis has not achieved universal acceptance. Some scholars counter that direct correspondence between tokens with impressed or incised signs a n d actual products being counted cannot be reliably shown. T h e y would attribute the origin of writing to the nature of the spoken language, wherein monosyllabic utterances were given a specific pictogram and ultimately the logosyllabic form found in cuneiform. 2 5
24
H e n r i F r a n k f o r t , Cylinder Seals. A Documentary Essay on the Art and Religion of the Ancient Near East ( L o n d o n : M a c m i l l a n a n d C o . , 1939), esp. pp. 1 141, a n d Pis. Ill a n d X V ; Bonnie M a g n e s s - G a r diner, "Seals, 5 ' in Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East, 4: 5 0 9 - 1 2 ; Holly P i t t m a n , " C y l i n d e r Seals a n d S c a r a b s in die A n c i e n t N e a r East," in Civilizations of the Ancient Near East. J a c k M . Sasson, J o h n Baines, G a r y B e c k m a n , a n d K a r e n S. R u b i n s o n , eds. 4 Vols. (New York: C h a r l e s Scribner's Sons, 1995), 3: 1 5 8 9 - 1 6 0 3 ; Beatrice Teissier, Ancient Near Eastern Cylinder Seals from the Marcopoli Collection (Berkeley: University of C a l i f o r n i a Press, 1984), p p . 3 - 1 1 0 , cf. esp. C a t alogue Nos. 63, 88, 89, a n d 352. 25 B o e h m e r , " U r u k - W a r k a , " in Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East, 5: 2 9 4 9 5 ; ״Denise Schmandt-Besserat, Before Writing. V o l u m e I: From Counting to Cuneiform (Austin: University of T e x a s Press, 1992), esp. pp. 157-99; M a r c V a n de M i e r o o p , The Ancient Mesopotamiaη City (Oxford: C l a r e n d o n Press, 1997), p p . 36 37; H a n s J . Nissen, Peter D a m e r o w , a n d R o b e r t K. E n g l u n d , Archaic Bookkeeping. Early Writing and Techniques of Economic Administration in the Ancient Near East (Chicago: the University of C h i c a g o Press, 1993), esp. p p . 1 1 - 2 4 ; Peter T . Daniels, " W r i t i n g a n d Writing Systems," in Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East, 5: 352 58; Postgate, Early Mesopotamia, pp. 5 1 - 7 0 . Clay seals, f o u n d at A r p a c h i y a h , w h i c h m a y have been used to m a r k possession of goods, a p p e a r as early as the late Halaf period. Sec C a m p b e l l , " H a l a f Period in I r a q , " pp. 185-86.
Food technology and the development of writing
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However writing developed, the earliest true form of writing, called protocuneiform or Archaic script, has been found at U r u k during the late fourth millennium B. C. It derived from the need of an elite, in this case the temple bureaucracy, to maintain accounts of goods gathered and produced and to control their redistribution within society. Protocuneiform tablets found at J e m d e t Nasr, dating immediately after the U r u k tablets and written in a language p e r h a p s related to Sumerian, record various economic transactions, such as the m a n a g e m e n t of h u m a n labor forces, a p p o r t i o n m e n t of land, cereal processing, distributions of food, a n d m a i n t e n a n c e of animals. So, for example, one Archaic text from Uruk discusses the delivery of malt a n d barley groats, ingredients used to p r o d u c e beer. T h e official (KU.ŠIM) signing the d o c u m e n t has been identified as the chief administrator of a granary. T h e content of these Protocuneiform texts resembles the m o r e advanced Sumerian and Akkadian cuneiform documents of a millennium later, which discuss the work of millers, the distribution of cercal, or the production of bread and beer. T h e careful attention to details registering precise a m o u n t s of grain and flour used to produce specific quantities of beer is reminiscent of the similar care taken by Egyptian scribes. It also emphasizes the thoroughness exercised by administralive officials to control the ingredients a n d final products that constitute an important part of the food supply. 2 6 In the ancient N e a r East, therefore, development of agriculture and food processing, evolution of writing, and the rise of u r b a n centers exercising political and economic control were interconnected. T h e Archaic texts, however, provide only basic relationships between signs a n d products; they list the commodities but do not describe the technological processes. T h e evolution of the logosyllabic cuneiform script during the Early Dynastic period allowed the expression of simple and complex ideas a n d thoughts in prose and poetic forms. It is, then, at the beginning of the historical period that the study of food technology in the Ancient N e a r East can begin to be studied in detail. T h e vast numbers of cuneiform tablets found at n u m e r o u s places, such as at Bogazköy (Hattuša), N i m r u d , U r , and Mari, written in the languages of various cultures, such as Hittite, Assyrian, Sumerian, and Akkadian, a n d dealing with administrative, business, and commercial records provide valuable documentary evidence for food, food production, and food technology. These documents take the form of eco-
26 p C ( C r D a m e r o w , " F o o d P r o d u c t i o n a n d Social Status as D o c u m e n t e d in P r o t o - c u n e i f o r m T e x t s , " in Food and the Status Qi/est. An Interdisciplinary Perspective. Polly Wiessner a n d W u l f Schiefenhövel, eds. (Providence: B e r g h a h n Books, 1996), pp. 1 5 0 - 5 1 ; R o g e r ]. M a t t h e w s , " J e m d e t Nasr: the Site a n d the Period," BiblArch 55, no. 4 (Dec. 1992): 1 9 6 - 2 0 0 ; J ö r a n Friberg, " N u m b e r s a n d M e a s u r e s in the Earliest W r i t t e n R e c o r d s , י יScientific American 250, no. 2 (Feb. 1984): 110-18.
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nomic texts, such as ration lists, records of labor and food distributions, income and expenditure notations, and inventories. Messenger texts list provisions for couriers, while lexicons provide an equivalent Akkadian vocabulary for Sumerian terms. O f particular value are the ur--ra = hubullu texts from Ur, and the "forerunner lists" from Nippur. Although Sumerian documents and the H e b r e w Bible supply few, if any, recipes, the Yale Culinary Texts of ca. 1700 B. C. do. 27 Literary texts, for example, narrative stories, such as that of Gilgamesh, or of deities, such as Dumuzi, also provide important insight into food and food technology in the ancient N e a r East. Although most evidence for food technology in the ancient N e a r East, outside of Syria and Palestine, derives from written sources, where available archaeological and art historical material will be used to supplement the evidence. T h e yield attributable to the elaborate system of dikes and canals, the oversight of their construction, operation, and repair, a n d the central control of the harvest, processing, and redistribution of food created a diet that was for the most part varied and dependable. T h e cereals (barley a n d wheat) accounted for various porridges, over three hundred different types of bread, and beer. Grapes provided raisins, wine, vinegar, and honey, a term signifying more often date or grape juice reduced over a fire than the product of apiculture. Sweeteners also included fruit juices. A m o n g the n u m e r o u s vegetables were onions, chickpeas, mushrooms, and diverse roots; nuts included almonds and pistachios. Besides the grape, fruits included apples, dates, figs, and pomegranates. Olives may have been eaten raw, but most frequently were processed into olive oil used in cooking or as additives applied during food preparation. A m o n g meats consumed were beef, sheep, lamb, deer, pigs, and fowl. Animal byproducts included eggs, milk, butter, and between eighteen and twenty different types of cheese. Fish included both fresh a n d saltwater varieties, but especially those raised in ponds. T o judge from finds of tunny bones at Ur, preserved fish was included in Sumerian trade in food. All inhabitants had access to most of these foods, though some seem confined to the diet of the elite. A m o n g these are wine, honey from bees (probably imported for the most part), beef, and sheep. T h e NcoAssyrian king Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 B. C.), when he dedicated his new palace at N i m r u d , located on the U p p e r Tigris River north of Nineveh, boasted that for ten days he feasted 69,574 people with such food items as bread, beer,
27
J e a n Bottéro, Texts culinaires Mesopotamiens. Mesoptamian Culinary Texts ( W i n o n a Lake, I n d i a n a : E i s e n b r a u n s , 1995), p p . 3 - 1 6 ; H e n r i Limet, " T h e Cuisine of Ancient S u m e r , " BiblArch 50 (Sept. 1987): 138; J e a n Bottéro, " T h e Cuisine of Ancient M e s o p o t a m i a , " BiblArch 48, no. 1 ( M a r c h 1985): 37 38; R o s e m a r y Ellison, "Diet in M e s o p o t a m i a : the Evidence of the Barley R a t i o n T e x t s (c. 3 0 0 0 1400 B. C.)," Iraq 43, no. 1 (Spring 1981): 3 5 - 4 5 .
Diet of the ancient Near East
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Tale Culinary Tablets
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wine, honey, nuts, various vegetables, birds, fish, and meat animals. Ancient N e a r Eastern cuisine included soups, broths, and stews highly seasoned with herbs, spices, and even beer. Fruits, vegetables, and nuts could be eaten raw, while meat was grilled, roasted, broiled, and boiled. These dishes were prepared in cooking pots, for which lexica document a large vocabulary. Males did most of the cooking, certainly a m o n g the elite, who employed a professional staff, though one suspects that a m o n g the c o m m o n people w o m e n more often than not performed that role. 28 Recipes for ancient Near Eastern foods are almost totally lacking from the record. M u c h of our knowledge of food preparation comes from art historical evidence, literary sources, and lexica. O n e major exception is the collection of three tablets written in Old Babylonian and dated to ca. 1700 B. C., which goes under the collective name of Yale Culinary Tablets. T h e three tablets constitute thirtyfive recipes primarily for boiled meats. More a description of foods eaten by the elite than a cookbook, the tablets depict a cuisine at once varied and sophisticated. These short recipes show an elite diet characterized by the frequent consumption of meat of various kinds, such as stag, kid, lamb, mutton, and birds, in dishes seasoned with onions, garlic, leeks, and perhaps mustard, cumin, and coriander. Certain dishes have foreign connections, such as "Elamite stew" or "Assyrian stew," referring perhaps to dishes prepared in a specific ethnic fashion. 29
2H
Limet, " C u i s i n e of Ancient S u m e r , " pp. 1 3 2 - 4 1 ; Bottéro, "Cuisine of A n c i e n t M e s o p o t a m i a , " pp. 3 6 - 4 7 ; Ellison, " D i e t in M e s o p o t a m i a , " p p . 3 5 4 5 ; ־L. R . A r l i n g t o n , " F o o d s of the Bible," Journal of the American Dietetic Association 35 (Aug. 1959): 8 1 6 20; N e m e t - N e j a t , Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia, p p . 1 5 7 - 6 2 ; A Kirk G r a y s o n , Assyrian Rulers of the Early First Millennium B. C. 2 Vols. ( T o r o n t o : University of T o r o n t o Press, 1991), 1: 2 8 8 - 9 3 ; R o s e m a r y Ellison, J a n e R e n f r e w , D o n Brothwell, a n d Nigel Seeley, " S o m e F o o d Offerings f r o m U r , E x c a v a t e d by Sir L e o n a r d Woolley, a n d Previously U n p u b l i s h e d , " JArchSa 5 (1978): 1 6 7 - 7 7 ; J a n e M . R e n f r e w , "Vegetables in the Ancient N e a r Eastern Diet," in Civilizations of the Ancient Near East, 1: 1 9 1 - 2 0 2 ; Brian Hesse, " A n i m a l H u s b a n d r y a n d H u m a n Diet in the Ancient N e a r East," in Civilizations of the Ancient Near East, 1: 213; H a r r y A. H o f f n e r , J r . Alimenta Hethaeorum. Food Production in Hittite Asia Minor. A m e r i c a n O r i e n t a l Series, Vol. 5 5 (New H a v e n : A m e r i c a n O r i e n t a l Society, 1974), pp. 5 3 - 1 2 8 ; a n d Ellison, " M e t h o d s of Food P r e p a r a t i o n in M e s o p o t a m i a (c. 3 0 0 0 - 6 0 0 B.C)," pp. 8 9 9 8 ־. O d e d Borowski argues that olives w e r e not eaten raw until at least Hellenistic times w h e n pickling a n d salting w e r e i n t r o d u c e d . As indicated below, however, salting a n d p r o b a b l y pickling, o f f i s h at least, was practiced well b e f o r e the Hellenistic period. O d e d Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel ( W i n o n a Lake, I n d i a n a : E i s e n b r a u n s , 1987), p p . 123-24. 29
It is difficult to d e t e r m i n e the role of meat in the diet of M e s o p o t a m i a n s at large. See H e n r i Limet, " L a c o n s o m m a t i o n de v i a n d e en M é s o p o t a m i e a n c i e n n e (vers 2 0 0 0 av. J . - C . ) , " in L'animal dans l'alimentation humaine: les critères de choix. Liliane Bodson, ed. A n t h r o p o z o o l o g i c a Special N o . 2 (Paris: J e a n - D e n n i s V i g n e , 1988), p p . 5 1 - 5 8 ; J e a n Bottéro, " K ü c h e , " in RIA (1980-83), 6: 2 9 2 - 9 3 ; J e a n Bottéro, " T h e M o s t Ancient Recipes of All," in Food in Antiquity. J o h n Wilkins, David H a r v e y , a n d Mike D o b s o n , eds. (Exeter: Exeter University Press, 1995), pp. 248 55; Bottéro, Texts culinaires Mesopotamiens, passim; Bottéro, " C u i s i n e of A n c i e n t M e s o p o t a m i a , " p p . 3 9 - 4 4 .
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M a n y of these foods required cooking before being eaten, ! his could be done in a n u m b e r of ways. So, for example, roasting could be done in simple installations consisting only of a shallow hole, trough, or ditch. An open hearth delimited on three sides by brick structures provided a place for roasting or for supporting cooking pots suspended over a fire. T h e ability to boil foods in pots over a fire gave rise to the preparation of innumerable dishes, such as stews, soups, a n d so on, to add great variety to the diet. Excavations at Abu Salabikh, in southern Iraq, yielded several types of third-millennium B. C. fire installations within domestic contexts, many of which were contemporaneous with each other. These include cooking pits, troughs, and rectangular or sub-rectangular open hearths. Also found were numerous bread ovens, or tannurs (discussed below), and some unusual two-story ovens that m a y have been used to prepare bread for use in making beer. T h e hearths and ovens were able to reach temperatures u p to 850° C. T h e large kitchen (Room 167) of the royal palace o f Z i m r i Lim, at Mari, dated to the early second millennium B. C., included a rectangular brick structure designed to provide cooking facilities to feed a large population. H e r e a side-by-side a r r a n g e m e n t of five ovens, one being quite large, consisted of near circular depressions cut into the upper surface of a continuous platform. Below each depression was a firebox accessible by an opening on the front. This arrangement is reminiscent of three narrow rooms (216 to 218) in the same palace, with long double rows of ovens set into platforms, perhaps open to the sky, which the excavator, although conceding that they could have served for cooking food, concluded that they were used in metal working. Similarities with structures identified as lire ditches from Uruk and dated to the Early Dynastic period, however, argue in favor of these being ovens to cook food. 3 0
2. Cereal Processing A. Storage Notwithstanding all these food resources, famine always remained a potential problem. 3 1 Anticipation of this threat accounts for the high degree of concern felt by state and temple authorities to maintain a consistent and sufficient supply 30
Bottéro, " K ü c h e , " RIA (1980 83), 6: 2 8 3 - 8 6 ; Harriet C r a w f o r d , " S o m e Fire Installations f r o m Abu Salabikh, I r a q , " Paléorient 7, no. 2 (1981): 105 14; M . S. Tite, A. P. Middleton, a n d J . N. Postgate, "Scientific Investigation of Fire Installations at A b u Salabikh," Sumer 47, no. 47 (1995): 4 6 5 1 ; ־ A n d r é Parrot, Mission Archéologique du Mari. II :Le Palais. Architecture (Paris: Libraire Orientaliste Paul G e u t h n e r , 1958), pp. 2 4 - 2 6 (kitchen), 288 92 (kitchen?); M a r i e - T h é r è s e Barrelet, "Dispositifs a feu et cuisson des aliments a U r , N i p p u r , U r u k , " Paléorient 2, no. 2 (1974): 2 5 0 - 6 3 , 2 7 6 - 8 1 . :51 See, e. g., the S u m e r i a n " L a m e n t a t i o n O v e r the Destruction of S u m e r a n d U r , " translated by S. N. K r a m e r , in ANET, p p . 6 1 1 - 1 9 , esp. p. 616, lines 307 10.
Cooking
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Semi-subterranean silos in Syria
Urban storage of Shuruppak
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of food from the hinterland a n d to insure proper storage and distribution of any surplus. Pivotal to this centralized food supply were the cereals. Harvested in the fields, the cereals were taken to the threshing floors nearby, where they were threshed, winnowed, and sieved under the watchful eyes of palace or temple authorities. T h e grain probably went first to regional storage installations. Archaeological evidence for rural storage facilities, however, is sparse, although excavations in the middle K h a b u r area of northeast Syria have yielded several small communities stretching along the Euphrates River at about two kilometer intervals. These third-millennium B. C. sites, such as Tell 'Atij, K e r m a , and Ziyadah, constitute centralized grain storage and processing facilities overseen by an elite w h o probably shipped the grain, primarily barley, to u r b a n centers, in this case Mari. T h e best preserved site is Tell al-Raqa'i, where, in its earlythird millennium B. C. level, a " R o u n d e d Building" with surrounding structures possessed over a dozen semi-subterranean doorless "silos." O n e , excavated to a depth of four meters, also had a square window near its top; enough of the roof exists to show that it was vaulted. T h e s e silos bear a remarkable resemblance to grain silos shown on cylinder seals of the Uruk a n d J e m d e t Nasr periods found in southwestern Iran and to silos represented in Egyptian t o m b paintings, such as have been found in the T o m b s of Antefoker and of Unas-ankh at Thebes. In addition to silos, storage facilities had basalt grinding stones to process grain, ovens for drying grain or baking bread, and cooking pots to prepare cerealbased foods similar to m o d e r n burghul, or bulgur. 3 2 M u c h of the threshed grain was transported by boat or hauled in carts by pack animals to u r b a n storage sites, such as palace or temple magazines, and millhouses. Some rooms in palaces can be identified as storage rooms, but the best evidence for u r b a n storage centers comes from Shuruppak, in central BabyIonia. Here over thirty grain silos (
Glenn M . Schwartz, " R u r a l Economic Specialization a n d Early Urbanization in the K h a b u r Valley, Syria," in Archaeological Views from the Countryside. Village Communities in Early Complex Societies. G l e n n M . Schwartz a n d Steven E. Falconer, eds. (Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1994), pp. 19-36; G l e n n M . Schwartz a n d H a n s H. Curvers, "Tell al-Raqa'i 1989 a n d 1990: Further Investigations at a Small Rural Site of Early U r b a n N o r t h e r n M e s o p o t a m i a , " AJA 96, no. 3 (July 1992): 3 9 7 - 4 1 9 ; M i c r o o p , Ancient Mesopotamien! City, pp. 142 50. For Egyptian d o m e d granaries, see C h a p t e r T h r e e , esp. pp. 100-104. For burghul, see Ellison, " M e t h o d s of Food Preparation," p. 89; G o r d o n Hillman, "'Traditional H u s b a n d r y a n d Processing of Archaic Cereals in Recent Times: the O p e r a tions, Products a n d E q u i p m e n t W h i c h M i g h t Feature in S u m e r i a n Texts. Part I: the G l u m e Wheats," BullSumAgri 1 (1984): 133 40. O n famine, see A d a m s o n , "Problems over Storing Food in the Ancient N e a r East," pp. 8 - 9 , esp. note 23; M a r t i n Levy, Chemistry and Chemical Technology• in Ancient Mesopotamia (Amsterdam: Elsevier Publishing C o m p a n y , 1959), pp. 4 5 4 6 ־.
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been roofed. T h a t they were domed, seems a good guess, judging from silos found in the middle K h a b u r area of Syria a n d from archaeological remains of Palestinian beehive granaries from the Bronze Age. 3 3 D o c u m e n t a r y evidence indicates that most grain was distributed from these storehouses as rations to dependants, who had to process them at home. Beehive granaries, whose capacity clearly exceeded that needed for private domestic purposes, have come to light at Bronze Age Arad (ca. 3000-2800 B. C.), Beth Yerah (2800-2400 B. C.), and Bir cl-' Abd (1400 1300 B. C.). Circular or elliptical in shape and averaging from four to nine meters in diameter, these above-ground storage facilities rest upon a stone foundation. At Beth Yerah, nine (or ten) silos set into a wall form a rectangular structure surrounding a central enclosure approached by a corridor. T h e complex, situated in a prominent position in the city, measures ca. 40 m. χ 30 m. This rectangular arrangement of silos recalls the granary complexes represented in Egyptian tomb paintings, but especially the Bronze Age steatite vessel from Melos, which takes the form of seven cylindrical containers sitting on a raised base and arranged in a u-shaped formation about an open central area. T h e height of the Palestinian silos is unknown, as most exist only at foundation level. T h e four brick silos at Bir el-' Abd, site of an Egyptian fort, however, had walls ca. 50 cm. thick existing u p to a height of ca. 1.80 meters. O n e of these has still preserved a section of the corbelled dome. T h e rows of bricks slightly inclined toward the center as they increased in height, giving the appearance of a dome. W h e t h e r the individual silos were filled through the roof and emptied by way of a door near the bottom, as represented in Egypt-
:î:!
M i e r o o p , Ancient Mesopotamian City, pp. 151 53; H a r r i e t P. M a r t i n , Fara: A Reconstruction of the Ancient Mesopotamian City of Shuruppak B i r m i n g h a m , E n g l a n d : C h r i s M a r t i n & Associates, 1988), p p . 42 47, 110 12. M a r t i n (ibid., p. 47) notes that Early Dynastic tablets f r o m F a r a m e n t i o n large ration distributions f r o m grain silos. O n e r o o m (No. 1 16) in the Royal Palace at M a r i c o n taincd eleven h u g e cylindrical terra-cotta c o n t a i n e r s seated slightly into a p l a t f o r m of bricks. R e m i n i s c e n t of the large dolia f o u n d at Knossos on C r e t e , these vessels a p p a r e n t l y o n c e c o n taincd provisions f o r the palace. W h a t foods they held a r c u n k n o w n , but, since the interior of the vessels w e r e unlincd, solid materials such as grain a r c m o r e likely. P a r r o t , Mission Archéologique de Mari. Le Palais, 2: 9 4 - 9 7 , a n d Figs. 9 8 99, a n d Pl. X X V I . See also ibid., p p . 2 9 9 - 3 0 5 , for o t h e r s t o r e r o o m s in the p a l a c e . For s t o r e r o o m s in palaces in Ebla, see Rita Dolce, " S o m e Aspects of the P r i m a r y E c o n o m i c S t r u c t u r e s of Ebla in the T h i r d & S e c o n d M i l l e n n i u m s B. C.: Stores a n d W o r k p l a c e s , " in Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft von Ebla. H a r t m u t W a e t z o l d t a n d H a r a l d H a u p t m a n n , eds. H e i d e l b e r g e r S t u d i e n z u m Alten O r i e n t , B a n d 2 (Heidelberg: H e i d e l b e r g e r O r i e n t v e r l a g , 1988), pp. 35 45; in N i m r u d , see G r a y s o n , Assyrian Rulers, p. 291. For cylinder seals s h o w i n g large g r a n a r i e s similar to those in Egypt, see Axel Steensberg, Hard Grains, Irrigation. .Numerals and Script in the Rise of Civilisations ( C o p e n h a g e n : Royal D a n i s h A c a d e m y of Sciences a n d Letters' C o m m i s s i o n for R e s e a r c h o n the History of Agricultural I m p l e m e n t s a n d Field Structures, 1989), p. 44, Fig. 12.
Abovegrowd beehivegranary complexes in Palestine
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Rectangular storage facilities in Israel
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ian paintings, cannot be ascertained, though it is likely. T h e interior of the silos, floors and walls, was covered with plaster. T h e four silos, arranged in a square formation but not surrounding a central courtyard, as at Beth Yerah, could have held ca. forty tons of grain. T h e origin of the beehive granary silo remains unknown, though one suggestion has this architectural feature arising in Egypt and spreading to Palestine and ultimately to Mesopotamia. O t h e r sites, such as Beth Shemesh, Hazor, a n d Megiddo, possessed large underground silos attached to public buildings. T h e one at Megiddo, for example, measured seven meters deep, and contained two winding staircases. This unplastered silo held over 12,800 bushels of grain. These above and below ground silos must have stored public or c o m m u n a l grain controlled by palace or temple authorities. 34 Excavators in Israel have also uncovered separate storehouses or storerooms attached to larger structures in which grain, wine, oil, olives, and other commodities were stored loose or in terracotta containers for easy distribution by palace or temple authorities. At Tell el Ifshar the Middle Bronze Age grain storage bin attached to a larger storage complex had a rectangular floor plan and, like Egyptian silos, an opening near the bottom to allow access to the grain. Its roof configuration is unknown. T h e bin once contained mostly loose e m m e r wheat stored as clean grain, and probably served as a central storage facility for a community elite. T w o types of Iron-Age storehouses have been identified. T h e first, found, for example, at Jericho, Lachish, Megiddo, and Tell Beit Mirsim, takes the form of a building with long narrow rooms, whose shape and thick walls served to keep grain cool and to prevent moidering. T h e second type of storeroom, apparently unique to Israel and uncovered at various places, such as Megiddo, Beer-sheba, Hazor, and D o t h a n , was a long rectangular building with thick exterior walls. T w o rows of stone pillars divided the interior into three long rooms, the central one used for movement in and out of the building. Storerooms, smaller than storehouses because they form part of larger public or religious structures, have been found at D o t h a n , T a ' a n n e k , Tell Dan, and Samaria. 3 5
34
J o h n 1). C u r r i d , " T h e Beehive Buildings of A n c i e n t Palestine,'" BiblArch 49, no. 1 ( M a r c h 1986): 2 0 - 2 4 ; Eliezer D. O r e n , " N o r t h e r n Sinai," in The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavalions in the Holy Land. E p h r a i m S t e r n , Ayelet Lewinson-Gilgoa, a n d J o s e p h A v i r a m , eds., 4 Vols. (New York: S i m o n & Schuster, 1993), 4: 1389; Borwoski, " G r a n a r i e s a n d Silos," p. 431. 35 See M i r i a m C . C h e r n o f f a n d S a m u e l M . Paley, " D y n a m i c s of C e r e a l P r o d u c t i o n at Tell el Ifshar, Israel d u r i n g the M i d d l e B r o n z e A g e , " JFA 25, no. 4 (Winter 1998): 3 9 7 - 4 1 6 . Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, p p . 7 3 - 7 5 , 78 81. D u r i n g the M i d d l e B r o n z e Age, terra-cotta jars, at least those f o u n d at T e l N a m i , had thick layers of plaster on their exterior, p r e s u m a b l y to prevent oxidation of the oil c o n t a i n e d in t h e m . After that time a thick wash o n the exterior provided even better protection a n d helped prevent b r e a k a g e in t r a n s p o r t . See M i c h a l Artzy, " O n the Storage of Olive Oil in Antiquity, , יin Olive Oil in Antiquity. David E i t a m a n d Michael Heltzer, eds. (Padua: S a r g o n srl, 1996), p p . 4 5 - 4 8 .
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Private Iron-Age houses in Israel also possessed storage areas, most frequently small pits either plastered or lined with stones. Those found at D o t h a n , for example, included underground chambers located in a domestic area of the town. Cylindrical in shape they measured five feet in diameter a n d reached down more than three feet. At Shechem the house contained a small grain pit in its main living room. Its kitchen also contained a pit along with a saddle quern and grinding stones to process the grain. Some houses had separate storerooms both for storing food and processing it. 36 b. Milling T h e necessity of milling is dictated by the degree of protection afforded to the grain according to the particular species. Cereal stalks are composed of ears m a d e up of spikelets arranged along the rachis. Cereals that possess glumes that hold the grain tightly to the spikelet, such as einkorn and e m m e r , are called glume wheats. These cereals require intensive processing beyond threshing, such as p o u n d i n g a n d grinding, sometimes preceded by parching, to release the endosperm from the surrounding bran, or husk. Cereals, such as d u r u m wheat, having weak glumes and, so, easily release the grain from the spikelet during threshing, are called free-threshing cereals. Barley is classed a m o n g the hulled cereals, because its grains have fused to it a double protective layer. T h e most important cereals available to inhabitants of the ancient N e a r East included two glume wheats, einkorn (Triticum monococcum L.) and e m m e r (T. turgidum L., subsp. Dicoccum), a free-threshing cereal, d u r u m wheat (T. turgidum L·., subsp. Durum), and hulled 6-row barley (.Hordeum vulgare L.). O t h e r cereals, such as bread wheat (T. aestivum L., subsp. vulgare), spelt (T. aestivum L.), rye (Secale cereale L.), and oats (Avena sativa L.), though grown, never achieved favor; millet (Panicum miliaceum L) has not been substantiated in the ancient N e a r East before ca. 700 B. C. 37 W h e n required the grain was removed from storage a n d taken to the place where it was processed. T h e purpose of pounding grain with m o r t a r and pestle is to break the hard case surrounding the endosperm. It is uncertain whether the inhabitants of the ancient N e a r East p a r c h e d grain before processing it. Parch-
36
Storage pits have also been f o u n d at 1 ell el Ifshar, in both Bronze a n d Iron Age levels. See C h e r n o f f a n d Paley, " D y n a m i c s of C e r e a l P r o d u c t i o n , " p. 408. S o m e houses, such as at Tell J e m m e h , d a t i n g to the seventh c e n t u r y B. C., m a y have h a d b e l o w - g r o u n d storage cellars a t t a c h e d . See Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, pp. 72 76, 82. 37 O n the construction of the w h e a t grain, see H o r d e r et al, Bread, pp. 2 9 - 3 1 . Sec also W . Nagel, " G e t r e i d e , " RLi (1957-1971), 3: '308 18; Hopkins, " C e r e a l s , " pp. 4 7 9 - 8 1 ; Z o h a r y a n d H o p f , Domestication of Plants in the Old World, p p . 15-85; Ellis, " M ü h l e , " RIA (1995) 8: 394; Steensberg, Hard Grains, pp. 2 4 - 3 0 ; Nesbitt, "Plants a n d People in Ancient Anatolia,'" p p . 74—76; Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, p p . 8 7 - 9 3 .
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Grinding tools
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ing at about 200° C. has the advantage not only of rendering the glumes brittle, and so making it easier to break by pounding, but also of converting the starch to sweet-tasting dextrins. 3 8 Although the glume wheats (emmer and einkorn, especially) a n d barley might benefit from roasting before grinding, free-threshing wheat would not necessarily need it. Certain vocabulary terms, such as ŠE-M ("roasted barley") and DABLX-SA ("toasted-barley flour"), indicate that barley did undergo this process. Additionally, literary texts attest certain types of oven or grill {UDUN-ŠE-SA-A = ΙArn ) that served to roast grain. Following sieving to separate the b r a n from the endosperm, grinding on a quern reduced the latter to flour. T h e efficiency of grinding, length of time engaged in the activity, and n u m b e r of repetitive grindings interspersed with sieving determine the fineness of the flour. Mesopotamian documents record various qualities and grades of flour, called in Sumerian <7(/j), ranging from coarsely ground to finely ground. Flour could be m a d e from e m m e r (<Λζ) or barley (.$/·;). ^ì-au, for example, was a fine-grained barley flour; DABLX was a coarse-grained one. Some terms for flour betray their purpose in producing a specific product. So, for example, ZÌ-BA-BA refers to "flour for porridge." Z1-MumJ3 is a mixture of flour a n d malt, used to make beer. Since flour spoils m o r e quickly than unprocessed grain, cereal rations were most commonly issued in the latter form. Processing occurred in the domestic setting, and the flour was probably used almost immediately afterward. If some storage time was necessary, it could be kept in sacks or terra-cotta containers in which it could be transported short distances, if necessary. 39 Grinding tools found in private houses, palaces, and temple annexes indicate that cereal processing technology showed no significant advances beyond what was typical of Neolithic a n d Chalcolithic times, although the tools themselves
38
H i l l m a n ( " T r a d i t i o n a l H u s b a n d r y . Part I: the G l u m e W h e a t s , " 129.)כןnotes that in areas with hot a n d dry e n v i r o n m e n t s p a r c h i n g is not always necessary b e f o r e processing. H e also notes that the type of e m m e r used p r o b a b l y played a decisive role in c h o o s i n g to omit roasting. T h e varieties of e m m e r g r o w n in t h e a n c i e n t N e a r East, however, a r e u n k n o w n . Maisels (Emergence of Civilization, 8 6.)גןsuggests t h a t finds of m o r t a r s , pestles, a n d millstones in proximity to fire-pits in M u r e y b i t o n the u p p e r E u p h r a t e s River in contexts d a t a b l e to ca. 8 2 0 0 - 8 0 0 0 B. C. indicate that grain p a r c h i n g m a y have b e e n a n o r m a l p a r t of cereal processing as early as the P P N A . See also Powell, " M e t r o n Ariston," p. 100. 39
Lucio M i l a n o , " M e h l , " RIA (1993), 8: 2 3 - 2 4 (roasted barley). See also ibid., p p . 2 4 - 2 7 (different types of Hour), a n d 2 9 - 3 0 (storage). For food rations, see below note 44. For a n o v e n or grill to roast grain, see A r m a s S a l o n e n , " D i e Ö f e n d e r alten M e s o p o t a m i e r , " AIDAI (Β) 3 (1964): 1 0 4 - 0 6 . For Biblical references to p a r c h i n g grain, see Leviticus 2:14 a n d 16; 1 Samuel 17:7; 2 Samuel 17:28; a n d Ruth 2:14. See also A r r i n g t o n , " F o o d s of the Bible," p. 817, a n d Hopkins, " C e r e a l s , " p. 481. F o r the p u r p o s e s of roasting g r a i n , see G o r d o n H i l l m a n , " T r a d i t i o n a l H u s b a n d r y a n d Processing of A r c h a i c Cereals in R e c e n t T i m e s : the O p e r a t i o n s , P r o d u c t s a n d E q u i p m e n t T h a t M i g h t F e a t u r e in S u m e r i a n Texts. Part II: the Free-threshing C e r e a l s , " BullSumAgri 2 (1985): 12. For milling in Hittite literature, see H o f f n e r , Alimenta Hethaeonnn, p p . 134—36, 143-45.
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3
201
showed some development. So, for example, in Bronze Age levels of Jericho mortars varied between heavy in-situ types and light, portable ones. Some of the latter type had slightly rounded bases and shallow depressions with rounded walls; others were formed from blocks of varying shape. O n e portable m o r t a r had a lug handle and boss on opposite sides, either for ease of carrying or to afford a griping point to impart greater stability to the m o r t a r while the worker p o u n d e d grain with a pestle. Basalt tripod mortars (PI. 3), carved with a base consisting of three feet, have come to light in Bronze Age contexts in Jericho and Ebla. T h a t they were used to process grain or some other substance is unclear. Querns, for the most part m a d e of basalt, sandstone, or limestone, found in J e r i c h o in Bronze Age levels were all of the saddle type, though some in the Middle Bronze period possessed a flat base rather than a rounded one. T y p ical grinding tools — limestone mortars, pestles m a d e from stone, and basalt saddle querns — have also come from Iron Age contexts in Palestine, such as D o t h a n , Shechem, and Tell Halaf. 40 Sumerian literary texts, such as the epic Lugale and Disputation Between the Millstone and the gul.gul-stone, provide additional information on materials used for grinding equipment. M a r t e n Stol suggests that these texts, when studied in the light of archaeological finds and lexical evidence, indicate that lower millstones were typically m a d e from basalt, often imported f r o m northern Mesopotamia, while the upper stone, or muller, which need not be as hard, could be m a d e from red sandstone, available, for example, from the mountain called Gebel Sinjar, or " m o u n t a i n of millstones." Although baked clay, wood, or plaster may have at times substituted for stone pounding and grinding equipment, little evidence for them remains. " T h e development of centralized control of the food supply and its distribution by temple and state led to the creation of large grinding enterprises, operating either as part of the palace to provide flour for chefs to cook food for the king, 40
K e n y a n a n d H o l l a n d , Excavations a! Jericho, 5: 5 5 3 75, esp. Fig. 231, no. 14, Fig. 233, a n d Plates 21 a n d 24; Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, pp. 87 91, a n d note 5; H e r r , " I r o n Age II P e r i o d , " p. 119; Ebla. Alle origini delta civiltà urbana. Paolo M a t t h i a e , F r a n c e s Pinnock, a n d Gabriella S c a n d o n e M a t t h i a e , eds. (Milan: Electa, 1995), p. 493, nos. 434 35. For Biblical references to cereal processing, see Exodus 1 1:5, Deuteronomy 24:6, Job 31:10, Isaiah 47:2, Lamentations 5:13, Numbers 11:8, 2 Samuel 17:19, a n d Proverbs 27:22. ' 41 M a r t e n Stol, On Trees, Mountains, and Millstones in the Ancient .Near East (Leiden: Ex O r i e n t e Lux, 1979), p p . 8 9 - 9 8 ; Lucio M i l a n o , " M ü h l e . A. I. In M e s o p o t a m i e n , " RIA (1995), 8: 3 9 4 - 9 5 . F o r a n e t h n o g r a p h i c study of cereal processing in m o d e r n T u r k e y as an aid t o w a r d u n d e r s t a n d ing related S u m e r i a n terms, see H i l l m a n , " Traditional H u s b a n d r y . Part I: the G l u m e W h e a t s , " p p . 114-52, esp. p p . 129-40; idem, " T r a d i t i o n a l H u s b a n d r y . Part II: the Free-threshing C e r e als," pp. 1 31, esp. p p . 10 23. At a l - H i b a in s o u t h e r n Iraq w o m e n today construct m o r t a r s a n d (in this case, rotary) grain mills of sun-dried m u d coated with b i t u m e n . T h e pestles a r e also of b i t u m e n , or of w o o d . See E d w a r d O c h s e n s c h l a g e r , " M u d O b j e c t s f r o m a l - H i b a . A Study in Ancient a n d M o d e r n Technology," Archaeology 27, no. 3 J u l y 1974): 171.
Large-scale mitlhouses
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his attendants, a n d palace personnel, or as separate millhouses employed to provide flour for distribution to the populace generally. Palaces at Ebla, in Syria, provide two such installations. T h r e e rooms within the central complex of Royal Palace G, dated to ca. 2300 B. C., contained a row of saddle querns embedded into a slightly raised platform r u n n i n g parallel with three walls. T h e platform was so constructed that the querns sloped down and away from the worker. This allowed the flour to fall into a container placed on the floor in front of the platform beneath each quern. A shallow, raised trough (1.70 m. χ 1.80 m.) nearby probably held grain to be worked on the querns by grinders. A better preserved, but later (1800-1600 B. C.) room in the Western Palace possessed sixteen saddle querns resting on top of a long bench. In a situation similar to that seen in bakery models f rom Egypt, such as that of Meket-re (Fig. 9), or the workmen's villäge at A m a r n a , workers in the grinding rooms of both palaces apparently knelt behind the q u e r n in the space between platform a n d wall, t his position permitted workers to brace their back or feet against the wall for support when extending their body during grinding or when resting in an upright position. This working environment constituted a distinct improvement over the plight of workers grinding grain in Neolithic A b u Hureyra. 4 2 T h e second type of large-scale grinding workshop is that devoted to providing processed cereals for distribution by the state or temple. Cuneiform tablets docu m e n t several millhouses throughout southern Mesopotamia, such as at U m m a , Ur, and Lagash and its surrounding district. In the latter area the best known is perhaps the state-run S a g d a n a millhouse. Daily rosters, dating to the T h i r d Dynasty of U r (2100-2000 Β C.), record the occupations of workers, male and female, either drafted through compulsory corvée service or else selected as unskilled workers belonging to the state a n d assigned to the millhouse in various capacities, such as carpenters, basket weavers, boatmen, and scribes. 43 Those connected specifically with cereal processing include bakers, flour carriers, and millers. Females, often listed as weavers as well, apparently served as millers and
n
Dolcc, " S o m e Aspects of the P r i m a r y E c o n o m i c S t r u c t u r e s of Ebla," p p . 3 4 - 4 5 ; Paolo M a t t h i a e et al, Ebla, pp. 107 (Royal Palace G) a n d 173 (Western Palace). A similar installation has been excavated at Tell Brak, a n d g r i n d i n g w o r k s h o p s also o p e r a t e d in Iron Age G o r d i o n in Phrygian Anatolia. See Ellis, " M ü h l e , " RIA (1995), 8: 4 0 1 - 0 2 . 43 R o b e r t Κ. E n g l u n d , " H a r d W o r k — W h e r e Will it G e t You? L a b o r M a n a g e m e n t in U r III M e s o p o t a m i a , " JNES 50 (Jan.-Oct. 1991): 258: " [ T ] h e central organization of the U r III state r e q u i r e d strict control of its resources to e n s u r e a n even flow of goods a n d services to the crown a n d servants of the c r o w n in U r a n d in the provinces, including the military services a n d adminisn ative p e r s o n n e l g o v e r n i n g the p e r i p h e r y of the realm, to the m a n a g e r s in c h a r g e of p r o d u c t i o n , a n d to the centrally o r g a n i z e d d e p o t s f r o m w h i c h the system of redistribution to the working classes was m a n a g e d . " See also Nissen et al, Archaic Bookkeeping, pp. 7 0 - 8 8 , esp. pp. 8 4 8 5 ־a n d Fig. 69.
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ground the cereal into (lour. H o w large these establishments were is difficult to know. Ration lists from Lagash, however, indicate that the millhouse there may have utilized 950 workmen. Temples, such at that to I n a n n a at Nippur, also used teams of millers to process cereal to prepare Hour for use in food offerings or for food for temple priests and attendants. Hittite millhouses apparently operated in a similar fashion, employing primarily women as millers. Millhouses also operated in Palestine, as Judges 16:21 says that Samson, after being blinded, was put to work grinding in the Philistine prison mill. 44 Assyrian reliefs on architectural monuments, such as the bronze bands erected on the palace gate of Shalmaneser III (858824 ־B. C.), son of Ashurnasirpal II, at N i m r u d , located on the Tigris River south of Nineveh, often include a fortified c a m p as a c o m m o n motif. Within a rectangular or circular f r a m e c a m p scenes represent activities typical of soldiers. It is significant that prominently displayed in nearly all such views are soldiers depicted grinding grain on saddle querns. T h e choice of this scene to possess iconographie value for military life generally highlights this activity as a basic duty of all soldiers on campaign. Similarly, in the palace of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh appears a relief showing BabyIonian prisoners at work grinding (in this instance, their fathers' bones) on a saddie quern. 4 5 Although grinding appears frequently in art historical representations, and processing tools are a c o m m o n find in archaeological contexts, the end results of grinding and the products m a d e from them have left few physical remains. Excavators at Beth-shemesh, for example, found a j a r of finely ground cereal similar to semolina and probably destined for use in making bulgur. In the T o m b of Q u e e n Puabi, of Early Dynastic Ur, were found bits of unleavened bread also consisting of finely ground flour. 46 Most flour, breads, and beverages m a d e from cereals, however, have not survived, so our knowledge of them must rely upon the written records and scattered physical and art historical materials.
44
A l e x a n d e r Uchitel, "Daily W o r k at S a g d a n a M i l l h o u s e , " Acta Sumerologica 6 (1984): 75 98; Englund, " H a r d Work - W h e r e Will it G e t Y o u ? " p p . 2 5 5 - 8 0 ; M i l a n o , " M ü h l e . A. I. In M e s o p o t a m i e n , " RIA (1995), 8: 3 9 5 - 4 0 0 ; Harry ׳Α. ΗϋΠ־ηει־, J r . " M ü h l e . Α. II. Bei d e n Hcth i t e r n , " RIA (1995), 8: 4 0 0 - 0 1 ; HofTner, Alimenta Hethaeorum, pp. 132 36. T h e s t a n d a r d ration systern involved the distribution of oil, wool, a n d especially barley (ŠF.-HA). E m m e r (<:/<-/{•!) or the processed products, b r e a d (MLWA-BA) a n d Hour (ζ/υ-BÀ), m i g h t serve as a substitution for barley, or might even b e c o m e p a r t of the s t a n d a r d rations themselves. See esp. I. J . Gelb, " T h e Ancient M e s o p o t a m i a n R a t i o n System," JNES 24 J a n - O c t . 1965): 2 3 0 43. 45 L. W . K i n g , Bronze Reliefs from the Gates of Shalmaneser, King of Assyria B. C. 86(h825 (London: L o n g m a n s & C o . , 1915), Plates V I , X I I , X I X , LI, LIII, L X X I , L X I I , a n d L X X I I I ; Ellis, " M ü h l e . Β. Archäologisch," RL l (1995), 8: 402, a n d Fig. 3, p. 403. 46 Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, p. 90; Ellison et al, " S o m e Food Offerings f r o m U r , " p. 172.
Milling by Assyrian soldiers
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Fig. 14. Gypsum relief of an Assyrian fortified c a m p , from T h r o n e R o o m Β of the N W Palace of Ashurnasirpal. From Georges Perrot a n d Charles Chipiez, Histoire de l'art dans l'antiquité, 10 Vols. (Paris: Hachette, 1882-1914), 2: 342, Fig. 155, from Layard, Monuments, l ׳־׳series, pl. 30.
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c. Bread Making T w o general types of b r e a d , called N I N D A in S u m e r i a n (Fig. 15), characterize the Types of bread ancient N e a r East. T h e first, u n l e a v e n e d , r e q u i r e d only t h a t a mixture of flour, water, a n d a little salt be k n e a d e d into d o u g h a n d then placed on the inside of an oven, similar to m o d e r n Arabic t a n n u r ovens, on a hot stone, or directly on ashes in a fire. T h i s p r o d u c e d flat b r e a d that did not keep well. T h e second type b r e a d was a leavened p r o d u c t m a d e , as described earlier in the Egyptian context, f r o m the addition of yeast to the d o u g h . T h e yeast m i g h t c o m e f r o m s o u r d o u g h , that is d o u g h left to f e r m e n t overnight, or f r o m b r e w e r ' s yeast prod u c e d in beer making. Little evidence exists for the k n e a d i n g process, but excavalors have recovered f r o m Iron Age r e m a i n s at Achzib, located n o r t h of Acco on the M e d i t e r r a n e a n coast, a terra-cotta figurine of a w o m a n standing b e h i n d a k n e a d i n g t r o u g h s u p p o r t e d by legs a n d k n e a d i n g dough. 1 7 Most b r e a d seems to have been m a d e f r o m barley, t h o u g h e m m e r w h e a t m a y have often served to p r o d u c e flat breads. As m a n y as three h u n d r e d different kinds of breads a n d pastries have been d o c u m e n t e d , differing in the specific type of grain employed, quality, color, additives, b a k i n g process, size, g e o g r a p h i c origin, or i n t e n d e d use. 4 8 So, for instance, written sources record barley b r e a d (MKDA-SE), b r e a d for ritual purposes {.NINDA-SIKII), a n d b r e a d of first (MYDA-SA(Ì) a n d second (MVDA-UŠ) quality. Hittite sources m e n t i o n white b r e a d (NINDA.KUR4.IIA BABBAR) a n d m a y indicate breads m a d e f r o m finely d a r k b r e a d (NWDA.KUR4.RA GEwhich milled a n d coarsely milled grain, respectively. Additives included ghee, dates, milk, chccse, fruits, a n d sesame oils, a m o n g others. As in Egypt, b r e a d s and pastries c a m e in different sizes a n d shapes, such as circles, crescents, or in the f o r m of a h a n d , a n ear, or a h e a d . Evidence for these forms c o m e s f r o m images on cylinder seals, the v o c a b u l a r y of e c o n o m i c a n d literary d o c u m e n t s , including Biblical passages, a n d archaeological contexts. Pottery molds f o u n d in the
17
M o s h e W . Prausnitz a n d Eilat M a z a r , " A c h z i b , " in New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavalions in the Holy Land, 1: 34. A l t h o u g h some areas within houses a n d in proximity to ovens have b e e n identified as areas for k n e a d i n g d o u g h , they r e m a i n only conjectures. See, e. g. M a u r i t s V a n L o o n , " 1 9 7 4 a n d 1975 Preliminary Results of t h e Excavations at Selenkahiye n e a r M e s k e n e , Syria," AASOR 44 (1979): 108 (late third m i l l e n n i u m B. C.); S c h w a r t z a n d Curvers, "Tell a l - R a q a ' i 1989 a n d 1990," p. 4 0 3 (mid-third millennium B. C.). For references to k n e a d i n g f o u n d in Hittite sources, see H o l f n e r , Alimenta Hethaeorum, pp. 136 37. K n e a d i n g a n d b a k i n g a p p e a r frequently in Biblical passages, such as Exodus 12:13, 34, a n d 39; 2 Samuel 13:8; a n d Isaiah 44.15. A r l i n g t o n ("Foods of the Bible,' יp. 817) provides a longer list, including N e w T e s t a m e n t references. tH H o l f n e r points out t h a t a m o n g the Hittites the t e r m NINDA refers not j u s t to b r e a d but to anyt h i n g w h i c h contains flour. H e goes on to identify o n e h u n d r e d a n d forty-eight p r o d u c t n a m e s , written phonetically or logographically, w h i c h possess this d e t e r m i n a t i v e . See H o l f n e r , Alimenta Hethaeorum, p p . 147 211. H o w a r d B e r m a n a u g m e n t s this list in his review of H o f f n e r , Alimenta Hethaeorum, in J C S ' 2 8 (1976): 2 4 3 - 4 6 .
Fig. 15. Sumerograms for (a) AJI.V, (b) SIM, a n d (c) MWA. After Forbes, Studies, 3: 67.
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palace kitchen at Mari, for example, imparted not only shape to the bread, such as that of a fish, but also designs, geometric and animal-shaped, onto its surface. 4 9 Although hot coals or a heated stone could be used, the earliest type of oven employed in the ancient N e a r East to bake flat bread coincides with the type shown in Egyptian tomb paintings being utilized for the same purpose. This oven, called tannur in m o d e r n Arabic, is still utilized in the N e a r East today. It has been found in kitchens and courtyards of private houses in Yarim Tepe as early as the Halaf and Ubaid periods, and in n u m e r o u s other buildings dating from historical times, such as the third millennium B . C . cooking ovens found at Abu Salabikh, located near Nippur in southern Iraq, and at Khirbet Iskander in Palestine. Constructed of a clay and gypsum mixture the tannur oven was an upright, beehive-shaped structure of large enough proportion to be essentially immobile, although there were smaller, portable ones, sometimes called today a tabun. These ovens had thick walls with an outer diameter at the bottom of between ca. 1.00 m. and 1.90 m., and a height of ca. 0.60 m.; those in Assyria tended to be larger. A large opening at the top allowed access to the inside of the oven where the cook would stick moist dough, shaped into circular pancakes, to the walls. She would then seal the opening with clay. T h e fire, fed with grass and reeds through a smaller opening near the bottom, baked the bread. T e m perature ranges reached in t a n n u r ovens usually do not exceed 850° C. Some tannurs at Abu Salabikh were reinforced with baked brick to allow pots to be placed over the hole at the top to cook or boil the contents. 5 0
49
Tannur ovens
S t e p h a n i e Dalley, Mari and Karana. Two Old Babylonian Cities (London: L o n g m a n , 1984), p. 88, esp. Fig. 32; Postgate, Early Mesoptamia, p. 146, Fig. 7.7 (pastry molds). Bottéro ("Cuisine of Ancient M e s o p o t a m i a , " p. 38) thinks the " m o l d s " a r e actually serving dishes. Sec also M i l a n o , " M e h l , " RIA (1993), 8: 2 8 - 2 9 ; Ellison, " M e t h o d s of Food P r e p a r a t i o n in M e s o p o t a m i a , " p. 91; N e m e t - N e j a t , Daily Life, p. 158; Limet, "Cuisine of A n c i e n t S u m e r , " pp. 133 34; M i l a n o , " F o o d a n d Diet in Preclassical Syria," p p . 219 20; H o f f n e r , Alimenta Hethaeorum, pp. 149-211; Lev׳)׳, Chemistry and Chemical Technology, pp. 48 50; G a d d , " T a b l e t s f r o m C h a g a r Bazar a n d Tall Brak," p. 29. Biblical references include Exodus 29:23; Judges 7:13 a n d 8:5; a n d Proverbs 6:26. Arl ington ("Foods of the Bible," p p . 8 1 9 2 0 ) ־refers to manna, the food of the J e w s d u r i n g their w a n d e r i n g in the desert, as " r e s e m b l i n g c o r i a n d e r seed, a n d it was g r o u n d in the mills or beat in m o r t a r s , boiled in pots, a n d m a d e into cakes." H . I . B. C o m p s t o n a n d William D u f f M c H a r d y ( " M a n n a , " Dictionary of the Bible. Rev. Ed. J a m e s Hastings, Frederick C . G r a n t , a n d H. H . Rowley, eds. [New York: C h a r l e s Scribner's Sons, 1963], 617), however, a r g u e that manna was most likely a sticky liquid e x u d e d by insects. M a n y substances h a v e been identified with m a n n a . Cf. S. ( λ H a r r i s o n , " M a n n a a n d its Sources," Kew Bulletin 3 (1950): 407 17, esp. p. 409: "It is possible t h a t t h e m a n n a of the Bible was actually m o r e t h a n one substance, the description b e i n g of a conspicuous type a n d symbolic of the w h o l e . " 50
M e r p e r t a n d M u n c h a e v , " Y a r i m T e p e III: the H a l a f Levels," p p . 192-94; M e r p e r t a n d M u n c h a e v , " Y a r i m T e p e III: the U b a i d Levels," pp.231 33; R i c h a r d , " T h e Early B r o n z e , " p p . 3 7 - 3 8 ; C r a w f o r d , " S o m e Fire Installations f r o m A b u Salabikh, I r a q , " p p . 108 09, esp. Figs. 4 - 5 ;
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T a n n u r ovens continued in use even when, by the third millennium B. C., the Mesopotamians were utilizing a d o m e d oven (UDU.\) that allowed leavened bread to be baked. 5 1 These ovens were round in shape, m a d e of brick, and capped by a d o m e at the top. Although chimneys were known to Mesopotamians, these ovens lacked any way to vent the heat and smoke. Fire, built in the baking c h a m b e r accessed through an opening on the side of the oven, heated the interior walls, floor, and ceiling. W h e n sufficiently hot, the ashes were removed and dough placed inside. T h e opening was then sealed. Inside the humid c h a m b e r the dough rose to form a bread loaf lighter than flat bread. Early examples have been found in Uruk; later circular examples, large in size, were found in the Royal Palace at Mari. A small variant version of this type oven also appears in a gypsum relief from the Northwest Palace of Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 B. C.), in N i m r u d . T h e decorative scene showing the royal kitchen (Fig. 14) includes at lower right a baker using a paddle either to remove bread from the oven or to place the dough into it. Here the roof is flat, a n d apparently removable, since there seems to be two handgrips on top. 52
T i t e et al, "Scientific Investigations of Fire Installations at A b u Salabikh," p. 48; V a l e n t i n M ü l l e r , " B a c k o f e n , " in RIA (1928), 1: 388; S a l o n e n , " D i e Ö f e n , " p p . 101 04; Bottéro, " K ü c h e , " in RIA (1980-1983), p p . 2 8 1 - 8 2 . See also Bottéro ("Most Ancient Recipes of All," p. 253), w h o translates o n e of the Yale C u l i n a r y T a b l e t s as directing in b r e a d m a k i n g , " w h e n cooked r e m o v e f r o m the wall of the o v e n . " It has also b e e n suggested that the so-called "husking trays" f r o m H a s s u n a in n o r t h e r n M e s o p o t a m i a , d a t e d to the early sixth m i l l e n n i u m B. C., m a y h a v e been p o r t a b l e ovens to b a k e flat b r e a d . See C h a z a n a n d L e h n e r , "An Ancient A n a l o g y , " p. 27, esp. Fig. 2.1, p. 23. M o d e r n t a n n u r ovens r a n g e b e t w e e n eighty a n d o n e h u n d r e d centimeters in height a n d have an o p e n i n g at the top of ca. thirty to forty centimeters. See O c h s e n s c h l a g e r , " M u d O b j e c t s f r o m alH i b a , " p. 168. See also Schefler, Acquarossa. 2,1: esp. pp. 80, 106, note 359, a n d 107, note 365. 51
D o m e d ovens m a y go b a c k to the late Neolithic period in n o r t h e r n Syria. Excavations at the late sixth-millennium B. C . " B u r n t Village" at Tell Sabi A b y a d have revealed not only t a n n u r ovens b u t d o m e d ones as well. A m o n g several ovens in Building III, one, designated as " S " a n d described as a " b e e h i v e - s h a p e d f e a t u r e , " stood almost 1.50 m . high a n d h a d m u c h of its d o m e d roof still e x t a n t . M a d e of layers of clay mixed with straw, it was oval in s h a p e a n d m e a s u r e d 2.90 m . in d i a m e t e r at its widest. O n o n e of its long sides it h a d for inserting food an o p e n i n g that t a p e r e d t o w a r d the top. T h e r e was considerable evidence of heat on the interior walls. E x c a v a t o r s f o u n d m a n y ovens of various types in or n e a r Building III. See Peter M . M . Ci. A k k e r m a n s a n d M a r c V e r h o e v e n , "An I m a g e of C o m p l e x i t y : the Burnt Village at Late Neolithic Sabi A b y a d , Syria," AJA 99, no. 1 (Jan. 1995): 13-14, esp. Fig. 5. T h e oven m a y b e a p o r t a b l e type. Bottéro, " K ü c h e , " RIA (1980-83), 6: 282, 284; M a x . E. L. M a l l o w a n , Nimrud and its Remains. 2 Vols. ( L o n d o n : Collins, 1966), 1: 99, Fig. 44; Bottéro, " C u i sine of A n c i e n t M e s o p o t a m i a , " p. 39. Bottéro illustrates a n exact c o p y of this b a k i n g scene f o u n d in the seventh-century B. C . p a l a c e of A s h u r b a n i p a l in Nineveh. F o r udun in Hittite records, see H o f f n e r , Alimenta Hethaeorum, pp. 137 39. See also P a r r o t , Mission Archéologique du Mari. II: Le Palais, pp. 2 3 0 35, a n d Barrelet, "Dispositifs à feu et cuisson des aliments," p p . 2 6 7 - 7 6 . A late f o u r t h - m i l l e n n i u m B. C . building at J e m d e t N a s r also c o n t a i n e d several large circular ovens in w h a t was p r o b a b l y the kitchen. See M a t t h e w s , " J e m d e t N a s r , " p. 198.
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Molds were used to hold the dough while baking in an oven. Although the Bread suggestion is not without controversy, the earliest N e a r Eastern bread mold, in the form denoted "bevellecl-rim" bowl, m a y go back to the mid to late fourth millennium B. C. 5 3 Dating to the Uruk period, these h a n d - m a d e , mass-produced vessels have appeared in connection with kitchens and ovens throughout Mesopotamia, such as at Eridu and Uruk, and in such widely dispersed sites as Jcbcl A r u d a in Syria, Samsat in southern Turkey, and Godin Tepe in Iran. T h e y commonly measured about ten centimeters high, and tapered downward from top, which had a diameter of ca. eighteen centimeters, to bottom where the diameter was ca. nine centimeters. With smooth interior and rough exterior, these vessels closely resemble Egyptian bedja bowls, the typical Old K i n g d o m bread mold. Additionally, in form they also resemble the early Sumerian pictograph for bread {NINDA), which in cuneiform also appears within a square to indicate an oven. If they were molds for baking bread in an oven, they constitute strong evidence for the use of yeast to p r o d u c e leavened bread well before the process can be documented in Egypt, ca. 3100 B. C. T h a t the Egyptians adopted from the ancient N e a r East the use of yeast to make bread in molds is unlikely, and in any case is as yet incapable of proof. It is impossible as well at this point to trace further development of N e a r Eastern bread molds, although it has been suggested that it generally paralleled, in pattern if not in chronology, the development in Egypt from the h a n d - m a d e bevellcd-rim bowl to a wheel-made conical-shaped or "!lower pot" type to a goblet-shaped container. While bevcllcd-rim bowls have come to light in domestic contexts, such as at H a b u b a Kabira a n d j e b e l Aruda, both in Syria, and Ghoga Mish in Iran, their ubiquity in ancient N e a r Eastern cities and temple sites, such as at Godin T e p e , in central western Iran, and in the Syrian site of Tel Brak indicates that the bevelledrim bowl and its successors were frequently associated with large-scale bread baking for or by central authorities and for redistribution as rations to individuals. 54 ״ Old Babylonian tablets found in Ur refer to a businessman n a m e d Dumuzigamil w h o dealt in silver, wool, and bread. H e apparently was not a baker him-
53
O t h e r suggestions for the use of this vessel include a votif offering, a ration container, a food bowl, a bowl for m a k i n g yogurt, a n d a salt mold. See A. R . Millard, " T h e Bevellcd-rim Bowls: T h e i r P u r p o s e a n d Significance," Iraq 50 (1988): 49 57; Giorgio Buccellati, "Salt at the D a w n of History: T h e C a s e of the Bevelled-rim Bowls," in Resurrecting the Past. Paolo M a t t h i a e , M a u r i t s V a n L o o n , a n d H a r v e y Weiss, eds. (Istanbul: N e d e r l a n d s Historisch-Archacologisch Instituut, 1990), p p . 17 - 4 0 . 54 Millard, "Bevelled-rim Bowls, pp. 5 4 - 5 7 , esp. Figs. 1 a n d 2, p p . 4 9 - 5 0 ; C h a z a n a n d L e h n e r , "Ancient A n a l o g y , " pp. 21 35. F o r coarse w a r e p e r h a p s used to b a k e b r e a d in third-millennium B. C . A b u Salabikh, see C r a w f o r d , " S o m e Fire Installations," p. 111.
molds
Large-scale bakeries
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CHAPTER THREE
self, but a private citizen who organized the procurement and delivery of grain to be m a d e into bread to supply the d e m a n d s of both palace and temple. Amounts of cereal mentioned in the texts are quite large a n d imply that he coordinated the work of several bakers and bakeries in the city. O n e such bakery whether connected with Dumuzi-gamil is unknown — m a y have been found at a house labeled with the m o d e r n designation No. IB Baker's Square, although the excavator of the site does not believe that the large furnace installed there functioned to bake bread. Dumuzi-gamil may have supplied other customers, but finds of bread ovens in private houses in the city make it more likely that he concentrated on supplying central authorities w h o chose to purchase the bread rather than process the grain and bake it themselves. This was not the case everywhere, as the roughly contemporaneous grinding rooms and ovens located in the palace at Mari indicate. 5 5 Additionally, a large-scale oven has come to light in Lagash near the Bagara of Ningirsu, a secondary building of the large temple precinct. A building to the east of the temple, dating to the late Early Dynastic III period, contained a large d o m e d oven m a d e of m u d brick and measuring about five meters in diameter. Also found in proximity to the oven were large vats and a tablet referring to a brewery and a brewer. This installation, therefore, was a combination bakery-brewery, an association, also c o m m o n to Egypt, that derives naturally from the fact that grain processing led to the production not only of bread but also of beer. 5 6
Early brewing
d. Beer Production Chemical analysis of organic residue adhering to the sherd of a Late Uruk pot found at Godin T e p e in the Zagros Mountains of western Iran detected remains of calcium oxalate, a m a j o r element comprising beerstone, the scaly precipitant formed during fermentation of barley. T h e inside of the sherd had been scored, probably to facilitate collection of the sediment on the interior wall. This residue would serve to p r o m o t e fermentation of the next batch of wort poured into the vessel. Although no other material relating to beer production has yet emerged from the site, this residuum, dating to the late fourth millennium B. C., consti-
55
A m o n g p e r s o n n e l of the p a l a c e at C h a g a r Bazar, listed in d o c u m e n t s c o n t e m p o r a r y with the palace at M a r i , were bakers. G a d d , " T a b l e t s f r o m C h a g a r Bazar a n d Tall Brak," p p . 29, 57, 59. Bakers a n d confectioners were also listed a m o n g the N i m r u d W i n e lists as recipients of a wine ration d u r i n g the Neo-Assyrian period. See Cf. Fales, "Fresh Look at the N i m r u d W i n e Lists," p. 380. See also D. Cocquerillat, " H a n d w e r k e r , " RIA ( 1 9 7 2 - 1 9 7 5 ) , 4: 9 8 9 9 ־. For a private house with b r e a d oven excavated in n i n t h - c e n t u r y B. C . N i m r u d , see M a l l o w a n , Nimrud, pp. 186-87. 56 M a r c V a n de M i e r o o p , Society and Enterprise in Old Babylonian Ur (Berlin: Dietrich R e i m e r V e r lag, 1992), p p . 1 3 2 1 6 0 - 6 2,36־.F o r the b a k e r y - b r e w e r y at L a g a s h , see D. P. H a n s e n , "Lagash. B. Archäologisch," in RIA (1980-1983), 6: 430.
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tutcs the earliest chemical evidence for beer so far discovered. T h a t beer making first occurred here may be doubted. Godin T e p e h a d close ties with the Sumerians of lower Mesopotamia, for w h o m beer served many uses. 57 Beer was a popular drink throughout Mesopotamia during all eras. Protocuneiform economic documents dating from the beginning of writing itself, that is the Late Uruk period, already contain the Sumerian logogram (Fig. 15) for beer (Sum. A>1.S ;׳Akk. sikam).58 Although the pictographs show some variation in shape a n d decorative pattern, they probably ultimately derive f r o m a beer j a r of that period that had a wide mouth, narrow neck, and bulging shoulders tapering to a point. Often the vessel seems to be shown with a spout projecting straight u p from the shoulder. 5 9 References to beer a p p e a r in a variety of literary texts, historical documents, and private letters from the third through the first milieunium B. C. During the third and early second millennia B. C., the word beer carried metaphoric value for drink, an equation subsequently assigned to water. Additionally, beer and its consumption often represented happiness and a civilized life. Along with wine, grain, water, a n d fields, beer was considered "the life of people." A Sumerian proverb equates beer with pleasure, and in the lamentation Over the Destruction of Sumer and Ur the palace at Ur was j u d g e d unfit in which to live since both bread and beer were lacking. In the Old Babylonian version of f a b l e t II of the Epic of Gilgamesh a harlot introduces to Enkidu the pleasures of civilization, including the eating of bread a n d drinking of beer. After eating his fill and becoming drunk on seven jugs of beer, Enkidu took a bath, anointed himself with oil, and "became h u m a n . " 6 0
57
Beer in Mesopotamian life
M i c h e l ct al., " C h e m i c a l E v i d e n c e for A n c i e n t Beer,' 5 p. 24; M i c h e l et al, "First W i n e & Beer," p p . 4 1 2 A 13A. For the origin of b e e r m a k i n g , sec b e l o w note 72. 8 י barley. By the N e o - B a b y l o n i a n period, it d e n o t e d a b e e r m a d e f r o m barley, e m m e r w h e a t , o r dates. 111 the H e b r e w Bible, šēkār referred to a n y alcoholic drink o t h e r t h a n wine. See Powell, " M e t r o n Ariston," p. 92; Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel p. 92; Stol, " B e e r 111 N e o - B a b y l o n ian T i m e s , " pp. 1 6 0 - 6 1 . 59 Millard, "Bevcllcd-Rim Bowls," p. 56, a n d Fig. 5; Potts, Mesopotamian Civilization, p p . 1 4 0 - 4 3 , esp. Fig. VI.2; O p p e n h e i m , On Beer and Brewing, p. 8. T h e p i c t o g r a p h i c r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of a vessel depicts generally a clay c o n t a i n e r ; the vessel with hash m a r k s stands for b e e r . See K a t z a n d Voigt, " B r e a d a n d Beer," p. 29. O n A r c h a i c texts c o n t a i n i n g references to beer, sec D a m e r o w , " F o o d P r o d u c t i o n a n d Social Status as D o c u m e n t e d in P r o t o - c u n e i f o r m T e x t s , " p. 158, Fig. 5; Nissen et al, Archaic Bookkeeping, p. 20, Fig. 21, a n d pp. 4 3 . 4 6 ־ 60 J e a n Bottéro, " G e t r ä n k e . Α. N a c h s u m e r i s c h e n u n d akkadischen T e x t e n , " in RIA ( 1 9 5 7 - 1 9 7 1 ) , 3: 3 0 3 - 0 4 ; Jean Bottéro, " L e vin d a n s u n e civilisation d e la bière: la M é s o p o t a m i e , " in In Vino Veiitas, pp. 2 1 - 2 4 ; Lutz, Viticulture and Brewing, 17 1 . ;כןΑΛΈΤ, p. 6 1 6 (Lamentation Over the Destruction of Sumer and Ur); J e f f r e y H. T i g a y , The Evolution of the Gilgamesh Epic (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1982), pp. 2 0 6 - 0 8 , esp. n o t e 42; The Epic of Gilgamesh. M a u r e e n
212
Brewers
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Although water was doubtless the primary liquid consumed, beer played an important role in the daily life of people of all social classes. During the U r III dynasty, a monthly dole of barley served as the basic ration issued by the state or temple to workers in compensation for labor rendered. The worker could then make his own beer. A tablet from the I n a n n a temple in Nippur, for example, lists a m o n g daily chores to be performed the preparation of the necessary ingredients to brew beer. Notations in ration lists from Ebla and messenger texts from Girsu (= Tello) a n d U m m a show that military leaders, palace officials, messengers, and other designated groups of workers received beer along with other special items. Although H a n s N e u m a n n argues that beer itself was only irregularly issued, along with oil, meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, and milk products, as part of extraordinary rations or as a special reward for officials and other individuals connected with the palace or provincial government, Piotr Michalowski, citing Presargonic texts, believes that it was m u c h more commonly and widely distributcd, though not always recorded. Banquets of the upper classes, including those of the king, offered beer a n d wine, a n d literary texts frequently indicate that the gods brewed and enjoyed the beverage. Iii Mari texts, the logogram for banquet, K1.KAŠ.N1NDA, literally means "place of beer and bread," and one of th Sumerian words for banquet, KAŠ-DE-A, denoting "pouring of beer," carried with it both religious and secular connotations. 6 1 Brewers (Sum. LU.ŠIM62; Akk. sirašu) worked for state or temple and received
Gallery Kovacs, transi. (Stanford: S t a n f o r d University Press, 1989), p. 16, note 2; H a n s N e u m a n n , " B e e r as a M e a n s of C o m p e n s a t i o n for W o r k in M e s o p o t a m i a D u r i n g the U r III P e r i o d , " in Drinking in Ancient Societies. History and Culture of Drinks in the Ancient Near East. Lucio M i l a n o , ed. (Padua: S a r g o n srl, 1994), p. 3 2 4 (proverb); Piotr Michalowski, " T h e D r i n k i n g Gods: Alcohol in M e s o p o t a m i a n R i t u a l a n d M y t h o l o g y , " 111 Drinking in Ancient Societies, p. 28; Nissen et al, Archaic Bookkeeping, pp. 3 0 - 5 4 . 61 N e u m a n n , "Beer as a M e a n s of C o m p e n s a t i o n , " p p . 321 31; R o s e m a r y Ellison, "Diet in M e s o p o t a m i a : the E v i d e n c e of the Barley R a t i o n T e x t s (c. 3 0 0 0 - 1 4 0 0 B.C.)," Iraq 43, no. 1 (Spring 1981): 3 5 - 4 5 ; Michalowski, " T h e D r i n k i n g G o d s , " p p . 2 7 - 3 8 ; Miguel Civil, "Daily C h o r e s in N i p p u r , " JCS 32, no. 4 (Oct. 1980): 229-32. O n beer drinking, see W o l f g a n g Rollig, Das Bier im allen Mesopotamien (Berlin: Gesellschaft für die Geschichte u n d Bibliographie des Brauwesens Ε. V., 1970), pp. 6 4 7 7 ־. F o r deities m a k i n g beer, see M a r t e n Stol, "Beer in N e o Babylonian T i m e s , " in Drinking in Ancient Societies, p p . 156 (Enki's Return to Nippur), 1 8 1 - 8 2 (delivery a n d distribution of d a t e b e e r in the N e o - B a b y l o n i a n Period); Miguel Civil, " A H y m n to the Beer G o d d e s s a n d a D r i n k i n g S o n g , " in Studies Presented to A. Leo Oppenheim, June 7, 1964 (Chicago: T h e O r i e n t a l Institute of the University of C h i c a g o , 1964), pp. 6 7 - 8 9 (Hymn to Ninkasi). For the elaborate b a n q u e t of A s h u r n a s i r p a l II, see A. Kirk G r a y s o n , Assyrian Rulers of the Early First Millennium B. C. 2 Vols. ( T o r o n t o : University of T o r o n t o Press, 1991), 1: 2 8 8 9 3 ־. (> - N e u m a n n , " B e e r as a M e a n s of C o m p e n s a t i o n , " p. 324. T h e S u m e r o g r a m SIM (Fig. 15) p r o b a b l y represented a series of a r o m a t i c plants generally. Its c o n n e c t i o n with b e e r can b e seen 111 that its symbol was the b e e r j a r (KAŠ) with a small s q u a r e placed on the b o t t o m of the p o i n t e d foot. Its use to form the w o r d for b r e w e r p r o b a b l y implies t h e b r e w e r ' s use of additives, such as
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their pay in the form of barley, land, or livestock. T h e i r social status could be quite elevated, since several were known to have owned slaves. According to Presargonic temple accounts from Girsu, capital of Sumerian Lagash, the tempie monthly issued barley and e m m e r wheat to brewers to make beer. Beer was also available for a price at any local tavern, which was registered and licensed by the state a n d compelled to pay a tax to the central authority. M a n y tavern owners (SABITU), who also brewed their own product, were women. A unique Sumerian drinking song seems to have been composed in praise of the opening of a new tavern by a sabitu. T h e close association of w o m e n with brewing is also a p p a r e n t in the fact that brewing was the only Mesopotamian profession which functioned under the protection of a female deity. In fact, two goddesses watched over brewers, Siris a n d Ninkasi. 63 T h e association of beer and brewing with sexual passion, implied in the scene between Enkidu a n d the harlot in the Epic of Gilgamesh and represented on some reliefs a n d cylinder seals, applied as well to female tavern owners, who apparently were often also m a d a m s . T h e combination of strong drink and loose w o m e n apparently m a d e these taverns shady haunts of criminals and other ne'er-do-wells, which, according to the C o d e of H a m m u r a b i , h a d to be closely regulated and may have contributed to the disappearance of female brewers following the Old Babylonian period. 6 4 Archaeological evidence for breweries account for only three examples, one in Breweries southern Mesopotamia and two in Syria. T h e brewery part of the Early Dynastic bakery-brewery at Lagash is identified as such only by a tablet which refers to a brewer and a brewery, called the É-BAPPIR, a term derived from the Sumerian spices, to give certain beers a distinctive taste. O p p e n h e i m suggests that the processor of a r o m a t i c materials m a y have at s o m e point in time taken on the p r o d u c t i o n of b e e r with these additives. T h e small square, he suggests, represented the oven used to heat the wort a n d a r o m a t i c plant concoction. See Louis F. H a r t m a n a n d A. L. O p p e n h e i m , On Beer and Brewing Techniques in Ancient Mesopotamia. S u p p l e m e n t to the J o u r n a l of the A m e r i c a n O r i e n t a l Society, No. 10 (Baltimore: T h e A m e r i c a n O r i e n t a l Society, 1950), p p . H 9. For the a p p c a n c e of this S u m e r o g r a m in the A r c h a i c p e r i o d to designate the g r a n a r y a d m i n i s t r a t o r (KU.SIM) in c h a r g e of ingredients for b e e r p r o d u c tion, see, for e x a m p l e , D a m e r o w , " F o o d P r o d u c t i o n a n d Social Status," p p . 1 5 7 - 5 9 ; Nissen et al, Archaic Bookkeeping, p p . 3 6 . 4 6 ־ 6:i Röllig, Das Bier, p p . 4 4 - 6 3 ; Albrecht G o e t z c , " T a v e r n K e e p e r s a n d the Like in Ancient Babylonia, , יin Studies in Honor of Benno Landsberger on his Seventy-fifth Birthday April 21, 1965 (Chieago: T h e University of C h i c a g o Press, 1965), p p . 2 1 1 - 1 5 ; Laws of Eshnunna 15 a n d 41 (Reuven Y a r o n , The Laws of Eshnunna. 2 ml revised cd. [Jerusalem-Leiden: 'Flic M a g n e s Press, 1988], p p . 52 53, 6 8 - 6 9 , 160, 2 3 4 - 3 5 ) ; Civil, " H y m n to the Beer G o d d e s s , " p p . 67 68; H a r t m a n a n d O p p e n h e i m , On Beer and Brewing Techniques, pp. 12 a n d 41, notes 2 5 - 2 8 ; Powell, " M e t r o n Arist o n , " p p . 9 1 - 9 3 ; Bottéro, " L e vin d a n s u n e civilisation de la bière," p p . 2 4 - 2 7 . 64 Code of Hammurabi 108-09, 111 (AJVET, p. 170). O n the relationship b e t w e e n b e e r a n d tavern o w n e r s with sex a n d prostitution, see Stefania M a z z o n i , in A l e x a n d e r H . J o f f e , "Alcohol a n d Social C o m p l e x i t y in Ancient W e s t e r n Asia," CunAnthr 39, no. 3 (June 1998): 313; Michalowski, " T h e D r i n k i n g G o d s , " p p . 3 8 - 4 0 ; Lutz, Viticulture and Brewing, pp. 127 31.
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word BAPPIR found in lexica and referring to an ingredient in making beer. Vats, one of which was found with n u m e r o u s conical bowls in it, located in vicinity of the particular room where the tablet was found have, consequently, been associated with beer making. 6 5 O f the two Syrian breweries, the one at Tell Hadidi is better known. 6 6 T h e so-called "Tablet Building,' 5 dating to the Late Bronze IB period (early 15,h century B. C.), consisted of seven or eight rooms on three sides of an open courtyard. D o c u m e n t s discovered in one of the rooms indicate that the owner was a certain Yaya. Finds of carbonized cereal, grinding stones, numerous large storage vessels, and various cups, jars, and pitchers, in several rooms, a n d an oven in the central courtyard, point to some sort of food processing activity. Its association with beer making comes from finds of a strainer and n u m e r o u s vessels with holes in their bottoms. Marie-Henriette Gates suggests that the perforated vessels correspond to the lexical term, 0"0NÍG.DÚR.B(JR (AKK namzitu) defined as the container used in brewing beer, the mash tun. T h e capacities of these vessels varied. Small portable ones ranged from twenty-three liters up to 175 liters, while larger, stationary vessels had capacities between 300 and 350 liters. T h e n u m b e r and sizes of the vessels indicate that Yaya brewed beer on a large scale. H o w he brewed his beer, however, is more difficult to discern. An understanding of ancient N e a r Eastern brewing technology derives primarily from written sources. Brewing beer
Although beer finds mention in numerous written sources from various genres, very few provide information on brewing technology. Only one beer recipe has come to light, and it is too fragmentary to be of m u c h help in understanding the details of brewing. Lexica include many technical terms, but most are frequently individual words or short phrases whose m e a n i n g is unclear or open to varied interpretation. Literary texts arc little better at giving full, clearly understandable descriptions of the process. A few exceptions, separated by a considerable period of time, however, do exist. T h e first is a group of economic texts, sometimes called "recipes," but which arc actually temple accounts from midthird millennium B. C. Girsu, documenting cereal issued to brewers and beer received back. These documents tell us only what goes into beer and in what ratios. T h e second is the Hymn toJVinkasi, dated to ca. 1800 B. C. It is not a "how
65
Hansen, "Lagaš," (1980-83), 6: 430; Pelio Fronzaroli, "Osservazioni sul lcssico delle bevande dei testi di Ebla," in Drinking in Ancient Societies, pp. 124-27. O n iwm and beer making, see below p. 216. fi(i M a r i e - H e n r i e t t e Gates, " D i a l o g u e s Between Ancient N e a r E a s t e r n T e x t s a n d the A r c h a e o logical R e c o r d : Test Cases f r o m B r o n z e Age Syria," BASOR 270 (May 1988): 6 6 - 6 8 . T h e second possible b r e w e r y , f o u n d at Early Bronze III Selenkahiye, consists of a small house with an oven in the c o u r t y a r d . T h e house c o n t a i n e d two s q u a r e tubs (to hold wort while fermenting?) placed sideby-side, into each of w h i c h a liquid of s o m e sort was allowed to drain f r o m a r o u n d , sherd-lined basin (mash tun?). V a n L o o n , " 1 9 7 4 a n d 1975 Preliminary Results," p. 108.
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to" text, but a polished composition whose literary requirements dominate its technical precision. Some steps in the brewing process, such as malting, for example, have been left out. T h e final source is Tablet X X I I I of the lexical series Har.ra = hubullu, dating from the fifth or fourth century B. C. but apparently copied f r o m a m u c h earlier text (PI. 18). This provides a lengthy list of 140 entries whose technical meaning has been treated in detail by Louis F. H a r t m a n and A. L. O p p e n h e i m . T h e i r treatment has formed the basis for subsequent diseussions of beer technology in the ancient N e a r Last.1'7 Steps in Mesopotamian beer making apparently paralleled those followed in Malting Egypt. T h e first stage involved malting. Mesopotamians always used barley to prepare malt (Sum. MUMJ; Akk. buqlu). Processed e m m e r wheat (Sum. <7<>1λ) may have been added at times to produce an e m m e r beer. Malting involved soaking of barley to initiate germination of the grains, and then drying in the sun at a constant temperature for up to three weeks to halt the conversion of starch into maltose. This produced a "green" malt. Further heating in an oven killed the enzymes (diastase) resident in the layer surrounding the endosperm and produced " c u r e d " malt, which could be stored for a lengthy period of time. M . A. Powell thinks that the Sumerians either sun-dried malt or else oven-dried it at low temperatures, and so produced a pale malt with a highly active enzyme level. W h a t follows after this point is filled with scholarly controversy. Most scholars, relying upon comparative material from Egypt, believe that the dried malt was crushed, mixed with various aromatic materials, such as honey, dates, herbs, and spices, and water, formed into a dough, and then placed into a domed oven (UDUN.BAPPIR) to bake into a kind of bread. T h e result is a type of beer-bread called in Sumerian BAPPIR (Akk. bappiru).68 Recently, Powell has argued that bappir was not
67
D i s a g r e e m e n t a m o n g m o d e r n scholars persists o n the details of M e s o p o t a m i a n b e e r m a k ing, p r i m a r i l y arising f r o m the varied i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s of t e r m s a p p e a r i n g in the a n c i e n t written sources. T h e description that follows is m y best d e t e r m i n a t i o n of the process b a s e d u p o n the E g y p t i a n e v i d e n c e discussed earlier a n d the a r g u m e n t s p r e s e n t e d in H a r t m a n a n d O p p e n h e i m , On Beer and Brewing Techniques, passim; Civil, " H y m n to the B e e r G o d d e s s , " p p . 6 7 - 8 9 ; Powell, " M e t r o n Aristo!!," p p . 9 1 - 1 1 9 ; Röllig, Das Bier, esp. p p . 1 9 - 4 3 ; H u b e r , "Bier u n d B i e r b e r e i t u n g in B a b y l o n i e n , ' יin RIA (1938), 2: 2 5 2 8 ־. F o r o t h e r sources, sec Β. L a n d s b e r g e r a n d Κ . Balkan, " D i e I n s c h r i f t des Assyrischen K ö n i g s Irisum, g e f u n d e n in K ü l t e p e 1948," Belleten 14, no. 5 4 (April 1950): esp. p p . 2 4 4 - 4 8 ; M a r t e n Stol, " M a l z , " in RIA ( 1 9 8 7 - 1 9 9 0 ) , 7: 3 2 2 2 9 ; ־J . J . A. v a n Dijk, " T e x t e s Divers d u M u s é e de B a h g d a d , II," Sumer 13 (1957): 66, a n d 1 13, Pl. 23A. 68 T h e S u m e r i a n sign for BAPPIR was the b e e r j a r (κ,-iš) c o n t a i n i n g the sign for b r e a d (.mm). Cf. Millard, "Bevellcd-rim Bowls," p. 57, esp. Fig. 5b. T h e a u t h o r of the Hymn to Mnkasi indicates that a flavoring called Š1M was a d d e d to BAPPIR before it was cooked. Its use in m a k i n g BAPPIR b e c a m e so s t a n d a r d that, although the S u m e r i a n sign for b e e r was KAŠ, the b r e w e r himself was designated as LV.SIM. W h a t e v e r it was, Š1M was not hops. See Powell, " M e t r o n Ariston," p. 98; Levey, Chemistiy and Chemical Technology, p. 56. T h e a p p e a r a n c e of ŠIM in the term for b r e w e r repre-
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b r e a d at all, but various unspecified types of c o n c e n t r a t e d "malt products," diffcrent in some way f r o m green malt. H e bases his conclusion on the fact that in beer "recipes" the t e r m BAPPIR seems to describe a loose p r o d u c t measurable in units of dry capacity that can be used to m a k e bread. 6 9 MASHING AND T h e next step involves mixing green malt, crushed BAPPIR, a n d hulled barl fermentation sometimes with e m m e r a d d e d (or, if Powell is correct, malt, flour-like BAPPIR, a n d hulled barley), with water to p r o d u c e a liquid referred in the Hymn to Mnkasi as sújv. H e a t i n g it slowly a n d stirring occasionally p r o d u c e d the mash. 7 0 T h e mash was allowed to cool, a n d various sweeteners, such as honey, wine, or date juice, were a d d e d to hasten a n d intensify the conversion of sugars into alcohol d u r i n g f e r m e n t a t i o n . T o b r e w a s t a n d a r d beer r e q u i r e d the consistent use of the s a m e variety of yeast. T h i s quality control was attained in two ways. Since f e r m e n t i n g b e e r leaves in the crevices of the m a s h - t u n (namzitu) a residue that grows the s a m e variety of yeast, f e r m e n t i n g a new b a t c h of mash in a tun t h a t h a d been used earlier for the s a m e p u r p o s e would provide the identical type of yeast. T h e second m e t h o d is to a d d some dregs of a previous batch of beer, which contains the yeast, either to d o u g h used to m a k e BAPPIR or to the new m a s h . At this p o i n t various sweeteners, such as d a t e juice, could be a d d e d to a u g m e n t the process of conversion or f e r m e n t a t i o n . T h e m a s h was stirred periodically. O n e type of m a s h - t u n , called "' <\Ní(;.DÚR.BÙR (Akk. namzitu) sat in a w o o d e n rack (KANNU). T h e vessel had holes in the b o t t o m to allow the wort to filter t h r o u g h into a receiving vessel (lahtan; in N e o - B a b y l o n i a n times, namharu)
sents for s o m e scholars a n indication of possible c h a n g e s in b e e r p r o d u c t i o n t e c h n i q u e s over time. Ellison ( " M e t h o d s of F o o d P r e p a r a t i o n , " p. 92) a r g u e s that a c h a n g e in the w o r d for b r e w e r , f r o m LU.Š1M + CAR/LV.BAPPIR, w h e r e GAR respresents M\DA, o r b r e a d , in the third m i l l e n n i u m B. C., to just /./ JIM, in t h e Kassitc Period (ca. 1 7 0 0 1 3 0 0 ־B. C.), implies a shift in b r e w i n g technology a w a y f r o m using b r e a d to m a k e beer. S h e d o e s not, h o w e v e r , believe t h a t t h e r e was a c o m p l e t e cessation of the practice. O p p e n h e i m (On Beer and Brewing, pp. 9 - 1 2 ) notes o t h e r p a l é o g r a p h i e c h a n g e s to the A.1.vsign, a n d c o m m e n t s o n their possible association with c h a n g e s in b e e r m a k i n g t e c h n o l o gy. L u t z (Viticulture and Brewing, p. 88, n o t e 4) does not believe that m a l t i n g w a s p a r t of t h e process of b e e r m a k i n g . 69 Powell, " M e t r o n A r i s t o n , " p p . 96 100. F o r BAPPIR as b e e r - b r e a d , see H a r t m a n a n d O p p e n h e i m , On Beer and Brewing, p. 15; S o l o m o n H . K a t z a n d Fritz M a y t a g , " B r e w i n g a n A n c i e n t B e e r , " Archaeology 44, no. 4 (July-Aug. 1991): 2 4 - 3 3 . K a t z a n d M a y t a g (p. 32) believe that BAPPIR was b a k e d twice to p r o d u c e a dry, crispy cake similar to Italian biscotti. Civil ( " H y m n to the Beer G o d d e s s , " p p . 76 78) believes t h a t BAPPIR was m a d e into loaves, b u t t h a t it was m a d e f r o m u n m a l t e d grain. 7,1 S o a k i n g t h e b r e a d in w a t e r a n d allowing it to f e r m e n t w o u l d h a v e p r o d u c e d a p r o d u c t similar to m o d e r n kvass, a mildly alcoholic b e v e r a g e . T h a t a d r i n k of this kind, distinct f r o m the m o r e p o t e n t b e e r , w a s m a d e is likely b u t not susceptible of p r o o f . O n kvass, see N e u b u r g e r , Technical Arts, pp. 101 03; Powell, " M e t r o n A r i s t o n , " pp. 9 1 - 9 2 . Civil identifies t h e m a s h before h e a t i n g as si:\, a n d the c o o k e d m a s h as TITAB. T h i s identification of 77TAB is n o l o n g e r a c c e p t e d . Civil, " H y m n to the Beer G o d d e s s , " p. 76; Powell, " M e t r o n A r i s t o n , " p. 101.
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placcd underneath. 7 1 Fermentation continued for a period of time, following which the beer was transferred to storage or transport vessels, such as the MUD, a two-handled vessel with a capacity of ca. thirty to sixty liters, known from documents from Presargonic Girsu. 7 2 As in the case of Egypt, what happened to the remaining mash is unknown. It could have been used to p r o d u c e a weaker or inferior product, known to exist f r o m literary sources, by adding water, heating again, and straining. At particular points in the beer-making process the brewer had the option of Filtered and. straining the liquid to remove residue. So, for example, a Neo-Babylonian tablet unfiltered beer lists a m o n g tools of the brewer a sieve, a tool also found in the fifteenth-century B. C. brewery at Tell Hadidi. O p p e n h e i m suggests that sieving may have taken place immediately after the malt was crushed. If straining were omitted, the resulting beer would have had solid indigestible elements in it, even if the ""MG.DÚR.BÙR, which probably had larger holes than a sieve did, were used to lilter the mash. T h a t both filtered and unfiltered beers were produced can be seen in the art historical evidence. If filtered, the beer could be consumed from a hand-held drinking vessel, such as the KUU of Presargonic Girsu. If unfiltered, the beer would have required a method of preventing the solid residue from entering the drinker's mouth. 7 3 N u m e r o u s cylinder seals have been found that show usually two or more individuals communally drinking through straws from 71
L a n d s b e r g e r (Landsberger and Balkan, " D i e Inschrift," p. 245) says that the b r e w e r used his h a n d s to squeeze the m a s h in the namzitu. Cf. also Civil, " H y m n to the Beer G o d d e s s , " pp. 73, HI. T h e scene of a b r e w e r squeezing mash on a sieve a n d allowing the wort to drain into a receiving vessel below is the canonical representation for the Egyptian brewer. Sec above, C h a p t e r T h r e e , pp. 136-37. O n racks see, Stol, "Beer in Neo-Babylonian T i m e s , " p p . 170-71. See also Potts, Mesopotamian Civilization, pp. 171 73. 72 Civil ( " H y m n to the Beer G o d d e s s , " pp. 76, 81) interprets the m e a n i n g of the w o r d DIDA (Akk. billatu) as sweetwort. See also Röllig, Das Bier, pp. 24—25. T h e r e were o t h e r types of vessels associated with beer making, m a n y of which a r e listed at the e n d of the Hymn to Ninkasi. T h e s e include the gakkul-val, a fat clay or metal pot with a n a r r o w m o u t h , the lahtan a n d the ',"•1AS1.S.Ì.RE, both collection vats, a n d the IAM.RE. Civil notes that this latter t e r m is of foreign origin, "like practically all the technical terms of the M e s o p o t a m i a n b r e w e r . " If he is correct, then the origin of b r e w i n g itself m a y have to be looked for elsewhere t h a n in M e s o p o t a m i a . Civil, " H y m n to the Beer G o d d e s s , " pp. 8 3 - 8 5 . H e also suggests (p. 87) that vessels used in b e e r m a k i n g need not be m a d e of metal or w o o d , but could have been basketwork coated with b i t u m e n . Stol suggests that the namzitu m a y have b e e n specifically used to p r o d u c e date beer. Sec Stol, "Beer in Neo-BabyIonian T i m e s , " pp. 167-74; L a n d s b e r g e r a n d Balkan, " D i e Inschrift," p p . 245 48; Potts, Mesopotamian Civilization, pp. 140-43; M . A. Powell, "Masse u n d G e w i c h t e , " in RIA (1987 1990), 7: 5 0 5 - 0 8 . 73 Ellisons ( " M e t h o d s of F o o d P r e p a r a t i o n , " p. 92) suggestion that the difference between unfiltered a n d filtered beer represents a c h a n g e in beer m a k i n g technology in the mid-third mill e n n i u m B. C., with a lengthy period in which both processes were used, seems unlikely, unless by this she includes use of a sieve. Cf. H a r t m a n a n d O p p e n h e i m , On Beer and Brewing, p. 12. For the KUU, see Powell, "Masse u n d G e w i c h t e , " RIA (1987-90), 7: 505.
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Phrygian beer
CHAFFER FIVE
a single container (PI. 19). These scenes arc reminiscent of the EighteenthDynasty painted relief from Egypt showing a Syrian drinking beer through a straw. Beer or a beer-like drink, such as kvass, is surely the beverage being consumed, as one would not need a strainer to drink wine. Although reed straws would not have survived the millennia, three examples of drinking tubes were recovered from the tomb of Q u e e n Puabi at U r (Royal Tomb PG 800): one of reed (not extant) covered with gold a n d found still inserted in a silver j a r , one of copper encased in lapis-lazuli, and one of silver fitted with gold and lapis-lazuli rings. T h e silver drinking tube measured 1.0 cm. in diameter and, as extant, measured 93 cm. in length. T h e L-shaped end, which was probably the end inserted into the beer j a r since it was found inside a j a r nearby, was 19 cm. long plus the bent portion, which measured 14 cm. Unlike the beer siphon found at A m a r n a in Egypt, the end did not possess an attached filter.74 T h e Phrygian inhabitants of Gordion, in central Anatolia, during the late eighth and early seventh centuries B. C., probably also used straws, but the wealthier a m o n g them used two special types of pottery vessel to drink their beer. O n e type, the so-called side-spouted sieve jug, m a d e of ceramic or bronze and sometimes highly decorated, c a m e in three variations but all possessed one handle placed at right angles to a single spout, always favoring a right-handed drinker. T h e long spout, trough-like or open for part of its length, was affixed to the body of the j u g at a point in which small holes in the vessel's wall created a sieve. Rarely found outside Iron-Age Gordion, certain subtypes of this vessel possess some parallels with side-spouted jars of second-millennium B. C. Anatolia and Late Bronze and Early Iron Age Syria and Palestine. T h e second type, called a "sipping bowl," which may go back to the Old Assyrian period, is rarely found. This terra-cotta vessel has built into its wall on one side a tube, like a straw, projecting above the lip a n d having an opening at the top a n d another on the inside bottom of the vessel. Sometimes the tube pierces the wall before reaching the top; in this case the vessel wall at that point is perforated to form a sieve. T h e rarity of sipping bowls has led the excavators to surmise that they were "novelty" items, created to amuse. For unknown reasons neither the sipping bowl nor the side-spouted sieve j u g continued to be m a d e beyond the third century B. C. Explanations for this vary a m o n g a decline in the economic for-
74
M e t a l drinking tubes h a v e b e e n f o u n d in Syria as well. H a r t m a n a n d O p p e n h e i m , On Beer and Brewing, p. 15; F r a n k f o r t , Cylinder Seals, p p . 77 78, esp. PI. 15; Teissier, Ancient Near Eastern Cylinder Seals, Nos. 63, 88, 89, 352 (a Syrian seal); Treasures from the Royal Tombs of Ur. R i c h a r d L. Zettler a n d Lee H o m e , eds. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania M u s e u m of Archaeology a n d A n t h r o p o l o g y , 1998), pp. 139-40, esp. Pis. 1 1 5 - 1 6 ( Q u e e n Puabi). Sec also Lutz, Viticulture and Brewing, p p . 1 3 9 - 4 0 . For the Egyptian evidence, sec a b o v e C h a p t e r T h r e e , p p . 1 3 9 4 0 ־.
1
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tunes of Phrygia, a change in beer making technology which included straining during brewing, or the strong influence of Greeks w h o preferred wine to beer. 7 5 Mesopotamian beer, at least the unfiltered kind, must have been similar to Types of beer Egyptian beer: thick and cloudy with sediment, low in alcoholic content, and high in sugars a n d protein, rendering it a nutritious supplement to the diet. 70 N u m e r o u s different types of beer are attested in the written sources over the millennia, though it is often difficult to determine from the name alone what differentiates them. T h e types of beer fall generally into six categories: those deriving from quality, such as prime beer, first quality, third quality; processing, such as strained beer; ingredients, such as e m m e r beer a n d date beer; color, such as golden beer, dark beer, and, what is probably the natural color of Mesopotamian beer, reddish-brown; taste, such as honey sweet; and beers whose names are at present indecipherable. T w o crushed and sieved malt products, probably produced by drying malt at elevated temperatures in an oven, went into producing dark beers: NINDA KUMA and 7/7:1 Λ (Akk. titapu). T h e latter produced a dark beer; the former, a "sweet" dark beer. Mari apparently had a bittersweet beer called alappanu, made from pomegranates, while the best Hittite beer was called šeššar.77
3. Wine N o wine processing facilities have been clearly identified in Anatolia, the area in which winemaking most likely originated. T h e detection of tartaric acid in one room of a building excavated in Titris Höyiik and dated to ca. 2 3 0 0 - 2 1 0 0 B. C. may imply the processing of grapes into wine. T h e extant apparatus, however, consists only of an oval basin and drain, and so offer little information on the process itself. 78 Archeobotanical evidence for grape pits, stems, and pressed grape fragments found in Mid-Late Bronze Age levels at K u r b a n Höyük, how75
Wine in Hittite Anatolia
G . K e n n e t h Sams, "Beer in the City of M i d a s , " Archaeology 30, no. 2 ( M a r c h 1977): 1 0 8 1 5 ; ״ idem, The Early Phrygian Pottery. 2 Vols. T h e G o r d i o n Excavations, 1 9 5 0 - 1 9 7 3 : Final R e p o r t s , Vol. IV (Philadelphia: T h e University M u s e u m , 1994), 1: 6 7 - 7 0 , a n d 2: Pis. 9 4 - 1 0 0 , a n d Fig. 30 (sidespouted sieve jugs); 1: 7 4 - 7 6 , a n d 2: Pis. 104 05, a n d Fig. 32 (sipping bowls). 76 R o m a n o Zito, "Biochimica nutrizionale degli a h m e n d liquicli," in Drinking in Ancient Societies, p p . 7 2 - 7 3 . F o r Egyptian beer, see C h a p t e r T h r e e , p p . 1 3 8 - 3 9 . 77 Bottéro, " G e t r ä n k e , " in RLl (1957-71), 3: 3 0 3 - 0 4 ; Michalowski, " D r i n k i n g G o d s , " p. 33; Röllig, Das Bier, pp. 2 8 - 4 3 ; Stol, " B e e r in N e o - B a b y l o n i a n T i m e s , " pp. 162 67; Powell, " M e t r o n Ariston," pp. 100-01 (NINDA KI;MA a n d TITAB). For a different interpretation of the m e a n i n g of T1TAB, see Civil, " H y m n to the Beer G o d d e s s , " p. 76. See also, M i l a n o , " F o o d a n d Diet in Preclassical Syria," p p . 2 1 8 - 1 9 (alappanu); H o l f n e r , Alimenta Hethaeorum, p p . 37, 144; G . Steiner, " G e t r ä n k e . Β. N a c h hethitischen T e x t e n , " in RIA ( 1 9 5 7 - 1 9 7 1 ) , 3: 307. 78 G u i l l e r m o Algaze, in M a r i e - H e n r i e t t e Gates, "Archaeology in T u r k e y , " AJA 100, no. 2 (April 1996): 2 9 0 9 1 ; ־J a m e s W i s e m a n , " T o Y o u r Health!" Archaeology 49, η ϋ . 2 (Mar.-April 1996): 23.
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ever, suggest grape-pressing activity. 79 Likewise, Hittite sources have yielded no texts describing winemaking processes. Even so, Anatolian viticulture receives prominent place in Old Assyrian records at Kiiltepe in central Anatolia, dating to the early second millennium B. C., and Hittite records from Bogazköy mention vineyards and irrigation in contexts suggesting a prominent role for wine in the Hittite palace economy. T h e records indicate that wine was the beverage of the elite, while the masses consumed primarily water, beer, and milk. W i n e and bread together seem also to have had symbolic importance to the Hittites w h o associated t h e m with good fortune, high status, and divine favor. Indeed, most situations where wine received mention have religious contexts, such as libations and supplications. Certain types of vessels, such as animal head-shaped rhytons and shallow bowls, found in excavations, such as at Kültepe, seem often to be associated in Hittite texts with religious ceremony. Likewise, huge terra-cotta storage jars, holding from 900 to 1750 liters, a n d small "grape cluster" vessels, found in the palace at Bogazköy, as well as other small containers, may be examples of wine jars mentioned in the documentary records. Nevertheless, these vessels cannot be categorically associated with wine, since they can be linked to no archaeobotanical evidence for the grape. 8 0 T h e Hittites indicated various types of wine by modifying the Sumcriogram for wine by qualitative or descriptive adjectives, such as "good." T h e Hittites m a d e a " r e d " wine; whether they made a white variety as well is uncertain. Dried grapes, or raisins, could be used as a food, but also probably went into making a "sweet" wine. Besides a " p u r e " wine, the Hittites also mixed their wines with honey, beer, certain types of fine oil, and possibly water. Although Anatolian wine cannot be associated with a particular type of transport vessel, it seems likely that some Hittite wine did make its way along the Euphrates River into Mesopotamia and Syria. Grapes and other fruits were grown in southern Mesopotamia at least down to the end of the third millennium B. C. and then seem to disappear from the written records. Wine (Sumerian r;/;׳.vr/\; Akk. karanu) and vinegar receive mention in Sumerian texts by the mid-third millennium B. C., but most wine consumed in Mesopotamia came from areas to the north and northwest. The expression "intoxicating drink (or beer) of the m o u n t a i n " may allude to this fact. Types of wine were fairly numerous, and received various appellatives, such as strong, sweet, clear, and, in one instance, royal. Origin, particularly places in Assyria,
79
Zettler a n d Miller, " S e a r c h i n g for W i n e , " p. 126; G o r n y , "Viticulture a n d Ancient A n a t o lia," 162.;יןN a o m i Miller, "Viticulture," in Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Ancient Near East, 5: 305. 80 G o r n y , "Viticulture a n d A n c i e n t A n a t o l i a , " p p . 162 71; H o f f n e r , Alimenta Hethaeorum, pp. 39 41, 113.
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Syria, and Palestine, such as T u ' i m m u , Simmina, and Hebron, became the most frequent designations for wines in the first millennium B. C. In addition to grapes, wine was also m a d e from raisins, plumes, pomegranates, and dates. 81 Sources for wine a n d winemaking in Mesopotamia proper are rare before the first millennium B. C. This is true even for archaeological sites, such as M a r i on the Middle Euphrates, where of n u m e r o u s storerooms only three have been tentatively identified as wine cellars. Physical evidence for winemaking is entirely lacking. D o c u m e n t a r y evidence from Mari dating to the eighteenth century B. C. indicates that, although some wine was produced at this time, much was imported from areas to the north and west and stored. Some wines came by overland routes from Aleppo, which may have gotten it from sources in northern Syria on or near the Mediterranean Sea. Some of the wine was consumed, primarily by the upper classes as a luxury item, while the bulk of it was transshipped down the Euphrates River. O t h e r cities known to have been associated with the wine trade in the second millennium B. C. included the Hittite city of Carchemish, located on the U p p e r Euphrates, and Sippar, situated on the river just north of Babylon. T h e m e t h o d of transporting wine was usually by clay jars of about thirty liters capacity, although Herodotus (1.193-94) indicates that in the sixth century B. C. boats floated down the Euphrates River carrying wine stored in containers m a d e of date-palm. Wines from Syria, particularly a r o u n d Damascus, continued to supply the markets of Babylonia during the first millennium B. C. 8 2 N e a r Eastern art historical evidence often depicts vineyards or scenes where wine [)lays a prominent role. Individuals are shown being served wine by various attendants or enjoying a banquet. Typical examples of this type of evidence include the mid-third millennium B. C. mosaic, called the "Standard of Ur,"
Λiesopotamian wine trade
Wine, an elite beverage
" יG o r n y , "Viticulture in Ancient A n a t o l i a , " p p . 1 4 5 - 5 9 , 1 6 9 - 7 0 ; Steiner, " G e t r ä n k e , " RLi (1957-71), 3: 306; Bottéro, " G e t r ä n k e , " in RIA (1957 71), 3: 3 0 3 - 0 5 ; Bottéro, " L e vin d a n s une civilisation de la bière," p p . 2 8 - 3 0 ; J e r e m y Black, " M e s o p o t a m i a , " in Oxford Companion to Wine, p p . 6 1 8 - 1 9 ; !)alley, Mari and Karana, p p . 9 0 - 9 1 ; Broshi, " W i n e in Ancient Palestine," p p . 2 4 2 7 ; ־ Potts, Mesopotamiaη Civilization, p. 70; Limet, " C u i s i n e of A n c i e n t S u m e r , " p. 136. For w i n e f r o m H e b r o n , sec Ezekiel 27:18. Powell ("Wine a n d the V i n e in Ancient M e s o p o t a m i a , " pp. 112 13) docs not believe that white wine was k n o w n in M e s o p o t a m i a , a n d strongly denies that a n y cvid c n c e exists f r o m c u n e i f o r m sources for wine mixed with water. 82 Powell, " W i n e a n d the V i n e in Ancient M e s o p o t a m i a , " pp. 100-14; Zettler a n d Miller, " S e a r c h i n g for W i n e , " p p . 123-31; Bottéro, " L e vin d a n s u n e civilisation de la b i è r e , " p. 30; Philippe T a l o n , Archives Royales de Mari XXIV. Textes Administratifs des Salles "T et du Palais de Mari. 2 Vols. (Paris: Editions R e c h e r c h e sur les Civilisations, 1985), 1: 3 9 2 1 2 - 1 6,49־ M i l a n o , " F o o d a n d Diet in Pre-classical Syria," in Production and Consumption in the Ancient Near East. C a r l o Zaccagnini, ed. (Budapest: University of Budapest, 1989), pp. 2 2 9 - 3 1 ; Fronzaroli, " O s s e r vazioni sul lessico delle b e v a n d e , " p p . 122 24.
;
Luci
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depicting a Sumerian feast complete with wine a n d entertainers. Assyrian basreliefs, in particular, often depict b a n q u e t scenes that suggest parallels with later Greek symposia. 8 3 Although distinguishing wine consumption from beer drinking in the art historical record is problematic, alcoholic consumption was clearly an important part of N e a r Eastern social relations. A m o n g gypsum reliefs found decorating T h r o n e - r o o m Β of the Northwest Palace of Ashurnasirpal II, in Nimrud, was one that depicted domestic scenes associated with food preparation for the king (Fig. 14). T h e setting portrays a walled enclosure (as seen from above) subdivided into four parts, each representing a scene of food preparation. T h e upper left picture shows a w o m a n opening what a p p e a r to be wine j a r s sitting in a rack. Reminiscent of scenes in t o m b paintings in Egypt, the attendant seems to hold in her left h a n d a fan, perhaps to cool the wine. In the text of an inscription found in the same palace, Ashurnasipal II boasts that he irrigated the fields along the Tigris River, established fruit orchards, and pressed wine. 84 Bronze reliefs once erected on the gates of a palace of Shalmaneser III carry scenes from several of the king's military campaigns. T w o , in particular, show Shalmaneser receiving tribute from foreign kings. 85 Clearly delineated is the king's pavilion, u n d e r which a p p e a r items of food for the m o n a r c h and presumably his guests. Displayed prominently on the left is a stand supporting a wine jar. In a wine cellar of the fort built by the same Shalmaneser, besides huge wine jars, excavators uncovered dozens of clay tablets dated to the early eighth century B. C. The tablets apparently record distributions of wine to palace personnel for a special feast, which occurred annually. Listed a m o n g those who attended to the king's table was a "wine manager." 8 6 Although these materials lack any informa-
83
Limet, " C u i s i n e of A n c i e n t S u m e r , " figs, on p p . 134 a n d 136; Lutz, Viticulture and Brewing, pp. 6 9 - 7 1 ; J u l i a n E d g e w o r t h R e a d e , " T h e Symposium in Ancient M e s o p o t a m i a : Archeological Evid c n c c , " in In Vino Veritas, p p . 3 5 5 6 ; ־F r a n c e s Pinnock, " C o n s i d e r a t i o n s on the ' B a n q u e t T h e m e ' in the Figurative Art of M e s o p o t a m i a a n d Syria," in Drinking in Ancient Societies, pp. 15 26; W a l t e r Burkert, " O r i e n t a l Symposia: C o n t r a s t s a n d Parallels," in Dining in a Classical Context. William J . Slater, ed. (Ann A r b o r : T h e University of M i c h i g a n Press, 1991), p p . 7 - 2 4 . F o r Assyrian basreliefs s h o w i n g vineyards, see Pauline A l b e n d a , " G r a p e v i n e s in A s h u r b a n i p a l ' s G a r d e n , " BASOR 215 (Oct. 1974): 5 17; Lutz, Viticulture and Brewing, pp. 27, Fig. 2; 7 0 - 7 1 , Figs. 13-14. 84 M a l l o w a n , Mmrud, 1: 99, Fig. 44. Bottéro illustrates a n exact copy of this scene f o u n d in the seventh-century B. C . p a l a c e of A s h u r b a n i p a l in Nineveh. Bottéro, "Cuisine of Ancient M e s o p o t a m i a , " p. 39. F o r f a n n i n g wine in Egypt, see C h a p t e r 4, p. 161. F o r the inscription, see G r a y s o n , Assyrian Rulers, 1: 290. 85 King, Bronze Reliefsfrom the Gates of Shalmaneser, p p . 2 5 - 2 6 , esp. Pis. X I X a n d X X X V . 8( ' J . V. K i n n i e r Wilson, The Mmrud Wine Lists (London: British School of Archaeology in Iraq, 1972); Frederick M a r i o Fales, "A Fresh Look at the N i m r u d W i n e Lists," in Drinking in Ancient Societies, p p . 361 80, esp. pp. 373 a n d 380. O n e s t o r e r o o m at N i m r u d could a c c o m m o d a t e ca. 4,000 gallons. Black, " M e s o p o t a m i a , " in Oxford Companion to Wine, p. 619. See also Lutz, Viticulture and Brewing, p p . 6 9 7 1 ־.
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tion on the technology of winemaking, they do imply the importance of wine to the elite. Perhaps the best sources for N e a r Eastern wine technology can be seen in Syrian and Palestinian sites dating to the Iron Age. Written evidence from Syria and Palestine shows that, as in other parts of the Near East, wine played a significant but limited role in society. Administrative texts indicate that winemaking a n d consumption was an important part of life in and around Ugarit (mod. Ras Shamra) between the fourteenth and twelfth centuries B. C. As elsewhere in the Near East, it was the drink of the elite, was offered to special, particularly foreign, guests as a mark of hospitality, and, if it played any role in the export trade, it did so as a luxury item. 87 Viticulture and wine find frequent mention in the Hebrew Bible. T h e vine, the grape, or wine had figurative and symbolic value in wisdom literature. T h e y played a role in religious ritual, and narrative sections illustrate their daily social value. 8 8 But, like the economic documents of Ugarit, Mari, and elsewhere, little technical information on winemaking can be garnered from the literature. However, whereas archaeological and art historical evidence is lacking in other parts of the ancient N e a r East, Syria and Palestine have yielded much important physical material. Installations devoted to winemaking are rarely attested before the Iron Age. T w o exceptions stand out. A grape treading facility, dated by potter) ׳to the early Bronze II III period, operated near the bottom of the south slope of Tell T a c a n n e k . Rectangular in shape and averaging ca. twenty centimeters deep, the treading vat was cut into bedrock. At the foot of the sloping vat were two holes serving as a conduit to conduct the grape juice at a 53° slope into a large collecting basin. T h e basin and channels were at one time apparently lined with plaster; the vat itself m a y have also been covered, but no evidence for it remains. T h e association with winepressing derives from its close parallels with Iron Age treading vats. An installation more clearly devoted to winemaking comes from Late Bronze Age Aphek-Antipatris, lying in the Sharon Plain on the River Yarkon in Israel. Excavators have found near the palace two plastered treading vats, each with a capacity of ca. 3.0 m. 3 T h e i r association with wine is implied
87
M i l a n o , " F o o d a n d Diet," pp. 235 38; M i c h a e l Hcltzcr, " R o y a l E c o n o m y in Ancient U g a r it," in State and Temple Economy in the Ancient Near East. 2 Vols. (Leuven: D e p a r t m e n t Oriëntalistiek, 1979), 2: 4 5 9 - 9 6 . 88 R a f a e l Frankel, Wine and Oil Production in Antiquity in Israel and Other Mediterranean Countries. J S O T / A S O R M o n o g r a p h Scries, 10 (Sheffield: Sheffield A c a d e m i c Press, 1999), p p . 198 99; J a c k M . Sasson, " T h e Blood of G r a p e s . Viticulture a n d Intoxication in the H e b r e w Bible," in Drinking in Ancient Societies, p p . 3 9 9 - 4 1 9 ; Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, p p . 101-10; Arrington, " F o o d s of the Bible," p. 816. M a g e n Broshi ( " W i n e in Ancient Palestine — I n t r o d u c t o r y N o t e s , " The Israel Museum 'journal?! [1984]: 21) says t h a t the Bible m e n t i o n s wine 141 times.
Wine production in Syria and Palestine
Grape processing in Bronze Age Israel
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Iron Age u!ine installations at Tel Michal
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by the discovery in the vats of C a n a a n i t e jars, similar to those found in Egypt that held wine, and of a large m o u n d of grape skins and pits near the palace. 8 9 T h e Early Iron Age II site of Tel Michal, located on the M e d i t e r r a n e a n coast north of where the River Yarkon empties into the sea, has yielded evidence for winemaking. 9 0 H e r e excavators uncovered in close proximity to each other two complexes of similar plan excavated into the soil, lined with bricks and stones, a n d coated with plaster. E a c h complex measures ca. 5.0 m. χ 7.0 m. a n d dates to the tenth century B. C. T w o rectangular treading vats (ca. 2.0 m χ 3.0 m.), each with two r o u n d receiving vats of different sizes located at the same end, define a single complex. T h e treading vats themselves are of different sizes, the largest m e a s u r i n g 2.30 m. χ 3.50m. A drain connects the treading surface to the receiving vats, which are not interconnected. All receiving vats have a depression in the bottom to assist in cleaning. Between the treading vats of each complex is a rectangular basin measuring 1.00 m. χ 3.50 m. T h e p u r p o s e of the central basin is u n k n o w n , but it was probably where the grapes were placed before being transferred into the treading vats. Small channels allow grape juice oozing out of the stacked-up grapes to drain into the treading vats. 91 T h e operation of this grape processing installation seems clear. Grapes brought to the installations were placed on the rectangular area between the treading surfaces. T h e grapes were transferred to the vats and trod by foot. Art historical evidence for treading is lacking, so one cannot know if, like the Egyptians, workers held onto ropes or poles suspended above them. T h e Bible, however, does indicate that, as in Egypt, music and singing did accompany treaders in their work. T h e juice drained from the treading surface into the circular vats
89
Aphek-Antipatris: M o s h e K o c h a v a i , " T h e History & Archaeology of Aphek-Antipatris, Biblical City in the S h a r o n Plain," BiblArch 44, no. 2 (Spring 1981): 80; Tell T a ' a n n e k : G . W . A h l s t r ö m , " W i n e Presses a n d C u p - M a r k s of the J e n i n - M e g i d d o Survey," BAS OR 231 (Oct. 1978): 46, a n d P. W . L a p p , " T h e 1968 Excavations at Tell T a ' a n n e k , " BASOR (Oct. 1969): 12 14, esp. Fig. 8, p. 13. T h e most c o m p l e t e study of w i n e a n d oil processing in Israel a n d o t h e r areas bord e r i n g the M e d i t e r r a n e a n Sea is that of Frankel, Wine and Oil Production. Its chronological limits e x t e n d f r o m the Bronze Age up to t h e Early M o d e r n period. 90 Z e ' e v H e r z o g , " A C o m p l e x of Iron Age Winepresses (Strata X I V XIII)," in Excavations at Tel Michal, Israel. Z e ' e v H e r z o g , G o e r g e R a p p , J r . , a n d O r a Ncgbi, eds. (Minneapolis: T h e University of M i n n e s o t a Press, 1989), p p . 73 75; Z e ' e v H e r z o g , " T e l M i c h a l , " in New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land, 3: 1038. A similar construction has also c o m e to light in three r o o m s of a large building in Iron Age II Ashkelon. See S a m u e l R. Wolff, "Archaeology in Israel," AJA 100, no. 4 (Oct. 1996): 746. 91 The large receiving vats m e a s u r e ca. 1.5 m . in d i a m e t e r a n d 1.30 m . d e e p ; the small o n e m e a s u r e s ca. 0.9 m. in d i a m e t e r a n d 0.8 m. d e e p . H e r z o g , "A C o m p l e x of Iron Age Winepresses," p. 73. T h e d e p t h of the t r e a d i n g vats a n d r e c t a n g u l a r basin is not indicated, but are a p p a r ently only a few centimeters.
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where it underwent fermentation for a short time before being transferred to storage containers. 9 2 Another Iron Age II installation, found at Gibeon, located just north of Jerusalem a n d dating to the eighth a n d seventh centuries B. C., may have served to make wine, though again archaeobotanical evidence is lacking to prove it. 93 T w o areas of the site contain sixty-three rock-cut, jug-shaped cellars, each averaging ca. 2.0 meters in diameter. All but five are unplastered. In close proximity to m a n y of the cellars a p p e a r shallow basins that m a y have served as treading vats. W i n e seems a m o r e likely p r o d u c t for three reasons: the a p p e a r a n c e of the basin areas seems more fitted to expressing liquid from grapes than f r o m olives, finds of inscribed j a r handles suggest wine, a n d the combined capacity of the sixty-three cellars (ca. 1500 gallons each), yielding a total storage volume of ca. 25,000 gallons, is an a m o u n t far in excess of what one would expect for olive oil production. T h e excavator suggests that the winemaking facility functioned in the following fashion. T h e grapes were trod in the shallow basins, which could a c c o m m o d a t e two individuals, and the juice collected a n d transferred to plastered cellars for initial fermentation a n d filtering. T h e juice was then placed in storage vessels, which were arranged inside the unplastered cellars. Covers fitted over the openings allowed continued fermentation at a constant temperature of ca. 65° F. 94 After a sufficient time, the wine was again decanted into smaller stoppered jars for subsequent transport. T h e Bible uses three expressions for wine processing i n s t a l l a t i o n s , ^ ^ ׳, gat, and pûrâ. T h e s e have been identified variously as synonyms for a winery as a whole or terms distinguishing different parts of a single winemaking complex. O n e suggestion sees the terms as designating three types of installations differing
Gibeon
Wine making in the Bible
92
T h e e x c a v a t o r surmises that w i n e m a k i n g took place in the f o u r t r e a d i n g vats used in succèssion. W i n e was p r e p a r e d in o n e installation a n d allowed to f e r m e n t in its receiving vats for t h r e e days. D u r i n g this time t r e a d i n g b e g a n , in t u r n , in each of the o t h e r vats until all receiving vats w e r e in use. T h e n , o n the f o u r t h day, the two receiving vats of the first t r e a d i n g vat w e r e e m p t i e d a n d the process b e g u n a n e w . In this w a y two receiving vats daily yielded their supply of wine, while vats in the o t h e r installations c o n t a i n e d expressed juice in varying stages of f e r m e n t a t i o n . H e r z o g , " C o m p l e x of I r o n Age W i n e p r e s s e s , " p. 74. In most cases, a p p a r e n t l y , the receiving vat served to f e r m e n t the juice into wine. Following f e r m e n t a t i o n , the wine was t r a n s f e r r e d to o t h e r vessels. See E i t a m , ' " B e t w e e n the [Olive] R o w s ' , " p. 66. O n references in the Bible to t r e a d i n g , see Amos 9:13; Isaiah 63:2; for singing while treading, see Isaiah 16:10; Jeremiah 25:30 a n d 48:32-33. 93 James B. P r i t c h a r d , Winery, Defenses, and Soundings at Gibeon (Philadelphia: T h e University Museum, 1964), p p . 1 - 2 7 ; Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 94 For Biblical references listed in Sasson, "Blood of G r a p e s , " p p . 4 1 3 14, to the process o f f e r m e n t a t i o n , see Psalms 75:8; Jeremiah 48:1 1, a n d Job: 32.19; to f e r m e n t a t i o n in vessels, see Jeremiah 48:11; to filtering, see Isaiah 25:6; to bottling after f e r m e n t a t i o n , see 1 Samuel 1:24; 10:3; Jeremiah 1 3 : 1 2 - 1 4 ; Joshua 9:13; Job 32:19.
.112
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according to location a n d c o n s t r u c t i o n : ^ ^ , an emplacement hewn from the rock; gat, an u r b a n winery m a d e from stones and mortar; and pûrâ, a portable stone or wooden apparatus. Frankel, on the other hand, does not believe that the Biblical texts can support such distinctions. H e prefers to see bothyeqeb and gat as designating the complete winery m a d e up of treading floor and collection vat. In the case of yeqeb, at least, the term can also designate an oil installation. T h e Bible, for example, notes that " T h e threshing floors shall be full of grain, and Ûìcyêqûbîm shall overflow with wine a n d oil." 95 Although field surveys have yielded evidence for treading wine, none offer clear evidence for presses per se. T h e excavator at Tel Michal has conjectured that a large limestone rock, containing two holes of different sizes and found near one of the tenth-century B. C. winemaking installations, may have supported one end of a wooden b e a m used to press the grapes. As a close connection between grape and olive processing existed during the G r a e c o - R o m a n period so it should elicit no surprise that it did so as well during the Bronze and Iron Ages. N u m e r o u s locations have yielded presses frequently shown by archaeobotanical remains to have expressed oil f r o m olives. Since many, if not all of these presses, probably served to press grape skins as well, an investigation of the oil press will also clarify the workings of the winepress.
Oil
4. Olive oil, an import into Mesopotamia
T h e olive tree grows naturally in M e d i t e r r a n e a n climates of coastal Syria and Palestine a n d in western and southern Anatolia. With proper irrigation and care, the cultivated variety can be grown in other places, though apparently not very well in southern M e s o p o t a m i a where the t e m p e r a t u r e is too high. Most of the oil in M e s o p o t a m i a , therefore, was imported by trading contacts, through Ebla and Mari, for example, with areas to the n o r t h and west. 96 Although writ-
95
Joel 2.24. T h e t r a n s l a t i o n is that of Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, p. 111. F o r yeqeb, see Isaiah 5:2, Haggai 2:16, J e r m e m i a h 48:33; gat, see Joel 3:13, IMmentations 1:15; Isaiah 63:2; pûrâ, see Isaiah 63:3, Haggai 2:16. See also F r a n k e l , Wine and Oil Production, p. 185; Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, pp. 1 1 1 - 1 2 ; Sasson, " B l o o d of G r a p e s , " p. 4 1 3 , note 40; Lutz, Viticulture and Brewing, p p . 6 6 67; A. R . S. K e n n e d y a n d J . P a t e r s o n , " W i n e a n d S t r o n g D r i n k , " in Dictionary of the Bible, p p . 1038 39; G . W . A h l s t r ö m , " W i n e Presses a n d C u p - m a r k s of the J e n i n - M e g i d d o S u r v e y , " BASOR 2 3 1 (Oct. 1978): 1 9 - 4 9 . . 96 Z o h a r y a n d H o p f , Domestication of Plants in the Old World, p p . 137 140 ; ־ Frankel et al, H and Technology of Olive Oil in the Holy iMnd, p p . 21 23 ;־A l f o n s o A r c h i , " C u l t u r e de l'olivier et p r o d u c t i o n d e l'huile à E b l a , " in Marchands, Diplomates et Empereurs. Etudes sur la civilisation mésopotamienne offertes à Paul Garelli. I). C h a r p i n a n d F. J o a n n è s , eds. (Paris: Éditions R e c h e r e c h e sur les Civilisations, 1991), p p . 2 1 1 - 2 2 ; M e i r M a l u l , " Z e / i r t u ( S e / i r d u ) : T h e Olive T r e e a n d its P r o d u c t s in A n c i e n t M e s o p o t a m i a , " in Olive Oil in Antiquity, p p . 9 1 - 1 0 0 .
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ten sources in Mesopotamia and elsewhere provide little or no information on processing olive oil, they do indicate its applications. Besides its value in cooking, food preparation, and consumption, oil was used for illumination, as an ingredient in making perfumes and medicines, and in various rituals, such as anointing and food offerings. T h e cultic importance of oil is strikingly seen in Israel in the frequent discovery of oil presses in close proximity to religious buildings, such as at T a ' anach, D a n , a n d Farah. 9 7 Excavations at Ugarit have yielded a late Early Bronze III installation that archaeobotanical finds prove was an olive oil press. T h e construction was simpie, composed of two stone slabs on which the olives were crushed. Each slab had a sloping channel that conducted the expressed oil from the {)latform toward two plastered receiving basins. Olive pits found in one of these basins confirm the product processed here. In the other basin was discovered a perforated piece of limestone, which may have served to crush the olives directly, as in Chalcolithic times, or was used as a weight to press a wooden beam down onto the olives. If the latter conjecture is accurate, this installation would constitute the earliest evidence for a b e a m press, dating to ca. 2300 B. C. 9 8 Oil could be obtained from olives in several ways. It could be " r e n d e r e d " by leaving ripe olives out in the sun to dry on a cloth of some kind. T h e oil would saturate the cloth, which was then washed. Washing removed the oil, which, naturally separating from the water, could be skimmed off. T h e application of this process is only conjectural, since it would leave no physical remains. Λ second method involved pounding olives 111 a portable or rock-cut mortar, to collect small volumes of oil, probably for immediate use. A third technique entailed pressing large numbers of olives with a stone on a flat slab, then placing the crushed olives in a plastered vat. W h e n water, particularly hot water, is added, the oil floats to the top where it can be skimmed off. This method, which has some lexical evidence for it, could produce a greater a m o u n t of oil, which was stored for later use or trade. These last two methods probably characterized
97
Uses of olive oil
Bronze Age oil installation at Ugarit
Expressing oil from olives
M a l u l , " Z e / i r t u ( S e / i r d u ) , " p p . 9 9 1 0 0 ; ־H a r r y A. H o i f n e r , J r . , " O i l in Hittite T e x t s , " ; ־M Ū s h e Weinfeld, " T h e Use of Oil in the Cult of A n c i e n t BiblArch 58, 11θ. 2 J u n e 1995): 1 0 9 1 3 Israel," in Olive Oil in Antiquity, p p . 1 2 5 - 2 8 . 98 T h e stone slabs m e a s u r e 1.95 m. χ 1.25 m χ 0.18 m a n d 1.70 m . χ 1.30 m. χ 0.1 1 m. T h e plastered basins m e a s u r e ea. 0.80 m . wide a n d 0.65 m . d e e p . Frankel ( Wine and Oil Production, p. 66) does not believe that a lever-and-weight press o p e r a t e d this early. H e does accept that this type press f u n c t i o n e d in Late Bronze Age Ugarit. O t h e r Bronze Age oil presses, but of the simpler type similar to Chalcolithic installations, h a v e c o m e to light at Tell 'Areini (Early B r o n z e II), a n d T a a n a c h (Early Bronze II/III). Stager, "Firstfruits," p . ' 1 7 6 ; M i l a n o , " F o o d a n d Diet," p. 212. Frankel (Wine and Oil Production, p. 66) leans toward the suggestion that the p e r f o r a t e d stone was used as a crusher, not as a weight for a b e a m press. F o r olive oil at Early Bronze Age Ugarit, see M i c h a e l Heltzer, "Olive G r o w i n g a n d Olive Oil in U g a r i t , " in Olive OH in Antiquity, p p . 77 89.
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installations at various Chalcolithic, Bronze Age, and early Iron Age sites, such as Tel Beit Mirsim, Bethel, Khallct c-Gazaz, and on the G o l a n . " The lever-andT h e fourth method constitutes a m a j o r technological innovation in food proweight, or beam, cessing, the development of the lever-and-weight press. T h e use of a lever press increases mechanical advantage by multiplying the force applied by h u m a n s pulling down the free end of the b e a m or by stone weights. W hen and where this first occurred is unknown. T h e r e may be evidence for it at late Early Bronze Age Ugarit, a n d on Cyprus, in R o o m 4 of the Ashlar Building from Maroni, dated to the Late Cypriote IIC period (ca. 1300 B. C.). Clear examples of this type press, however, have been unearthed at numerous Iron Age II (tenth to mid-sixth cent. B. C.) sites in Israel, such as at Shiqmona, Tell D a n , Hazor, Tell Beit Mirsim, T e l Gezer, Tel Batash, Beth-Shemesh, Khirbet J e m a c i n , and Khirbet Zibdi. U p to forty eighth-century B. C. sites in the Samarian hills and elsewhere, such as Tell Tsaiit and Tirat Yehuda, had rock-cut installations, while other sites had presses cut from stone blocks. 100 Tel Miqne-Ekron Since so many installations have been found, many of which show local varialions, not every site can receive full treatment, nor is it necessary for our purposes. T h e seventh-century B. C. site of Tel Miqne-Ekron, in southern Israel, will serve as an illustrative example for two reasons. First, it constitutes the largest oil production facility thus far discovered in the ancient N e a r East, whose installations have been intensively excavated and studied. All total, the site comprised at least 105 oil-pressing complexes of uniform a r r a n g e m e n t potentially yielding an estimated 290,000 gallons of oil annually and capable of supporting a work
99
Malul, " Z e / i r t u (Se/irdu)," ])p. 98 99 (rendering); Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, p. 120 (Tell Beit Mirsim a n d Bethel); Epstein, "Oil Production in the Golan Heights, י יpp. 133-46; Eitam, "'Between the [Olive] R o w s ' , " pp. 6 8 - 8 0 (Khallct e-Gazaz); Frankel et al, History and Technology of Olive Oil, pp. 28 31. For the use of hot water, following p o u n d i n g , to extract sesame seed oil, see Levey, Chemistry and Chemical Technology, pp. 90 92. 100 In addition to the Early Bronze Age finds at Ugarit, see the discussion of Late Bronze Age oil presses in Ugarit a n d on Cyprus, dating f r o m the fourteenth to the twelfth centuries B. C., in Olivier Callot, "Les huileries ct l'huile au Bronze Récent: Q u e l q u e s examples Syriens et Chyprioites," in IJI production du vin et de l'huile, pp. 55 64; a n d Sophocles H a d j i s a w a s , "An Introduction to Olive Oil Production in C y p r u s , " in Olive Oil in Antiquity, pp. 64 65. For Israel, see Frankel ct al. History and Technology of Olive Oil, pp. 35 50; Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, pp. 122-23; G o r g e Kein! a n d A m i h a i M a z a r , "7 l h C e n t u r y B. C . Oil Presses at T e l Batash, Biblical T i m n a h , " in Olive Oil in Antiquity, pp. 243 48. T h e installations at Tell Beit Mirsim at first identified as "dye plants" arc now considered to have been oil-pressing facilities. David Eitam, "Olive Presses of the Israelite Period," Tel Aviv 6, nos. 3 1 5 0 - 5 2:(1979)4;־S e y m o u r Gitin, "Tel M i q n e - E k r o n in the 7 ,h C e n t u r y B. C . E.: the I m p a c t of E c o n o m i c Innovation a n d Foreign Cultural Influences on a NeoAssyrian Vassal City-state," in Recent Excavations in Israel. A View to the West. S e y m o u r Gitin, ed. Archaeological Institute of A m e r i c a Colloquia a n d C o n f e r e n c e Papers, No. 1 (Dubuque, Iowa: K e n d a l l / H u n t Publishing C o m p a n y , 1995), p. 77, note 32.
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force of ca. 2,000 individuals. T h e size of olive groves necessary to supply such a large industry has been estimated at 12,500 acres. Almost every building containing an oil installation follows a consistent tripartite pattern: an anteroom, storage room, and workroom. Since oil production was seasonal, the presses were in use for only about four months of each year. During the rest of the time, the building, or at least its anteroom, was given over to textile activity. Each workroom had two oil presses flanking a large, rectangular crushing basin, all formed from local stone. T h e second reason to choose Tel M i q n e is that, situâted on the Inner Coastal Plain between the Philistine Coastal Plain a n d the hills of t h e j u d e a n Shephelah, Ekron was for three-quarters of the seventh century B. C. a Philistine city-state in vassalage to the Neo-Assyrian Empire. T h e extensive nature of the installations illustrates the development of specialized, large-scale industrial production within a wider context of expanding N e a r Eastern and M e d i t e r r a n e a n economy and trade initiated during the pax Assy1iaca.m Each olive pressing installation at Tel Miqne was comprised of two freestanding pressing vats flanking a rectangular crushing basin (Fig. 16). Examples found in the industrial quarter measured on average 0.70 m. χ 1.10 m. χ 1.50 m., and had an average volume of 300 liters. O f the installations uncovered at Ekron, the best preserved is located in Building O n e , R o o m 15. This particular example utilized two types of press, a "preliminary" type and the standard "Ekron" type. 102 T h e former press type, small, round in shape, and measuring 0.60 m. in diameter and 0.80 m. in height, may represent an earlier stage in lever-and-weight press technology. T h e narrow pressing surface slopes inward to conduct the expressed oil into a straight-sided collecting vat holding about twenty-five liters. T h e larger and more sophisticated Ekron type is square, with a large pressing surface having radial grooves to channel the oil into a bell-shaped collecting basin capable of holding between fifty and one hundred liters. T h e collecting vats of both type 1(11
Since n o evidence has arisen to substantiate an oil industry at E k r o n prior to the seventh c e n t u r y B. C . , it seems p r o b a b l e that Assyrians initiated the p l a n n i n g a n d construction of the extensive facilities. T h e s a m e can be said for T e l Batash, located ca. f o u r miles f r o m E k r o n . D a v i d E i t a m , " O l i v e Oil Industry at T e l M i q n e - E k r o n , " in Olive Oil in Antiquity, p p . 167 96; Gitin, " T e l M i q n e - E k r o n in the 7 ,h C e n t u r y B. C . E.," p p . 61 79; K e i m a n d M a z a r , "7111 C e n t u r y B. C . Oil Presses at T e l Batash," pp. '243-48. 102 O n l y six examples of the " p r e l i m i n a r y " type h a v e b e e n f o u n d in E k r o n , a l t h o u g h others h a v e b e e n f o u n d at Tel Batash. A n eighth-century B. C . e x a m p l e was f o u n d at Tell Beit Mirsim. A study of fifty-four presses at Ekron shows t h a t " p r e l i m i n a r y " type presses varied in capacity b e t w e e n twenty a n d forty liters. T h e Ekron type c a m e in two sizes, m e d i u m a n d large, a n d varied between forty-one a n d o n e h u n d r e d a n d forty liters in capacity. T h e m e d i u m size presses, whose capacities r a n g e f r o m forty-one to eighty liters, m a d e u p sixty-three p e r c e n t of those studied. E i t a m , "Olive Oil Industry at T e l M i q n e - E k r o n , " p p . 169 70. In T e l Batash the pressing vats w e r e sunk completely into the floor. K e i m a n d M a z a r , "7 , h C e n t u r y Oil Presses at T e l Batash," pp.244-45.
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Fig. 16. Drawing of a lever-and-weight press to process olive oil, from Ekron, Israel. From Gitin, "Tel Miqne-Ekron in the 7 ,h Century B. C. E.," p. 64, Fig. 4.3. Courtesy of Seymour Gitin, W . F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Israel, and the American Institute of Archaeology.
TIIE ANCIENT NEAR EAS T
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presses had a shallow basin scooped out of the bottom to facilitate emptying the vat of its oil. Each press utilized a long wooden beam, no longer extant, which had one end inserted into a stone niche in the wall behind the vats. T h e niche was constructed to allow the b e a m to be raised or lowered, probably with wooden blocks, to adjust to different size containers holding crushed olives. T h e pressing force came from four pyramid-shaped and horizontally perforated stones, weighing ca. ninety kilograms each, suspended by ropes in a line or in two groups of two stones from the free end of the beam. T h e r e were several variations to this scenario. Northern presses, such as at Tell Balata, Tel Shiqmona, Tell D a n , Tel Hazor, and Rosh Zayit, utilized lateral collection vats rather than vats placed underneath the press, as was done in central a n d southern Israel. 103 Since perishable items, such as baskets, ropes, a n d wooden apparatus, will not have surv ived to the present day, our understanding of how the lcvcr-andweight presses at Tel M i q n e and elsewhere functioned must rely u p o n interpretation of the extant stone structures in comparison with pre-industrial olive {Dresses that in many places survived into the twentieth century. 1 0 4 T h e olive 103
Steps in processing olives: crushing
For central a n d lateral collection simple lever-and-weight presses, see esp. Frankel, Wine and Oil Production, p p . 6 2 - 6 7 . For E k r o n , see esp. E i t a m , " T h e Olive Oil Industry at T e l M i q n e E k r o n , " pp. 1 6 9 7 4 ; ־Gitin, " T e l M i q n e - E k r o n in the 7 ,h C e n t u r y B. C . E . " p. 63; S e y m o u r Gitin, " T e l M i q n e - E k r o n in the 7 lh C e n t u r y B. C . City Plan D e v e l o p m e n t a n d the Oil Industry,' יin Olive Oil in Antiquity, p. 223; S e y m o u r Gitin, "Tel M i q n e - E k r o n : A T y p e - S i t e for the I n n e r Coastal Plain in the Iron Age II P e r i o d , " in Recent Excavations in Israel: Studies in Iron Age Archaeology. Scym o u r Gitin a n d William G . Dever, eds. T h e A n n u a l of the A m e r i c a n Schools of O r i e n t a l R e s e a r c h , Vol. 4 9 ( W i n o n a Lake, I n d i a n a : E i s e n b r a u n s , 1989), p p . 2 9 32. T h e length of the b e a m used at Ekron is u n k n o w n , although o n e at T e l Batash has b e e n estimated at 5.5 m . K e i m a n d M a z a r , "7 t h C e n t u r y Oil Presses at T e l B a t a s h , " p. 245. T h e effective pressing force increases the closer the load of olives is to the f u l c r u m , in this case the back wall. A m o d e r n reconstruction of the E k r o n type press h a d a pressing force of 1,680 kg, with an average pressing-surface of 0.4 m. 2 T h e rock-cut presses f r o m S a m a r i a consisted of a shallow bowl, ca. 2 5 - 3 0 c m . in d e p t h , scooped out of the limestone n e a r a rock wall into which was carved a niche a b o u t 30 to 40 c m . a b o v e g r o u n d level. Olives placed in these bowls w e r e c r u s h e d by rolling a stone over t h e m . T h e c r u s h e d olives, placed in baskets a n d covered with a stone, were t h e n pressed with a b e a m fixed into the stone wall. T h e b e a m pressed out the oil, w h i c h d r a i n e d t h r o u g h a c h a n n e l to a n o t h e r basin at a lower level. For possible Biblical references to rock-cut olive presses, cf. Job 29:6 a n d Deuteronomy 32:13. Most weights f o u n d in Iron Age Israel w e r e p e r f o r a t e d field stones or stones fashioned into bell-shapes a n d p e r f o r a t e d horizontally. A few were d o u g h n u t - s h a p e d , that is, field stones with vertical bore. Frankel, Wine and Oil Production, p p . 9 9 - 1 0 0 . See also Eitam, " O l i v e Presses of the Israelite P e r i o d , " p p . 146 49, 154; Frankel et al, History and Technology of Olive Oil, p p . 3 6 - 3 8 ; R a f a e l Frankel, "Olives," in Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Ancient Near East, 4:
180. 104
T h e most t h o r o u g h study of ancient N e a r E a s t e r n olive presses is that of Frankel et al, Histo>y and Technology of Olive Oil in the Holy Land. M y indebtedness to this work will be obvious. F o r a convenient list of olive oil a n d wine installations in Israel d a t i n g b e t w e e n the Chalcolithic a n d C r u s a d e r periods, see David E i t a m , "Selected Oil a n d W i n e Installations in Ancient Israel, י יin IM production du vin et de l'huile, p p . 9 9 - 1 0 3 .
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Pressing
Separating oil from water
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pressing installations at Tel M i q n e - E k r o n probably functioned in the following m a n n e r . Olives brought to the building were taken to the pressroom where they were placed in the large crushing basin between the two presses. A worker crushed the olives by rolling a heavy cylindrical stone over them. A forkedshaped staff affixed to the stone facilitated the pushing a n d pulling required to manipulate the roller. O n e example found in Ekron measured 0.6 m. in length a n d 0.22 m. 111 diameter. This operation expressed the finest quality oil. T h e crushed olive pulp was then transferred to a container of some sort, probably a straw basket measuring ca. 0.3 m. in diameter (only smaller ones would fit on the "preliminary" type press). T h e basket, or series of baskets, was placed on top of a perforated wooden plank set over the opening of the collection vat. Some installations elsewhere used a collection vat with a wide, shallow depression on top into which a wooden plank or stone slab was fitted. O n top of the basket was placed a wooden board or stone on which the wooden beam applied the pressure. T h e pressing force c a m e f r o m weights suspended from the free end of the b e a m . A w o r k m a n grasping the b e a m and pulling down could add additional force. W h e n the olives were squeezed, the oil drained into a peripheral groove, which channeled the oil to a small hole leading to the collection vat. 105 O n c e pressing was complete, the second step in the process, separation, followed. Although separation m a y have occurred in the collection vats, better efficiency dictated removal to other containers in a separate room so further pressing could continue. T h e oil was removed from the collection vat with ladles of some sort and transferred to clay j a r s placed in the separation room. Here the oil, naturally separating from the water, f o r m e d a layer on top. Collection of the oil could be accomplished in two ways, both of which were apparently used at Tel M i q n e . O n e large vessel, with eleven handles, had two small circular holes bored into its midsection. D u r i n g separation, these holes were plugged. W h e n the plugs were removed, the oil at the top of the container (with probably a small a m o u n t of the water) drained out. Another j a r , termed " E k r o n " type, had a hole near the bottom, which allowed the water to be drained off, leaving the oil in the container. Each type of container probably
105
E i t a m , " O l i v e Oil Industry at T e l M i q n e - E k r o n , " p p . 1 7 1 - 7 3 ; Gitin, " T e l M i q n e - E k r o n : A T y p e - S i t e for the I n n e r Coastal Plain," 32.;גןFrankel et al, History and Technology of Olive Oil, pp. 3 6 - 4 0 , esp. Figs. 29A, 29B, 31B. At T e l Batash rollers w e r e also used in c r u s h i n g basins, a n d collection vats w e r e c o n s t r u c t e d in a fashion similar to those at Tell M i q n e . T h e s q u a r e collection vats varied b e t w e e n 0.64 m a n d 0.40 m . d e e p , a n d h a d the depression in the b o t t o m . K e i m a n d M a z a r , "7 , h C e n t u r y Oil Presses at T e l Batash,'" p p . 2 4 4 45. For w o r k m e n a d d i n g extra force o n a b e a m press, cf. the p a i n t i n g on a sixth-century B. C . G r e e k vase in the M u s e u m of Fine Arts, Boston. See PI. 23.
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required repeated drainage to separate all of the oil and to obtain oil of the highest quality. 106
5. Animal Processing a. Butchery T h e m a j o r food animals in the ancient N e a r East, sheep, goats, cattle, a n d pigs, had been domesticated during the Neolithic period, but by the fourth millenniu m Β. C. the focus of animal husbandry had shifted from domestic to community needs. This was particularly true as an expanding bureaucracy, m a d e up of managers, workers, soldiers, and craft specialists, created large populations concentrated in or near urban centers, which did not produce their own food. Hence, the managing and redistribution of food animals, in the same way as for agricultural products, became a state or temple concern. In the late third milieunium B. C. at Ur, for example, animals served as tax payments supplied to the central authority from outlying areas. Early in the following millennium B. C., the palace at Mari employed two individuals whose j o b was to fatten animals, such as oxen, sheep, and pigs, for religious offerings and for food. M a n y animals were selected for particular traits, such as milk production, meat yield, or wool supply. For these and other reasons, geographic and social, distinct breeds of domesticated animals began to appear. 1 0 7 Literary references to "slaughterhouses," such as operated at Lagash, and finds of sheep bones bearing cut marks, such as those excavated at Ur, dating to the T h i r d Dynasty, indicate that butchery was practiced to provide meat. A Neo-Assyrian relief from the Palace at N i m r u d shows a sheep, placed on a table and about to be butchered by two individuals, one of w h o m (wearing a tall hat) may be the king's chef (Fig. 14).108 Some administrative documents from D r e h e m , near Nippur, Lagash, and Ur indicate that sheep, lamb, and cattle
106
E i t a m , " O l i v e Oil I n d u s t r y at T e l M i q n e - E k r o n , " p p . 173-74; Gitin, " T e l M i q n e - E k r o n in the 7 th C e n t u r y B. C . E . " p. 64, esp. Figs. 4.4 a n d 4.6; Gitin, " T e l M i q n e - E k r o n in the 7 ,h C e n t u ry B. C . City Plan D e v e l o p m e n t a n d the Oil I n d u s t r y , " p. 224. Borowski (Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, p. 120, a n d Fig. 19) briefly discusses an Iron Age II "olive oil refinery" at Beth S h e m e s h . T w o stone vats h a d collection vessels a r r a n g e d o n either side a n d set into m a s o n r y . H e docs not explain h o w the " r e f i n e r y " f u n c t i o n e d , b u t o n e c a n speculate t h a t workers sat or knelt next to the vats a n d scooped u p the oil at the top of the vat a n d transferred it into the clay j a r s . 107 Hesse, " A n i m a l H u s b a n d r y , " pp. 203 22; O d e d Borowski, Every Living Thing. Daily Use of Animals in Ancient Israel (Walnut C r e e k , C A : A l t a m i r a Press, 1998), p p . 5 9 - 8 1 ; Dalley, Man and Karana, p. 80 (animal-fattener). 108 Limet, " C u i s i n e of A n c i e n t S u m c r , " p. 136; Ellison et al, " S o m e F o o d O f f e r i n g s , " pp. 1 7 3 - 7 4 ; M a l l o w a n , Nimrud and its Remains, 1: 9 8 - 9 9 . For m e a t p r o d u c t i o n in Biblical sources, see Borowski, Eveiy Living Thing, p p . 5 7 - 5 8 .
Meat animals
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were raised in herds and delivered, alive or dead, to various places for consumption by people of all classes. T h e meat could be roasted, grilled, boiled, or cooked in broths or stews of various sorts. T h e Yale Culinary Tablets, for exampie, mention diverse kinds of broth using goat, lamb, mutton, and even gazelle. 109 Birds also a p p e a r in recipes, but not pig. Although there are famous prohibitions in the Bible against the consumption of pigs, this attitude was probably a late development for a n u m b e r of different reasons. Pork was consumed, although in comparison with the other three ungulates it played a minor role in the diet. Pig bones and teeth, discovered at Ur, Tell Asmar, and Nuzi, were probably the remains of pork consumption. Some of the bones found at U r had been split, apparently to extract the marrow. Pig consumption was apparently significant in the Chalcolithic a n d Bronze ages, and declined in importance as time passed. 110
Milk
b. Daily Products Processed a n i m a l by-products also f o r m e d an i m p o r t a n t part of the ancient N e a r Eastern diet. Chief a m o n g these products was milk. Infants, in particular, drank fresh milk f r o m ewes, goats, and cows. Scenes of herds of cattle, some shown being milked, a n d milking sheds a p p e a r on cylinder seals as early as the late fourth millennium B. C. in southern M e s o p o t a m i a . Since milk spoils soon after exposure to air in the hot climate, it probably did not form a significant part of redistributive stores. It rarely a p p e a r s in administrative texts, but does find frequent m e n t i o n in S u m e r i a n literary sources, which indicate that milk was often d r u n k by the lower classes. It was used as an offering to gods, a n d Biblical sources indicate that it had symbolic value when combined with honey to represent prosperity. Milk was also used for cooking. Its greatest value, however, derived f r o m products that could be m a d e from it and would keep for a considerable period of time: yogurt, ghee, and cheese. Additionally, milk is difficult for adult h u m a n s to digest in the absence of the enzyme lactase, which is necessary to break down the lactose of milk. Milk /
l()<
7
/
' Borowski, Every Living Thing, p. 58; A r l i n g t o n , " F o o d s of the Bible, י יp. 818; Bottéro, Textes culinaires Mesopotamiens, p p . 8 1 1 ; Limet, " C u i s i n e of Ancient S u m e r , " p p . 136-37; Bottéro, " C u i sine of A n c i e n t M e s o p o t a m i a , " p p . 44; N e m e t - N e j a t , Daily Life, p. 159. See also Ellison, " M e t h ods of F o o d P r e p a r a t i o n , " p. 93. For grills used to p r e p a r e m e a t , see S a l o n e n , " D i e Ö f e n , " p p . 104-06. 110 C a r o l i n e Grigson, " P l o u g h a n d Pasture in the Early E c o n o m y of t h e S o u t h e r n L e v a n t , " in Archaeology of Society in the Holy Land, pp. 2 5 1 - 5 5 ; Hesse, " A n i m a l H u s b a n d r y , , יpp. 2 1 4 - 1 6 ; Ellison, " M e t h o d s of Food Preparation, , יp. 93; Limet, " C u i s i n e at S u m e r , " p. 137; N e m e t - N e j a t , Daily Life, p. 159; Postgate, Early Mesopotamia, p. 166. For Biblical references to prohibitions against eati n g pork, see Leviticus 11, Deuteronomy 14, Isaiah 6 5 - 6 6 .
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byproducts, however, contain lactose in significantly lower a m o u n t s a n d so are m o r e readily tolerated. 1 " T h e inhabitants of the ancient N e a r East fermented milk, primarily of cows a n d goats, rarely of sheep. Fresh milk (Sumerian (;A), sometimes heated, allowed to stand overnight curdles and becomes sour. This product, the rough equivalent of yogurt, forms the base for the other milk byproducts, butter (more properly ghee) and cheese. Detailed record keeping of the productivity of dairy herds by the Sumerians has allowed the calculation that milk from both cows and goats was expected to yield butter and cheese in a ratio of 2:3. 1 , 2 R a w butter is the product of churning sour milk. This process m a y be represented on the mosaic frieze from the temple of Ninhursag at Ubaid dating to the Early Dynastic III period, or mid-third millennium B. C. (Fig. 17). Divided into three parts, the activities shown include a procession of bulls, milking of cows, a n d manufacture of butter. In the third scene several individuals are engaged in processing milk coming from cows shown in a nearby stall. O n e individual (a) holds a large sealed earthenware j a r tilted to one side. His j o b is apparently to churn the sour milk into buttermilk. This can be done by constantly rocking the j a r about on its base for an extended period of time, as is apparently shown here in a scene perhaps paralleled by others on cylinder seals. T h e r e is also some evidence for an upright churn in which the sour milk is beaten with a wooden dasher. According to Sumerian literary texts, churning was often accompanied by singing, probably because the work required to manipulate the vessel over a long period of time was repetitive and so could be quite boring. 1 1 3 The results of churning are liquid buttermilk and solid droplets of raw butter floating on top. T h e butter can be separated from the buttermilk by skimming it off or, as seems to be represented on the Ubaid mosaic (b), by pouring it through a strainer, which captures the
111
Ph. G o u i n , "Bovins et laitages en M e s o p o t a m i e m é r i d i o n a l e au 3CIW millénaire. Q u e l q u e s c o m m e n t a i r e s sur la 'frise a la laiterie' de E l - ' Ô b e i d , " Iraq 5 5 (1993): 138; M a r i a G i o v a n n a Biga, "Il latte nclla d o c u m e n t a z i o n e c u n e i f o r m e del III e II millennio," in Drinking in Ancient Societies, pp. 3 3 3 - 4 5 ; Fronzaroli, " O s s e r v a z i o n i , " p p . 1 2 1 - 2 2 ; M a r t e n Stol, "Milk, Butter, a n d C h e e s e , " BullSumAgri 7 (1993): 100; M a r t e n Stol a n d H. A. H o f f n e r , J r . , " M i l c h (produkte)," in RIA (1994), 8: 1 8 9 - 2 0 5 ; Borowski, Every Living Thing, p p . 52 54; Fischer, '"Milk in Everything C o o k e d ' , " pp. 9 7 - 9 9 ; Potts, Mesopotamian Civilization, p. 144. 112 T o h r u G ù m i , " O n Dairy Productivity at U r in the Late U r III P e r i o d , " JESHO 33 (April 1980): 1 - 4 2 ; Stol, "Milk, Butter, a n d C h e e s e , " pp. 100 02; Stol, "Milch (produkte)," RLA (1994), 8: 192-93; Borowski, Eveiy Living Thing, p. 55. 113 Stol, "Milk, Butter, a n d C h e e s e , " p p . 100 02; Stol, "Milch (produkte)," RIA (1994), 8: 19297; G o u i n , "Bovins et laitages," pp. 141-42, esp. note 42; A r l i n g t o n , " F o o d s of the Bible," p. 818; F r a n k f o r t , Cylinder Seals, P Ì X X I V g; T h o r k i l d J a c o b s e n , " L a d in the Desert," JAOS 103 (1983): 1 9 7 - 9 8 . Milk is sometimes c h u r n e d today by b o u n c i n g a goatskin filled with milk held on the knees, but no ancient c o u n t e r p a r t has been attested.
Butter
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c
b
a
Part III
Fig. 17. Frieze from the T e m p l e of Ninhursag at Ubaid, dated to Early Dynastic III Β (ca. 2 5 0 0 - 2 4 0 0 B. C.): Part I: procession of cattle, Part II: milking scene, and Part III: butter making. Drawing based on a east in the British M u s e u m from the original in the M u s e u m of Baghdad. T h e original measures 115 cm. in length χ 22 cm. in height. From Gouin, "Bovins et laitages en Mésopotamie· Méridionale," p. 136, Fig. 1. Courtesy of the British School of Archaeology in Iraq.
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thick butter while collecting the p u r e buttermilk in another vessel. A final individual (c) pictured in the mosaic seems to be either cleaning the churn or filling the vessel with raw butter. 1 1 4 T h e Ubaid mosaic does not seem to show what was the next required step. R a w butter does not keep long; it must be clarified to form what is called today ghee (Sumerian / jVLW), produced by boiling the raw butter and allowing it to cool down. Ghee, essentially a liquid, was used espe- Ghee cially as an offering to gods and as an ingredient in numerous food dishes, such as bread and cakes. C r e a m came primarily f r o m cow's milk, a n d its close association with butter can be seen in the n a m e of the dairy goddess, NLN-F-IÀ-GÂR-KA, "the lady of the house of butter and cream." T h e sign for cream was a milk j a r shaded on the neck to represent the area where cream would adhere. 1 1 5 Cheese (Sumerian GA-AR), known from n u m e r o u s literary texts, dictionaries, Cheese a n d administrative documents, came in m a n y varieties, was widely consumed, and, along with ghee, formed an important offering to the gods. T h e process of cheese making finds n o mention in ancient N e a r Eastern literary sources nor is it represented in the art historical evidence, although one cylinder seal may show small round cheeses placed on a mat to dry on the roof of a house. 116 Using the literary records in combination with m o d e r n methods of cheese production, particularly as traditionally practiced in the Middle East, two types of ancient cheese can be identified. First, similar to the m o d e r n product called kisk in Arabic, is that prepared from buttermilk, less often f r o m sour milk, left over from making ghee. Mixed with salt, or perhaps cereals or various plants, buttermilk is allowed to stand in a cloth bag for several days. T h e solid residue remaining after the liquid has drained out or evaporated is rolled into small balls and allowed to dry further in the sun. In times of want, these balls can be pulverized and dissolved in water to reconstitute milk suitable for drinking. 117 T h e second general category of ancient cheese, the "true" cheese, is more problematic for the ancient Near East. T h e m a n u f a c t u r e of this type of ancient cheese is assumed from the prevalence of this product throughout the Middle 114
G o u i n , "Bovins et laitages," p p . 141 44. J a c o b s o n ("Lad in the Desert," p. 199) interprets the U b a i d mosaic as showing the p o u r i n g of milk into the churns, the c h u r n i n g itself, a n d the cleaning of vessels. 115 See, e. g., H. H. Figulla, "Accounts C o n c e r n i n g Allocation of Provisions for Offerings in the N i n g a l - T e m p l e at U r , " Iraq 15 (1953): 8 8 - 1 2 1 , 1 7 1 - 9 2 ; G o u i n , "Bovins et laitages," pp. 14243;־ Stol, "Milk, Butter, a n d C h e e s e , " pp. 102-03; Stol, "Milch (produkte)," RLl (Ì994), 8: 189-90, 194-98; J a c o b s e n , "Lad in the Desert," p. 198 99. " ייFrankfort, Cylinder Seals, Pl. X X I V g. J a c o b s e n ("Lad in the Desert," p. 197), prefers to interprêt the motif, not as drying cheeses, but as a cheese f o r m to hold soft cheese. " לStol, "Milk, Butter, a n d C h e e s e , " p p . 104-05; Stol, "Milch (produkte)," RIA, p p . 198-99; Borowski, Every Living Thing, p. 56; Holfner, Alimenta Hethaeorum, p. 121 ; N e m e t - N e j a t , Daily Life, p. 158.
238
Steps in modem cheese making and their probable Near Eastern counterparts
Fish and fishing in Mesopotamian society
CHAPTER THREE
East in m o d e r n times and f r o m the interpretation of certain words appearing in Sumerian a n d Akkadian texts. Nevertheless, the association of these words with this type of cheese or with the process used to make it remains controversial. The Akkadian eqidum, later equated to Sumerian GA.AR, for example, may represent M e s o p o t a m i a n true cheese. 118 If true cheeses were produced in the ancient N e a r East, it remains unknown when they were first made. T h e process to produce t h e m would no doubt approximate the methods in use in modern times. T h r e e distinct steps define m o d e r n cheese making: formation of curds by precipitating the protein casein in the presence of lactic acid a n d rennet, separation of the solid curds from the liquid whey, a n d ripening the curds. In the first step, a starter, in the form of bacteria designed to ferment lactose into lactic acid, is added to w a r m milk in order to reduce its p H . In antiquity, buttermilk left over from churning would serve this purpose. Next, the addition of rennet, the contents of or the m e m b r a n e lining the stomach of an unweaned animal, especially a lamb, through the action of the enzyme rennin hastens the curdling of milk and over time precipitates the gel-like curd. Cutting the curd allows the liquid whey to drain out. T h e terms pinnaru and kabu, found in bilingual dictionaries, may refer to Kennet. T h e whey can also be further processed into cheese by curdling at high temperatures in the presence of an acid starter. Cutting, cooking, and again draining removes additional whey and further solidifies the curd. Following a period of "cheddaring," sitting to allow more whey to drain, the soft curd mellows into a stronger consistency. T h e curd is then milled, salted, and pressed into molds to remove still m o r e whey; after which the curds arc allowed to ripen over a period of time. At various stages along the way in making m o d e r n cheeses, particular additives, range of temperature, degree of pressing, length of ripening, and other variables, define the kinds of cheese produced. Ancient N e a r Eastern sources document some eighteen to twenty kinds of cheeses, a m o n g which are those described as fresh, large, small, flavored, sweetened, sharp, crushed, round, and white. 119 c. Fish T h e Tigris and Euphrates Rivers not only furnished water to nourish thirsty crops in the fields, but also yielded fish, which were easily caught in the marshy areas bordering the rivers and canals. Fishermen in southern Mesopotamia 118
Stol, "Milk, Butter, a n d C h e e s e , " p p . 105-08; Stol, "Milch (produkte)," RIA (1994), 8: 198-200. For Hittite cheeses, see H O f f n e r , "Milch (produkte)," RIA (1994), 8: 2 0 3 - 0 4 , a n d H o f f n er, Alimenta Hethaeorum, pp. 121-23. For cheese in the Bible, see Borowski, Every Living Thing, p. 56, a n d Arl ington, " F o o d s of the Bible, י יp. 818. 1,9 M c G e e , On Food and Cooking, pp. 1 1 - 1 2 , 4 0 - 5 0 . F o r identification of a possible cheese mold represented on a cylinder seal, cf. a b o v e note 116.
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caught both fresh and saltwater fish, using various means, for example hook and line, harpoon, and various kinds of net. Literary and art historical sources assod a t e important individuals, for example Gilgamesh, and certain deities, such as Ea and Dumuzi, with the catching of fish, while fishing plays a prominent role in several Mesopotamian mythological stories. Fish was an important food throughout the ancient N e a r East, a n d the control of fisheries quickly passed u n d e r temple or state control. 1 2 0 Fishermen at U r in the early second millennium Β. C., for example, leased from the N a n n a temple the right to fish in certain waters by handing over a portion of their catch to middlemen who, in turn, converted the fish into silver to pay the temple. H o w this transaction functioned in detail is unknown, but must have involved the processing o f f i s h in some fashion and the selling of it to consumers. Since most of the fish would not have been consumed immediately and since fish begin to spoil soon after removal from the water and death, they would need to be preserved. Sumerian a n d Akkadian documentary sources include vocabulary terms identifying fish, both fresh and saltwater varieties, that were dried, or — if accurately interpreted salted, and possibly smoked. Fish eggs were apparently preserved separately, and fish were pressed (how is unknown, perhaps in sacks or baskets) to extract oil. T h e r e may also have been a fermented form of fish, called in Akkadian šiqqu, similar to the R o m a n gamm or modern Vietnamese nuoc-mam.12' Archeological evidence confirming these processes, however, is scarce. 111 third-millennium B. C. Girsu (= Tello), in southern Mesopotamia, in an area known as the Region des Bassins, excavators have uncovered amid rubble two large tanks of different sizes, measuring 10.5 m. χ 2.5 m and 5.5 m. χ 2.40 m., respectively. Lying side-by-side, they are connected by a channel at one end. T h e steeply sloping floors render one end considerably deeper than the other. 12(1
M e n d e l N u n , "Fishing," in Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East, 2: 316; Borowski, Every Living Thing, pp. 1 6 8 - 7 0 ; Bottéro, " C u i s i n e of A n c i e n t M e s o p o t a m i a , " fig. on p. 38. For fish in M e s o p o t a m i a n literature, sec, e.g., M . Civil, " T h e H o m e of the Fish. A N e w S u m e r i a n Literary C o m p o s i t i o n , " Iraq 23 (1969): 1 5 4 - 7 5 . 111 this story the goddess N a n s e a p p e a r s as m o t h e r of the fish, a n d is called " q u e e n of fishermen." For evidence of fishponds associated with palaces a n d temples, as well as private ponds, see Radcliife, Fishing', pp. 3 4 9 - 4 4 5 , esp. p. 378, a n d !)alley, Mari and K'arana, pp. 81 82. 121 M i e r o o p , Society and Enterprise in Old Babylonian Ur, p p . 8 9 - 9 1 , 181-83; A r m a s Saloncn, Die Fischerei im alten Mesopotamien nach sumerisch-akkadischen Qiiellen (Helsinki: Suomalainen T i e d e a k a t e m i a , 1970), esp. p p . 2 5 9 - 6 4 ; Jean Bottéro, " K o n s e r v i e r u n g von L e b e n s m i t t e l n , " in RIA (1980-1983), 6: 1 9 3 - 9 5 ; Bottéro, "Cuisine of A n c i e n t M e s o p o t a m i a , " p. 39; Ellison, "Metli82.;כןPostgate, Early Mesopotamia, ods of F o o d P r e p a r a t i o n , י יpp. 93 94; I )alley, Mari and K'arana, p p . 1 9 8 - 2 0 2 . For the organization a n d administration of fisheries d u r i n g the T h i r d D y n a s t y of U r , see R o b e r t K. E n g l u n d , Organization und Verwaltung der Ur III-Fischerei (Berlin: Dietrich R e i m e r Verlag, 1990). See also M . L a m b e r t a n d Erich Ebeling, "Fischer(ei)," in RIA (1957-1971), 3: 68 70. For garum, see below, C h a p t e r Eight, p p . 4 0 3 1 1.
Fish processing installations
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T h e i r purpose remains unknown, but the suggestion that they were fish tanks is strongly supported by finds scattered nearby of n u m e r o u s bones of fish apparently at one time stacked in piles, remains of fish processing activity. Similar piles of fish bones were discovered in the nearby Tell de Maison des Fruits. These tanks a n d fish remains may constitute evidence for "fish houses," places for processing fish, known from documentary sources. At Uruk, in a room or courtyard associated with a temple precinct, excavators found n u m e r o u s remains of fish bones. Earlier assumed to be the remains of fish offerings, they are now seen to represent residue from fish processing. T h e details of fish preparation are unknown, but Sumerian a n d Akkadian terms refer to scaling, gutting, washing, and splitting fish. Gutting and splitting fish, prior to drying, form familiar motifs in ancient Egyptian t o m b paintings. Documents f r o m Girsu, in particular, indicate that fish, doubtless processed in some form, m a d e up a portion of long distance trade items between Girsu, Uruk, Nippur, and other cities of the region. Remains o f f i s h found in Iron Age J e r u s a l e m and Rosh Zait, in Western Galilee, included fresh and saltwater varieties, indicating trade in processed fish between these cities and areas throughout Palestine and perhaps Egypt. 122
6. Sweeteners Honey
T h e primary sweetener used in the ancient N e a r East came in the form of fruit juices concentrated through boiling, especially the juice of grapes, where available, and dates. These products were frequently denoted in the texts as honey (Akkadian di-špu), but should not be confused with the product of bees, which went under the same term. Beekeeping and the production of honey in Mesopotamia cannot be verified prior to the early eighth century B. C. Shamash-resh-usur, Assyrian governor of Suki and Mari, on the upper Euphrates River in Syria, boasted on a stele that he was the first to import bees and to establish hives in the area. He further proclaims that he knew how to separate the honey from the wax by boiling the comb. This procedure is nowhere
122
H. E. W . C r a w f o r d , " M e s o p o t a m i a ' s Invisible Exports in the T h i r d Millennium B. C . , " WorldArch 5, no. 2 (1973): 2 3 3 - 3 5 ; Salonen, Fischerei, pp. 8 2 8 3 ( ־fish houses), 258 (fish p r é p a r a tion). O n fish processing in ancient Egypt, see C h a p t e r 4 above, pp. 174-75. Evidence for fish in M e s o p o t a m i a n diet a n d e c o n o m y nearly disappear from the literary record after the reign of H a m m u r a b i , though there is little d o u b t that it continued to play an i m p o r t a n t role. For preserved tunny imported into U r d u r i n g the Neo-Babylonian period, see Ellison et al, " S o m e Food Offerings from U r , " pp. 1 75 76. Assyrian sources note that processed fish f o r m e d part of the tribute c o m i n g from the Philistines. See Borowski, Every Living Thing, pp. 1 7 2 7 6 ־, a n d p. 181, note 11. H e r o d o t u s (1.200), writing in the mid-sixth century B. C., says that in Babylonia three tribes ate nothing but fish, which they had caught a n d dried in the sun.
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else attested before this date. Even so, no unambiguous archaeological evidence for beekeeping has come to light in Mesopotamia before the Hellenistic period. Honey consumed before that time must have been imported, expensive, and confined to the upper classes. 123 Shamash-resh-usur states that he imported the bees from the mountain areas of the H a b h a , probably to be identified with Hittite regions of the T a u r u s Mountains of southern Turkey. Apiculture was a longstanding activity a m o n g the Hittites, and bees find mention in the oldest Hattian literary texts. T h e proximity of Palestine to Egypt, where apiculture was firmly established early on, a n d their history of close commercial contacts makes it likely, though not at this time provable, that ancient Israel enjoyed honey f r o m bees as well. 124 As today, cultivated date palms (Phoenix dactylifera L.) grew throughout the ancient Near East, and can be archaeologically attested as early as the early fourth millennium B. C. in Eridu. T h e y find frequent mention in cuneiform sources from the following millennium. T h e y could be eaten, particularly in dried form, or, especially in the form of syrup, used as an ingredient in the preparation of bread, beer, and wine. 125 Installations for date processing (Arabic madbasa), dating prior to the Islamic period, however, have not been identified until recently. Archaeologists have uncovered two installations on the Arabian Gulf, which, when considered together, give some insight into date processing technology. O n the Kuwaiti island of Failaka, not far from where the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates, having combined a little to the north, empty into the Gulf, a complex of buildings housed at least two rooms containing equipment possibly used for processing dates. T h e extant setup consists only of a plastered floor sloping toward one wall of the room, where a channel led to the outside and into an underground tank. O n e of the rooms (Room 1) had a screen to filter the liquid before it drained into the tank. D a t i n g to between 1850 and 1500 B.
12:5
Ncufeld, "Apiculture in Ancient Palestine," p p . 2 3 8 - 4 7 ; A r r i n g t o n , " F o o d s of the Bible," p. 819; Ellison, " M e t h o d s of F o o d P r e p a r a t i o n , , יp. 94; N e m e t - N e j a t , Daily Life, p. 160; Dalley, Mari and K'arana, p. 85. I regret that I was u n a b l e to consult the dissertation of A n n e - M a r i e D e b i e s m e , " R e c h e r c h e s sur l'apiculture en Asie A n t é r i e u r e a n c i e n n e : E t u d e i c o n o g r a p h i q u e de l'abeille et essai de reconstitution des a n c i e n n e s techniques apicoles" (Louvain, 1975), s u m m a r i z e d in Revue des archéologiques et historiens d'art de Louvain 9 (1976): 2 6 4 - 6 5 . 121 F o r the Hittites, see H o f i n e r , Alimenta Hethaeorum, p. 123; Forbes, Studies, 5: 87. For Palestine, see Neufeld, "Apiculture in Ancient Palestine," p p . 2 3 8 - 4 7 . For h o n e y in Biblical references, see A r r i n g t o n , " F o o d s of the Bible," p. 819; for Egypt, sec C h a p t e r F o u r a b o v e pp. 176-77. 125 Axelle Rougeulle, "I)cs étuves' à dattes à Bahrain et en O m a n : le p r o b l è m e de l'apparition des t e c h n i q u e s de t r a n s f o r m a t i o n de la d a t t e , " Paléorient 8, no. 2 (1982): 7 1 - 7 4 ; Z o h a r y a n d H o p f , Domestication of Plants in the Old World, p p . 157 62, 208 11; H a r t m a n a n d O p p e n h e i m , On Beer and Brewing, p. 42, note 29. O n d a t e syrup, see also Stol, " B e e r in N e o - B a b y l o n i a n T i m e s , " pp. 156 57.
Dates
242
CHAPTER THREE
C., these installations are similar to constructions found at Ras al Q a l a ' a in Bahrain, farther south in the Arabian Gulf, dating slightly later, the mid-second millennium B. C. H e r e wooden logs placed on the floor parallel with each other and covered with plaster created channels between the logs. Mats and wooden frames placed on top of the plastered logs formed a raised support for a pile of dates. As the dates decomposed, the juice would drain through the matting into the channels, which conducted the liquid across the floor toward a collection tank, unexcavated at present but its existence presumed from the similar construction on Falaika. N e a r this building excavators found fireplaces and pots, which m a y have served to process further the date juice. Placing decomposing dates on the floor of a room constructed to convey the juice toward a storage tank is similar to m o d e r n date processing facilities in the area. T h e ancient equipment underwent evolutionary change. T h e earlier installation at Falaika employed wood for the f r a m e on which to sit the dates, while the later apparatus utilized a support m a d e of logs covered with plaster. T h e next step, creating channels and support entirely out of plaster, did not come until the Islamic period. 126 Date-beer
Dates were also used to produce beer. O p p e n h e i m thought that during the early first millennium B. C., an important change in the field of food technology had occurred when, without evidence for a transitional period, dates, not barley, appeared to have become the prime ingredient for beer. He associated this perceived change "solely with a concomitant shift in the consumer population, or, at least, in a p r e d o m i n a n t layer of a previously static population," and cited as additional support the occurrence in Neo-Babylonian texts of new terminology for economically important parts of the date palm. 1 2 7 Stol, on the other hand, believes that the change is more a p p a r e n t than real. Focussing on terms used for beer, he states that in the Neo-Babylonian period the Akkadian term, sikaru, indifferently denoted beer m a d e from barley or from dates. Both types of beer continued to be made, although that from dates was apparently more popular. Billatu or biltu, a thickish mixture m a d e from barley and sometimes called beer, was restricted to cultic purposes, but other barley beers did exist. 128
12(ì F l e m m i n g H o j l u n d , " D a t e H o n e y P r o d u c t i o n in D i l m u n in the Mid-2 n<1 M i l l e n n i u m B. C.: Steps in the T e c h n o l o g i c a l Evolution of the M adbasa" Paléorient 16, no. 1 (1990): 7 7 - 8 6 . 127
A. L e o O p p e n h e i m , Letters From Mesopotamia (Chicago: T h e University of C h i c a g o Press, 1967), p. 44. Cf. also H a r t m a n a n d O p p e n h e i m , On Beer and Brewing, p. 42, note 29. 128 Stol, " B e e r in N e o - B a b y l o n i a n T i m e s , " p p . 1 5 5 - 8 3 , esp. p. 161: " W e h a v e to live with the ambiguity that sikaru (KAŠ) both stands for beer m a d e of barley a n d for the drink m a d e of the fruits of the d a t e p a l m . Statistically speaking, the c h a n c e is ver) ·׳high that d a t e b e e r is m e a n t as long as we are not r e a d i n g texts dealing with the cult."
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS T O PART T W O
T h e rise of riverine civilizations in Egypt and Mesopotamia can be attributed to varying factors and can be seen to have developed in differing directions according to their own character, but each depended upon a b u n d a n t water resources, through natural or artificial irrigation, to support a growing agricultural economy. But neither in river valleys nor in regions where rainfall provided enough water for dry farming, such as in Syria, Palestine, Anatolia, and northern Mesopotamia, was growing the food sufficient unto itself. T h e produce of the land had to be placed into the hands of the inhabitants, and a sufficient quantity stored as a hedge against famine. Controlling water resources, raising crops, organizing the harvest, transferring food from rural to urban centers, providing storage for excess food, and distributing rations to individuals required the planning and oversight of a central authority. T h e ability of central authorities, both secular and religious, to perform these functions well solidified their grasp on power. 1 Not all food produced through agriculture could be stored for a considerable length of time, nor for various reasons could every crop be eaten in its natural form. This was particularly true for cereals, the plant that formed the base for the two most important foods in the diet, bread and beer. T o p r o d u c e these products, a n d others besides, such as oil a n d wine, required processing in some fashion. Additionally, animal foods, such as fish and meat, if not eaten immediately, h a d to undergo processing to preserve them for later consumption. Even animal by-products, such as milk, which could not be stored in their natural state, had to be transformed into storable form, such as butter and cheese, through processing. A sufficient and reliable food supply, therefore, in great part depended upon the development of both state and temple bureaucracies that managed the h u m a n resources and food processing. In pursuit of this, for instance, the bureaucracies of Egypt and Mesopotamia, attempting to enforce stringent quality controls on food supply, developed systems of writing and mathematical computation. T h e earliest form of writing involved record keeping to itemize stored items, to maintain a record of the efficient conversion of grain into bread and beer, and to record the distribution of rations. Food technology in Egypt and the ancient N e a r East, therefore, was integrally related to the growth of the state and to the development of writing. 1
See, in general, M a r i a DeJ. Ellis, Agriculture and the State in Ancient Mesopotamia (Philadelphia: University M u s e u m , 1979).
Food technology and the growth of the state
244 Processedfoodsin society
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS TO PARI ־T W O
T h e ccntrality of food processing a n d its products in ancient society is reflected in various ways. Processed foods or the instruments of their production often form the symbols used in early Egyptian hieroglyphic and Mesopotamian logographic writing. T h e y constitute a significant proportion of items specially offered to the gods, a n d some deities, such as Shesmu in Egypt and Ninkasi in Mesopotamia, are particularly associated with food technology. Both Egyptians and Mesopotamians considered bread a n d beer as the basic staples of their diet. T o Egyptians bread and beer represented prosperity; they spoke of them as m e t a p h o r for the good life, and used them as a m e d i u m of valuation for goods a n d wages. T h e Mesopotamians considered the consumption of the same items emblematic of humanity and civilization. Both considered wine as a preserve of the elite. T h e y also included processed food and drink in tombs as sustenance for the dead. Bureaucratic control led to the establishment of large-scale processing and storage installations to create a surplus sufficient to support a large population over a long period of time. This freed up many individuals for specialized work in return for food as wages or rations paid by the state or temple. Soldiers formed one group benefiting from this arrangement. T h e state apparently issued to them grain from the granaries, which they themselves had to process to make bread and other cereal-based foods. Indeed, for Assyrians a soldier grinding grain on a quern became the standard artistic motif to represent a military camp. A m o n g other professions arising in society were also those associated with food processing itself, such as bakers, vintners, and brewers, and those performing related activities. As in the Neolithic period, women performed most of the grinding work. In M e s o p o t a m i a down through the O l d Babylonian period, they apparently also played a prominent, if not always respectable, role in making and selling alcoholic beverages. Private individuals m a d e their living producing processed products, such as bread, beer, wine, a n d oil, for state authorities, engaging in private business, or conducting short and long distance trade in these items. Advances in food technology, such as the alteration of particular food products from an easily spoiled to a stable form, as in fish preservation, and the development of commercial containers, such as a m p h o r a e , to transport foods long distances did much to bolster the agricultural economy. T h e y further stimulated trade, resulting in the acquisition of a variety of foods from farther afield. 2 While expanding the availability, stability, and variety of the food supply, processed foods helped to increase the nutrient intake of m a n and so benefited
2
Cf. I k r a m , Choice Cuts, pp. 191-97.
SUMMARY A N D C O N C L U S I O N S T O PARI ־T W O
245
his health and well-being. Readily obtainable processed foods and developments in processing techniques had unintended consequences, both harmful a n d beneficial, affecting health. Although evidence for health issues related to processed foods comes almost entirely from studies on Egyptian h u m a n remains, similar conditions no doubt prevailed in other populations throughout the ancient N e a r East. T h e increased tooth decay that had affected Neolithic populations who ate soft foods, such as porridges a n d cooked or boiled foods, continued to plague the ancient Egyptians. Additionally, bread containing gritty material tended to injure tooth enamel and so to promote dental abscesses when infection developed in the underlying pulp. Positive effects, however, seem to outweigh negalive ones. Although storage of grain, according to one study, may have encouraged the development of harmful micotoxins, it also increased the a m o u n t of antibiotic tetracylines, which, consumed in processed form, such as bread, beer, and porridges, may have provided some resistance to disease infections. Bread and fermented liquids, such as wine and beer, as well as preserved fish, supplied to the daily diet several important nutritional elements, such as protein and the Β vitamins. And finally, improvements in working conditions for those involved in grinding cereals, if not those laboring in domestic settings at least those employed in large-scale processing centers run by state or temple authorities, eased the kinds of stress to back and feet that apparently beset grinders in Neolithic Abu Hureyra. This improvement involved the replacement of the trough quern by the saddle quern, but especially the raising of the quern to a level above the floor, in some instances high enough for the worker to stand, and tilting it slightly down and away. Additionally, situating the kneeling worker between quern emplacement and wall allowed her to support her feet or back while grinding or resting. T h e motivation for these essentially ergonomie changes probably had less to do with providing comfort and health benefits to workers than to increasing their efficiency, a n d so their output, through alterations resulting from some form of rudimentary motion analysis. 3 T h e y were probably not unrelated, however. Increases in technology did not always bring with it increases in efficiency in the manipulation of that technology. So, for example, grinding showed little advancement beyond development of the saddle quern. Greater efficiency had to wait for the introduction of the hopper mill by the Greeks. In the meantime, increased flour output was not sought in devising better ways to raise grinding efficiency, rather they contented themselves, such as at Ebla, with creating large grinding rooms where numerous grinders worked side by side on their individ-
3
S t o r c k a n d l e a g u e , Flour, p . 4 9 .
Impact of food processing on liea/l/1 and nutrition
Organization and efficiency in food processing
246
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS TO PARI ־T W O
ual saddle querns. T h e difference, therefore, between grinding on the domestic level a n d on the "industrial" level was only one of scale. Likewise, in Egypt, when increases in output of leavened bread was d e m a n d e d , such as at A m a r n a , resort was had not to the creation of larger ovens but to constructing a series of small ovens under one roof. Although the improved bag press with fixed post did reduce the n u m b e r of workers needed to squeeze grape pulp, that was probably not the purpose for the innovation. Perhaps the best example of organization of labor for food processing comes in the standard combined workplace for producing bread and beer. T h e bakery-brewery complex was a standard motif in Egyptian funerary painting and models, and no doubt represented what was the usual arrangement in real life. T h e desire for increased production brought organization not necessarily more efficiency. T h e need to provide consistent work for a large workforce offered little incentive for the state to look for technological improvements to reduce the n u m b e r s of workers to perform a specific task. Pounding cereals with m o r t a r and pestle or grinding grain on a saddle quern persisted even to the present clay, although better, m o r e efficient tools came into use. Nevertheless, the historical period in Egypt and the Asiatic N e a r East, stretching from ca. the fourth millennium down to the fourth century B. C., saw significant advances in food processing technology over what had been achieved in the millennia encompassing the Paleolithic a n d Neolithic periods. Not all activities showed the same degree of progress, however. Totally new methods transformed how some foods were processed, while refinements of earlier processes or the development of new or improved tools increased their efficiency. For still other areas, little or no improvement can be seen. T w o cautionary notes also need addressing. A m a j o r source for evidence of food technology comes from the interpretation of archaeological and art historical material found in Egyptians tombs. O n e must always keep in mind that the purpose of this material was religious or artistic and not didactic. Secondly, cuneiform lexica provide numerous technical terms associated with various aspects of food technology, not definitions. T h e latter must derive from intelligent interpretation — sometimes, even guesses — of the m e a n i n g of the terms that may be unattested elsewhere or little understood. Mechanical technology
T h e early historical period brought the development of machines to process grapes and olives. N o longer were the only tools h u m a n hands. T h e preparation of wine required extracting the juice from grapes; production of olive oil necessitated the separation of the oil from the pulp and water. T r e a d i n g with the feet crushed both grapes and olives, although rolling a heavy stone back and forth was most often employed for the latter. By the fourth millennium B. C., the Egyptians were practicing a more efficient means. T r e a d MECHANICAL INNOVATION.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS TO PARI ־T W O
247
ing grapes with the feet constitutes a form of p o u n d i n g a n d so is only a variation of a technique already in use to process grain. T h e feet act in a way similar to a pestle. By the Fourth Dynasty, a n d probably earlier, Egyptians followed treading with squeezing the grape pulp a n d skins with a bag press. This step introduced a new principle to food technology, torsion, and involves twisting each end of a bag containing previously treaded grape material. U n d e r the twisting pressure the bag contracts, squeezing the grape material and expressing the grape juice into a receiving vessel. T h e Egyptian bag press itself also went through some development. At first, the b a g press was free standing. T w o teams of two or more workers suspended the bag over a vessel and twisted each end with poles, while another individual in the center controlled the poles as they were twisted and supervised the bag to insure that the grape juice drained into the collecting vessel placed beneath. This labor-intensive arrangement proved unwieldy and difficult to manipulate. Later, though when is uncertain, came the innovation whereby one end of the sack was affixed to an upright post. This gave greater stability to the sack and so improved its efficiency in squeezing the material a n d increased the a m o u n t of juice collected. T h e change also reduced by almost half the n u m b e r of workers necessary to operate the press. In Syria and Palestine, the most c o m m o n m e t h o d used to squeeze grapes and, especially, olives involved the lever-and-weight press. W h e n mechanical pressing first occurred is unknown, but probably was being used by the Early Bronze Age. T h e lever-and-weight press was in c o m m o n use in Israel between the tenth and seventh centuries B. C. Workers first crushed olives by rolling a large stone or roller back and forth over them. T h e y then filled wicker baskets and placed them beneath the b e a m at a point selected for the greatest pressing force. T h e y anchored one end of the b e a m into a wall; the free end they weighed down with huge stone weights so that the beam, acting as a lever, pressed on the basket forcing the oil out of the meat and into collecting vats placed below the baskets or to the side. T h e raw oil was then placed in special vessels where the water was separated off. Some areas, such as at Neo-Assyrian Tel Miqne, engaged in largescale production of olive oil by operating n u m e r o u s beam presses throughout the city or a portion thereof. Both bag presses and lever-and-weight presses could be used to squeeze grapes or olives. It is often difficult to differentiate one activity from the other unless some archeobotanical evidence can be found to distinguish the product being processed. It is interesting to note that bag presses are known only in Egypt and then only as portrayed in t o m b paintings; lever-and-weight presses are known for Syria and Palestine only through archaeological finds. Although it appears likely that viticulture and winemaking came to Egypt from the southern Levant in the late fourth millennium B. C., bag presses cannot be confirmed for
248
Fire
Brewing
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS TO PARI ־T W O
any place outside Egypt. O n the other hand, notwithstanding the fact that n u m e r o u s examples of the remains of b e a m presses have come f rom Syrian and Palestinian sites, neither archaeological nor art historical evidence vouches for Egyptian knowledge of this technology. O n e can only suppose that bag presses were known in the Asiatic N e a r East but have left no remains in the archaeological or art historical evidence. Likewise, although it cannot be confirmed archaeologically, the Egyptians m a y have been familiar with lever-and-weight presses, b u t perhaps due to native conservatism in their t o m b paintings chose to represent only the simpler, and probably earlier, bag presses. FIRE TECHNOLOGE Advancements in food technology also derived from the a p p e a r a n c e of new tools and from improvements in the efficiency of previously developed technologies. This was particularly true in the case of fire. M a n no longer had to rely u p o n the chance lightning strike to produce a ready-made fire w h e n he learned to create a spark by striking two pieces of flint together. T h e invention of the fire stick further increased the ready availability of fire, especially in places lacking fire-making stones. W h e r e and when the fire stick first developed is impossible to know, but it was in use by the Egyptians in the Old Kingdom. Fire, whether m a n m a d e or natural, as before continued to be used for direct heat in roasting meat in pits or on a spit or in cooking flat bread or other foods on hot cinders. Likewise, cooking through indirect heat, by heating rocks to create a griddle or by boiling water in a pot into which food was placed also continued in use. 111 the early historical periods, however, enclosed structures, or kilns, heated by fires m a d e hotter through the use of drafts produced temperatures sufficiently high to fire pots a n d to extend the range of metallurgy. 111 between the low temperatures of campfires a n d the high ones of kilns, m a n also constructed ovens designed to cook his foods in new and wonderful ways. T a n nur ovens, in use at least by the fourth millennium B. C. and still employed today in the Middle East, allowed for a quick and convenient way to prepare flat breads a n d other foods, f l i c hot fire p r e p a r e d at the bottom of the clay oven heated the sides while sending heat up through an opening in its top. Wet dough stuck to the inside walls would quickly bake into bread, or soups and other foods easily cooked in pots placed over the hole in the top. By the third millennium B. C., m u d brick d o m e d ovens provided enclosed chambers that, when heated by b u r n i n g leaves and wood and the ashes removed, created a radiant heat producing a moist environment in which dough, to which yeast had been added, placed into clay bread molds, p r o d u c e d leavened bread. Some technologies had their uses expanded beyond their first application. Fermentation was used to produce wine from grape juice as early as the sixth millennium B. C., and b e c a m e widely known, probably first in the ancient N e a r East a n d later in Egypt. Linked to the expansion of fire technology FERMENTATiox.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS TO PARI ־TWO
249
was the extension of fermentation to include the brewing of beer, first recognized in late fourth-millennium B. C. Godin T e p e in the Zagros Mountains of western Iran. W h o first m a d e beer is unknown, but considering the ease with which grain ferments in water the technology may have arisen in several places contemporaneously. Cuneiform evidence, literary a n d economic, contains m u c h information on the popularity of beer in the ancient N e a r East, but provides littie beyond a technical vocabulary in helping us understand beer making technology. Even then, the precise meaning of m a n y terms remains doubtful. Beer making in Mesopotamia was similar to that in Egypt, where, as with wine making, the best evidence derives from art historical materials. Although some doubts remain about the details of Egyptian beer making, it seems that the process most often began with the malting of barley, which was then m a d e into bread. Malting, the soaking of hulled barley grains in water to initiate germination followed by drying, had probably been in use long before beer was invented to produce a sweet-tasting product capable of long-term storage and useful in making porridges and bread. 4 Indeed, the question of which came first, bread or beer, remains controversial even today. T h e liquid produced from soaking the barley-bread in hot water (wort), strained into a special vessel (tun), a n d augmented with yeast, underwent fermentation to produce alcohol. T h e Egyptians were apparently familiar with the action of wild yeasts, which occur naturally and which play the primary role in producing sourdough to make leavened bread. The massive n u m b e r of extant bread mold fragments gives some idea of the scale of bread production in N e w K i n g d o m Egypt. By the Nineteenth Dynasty, Egyptians were using an almost pure form of yeast for beer production. T h e importance of yeast for fermentation in both bread and beer making helps to explain the standard pairing of baking and brewing establishments in Egypt. Comparison with a third century A. D. Egyptian recipe for beer and with production methods of m o d e r n Egyptian bouza provides some understanding of the ancient process, but it does not answer all questions. So, for example, how long was barley allowed to sprout during the malting stage? For how long a n d at what temperatures did fermentation take place? T h e care taken by Egyptian and Mesopotamian bureaucrats to insure a close correlation between the a m o u n t of grain used and the quantity of bread and beer produced strongly implies the desire, even the necessity, to p r o d u c e a consistent type of beer. Waste had to be avoided. Careful control of ingredients must have required standard processes to reproduce results measurable in quantity and quality. Use of additives in fermented drinks was not new, since the ear-
1
O p p e n h e i m , On Beer and Brewing Technology,
13 .גן.
Bureaucracy and food technology
250
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS TO PARI ־T W O
liest known wine had added to it terebinth resin, probably to inhibit the wine from turning to vinegar and to create (or hide) a particular taste or odor. Beer makers regularly added sweet materials, such as dates or date juice, to hasten and intensify the conversion of sugars into alcohol. T h e y also understood the need for yeast to strengthen the fermentation process. T h e question remains, however, to what extent their knowledge of these processes came from trial and error, and how m u c h of it implies a real understanding of the chemical mechanisms involved. How the detailed knowledge of processing foods was passed from one person to a n o t h e r is also unknown. N o technical treatises and few recipes for making bread, beer, or wine, are known today. Perhaps to ensure continuation of the knowledge from one generation to the next the technical details were imparted by word of m o u t h through an apprenticeship system. In any case, the knowledge did spread from one area to another and from one generation to another. Milling
Milling probably showed the least progress during this period. T h e development of the saddle quern certainly allowed for some increased efficiency in grinding cereals, though its most important impact probably came from the ergonomie advantages discussed above. Pounding with mortar a n d pestle showed little or no change, except possibly in certain places, such as Jericho, where size varied between large mortars and smaller ones that allowed for a certain degree of portability. Pestles could be m a d e of stone, wood, or clay. Although the reasons arc at present unknown, p o u n d i n g may have played a smaller role in processing cereals in southern Mesopotamia than elsewhere. Literary references to mortars and pestles are few and archeological evidence for them is also scant. T h e scarcity of wood and stone, particularly in Sumeria, may have rendered mortars m a d e of those materials too expensive, so that other, perishable materials, such as clay, became normal. O n e suggestion envisions the a b a n d o n m e n t of mortars altogether in favor of a completely different process, with modern Iranian parallels, whereby cereals, laid out on a mat, are beaten with wooden pestles to dehusk the grains. 5 Parching, heating of the cereal grains to render them brittle and so easier to work in a m o r t a r or on a grindstone, is not attested in Egypt. Lexical evidence from Mesopotamia, if correctly interpreted, however, indicates that at least barley could be parched before grinding. M11.1J.XG׳.
Large-scale milling in millhouses, such as attested in cuneiform records for Sagdana, is associated with centralized control over food processing by state or temple. These millhouses probably functioned in a m a n n e r similar to the workrooms established in palaces, such as at Ebla. Here, at least one room was pro5
J . N . Postgate, "Processing of C e r e a l s in the C u n e i f o r m R e c o r d , " BullSumAgri 107-08.
1 (1984):
281 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS TO PARI ־T W O
vided with a series of quern emplacements sufficient for sixteen grinders to work at one time. STORAGE״. Although small pits lined with stone or plaster, as in Neolithic times, continued to characterize m a n y private storage facilities, the increase in size of granaries is the most significant advance in storage technology. T h e shift to large granaries reflected the growing centralization of the control of the food supply for redistribution by the temple, state, or, as at Middle Kingdom K a h u n , by powerful individuals. 111 Egypt during the Archaic period, for example at Helwan, small terracotta, vessel-shaped storage containers rounded at the top are similar in shape to larger granaries represented in Old K i n g d o m t o m b paintings. In the Middle and New Kingdoms tall, rectangular, fiat-roofed or domed granaries can be found, which were apparently filled through the roofs, which had to be reached by ladder, while grain was withdrawn from a door or window near the bottom. If Middle K i n g d o m granary models can be taken to represent the interior of these granaries, then the inside of granaries was subdivided into bins. Beehive-shaped granaries were usually built in groups of four or more silos arranged in a square or rectangular formation about a central courtyard. Egyptian granary shape may have influenced the beehive-shaped granaries so characteristic of Bronze and Iron Age Palestine and Mesopotamia. Israel had a uniquely shaped granary, long and rectangular subdivided by columns into three long rooms. T h e size of granaries is often difficult to determine since most extant remains exist only at foundation level. M o r e substantial, sometimes semi-subterranean, silos, such as at Shuruppak in southern Mesopotamia, reached several feet high, including the sunken part. T h e height of a few can be estimated. For example, a granary at Bir el- c Abd, an Egyptian fort in Palestine of the fourteenth century B. C., was apparently ca. 1.80 meters high. G r a n a r y capacity is likewise difficult to ascertain. T h e large granary at A m a r n a , for instance, had a diameter of 8.0 meters, and so would have held a huge a m o u n t of grain. M a d e of m u d or m u d brick, granaries provided the grain with a dark, cool environment of low humidity, though spoilage from moisture and rodents still took its toll. O t h e r types of storage facilities can be documented besides granaries. C u n e i f o r m records, for example, refer to ice houses, which apparently maintaincd ice or snow for drinks, but it cannot be confirmed that they served as magazines for temporary storage of perishable food items, such as fresh vegetables and fruits. Large rooms or a series of rooms in palaces also specially served for storage of processed food items, such as olive oil, dried (or salted?) fish, and wine. T h e Egyptians utilized underground vaulted cellars made of mud brick that maintained a cool, dry environment. Large wine a m p h o r a e either sat upright in wine racks or else leaned against the wall or other wine a m p h o r a e .
Storage
252
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS TO PARI ־T W O
The Egyptians m a y have been knowledgeable of the problems of storing wine still undergoing fermentation. Some wine a m p h o r a e had small holes bored into them, later sealed, to allow the vessel to "breathe," that is, to permit the fermentation gases to escape. A m p h o r a e served not only for storage but also for transportation of wine and other foodstuffs. T h e attachment of two handles at the shoulders, an innovation of New K i n g d o m Egypt probably derived from Palestinian storage jars of the Middle Bronze Age, allowed for easier handling and 6 carrying. / Ο Butchery
Amid an expansion of the diet through the increased practice of agriculture, meat became just one of m a n y choices of foods to eat. T h e expense of raising cattle for the most part confined beef eating to the upper classes. O t h ers consumed smaller mammals, including pigs, birds, and especially fish. Butchery continued to play an important role in food technology not only preliminary to cooking the meat but also as a precursor to preserving it in some processed form. Tools used to butcher animals are depicted in painting and sculpted relief, a n d real examples are sometimes discovered in tombs, but few close studies of them have been undertaken. Microwear analysis of some Egyptian tools have shown that certain knives, identified by shape and size, can be associated with butchering specific types of animals, cattle as opposed to fish, for example. T h e blades were m a d e of flint or copper, and some paintings show what appear to be blade sharpeners.
Preservation
Hieroglyphic and cuneiform sources record the inclusion of meat and fish as part of long distance trade. T h e hot climate would not permit this without some form of preservation. T h e principle method of preserving the meat of cattle, pigs, fowl, and fish was through drying. Egyptian tomb paintings and, particularly, the model f r o m the T o m b of Meket-re, give some idea of how beef was preserved. After butchering the animal and cutting the meat into various shapes, workers h u n g them in the u p p e r story of the slaughter house where heat and wind would dry them out. C u n e i f o r m documents also mention slaughter houses, such as at Lagash, a n d processed meat has been found in the royal tomb at Ur. Egyptian t o m b paintings also frequently depict a person preparing fish and birds for preservation. He first gutted the fish and then split it along its backbone, splayed it, and laid it aside to dry. Birds were plucked, gutted, and head a n d feet removed. In scenes of fish and bird preparation, in the background hanging up to dry on racks or suspended by string a p p e a r already processed meat.
BUTCHERT.
PRESERVATION.
In their t o m b paintings Egyptians sometimes show processed birds being (i
I k r a m , Choice Cuts, p p . 1 8 8 - 9 1 ; W o o d , " E g y p t i a n A m p h o r a e , " p p . 78 79. Lutz (Viticulture and Brewing, p. 126) notes that E-k\š+.\1׳mi d e n o t e d a " b r e w e r y , " or "beer-cellar,"
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS TO PARI ־T W O
253
placed in a m p h o r a for storage or transport. O n e a m p h o r a found in the T o m b of K h a contained birds which may have been preserved in salt. If scientifically confirmed, this would be the earliest physical evidence for salting. Although evidcnce for it is so far lacking, in light of the possible use of salting to process birds, it seems likely that they salted fish as well. O n e scholar identifies the long narrow strips of beef depicted in Egyptian t o m b paintings and models as biltong, a dried, salted, and spiced product m a d e today. Cuneiform documents, particularly lexica, list terms interpreted as m e a n i n g salted or even smoked fish, but no physical evidence substantiates the fact. Excavated fish-houses in Sumeria, such as at Girsu, have yielded skeletal remains of preserved fish stacked in piles, but it is unknown if the process used was anything other than drying. It seems, then, that salting (and less likely, smoking, because of the scarcity of wood and its value for other uses) as a method of preserving food may have been introduced during the early historical period, but further scientific investigation of the physical evidence is needed to confirm it. Several other areas of food technology, identified in Egypt or the ancient N e a r East, merit notice. T h e existence of some seem certain, while others, although they may appear likely, based on the evidence presently at h a n d must remain conjectural. First a m o n g conjectured principles is réfrigération. C u n e i f o r m documents indicate that Mesopotamians and Hittites built icehouses to store ice transported from mountainous areas. Although Zimri-lim (11. ca. 1 780 B. C.), ruler of Mari, claims in a boastful inscription that he was the first to build such a structure, at T e r q a on the Euphrates River, earlier letters between different rulers discussing: ice resources belie his claim. T h e icehouses apparently contained ice formed elsewhere. Evidence is lacking to show either that ice was m a d e in the icehouse or that it served to refrigerate any food items. T o what purpose the ice was put remains unknown, but to j u d g e f r o m the close correlation of ice with wine in the Mari records, cooling drinks is a strong possibility. 7 REFRJGER/1 TION.
A second question is whether Egyptians and Mesopotamians understood the principle of evaporation for refrigeration. This seems to be what is going on in Egyptian paintings that show a servant fanning wine vessels in storage. Evaporation is the process by which moisture changes from a liquid state into a vapor state. For this to occur, heat is necessary. T h e evaporating liquid obtains the necessary heat through heat transfer from the a m p h o r a and its contents. Fan-
7
Dalley, Man and Karana, p p . 9 1 - 9 3 ; H o f ï n e r , Alimenta Hethaeorum, p. 113; D a v i d L. Fiske, " R e f r i g e r a t i o n is N o t N e w , " Refrigerating Engineering 24, no. 4 (Oct. 1932): 201. N e u b u r g e r (Technical Arts and Sciences, p. 122) i n t e r p r e t s Proverbs 2 5 . 1 3 as i n d i c a t i n g t h a t J e w s cooled their drinks w i t h snow.
Refrigeration
254
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS TO PARI ־T W O
ning hastens evaporation of any moisture on the vessels' exterior and serves to reduce the temperature of the wine, making it cooler. T h e question not answered by the painting is the source of the moisture on the vessels. Perhaps they poured water over them and then got out the fans. Conceivably, since wine containers were not lined on the inside, the porous walls may have permitted some degree of seepage of wine onto the exterior surface. T h e last possibility is that the air in the storage rooms was hotter than the wine and its vessel so that water from the atmosphere condensed onto the vessels' surface. If this last suggestion is accurate, does that m e a n that the Egyptians knew the principle of condensation as well as evaporation? Distillation
T h e suggestion that ancient Egyptians a n d Mesopotamians knew and understood distillation continues to arise from time to time. So, for exampie, Alexander Joffe, in his 1998 article on alcohol, refers to "ceramic evidence for the distillation of liquids during the Uruk period," and references Martin Levey's 1959 study of chemical technology in ancient Mesopotamia. 8 Levey discusses a double-rimmed vessel, dating to ca. 3500 B. C. and found in T e p e Gawra, used, according to his interpretation, in the m a n u f a c t u r e of perfume. H e argues that the ancient p e r f u m e maker rested the pot on top of a hearth base, an example of which has also come from T e p e G a w r a , in which was kindled a fire. He then placed water in the vessel and the raw material for the perfume in the trough formed between the two rims. V a p o r from the boiling water condensed on the cooler rim, washed over the raw material in the trough, and rinsed out the p e r f u m e , which was wiped up with a cloth and expressed later. In support of this interpretation, Levey cites an Akkadian text of ca. 1200 B. C. that purports to describe a similar process for making perfume. He goes on to cite Alexander of Aphrodisias (fl. ca. A. D. 200), w h o describes boiling salt water to obtain fresh water by soaking up the condensed liquid with sponges, and methods practiced by Muslims of the early Medieval period. Levey cites no ancient evidence for the distillation of fermented liquids, neither archaeological, literary, nor art historical. D1ST11JAT10K.
T h o u g h it remains possible that some primitive method of distillation was known by the Mesopotamians, perhaps along the line of Levey's suggestion for the double-rimmed pot, the earliest evidence for the knowledge of the principle comes probably no earlier than the writings of Aristotle (Meteorologiea 2.3). In discussing the results of evaporation of seawater, he says that it gives fresh water upon condensation. H e goes on to say that evaporated wine yields fresh water also when condensed. This latter statement is inaccurate, though Aristotle 11
Jofic, "Alcohol a n d Social C o m p l e x i t y , " p. 303; Levey, Chemist1y and Chemical Technology, p p . 31-41.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS TO PARI ־T W O
255
claims to have performed the experiment. H e adds, however, that the taste depends upon what has been mixed with the water. It seems likely, therefore, that, although he did understand evaporation and condensation of fermented beverages, he did not see it as anything but water with a specific taste. W h e t h e r one can conclude from this that Aristotle or anyone else knew distilled spirits as a drink distinct from wine is debatable. T h e most one can say is that although the ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians may have known the principles of distillation in some rudimentary way, and the Greeks certainly did by the fourth century B. C., knowledge and enjoyment of distilled liquors had to wait until the Middle Ages. 9 Knowledge of evaporation, condensation, and distillation may not have led the Greeks and R o m a n s to distilled alcohol. Nevertheless, they did make clear and significant contributions to the development of food technology. W h a t were their contributions occupies the next part of our discussion.
0
Lucas, Ancient Egyptian Materials, p. 24; Forbes, Studies, 3: 9; D a r b y et al, Food: the Gift of Osiris, p. 613; el-Guebaly a n d el-Guebaly, "Alcohol A b u s e in Ancient E g y p t , " p. 1209; G h a l i o u n g u i , " F e r m e n t e d Beverages in Antiquity," p. 4. T h e earliest alcohol distillation f r o m w i n e did not occur in t h e W e s t b e f o r e the mid-twelfth c e n t u r y A. D . , b u t m a y have been k n o w n in C h i n a m u c h earlier. See Lu G w e i - D j e n , J o s e p h N e e d h a m , a n d D o r o t h y N e e d h a m , " T h e C o m i n g of A r d e n t W a t e r , " Ambix 19, pt. 2 J u l y 1972): 6 9 1 1 2 ־.
PART T H R E E MEDITERRANEAN CIVIIJZATIONS
CHAPTER SIX THE GREEK WORLD: BRONZE AGE T H R O U G H T H E HELLENISTIC PERIOD
A. Bronze Age T h e M e d i t e r r a n e a n a r e a enjoys a generally consistent climate a n d vegetation, which, broadly speaking, apparently has c h a n g e d little since antiquity. T h e winters, stretching between O c t o b e r a n d April, are generally wet a n d mild; the s u m m e r months, M a y through S e p t e m b e r , are hot a n d dry. Unlike in Egypt a n d M e s o p o t a m i a , where rivers seasonally provided (or not) ample water for irrigation agriculture, f a r m e r s t h r o u g h o u t the M e d i t e r r a n e a n region, like those in Anatolia, N o r t h e r n Assyria, Syria, a n d Palestine, p r e d o m i n a n t l y engaged in dryf a r m i n g a n d d e p e n d e d u p o n a d e q u a t e supplies of rain for crops sown d u r i n g the a u t u m n a n d winter months. Cereals, legumes, a n d m a n y fruits, vegetables, a n d nuts grow in a b u n d a n c e wherever fertile soil a n d moisture permit, while the lack of s u m m e r rains restricts the growth of most o r c h a r d crops. T h e notable exceptions are the olive, fig, a n d grapevine, which n e e d relatively little water to thrive. I n d e e d , the M e d i t e r r a n e a n triad, that is the cereals, both wheat and barley, the grapevine, and the olive tree — t h o u g h some would include the legumes as well m a d e u p the most i m p o r t a n t cash crops in the Bronze Age Aegean. 1 T h e a p p e a r a n c e of Bronze Age palace institutions on C r e t e a n d in southern Greece, according to some scholars, arose f r o m the systematic exploitation of these a n d other crops p r e d o m i n a n t l y restricted to particular regions. T h e palaces of the M i n o a n s , a n d later the M y c e n a e a n s w h o c o n t i n u e d their b u r e a u c r a t i c system, served as redistributive centers for goods collected f r o m s u r r o u n d i n g rural areas a n d m a i n t a i n e d in central storehouses. O t h e r scholars argue that there is insuffi-
Mediterranean triad
1
G a r y , Geographic Background, p p . 1 36; S a r a h B. P o m e r o y , Stanley M . Burstein, W a l t e r D o n lan, a n d J e n n i f e r T o l b e r t R o b e r t s , Ancient Greece. A Political, Social, and Cultural History ( O x f o r d : O x f o r d University Press, 1999), pp. 1 4; Signe Isager a n d J e n s Erik Skydsgaard, Ancient Greek Agriculture. An Introduction (London: Routledge, 1992), pp. 9 - 1 8 ; A n a y a Sarpaki, " T h e P a l a e o e t h n o b otanical A p p r o a c h . T h e M e d i t e r r a n e a n T r i a d or Is It a Q u a r t e t , " in Agriculture in Ancient Greece. Proceedings of the S e v e n t h International S y m p o s i u m at the Swedish Institute at Athens, 1 6 1 7 M a y , 1990. Berit Wells, ed. (Stockholm: Paul Aströms, 1992), pp. 6 1 - 7 6 ; A n d r e w S h e r r a t t , " C a s h - c r o p s Before C a s h : O r g a n i c C o n s u m a b l e s a n d T r a d e , " in The Prehistory of Food. Appetites for Change. C h r i s G o s d e n a n d J o n H a t h e r , eds. (London: Routledge, 1999), pp. 13-34.
־
260
CHAPTER THREE
cient archaeological evidence for intensive exploitation of vines and olives before the Middle Bronze Age, and probably later. T h e y contend that the rise of palace cultures rests u p o n other foundations, such as control of production. 2 T h e records of the M i n o a n and M y c e n a e a n bureaucracies, as recorded in the Linear A a n d Β scripts, respectively, are important sources for the palace economy, but they provide little information on rural economic activities. Likewise, they provide not a full record of the operations of the state bureaucracy, but shorthand notations on details of direct interest to the palace during a single year. T h e tablets record primarily receipt and disbursement of goods and inventories, and list most commonly such food items as cereals (both wheat and barley), olives, honey, oil, figs, a n d livestock. D a t a gleaned from them, however, indicate that the state exercised little direct control over production of staple crops, such as grain and grapes, or products m a d e from them, merely contenting itself with receiving them from agricultural areas and redistributing them to dependents in the form of ration payments. It took a direct interest, however, in certain agricultural products and in their industrial processes, such as, for exampie, flax for textiles a n d oil for perfumes. 3
1.
Cereals
Grain needed storage facilities while awaiting distribution or processing into various food products. Storage might take various forms, such as a large building that set aside a special storeroom for grain in loose form, a small building given entirely over to the same purpose, small clay or stone-lined shallow pits (bothroi), clay bins, a n d large terra-cotta vessels (pithoi) placed in select rooms or courtyards of palaces, such as Knossos, Phaistos, a n d Mycenae. 4 Most of these 2
Colin R e n f r e w , The Emergence of Civilisation. The Cyclades and the Aegean in the Third Millennium B. C. ( L o n d o n : M e t h u e n & C o . , Ltd., 1972), p p . 4 7 6 - 5 0 4 ; H a r r i e t Blitzer, " O l i v e Cultivation a n d Oil P r o d u c t i o n in M i n o a n C r e t e , " in IM production du vin et de l'huile, p p . 1 6 3 - 7 5 ; J u l i e M . H a n s e n , "Agriculture in the Prehistoric A e g e a n : D a t a V e r s u s S p e c u l a t i o n , " AJA 92, no. 1 J a n . 1988): 3 9 - 5 2 ; Y a n n i s Hamilakis, " W i n e , Oil a n d the Dialectics of P o w e r in B r o n z e Age C r e t e : A R e v i e w of the E v i d e n c e , " OJA 15, η ΰ . 1 (1996): 1 - 3 2 ; C u r t i s N. R u n n e l s a n d J u l i e H a n s e n , " T h e Olive in the Prehistoric A e g e a n : the Evidence for Domestication in the Early Bronze A g e , " OJA 5, no. 3 (1986): 2 9 9 - 3 0 8 . :i C y n t h i a W . S h e l m e r d i n e , " T h e Palatial Bronze Age of the S o u t h e r n a n d C e n t r a l G r e e k M a i n l a n d , " AJA 101, no. 3 (July 1997): 5 6 6 - 7 0 ; R e n f r e w , Emergence of Civilisation, p p . 2 9 6 - 9 7 . For L i n e a r Β tablets, see esp. J o h n C h a d w i c k , Documents in Mycenaean Greek. 21" ׳ed. ( C a m b r i d g e : C a m bridge University Press, 1973). 1 A case in point are the five r e c t a n g u l a r subdivisions identified as storage c o m p a r t m e n t s for grain or pulses f o u n d in the villa at N i r o u K h a n i . Likewise, the ten or eleven " p e n s " of late M i n o a n d a t e f o u n d in the n o r t h e a s t q u a r t e r of the palace at Knossos have also been identified as space for grain storage. Identification of this latter e x a m p l e , however, is d e b a t a b l e , as a pig p e n
T H E GREEK W O R L D : BRONZE AGE - HELLENISTIC PERIOD
26 1
CO <Λ jO CO Ε Ε co =נ Ο c :צ CO ΰ CO CO מ C O גע£ CO a) CO C CO CO Ο ο s ·g 2k co כ = co c
ב י. οο C 2 -I» sc, ® r ל: ·C ״ גסζ cco .cy Q J5 ο 5 ס־Ic C υ s υ·: — c מο Ïïi-WT. % ^ CO ^ . t S Ε ο ^ £ en גגיμ,!= < o c π -c iS > יο .c 2 o-co co ο ^ _c S >. 0) ai 0 גc .cr < Ο נעco Ο Έ < < PÔ ô ^ c s i c o ^ i f i c b ^ œ a i ô a^ 'c-vr iMo no ^ m c ni cDûi r^^aaj do ci on 'ô- t N n T t - w t O N o o c j i O CVICNJCNC^CNCSICNCSJCNCSlCOrOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOrO'i • —זNCO^Îlf)CDSCOO)r־1 ־τ-*— τ— T~T-rN]CMC\jr\JC\JC\JCSJC\iCMOJCO α >> CO Ο
ω ο je ο co t
t§־
262
Storage
CHAPTER THREE
would be difficult to recognize as grain storage facilities without some physical evidence that grain h a d been stored there. Storerooms in the Unexplored M a n sion at Knossos, for example, contained j a r s of e m m e r wheat, bread or macaroni wheat, hulled barley, and some legumes and figs. T h e wheat and barley, stored as free or cleaned grains, were apparently awaiting final processing. E m m e r spikelets found in mid-fourteenth-ccntury B. C. storerooms in Assiros T o u m b a , in Macedonia, however, had apparently been incompletely threshed. This practice not only obviated the need to process all the grain at one time, but also gave added protection against pests and fungal attack, and so was probably the preferred method for long-term storage. 5 A m o n g the most interesting possibilities for large-scale grain storage facilities are the stone-lined circular pits, or koulouras, discovered in the West Court and Theatral Area of the early palace at Knossos and in a similar location in the palace at Phaistos. Not everyone agrees that these structures stored grain, however. T h o m a s Strasser, for example, argues that these large, underground, and unlined pits were too large, once opened, to protect adequately from moisture any grain contained therein. T h e y must have had another purpose. Paul Halstead, on the contrary, counters that they could have served to store grain, if sealed. T h e seals, if m a d e of clay or some other perishable material, may not have survived. Additionally, he adds that the stone lining was sufficient to protect the grain in the essentially dry climate of Crete, particularly when, as at Knossos, the pits were located in elevated locations. Finally, he notes that the size of the pits would be no hindrance to grain storage if the purpose was to store seed for the coming year or to maintain a long-term reserve. 6 While the virtues of belowground grain storage in Crete may be open to interpretation, both Strasser and Halstead agree that the aboveground facilities at Mallia and elsewhere served the purpose effectively.
has also b e e n c o n j e c t u r e d . See Sinclair H o o d , "Pigs or Pulse? T h e Pens at Knossos,'' AJA 89, no. 2 (April 1985): 3 0 8 - 1 3 ; J o s e p h W . S h a w , " T h e ' P e n s ' at Knossos A g a i n , " AJA 89, n Ū . 2 (April 1985): 3 1 3 - 1 4 ; K e n n e t h G . Byrd, " A C o n t e m p o r a r y Perspective on the ' P e n s ' at Knossos," AJA 89, no. 2 (April 1985): 3 1 4 - 1 6 . r> R e n f r e w , Emergence of Civilisation, p p . 2 8 8 96; Glynis Jones, "Agricultural Practice in G r e e k Prehistory," ABSA 82 (1987): 115 23; Glynis J o n e s , K e n n e t h W a r d l e , Paul Halstead, a n d D i a n e YVardle, " C r o p S t o r a g e at Assiros," Scientific American 254, no. 3 (1986): 9 6 - 1 0 3 . (i T h e koulouras at Knossos r a n g e in size f r o m 5.1 m . to 6.7 m. in d i a m e t e r ; the d e p t h of three pits a r e k n o w n to m e a s u r e ca. 3.0 m. T h e a v e r a g e capacity, a s s u m i n g a 3.0 m. d e p t h for all, is ca. 112.71 m 3 . T h e five koulouras at Phaistos are smaller that those at Knossos a n d have an average capacity of 55.11 m 3 . T h o m a s F. Strasser, " S t o r a g e a n d States on Prehistoric C r e t e : the F u n c t i o n of the K o u l o u r a s in the First M i n o a n Palaces," J MA 10, no. 1 (June 1997): 7 3 - 1 0 0 ; Paul H a l stead, " S t o r a g e Strategies a n d States o n Prehistoric C r e t e : a Reply to Strasscr (JMA 10 [1997] 7 3 - 1 0 0 ) , " J M 4 10, no. I J u n e 1997): 1 0 3 - 0 7 .
26 1 THE GREEK WORLD: BRONZE AGE - HELLENISTIC PERIOD
T h e aboveground granary complex at the Middle-Minoan palace at Mallia possessed eight circular structures arranged in two rows of four granaries each and the whole surrounded on three sides by a wall. These circular, plaster-lined structures were smaller than the underground koulouras at Knossos and Phaistos, varying in diameter between 3.7 m. and 4.0 m. T h e height of these structures is unknown, but at least five possessed a central pillar that probably supported a roof of some type. Strasser suggests a flat roof. If correct, the Mallia granary complex would constitute a granary type distinct from the usual domed, or beehive, granary c o m m o n to Egypt, such as are represented in tomb paintings from Thebes, Beni Hasan, and Tell el-Amarna, as well as that found at the Palestinian site of Beth Yerah. T h e granary complex at Mallia, however, may be an exception to Bronze Age Aegean granaries that a p p e a r to reflect Egyptian and Near Eastern influence. 7
Koulouras
Early examples of round, dome-shaped buildings, which may have served as granaries, include the mainland " R u n d b a u t e n " of O r c h o m e n o s and Tiryns, both dating to the Early Helladic II period. 8 T h e round structures at O r c h o m e n o s may have served as granaries, but their numbers suggest to Renfrew that they most likely were dwellings. T h e one at Tiryns may have also had a storage purpose, because it possessed plastered interior walls a n d was subdivided into separate compartments. But even this suggestion has its detractors. 9 T h e best example, and the one most closely parallel to eastern granaries, however, is an Early Cylcadic vessel from Phylakopi. M a d e of steatite, the Melos vase, as it is usually called, is a model of a granary complex composed of seven circular bins arranged on three sides of an open court and surrounded by a wall possessing an entrance and gateway. T h e granary compartments are open and so the exact shape of the roof is unknown. A dome-shaped roof seems probable, because in nearly all particulars the model closely resembles the granary complex at Beth Yerah in Palestine a n d the Egyptian granary complexes seen in t o m b paintings and represented by models from, a m o n g others, the First and Second-Dynasty Royal tombs at Helwan and the Fifth-Dynasty model from Giza (PI. 4). In all save the appearance of a central pillar and possible flat roof, the Melos vase also reflects the structural design of the granaries at Mallia. 1 0
Λ4el0s
7
Strasser, " S t o r a g e a n d States," pp. 7 8 7 9 ; ־R e n f r e w , Emergence of Civilisation, pp. 292 93. T h e so-called h y p o g e u m f r o m E M III Knossos is excluded f r o m this discussion because it is entirely u n d e r g r o u n d a n d its use as a storage a r e a , m u c h less as a g r a n a r y , is questionable. See R e n f r e w , Emergence of Civilisation, p. 288; Strasser, " S t o r a g e a n d States," pp. 7 6 7 8 ־. !) Strasser, " S t o r a g e a n d States, 5 ' pp. 8 3 - 8 4 ; R e n f r e w , Emergence of Civilisation, p p . 108 10, 288; M a r t h a H e a t h Wiencke, " C h a n g e in Early Helladic II," AJA 93, no. 4 (Oct. 1989): 505; Sp. M a r inatos, " G r e n i e r s de l'Helladique a n c i e n , " BCH 70 (1946): 338 51. 10 F r a n z O e l m a n n , " D a s K o r n s p e i c h e r m o d e l l v o n Melos," MDAI(A) 50 (1925): 1927 ;־M a r i 8
vase
׳264 Ground-stone processing tools
CHAPTER SIX
Evidence for processing cercals in the Aegean is confined primarily to numerous finds of Neolithic and Bronze Age saddle querns a n d handstones and to a few samples of stored grain, such as barley and wheat, for example at Troy, in the T h r a c i a n Chersonese, on Cos, Cyprus, and on Crete at Myrtos and Magasà, on the Cycladic island of Syros, and on the mainland at Mycenae, in various sites in the Argolid, such as Tiryns and Asine, and at Tsangli and Tsani in Thessaly. An intensive study of ground stone tools in the southern Argolid indicates that Bronze Age saddle querns were generally larger than their Neolithic predecessors and resemble closely those found at Lerna, Tiryns, and Asine to the north. T h e reasons for this arc unknown. Saddle querns, usually round, ovate, rectangular, or square in shape, were often made of a hard lava, such as andesite, with a pitted and abrasive surface, imported in raw or finished form from Aegina in the Saronic Gulf. Handstones, m a d e usually of andesite or greenstone, came in a ·׳
/
ο
variety of shapes, such as spherical, conical, ovate, and irregular, much as they did in the Neolithic Period. Small in size, averaging 0.10 m. in length, 0.09 m. in width, and 0.04 m. in thickness, they display little change over time. A study of ground stone materials from Mycenae dating between the Middle Helladic and Late Helladic III noted a slight change in shape of handstones to a longer and narrower form. T h e tripod mortars, often spouted, appearing at Late Bronze Age Mycenae and Tiryns, were probably intrusions from the Near East where they have been found at Jericho (PL 3) and Ebla." natos, " G r e n i e r s d e l ' H e l l a d i q u e a n c i e n , " 3 4 2.;כןStrasser, " S t o r a g e a n d States," p p . 8 3 9 0 ־, esp. p. 86; R e n f r e w , Emergence of Civilisation, PI. 15, 1; C u r r i d , " B e e h i v e Buildings," p. 23. O n E g y p t i a n g r a n a r i e s , see C h a p t e r T h r e e , p p . 1 0 0 - 0 4 . S o m e E g y p t i a n g r a n a r i e s of the M i d d l e K i n g d o m a p p e a r to h a v e b e e n r e c t a n g u l a r s t r u c t u r e s with flat roofs. O n the g r a n a r y at Beth Y e r a h , see C h a p t e r Five, p p . 197 98. For a similarly r e c o n s t r u c t e d g r a n a r y at O l d S m y r n a , see below, p. 278. 11 M o s t e x a m p l e s of q u e r n s f r o m t h e s o u t h e r n Argolid a r e f r a g m e n t a r y , so c o m p l e t e m e a s u r e m e n t s a r e difficult to o b t a i n . T h e a v e r a g e w i d t h is ca. 0.16 m ; those f r o m elsewhere a v e r a g e b e t w e e n 0 . 1 8 m . a n d 0 . 2 0 m . C o m p l e t e e x a m p l e s f r o m L a t e Helladic E r m i o n i M a g o u l a a v e r a g e d 0 . 2 5 m . in length, 0.21 m. in w i d t h , a n d 0 . 0 8 m. in thickness. C u r t i s R u n n e l s , " T h e Millstones,'" 111 Well Built Mycenae. The 1lelleno-British Excavations within the Citadel at Mycenae, 1959-1969. W . 1). T a y lour, Ε. B. F r e n c h , a n d K. A. W a r d l e , eds. Fasc. 27: Ground Stone ( O x f o r d : O x b o w Books, 1992), p p . 3 5 41; P. Nick K a r d u l i a s a n d C u r t i s R u n n e l s , " T h e Lithic Artifacts: Flaked S t o n e a n d O t h e r N o n flaked Lithics," in Artifact and Assemblage. The Finds fioni a Regional Survey of the Southern Argolid, Greece. Vol. 1: The Prehistoric and Early Iron Age Pottery and the Lithic Artifacts. C u r t i s R u n n e l s , D a n i e l J . Pullen, a n d S u s a n L a n g d o n , eds. (Stanford: S t a n f o r d University Press, 1995), p p . 1 1 2 - 2 1 ; C u r t i s R u n n e l s , " A D i a c h r o n i e S t u d y a n d E c o n o m i c Analysis of Millstones f r o m the Argolid, G r e e c e . " P h . D . diss. I n d i a n a University, 1981, p p . 101 16. R u n n e l s (ibid., p. 110) speculates that the increase in size of millstones d u r i n g t h e B r o n z e A g e o v e r w h a t h a d b e e n typical of the Neolithic period m a y indicate t h a t g r i n d i n g w a s taking place o n a l a r g e r scale o r t h a t a n e w s u b s t a n c e ( u n n a m e d ) w a s b e i n g processed. See also L. A. M o r i t z , Grain-mills and Flour in Classical Antiquity ( O x f o r d : C l a r e n d o n Press, 1958), p. 20; K. F. Vickery, Food in Early Greece ( U r b a n a , 1936; rpt. C h i c a g o : Ares Publishers, Inc., 1980), p p . 15 44; K e i t h B r a n i g a n , Pie-palatial. The Foundations of Palatial Crete. A Survey of Crete in the Early Bronze Age. 2 ״d ed. ( A m s t e r d a m : A d o l f M . H a k k e r t , 1988), p. 69.
3
26 1 THE GREEK WORLD: BRONZE AGE - HELLENISTIC PERIOD
T h e best source to provide a context to processing apparatus comes from the Late Bronze Age West House at Akrotiri on the island of T h e r a . O n e room on the ground floor was apparently devoted to processing in a m a n n e r that recalls those at the palace at Ebla, but on a m u c h smaller scale. O n one side was a raised platform on the top of which were e m b e d d e d two saddle querns. Excavations in the house have yielded remains of processed legumes and cereals. This material included fragments of hulled barley that seems to have been pounded in a mortar, and samples of finely ground flour. A m o n g the latter were proportionally small amounts made from einkorn wheat and larger volumes coming from legumes and, especially, barley. T w o other rooms on the ground floor served as storage areas, one for long-term storage of grain probably only threshed and then sieved to remove bulk contaminants. T h e second room yielded both wheat and barley flour, and so was probably a sort of kitchen where cleaned grain was processed into a form suitable for cooking and baking. 12 Similarly, one section of the early palace at Phaistos comprised a complex of rooms fitted with benches. T h e bench of one room, in a m a n n e r similar to the installation at Akrotiri, contained a cavity, which must at one time have supported the q u e r n found next to it. 111 an adjoining room one bench associated with a drain and potstand a n d limestone basin built into another bench may indicate preparation of some sort of liquid. T h e stoa of Building J / T at K o m m o s contained four contiguous three-sided bins each associated with a quern. Apparently, the worker — to j u d g e from entries in Linear Β tablets, most likely a w o m a n — sat or knelt behind the quern that was slanted so that ground flour fell directly onto the floor of the bin. These enclosures were apparently designed to contain flour to be m a d e into bread products or gruels. 13 Portable braziers and hearths a p p e a r frequently in M i n o a n houses and palaces; fixed or p e r m a n e n t hearths a n d ovens are less c o m m o n . Middle M i n o a n fixed hearths at Knossos and Mallia take the form of a clay or stucco foundation, circular in shape, in the middle of which is a shallow cavity. Phaistos 12
A n a y a Sarpaki, " A P a l a e o e t h n o b o t a n i c a l Study of t h e West H o u s e , Akrotiri, T h e r a , " ABSA 87 (1992): 2 1 9 - 3 0 , esp. Pis. 12 a n d 13. 13 Several terra-cotta figurines, d a t i n g to L H III a n d f o u n d at M y c e n a e , m a y represent a w o m a n g r i n d i n g on a q u e r n . 111 this case, she stands b e h i n d the q u e r n , a position with parallels f r o m P h a r a o n i c Egypt a n d fifth-century B. C . R h o d e s a n d Boeotia. See B. A. Sparkes, " T h e G r e e k K i t c h e n , " J HS 8 2 (1962): 134. Pylos tablets contain m e n t i o n of a female grain g r i n d e r (mere-ti-ri-ja) a n d grain m e a s u r e r (si-to-ko-wo). C h a d w i c k notes that identification of the cereal g r i n d e r d e p e n d s u p o n the correctness of the r e a d i n g for flour (me-re-u-to), a n i n t e r p r e t a t i o n C h a d w i c k himself calls into d o u b t . Sec C h a d w i c k , Documents, p p . 123, 158, 392. Sec also M a r i a C . S h a w , " L a t e M i n o a n H e a r t h s a n d O v e n s at K o m m o s , C r e t e , " in I/habitat Egéen préhistorique. Pascal D a r c q u e a n d R e n é T r e u i l , eds. B G H Suppl. X I X (Paris: D e B o c c a r d , 1990), p p . 2 4 2 - 4 5 ; Polymnia M e t a x a M u h l y , " M i n o a n H e a r t h s , " AJA 88, η θ . 2 (April 1984): 117 (Phaistos), 1 19 (Zakro).
Cereal processing on Thera and Crete
Cooking
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and Mallia have yielded as well rectangular fixed hearths with a shallow cavity. Most Late M i n o a n hearths at K o m m o s are pi-shaped and constructed of fiat stones set on edge against a wall or in a corner. Only fragmentary examples of fixed hearths have appeared on the mainland. Although used as well for light, w a r m t h , and focal points for social a n d religious gatherings, hearths also served to cook food. Various types of domestic cooking pots have come to light on Crete and on the mainland, such as triangular cooking pots, pans of various sizes and shapes, mixing bowls, jugs, and cups, m a d e of pottery or bronze. Although size, shape, a n d decoration of cooking vessels varied somewhat over time, the uses of the various cooking utensils changed little. Bronze tripod pots and kettles allowed soups a n d stews to be cooked over a lire placed in a brazier or hearth, while spits served to roast meat. 1 4
Bread
Large p e r m a n e n t cooking installations were once thought to have existed only on the outside of buildings. Discoveries on Crete at Zakro and K o m m o s imply otherwise. T h e central courtyard of the Late M i n o a n I palace at Zakro possessed an elaborate kitchen. T h e room contained processing tools, such as a mortar, for preparing food, and a fixed hearth, portable braziers and grills, and various pots for cooking. Animal bones found in the area give a hint at some of the foods prepared here. 111 the N o r t h House at K o m m o s one structure may have been an oven similar to those of the ancient Near East. The thin layer of clay lining the interior of the stone slabs forming the side walls begins to curve upward and inward at the point above the top of the slabs. If it did form a dome, it is no longer extant. Evidence for indoor fixed cooking installations on the mainland is scant. Vickery notes a d o m e d oven found in the T r o a d inside a house at T h e r m i , and suggests that structures discovered inside houses in Thessaly at Dimini and Sesklo were also d o m e d ovens. 15 T h e direct evidence for bread in the prehistoric Aegean remains meager. If the Mycenaean word a-to-po-qo, found on Linear Β tablets from Mycenae and Pylos, can be equated with the classical Greek word for baker, αρτοκόπος, then
14
Pi-shaped hearths have also been found at Mallia, Khania, Palaikastro, and Knossos. Shaw, "I .ate M i n o a n Hearths a n d Ovens," pp. 231 54; Muhly, " M i n o a n Hearths," pp. 107 22; G e r d a Bruns, Küchenwesen und Mahlzeiten, Archeologica H o m e r i c a II, Q_ (Göttingen: V a n d e n h o e c k & Ruprecht, 1970), pp. 1 8, 2 0 - 2 1 ; Vickery, Food in Early Greece, passim, esp. pp. 88~89; Branigan, Prepalatial, pp. 7 0 - 7 3 . For M i n o a n braziers, see also SchefFer, Cooking and Cooking Stands in Italy, pp. 8 0 - 8 1 . 15 Vickery, Food in Early Greece, p. 49; M u h l y , " M i n o a n H e a r t h s , " p. 1 19 (Zakro); S h a w , " L a t e M i n o a n H e a r t h s a n d O v e n s , " p p . 2 3 8 - 4 5 (Kommos). S h a w (pp. 2 5 2 - 5 4 ) says that h e a r t h s a n d ovens on the G r e e k m a i n l a n d w e r e not "typically" located indoors, a n d suggests that the idea for i n d o o r cooking installations was a n i m p o r t a t i o n f r o m the N e a r East, such as the Levant by way of C y p r u s a n d Egypt, a n d cites recent finds at M i n e t el-Beida, the h a r b o r town of Ugarit, a n d M a r s a M a t r u h , a small island off the coast of Libya. O n the difficulty in identifying G r e e k kitchens, sec SchefFer, Cooking and Cooking Stands in Italy, pp. 9 2 - 9 5 .
26 1 THE GREEK WORLD: BRONZE AGE - HELLENISTIC PERIOD
two conclusions reasonably follow. First, the Mycenaeans did bake bread; and second, bread making was for some individuals a profession. For the bread making process itself, we must rely on supposition from the little physical evidence found to date. Hearths and braziers could have been used to make flat breads by heating the dough directly on hot cinders. Alternately, dough might be placed on a stone or earthenware plate, covered in some fashion, and set on the ashes. T h e presence of a d o m e d oven at K o m m o s perhaps implies the knowledge of yeast and so the ability to make leavened bread. In the same room as the oven in the North House at Kommos, for example, stood a layer of stones next to a three-sided enclosure similar to those in Building J / T . This may have formed a platform for processing foods, such as cereals. Although beer is sometimes listed as a possible drink known to Minoans and Mycenaeans, there is no evidence to support the claim. 16
2. Wine and Olive Oil T h e earliest evidence for the wild grape appears in the Franchthi Cave, in the Argolid, dating to ca. 11,000 B. C. Although it is difficult to distinguish the wild grape from its cultivated form, grape cultivation, along with other fruits, may have arisen in eastern Macedonia, near Sitagroi, during the Late Neolithic period, at least by ca. 2800 B. C. T h e best evidence for it, however, comes from southern Greece, at Lerna, dated to ca. 22002000 ־־B. C. The Early Bronze Age finds grapes widespread throughout the Greek Mainland in Thessaly, Attica, and the Peloponnese, in the Cyclades, and on the island of Crete. In what manner they were consumed is open to question. M a n y were probably eaten raw, while others may have been dried into raisins, as was done in the days of Hesiod and H o m e r . T h e earliest archaeological evidence for wine comes from Early M i n o a n (ca. 2170 B. C.) sites of Myrtos, on Crete, and Early Helladic (ca. 2100 B. C.) Aghios Kosmas, in Attica. T h e former site yielded a pithos containing crushed grape skins and pips, finds suggestive to some scholars of fermented grape juice or wine. Colin Renfrew connects the appearance in the archaeological record of small cu}:>s and jugs of various shapes with the development of the new beverage in the Early Bronze Age. 17 16
Vickery notes the u n i q u e find of a piece of b r e a d at M a r m a r i a n i in Thessaly. Vickery, Food in Early Greece, pp. 4 9 - 5 0 , 189; Bruns, Küchenwesen und Mahlzeiten, p p . 15-16. For the term for b a k e r in the L i n e a r Β tablets, see C h a d w i c k , Documents, p p . 123, 179 81, a n d Yves D u h o u x , " L e b o u l a n g e r et son pain: l'étymologie d (χρτοκότιος et d ' ά ρ τ ο ς , " AC 4 3 (1974): 3 2 1 - 2 4 . 17 J a n e M . R e n f r e w , " P a l a e o e t h n o b o t a n i c a l Finds of Vitis f r o m G r e e c e , " in Origins and Ancient History of Wine, p p . 2 5 5 - 6 7 ; R u t h Palmer, Wine in the Mycenaean Palace Economy. A e g a e u m 10 (Liège: Université de Liège, 1994), esp. p. 17; R e n f r e w , Emergence of Civilisation, pp. 2 8 1 - 8 5 , 290;
Grapes in the Aegean
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/jrf Fig. 18. Cretan hieroglyphic form 1 16, for wine, rotated 180 .
Wine in Minoan and Mycenean texts
T h e wine ideogram appears in early Cretan hieroglyphic and Linear A scripts in a form reminiscent of the Egyptian hieroglyph for wine. T h e long-standing controversy over the connection between Egyptian hieroglyphs and Minoan texts, as well as later M y c e n a e a n Linear Β documents, has largely subsided. T h e correlation of C r e t a n wine ideograms, that is, M i n o a n hieroglyphic sign 116 (Fig. 18) a n d Linear A a n d Β forms (*131), with the Egyptian hieroglyph (M43), however, remains debatable. Palmer, for instance, even though she agrees that the M i n o a n s knew the N e a r Eastern writing systems and patterned their own bookkeeping system on them, concludes that the similarity can be explained as merely the identification by both peoples of the trellised vine with the processed product. 1 8 This does not, however, address the question of how the M i n o a n s learned the technical knowledge of viticulture a n d winemaking. An indigenous development of the winemaking process remains a possibility, though unproven. Otherwise, one can easily imagine that commercial contacts of M i n o a n merchants, cither directly or indirectly, with the products of Egypt and Syria-Palestine likewise brought to their attention knowledge of the processes used to produce them, especially where those products derived from food plants already known in Crete. If so, then it also remains possible that the M i n o a n script m a y have incorporated similar ways of representing at least this particular product. A precise determination of w h e n this may have occurred is beyond our reach, but it probably h a p p e n e d in connection with the development of the Cretan hieroglyphic a n d Linear A scripts to organize a n d m a n a g e the resources of M i n o a n palaces early in the second millennium B. C. 1 9
Z o h a r y , " D o m e s t i c a t i o n of the G r a p e v i n e , " p p . 28 29 (contra Renfrew); Hamilakis, " W i n e , Oil a n d the Dialectics of P o w e r , " p. 10, Fig. 2. ()11 d r y i n g grapes, see Hesiod Op. 611 13 a n d H o m e r Od. 7 . 1 2 1 - 2 5 . 18 R u t h P a l m e r , " W i n e a n d Viticulture in the Linear Λ a n d Β T e x t s of the B r o n z e Age A e g e a n , " in Origins and Ancient History of Wine, pp. 2 6 9 85; i d e m , Wine in the Mycenaean Palace Economy, esp. p p . 5, 27 43. 19 O n M i n o a n c o n t a c t s with Egypt a n d the ancient N e a r East, see below, n o t e 20. O n Egyptian influence on M i n o a n scripts a n d wine, see Phillip V . Stanley, " K N U c 160 a n d M y c e n a e a n W i n e s , " AJA 86, no. 4 (Oct. 1982): 5 7 7 - 7 8 ; R o g e r Brock, " A n c i e n t G r e e c e , " in Oxford Companion
THE GREEK WORLD: BRONZE AGE - HELLENISTIC PERIOD
26 1
T h e cultivated olive is a late comer to the Aegean, probably arriving from the Levant sometime in the fourth millennium B. C. Some evidence for olives have been found on Crete in Early M i n o a n (EM) Myrtos and Knossos and in a few Middle M i n o a n (MM) sites, but the material cannot be classified as wild or domesticated, since the two are difficult to distinguish. W h e t h e r the lack of evidence derives from the fact that the olive was little used during this time or, as Harriet Blitzer argues, that excavators have not actively looked for evidence is debated. Blitzer suggests that olive oil processing instruments in the E M (3500-2100 B. C.) and M M (2100-1700 B. C.) periods were m a d e of wood or of nondescript stone and so have not survived or are unrecognizable. Textual evidence from Linear A and Β tablets implies a significant importance attached to olive oil, not as a food item but in the form of p e r f u m e , an expensive and eliteoriented luxury commodity. Olive oil, probably transported in stirrup jars or pithoi, formed part of Aegean contacts, including trade, with the Levant and the eastern Mediterranean. 2 0 T h e difficulties inherent in distinguishing oil from grape processing installations, seen in Syria a n d Palestine, make it difficult to identify the archaeological evidence for each in the Bronze Age Aegean as well. So, for example, large clay tubs possessing a spout at the base, found in m a n y places on Crete such as Myrto Wine, p. 464. T h a t t h e r e is no c o r r e s p o n d i n g link to Egypt with olives a n d olive oil should elicit n o surprise, since the Egyptians did not process m u c h olive oil. O n the d a t i n g of the M i n o a n scripts, see P a l m e r , " W i n e a n d Viticulture in the L i n e a r Λ a n d Β T e x t s , " pp. 2 6 9 . 7 5 ־ 2, יBlitzer, " O l i v e Cultivation," p. 169; H a m i s h A. F o r b e s a n d Lin Foxhall, " ' T h e Q u e e n of All T r e e s . ' Preliminary N o t e s o n the A r c h a e o l o g y of the Olive," Expedition 21, no. 1 (Fall 1978): 46, a n d Fig. 17; Lin Foxhall, " B r o n z e to Iron: Agricultural Systems a n d Political Structures in Late Bronze Age a n d Early I r o n A g e G r e e c e , " A BS A 90 (1995): 241 42; F.R. Riley, The Role of the Traditional Mediterranean Diet in the Development of Minoan Crete. Archaeological, .Nutritional and Biochemical Evidence. BAR I n t e r n a t i o n a l Series 8 1 0 (Oxford: BAR, 1999), pp. 36-55. Oil was also a p p a r e n t l y used in lamps on m i d - t h i r d millennium B. C . Naxos. See Vickery, Food in Early Greece, p p . 26, 51 52; R e n f r e w , Emergence of Civilisation, p. 285; R o b e r t Sallares, '!lie Ecology of the Ancient Greek World (Ithaca: C o r n e l l University Press, 1991), p. 306. O n Bronze Age contacts b e t w e e n the A e g e a n a n d elsewhere, esp. Egypt a n d the Levant, see H e l e n e J . K a n t o r , " T h e A e g e a n a n d the O r i e n t in the S e c o n d M i l l e n n i u m B. C . , " AJA 51 (1947): Γ 103; R. S. Merrillees, " A e g e a n Bronze Age Relations with Egypt," AJA 76 (1972): 281 94; William A. W a r d , Egypt and the East Mediterranean World, 2000-1900 B. C. (Beirut: A m e r i c a n University of Beirut, 1971), pp. 71 125; B r a n i g a n , Pre-palatial, p p . 179 95, 2 4 5 - 4 7 ; A. B e r n a r d K n a p p , "Spice, Drugs, G r a i n a n d G r o g : O r g a n i c G o o d s in Bronze Age East M e d i t e r r a n e a n T r a d e , " in Bronze Age Trade in the Mediterranean. Ν. H . G a l e , ed. Studies in M e d i t e r r a n e a n Archaeology, Vol. 90 (Jonsered: Paul Aströms, 1991), p p . 2 1 - 6 8 . O n the oil t r a d e specifically, see S h l o m o B u n i m o v i t z , " M i n o a n - M y c e n a e a n Olive Oil P r o d u c t i o n a n d T r a d e . A Review of C u r r e n t R e s e a r c h , " in Olive Oil in Antiquity, p p . 49 53; Halford W . Haskell, " T h e O r i g i n of the A e g e a n S t i r r u p Jar a n d its Earliest Evolution a n d Distribution (MB III-LB I)," AJA 89, 11 ΰ . 2 (April 1985): 2 2 1 - 2 9 ; C y n t h i a W . S h e l m e r d i n e , Vie Perfume Industry of Mycenaean Pylos (Göteborg: Paul Aströms, 1985), esp. p p . 130 53; R e n f r e w , Emergence of Civilisation, p p . 290 91.
Olive oil in Bronze Age Aegean
Distinguishing wine from oil processing installations
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tos, may have served as oil separators, although their employment in winemaking a n d in washing vegetables or wool has also been suggested. 21 A recent study has classified forty-one M i n o a n wine (or oil) installations into three types. 22 Each facility had two parts, the upper structure, or λήνος, constituted the basin where the fruit was trod or pressed; the lower part, or receptacle, called the υπολήνιον, collected the liquid expressed by hand or feet. T h e most c o m m o n type, T y p e I, comprising thirty-two examples, was of terra-cotta construction and took the form of a truncated cone with a trough-spout at the bottom that protruded over the collecting vessel. 23 T h e receptacle was usually in the form of a terra-cotta pithos, j a r , or basin, usually fixed into the ground. Installations of this type, reported on Crete at Phourni, Knossos, Vathypetro, Mallia, Gournia, Myrtos, Palaikastro, Kato Zakros, and E p a n o Zakros, date from the prepalatial period of the third millennium B. C. through the Middle M i n o a n period. Finds of vats at Phourni stained with must (if correctly identified) and of carbonized grape seeds and raisins at Myrtos and Knossos imply that T y p e I installations processed grapes. O n the other hand, carbonized olive pits discovered in the vicinity of this type installation at Phourni, Myrtos, Knossos, and K o m m o s indicate that they could process olives as well. 24 T h e other two types are extant in only a few specimens. T y p e II installations, of which only three examples have been identified, comprise a rectangular floor 21
Blitzer, " O l i v e Cultivation,' יp p . 166 69; Hamilakis, " W i n e , Oil a n d the Dialectics of Powe r , " p. 18. F o r b e s a n d Foxhall ("Qtieen of All Trees,'" p. 46) note the find of similar tubs in Late Bronze Age G o u r n i a a n d Hellenistic Praesos. See esp. Hamilakis, w h o lists find spots of olive r e m a i n s ("Wine, Oil a n d the Dialectics of P o w e r , " T a b l e 1, p p . 8 10) a n d of B r o n z e Age olive or g r a p e presses or oil separators (ibid., T a b l e 3, p p . 1 5 1 7 ) ־on Crete. 22 K a t e r i n a K o p a k a a n d Lefteris Platon, " λ η ν ο γ μ ι ν ω ι κ ο ι ' . Installations M i n o e n n e s de trait ־. P a l m e r ( Wine in the Mycenaean Palace E m e n t des produits liquides, , יBCH 117(1993): 3 5 1 0 1 my, pp. 18 23 )־h a d earlier recognized the three types of installation. 23 Size of s p o u t e d vats varied t h o u g h the d i a m e t e r usually exceeded the height. M o s t r a n g e d in height f r o m 0.24 m. to 0.29 m . a n d f r o m 0 . 5 4 m. to 6 8 m . in width. See P a l m e r , Wine in the Mycenaean Palace Economy, p. 18. T w e l v e m i n i a t u r e models of the s a m e type have c o m e to light at Akrotiri o n T h e r a a n d f r o m t o m b s at Apessokari a n d Porti o n the M e s s a r a plain on C r e t e . See K o p a k a a n d Platon, " λ η ν ο γ μ ι ν ω ι κ ο ι ," p p . 6 4 - 6 5 . 24 K o p a k a a n d Platon, " λ η ν ο ι ' μ ι ν ω ι κ ο ι ." p p . 7 5 8 2 81 ,77־. T h e y also indicate that T installations m a y h a v e processed murex for dye. A M i d d l e M i n o a n seal f r o m Chrysolakkos shows a m a n s t a n d i n g in a T y p e I tub, a p p a r e n t l y in the act of t r e a d i n g grapes. N e a r b y stands a pithos. See ibid., pp. 8 6 - 8 7 , a n d Figs. 30. H a m i l a k i s ("Wine, Oil a n d the Dialectics of P o w e r , " pp. 14—19, esp. T a b l e 3) a r g u e s that these type vats w e r e wine installations, if they were associated with collecting vessels, a r g u i n g that receptacles w e r e unnecessary for oil separation w h e r e there was n o need to collect the w a t e r d r a i n e d f r o m the tub. See also Palmer, Wine in the Mycenaean Palace Economy, pp. 18-20. R e n f r e w (Emergence of Civilisation, Plate 15, 2) concludes that the installation at V a t h y p e t r o served to process olives, since b e i n g raised on a pedestal, it "would not be convenient for t r e a d i n g g r a p e s . " H e does allow for the possibility that both g r a p e s a n d olives were processed here.
26 1 THE GREEK WORLD: BRONZE AGE - HELLENISTIC PERIOD
constructed above a fixed tcrra-cotta receptacle. T h e use to which T y p e II was put remains unknown, but its utilization for a liquid of some sort seems clear. T y p e III, with only six examples reported, is a shallow stone basin with narrow spout, forming a pear-shaped base, erected on a platform overlooking a receiving vessel. This fixture may have processed both oil and wine, although the usually shallow basin of this type is perhaps best suited to process olives. At Late M i n o a n K o m m o s , for example, two large installations probably operated to extract oil from olives. These emplacements take the form of a raised platform of stones supporting a circular spouted press-bed made of limestone. Exactly how the olives were crushed in the shallow basins is unknown. T h e flat rims could have supported a basket, and stone weights found nearby may have served to weigh down a wooden b e a m , in an a r r a n g e m e n t similar to lever-andweight presses used in Syria and Palestine. T h e oil would have flowed through the narrow spout and emptied into a collecting basin placed underneath. 2 5 Establishing a chronological range for these processing installations is difficult. T y p e I, the most numerous, may have been developed as early as the prepalatial period of the third millennium B. C., and flourished through the Middle M i n o a n into the Late M i n o a n period. T h e other two types were not as widespread and appear later than T y p e I, with T y p e II found contemporaneous with T y p e I at a few places, such as at E p a n o Zakros a n d Kato Zakros. T y p e III, not found in connection with Types I and II, is a late innovation. 2 6 Blitzer compares these installations, and others in Crete, with the contemporary stone press-bed found at M a r o n i on Cyprus, dated to ca. 1300 B. C., and sees them as indicative of an expansion of olive oil production by a centralized Mycenaean authority as part of a growing eastern Mediterranean trade. O t h e r scholars, however, note that although similar press-beds have been found in Crete, such as at Knossos a n d Palaikastro, n o n e dating to the Bronze Age have been found on the Greek mainland. 2 7 If the T y p e III press-beds at K o m m o s and elsewhere on Crete are remains of 25
S t o n e spouted press-beds h a v e also b e e n f o u n d at Phaistos a n d various f a r m s t h r o u g h o u t C r e t e . Blitzer, "Olive Cultivation," p p . 167-72, esp. Figs. 2 3, p. 168; Hamilakis, " W i n e , Oil a n d the Dialectics of P o w e r , " p. 19. Frankel ( Wine and Oil Production, p. 67) states that the p e a r - s h a p e d press b e d f r o m K o m m o s , as well as e x a m p l e s f r o m V a t h y p e t r o a n d Praesos, w e r e used to press olives. 26 K o p a k a a n d Platon, " α η ν ο γ μ ι ν ω ι κ ο ι ׳, " p p . 7 0 - 7 1 , 7 8 - 7 9 , 8 2 - 8 3 , 8 9 - 9 1 , a n d the "Descriptive T a b l e , " p p . 68 69. Cf. the d a t i n g given in P a l m e r , Wine in the Mycenaean Palace Economy, p p . 18-20, esp. T a b l e s 1.1 a n d 1.2, p p . 2 4 - 2 5 . Cf. Plate 24, below, f r o m f o u r t h c e n t u r y B. C . Olynthus. 27 Blitzer, "Olive Cultivation," p. 172; R u n n e l s a n d H a n s e n , "Olive in the Prehistoric A e g e a n , " p. 305. M a i n l a n d Greeks p r o b a b l y did not k n o w of the olive before the M y c e n a e a n s c o n q u e r e d C r e t e in the m i d - s e c o n d m i l l e n n i u m B. C . See Sallarcs, Ecology, p. 306.
Chronology of Cretan oil processing installations
272 Origin of Aegean olive processing technology
Olive oil storage
Aegean wine
CHAPTER THREE
beam presses, the question of origin arises. An answer, however, is not forthcoming from the evidence on hand at present, but their similarity with presses on Cyprus points to a N e a r Eastern origin for the technical knowledge for the lever-and-weight press. Although there may have been a lever-and-weight press operating in Ugarit as early as ca. 2300 B. C., the best physical evidence dates from the tenth through eighth centuries B. C. Fourteenth and thirteenth-century B. C. Ugaritic texts, however, refer to Levantine oil exports to Egypt and Cyprus, a n d the Ugaritic measure for both wine and olive oil, the kdyàr of ca. twenty-two liters, finds mention in Akkadian texts from other N e a r Eastern sites, such as Mari. T h e a p p e a r a n c c of the same measure in Linear A tablets and its possible mention in a Late Bronze Age Linear Β text may also indicate Ugaritic trade in these products with the eastern M e d i t e r r a n e a n world. T h e fact that the first-millennium B. C. Phoenician word kd appears in Greek by the late seventh century B. C. in the form of a loan word, κάδος, as well as in a Cypro-syllabic Greek inscription of ca. 600 B. C. on Cyprus points in the same direction. T h e knowledge of how to process olive oil, therefore, may have also accompanied the oil itself as part of early trade contacts. 2 8 Several palace complexes have yielded storage rooms with vessels containing liquids of some kind. The magazine at Mallia takes the form of a room with six bays, each containing two rows of large pithoi. Furrows ran from each pithos into two central drains that caught any spillage f r o m the vessels a n d conducted it to a j a r e m b e d d e d in the floor. T h a t this storeroom held olive oil is rendered probable from similar finds at Mycenae a n d Pyios. T h e former palace had a comparable a r r a n g e m e n t in the 1 'House of the Oil M e r c h a n t , " so n a m e d because of stirrup jars impregnated with oil also found there. T h e magazines at Pylos, with pithoi arrayed in like fashion to those at Mycenae and Mallia, yieldcd Linear Β tablets referring to olive oil. 29 Grape-processing installations were located in a n d served predominantly rural areas; the finished product, that is wine, was transported to palatial centers. M y c e n a e a n administrative tablets seem to reflect this scenario as well. Wine was a luxury item, locally produced in rural areas, but enjoyed primarily by the upper classes, except on occasion, usually religious, when it could be consumed
28
M i c h a e l Heltzer, " O l i v e Oil a n d W i n e P r o d u c t i o n in Phoenicia a n d in the M e d i t e r r a n e a n T r a d e , " in La production du vin et de l'huile, p p . 4954־־. H e l t z e r also argues his point by n o t i n g the similarity in capacity of the kd vessel with that of j a r s f r o m Salamis on C y p r u s , d a t i n g b e t w e e n the seventh a n d fifth centuries B. C., a n d of G r e e k a m p h o r a e of the sixth a n d fifth centuries B. C . f r o m Chios, Lesbos, S a m o s , a n d in the C r i m e a at N y m p h a e u m . For the late third-millennium B. C . Ugaritic lever-and-weight press, see C h a p t e r Five, p. 227. 29
R e n f r e w , Emergence of Civilisation, p p . 2 9 3 - 9 5 ; Vickery, Food in Early Greece, p. 20; C h a d w i c k , Documents, p p . 4 7 6 8 3 ־.
26 1 THE GREEK WORLD: BRONZE AGE - HELLENISTIC PERIOD
generally. 30 N o evidence exists to show that the Minoans or Mycenaeans mechanically pressed the grapes following treading, although the possibility remains, at least for Late Bronze Age K o m m o s , if the inhabitants knew of and utilized the lever-and-weight press for pressing olives. However, λήνοι have yet to be discovered at a M y c e n a e a n site. W h a t kinds of wines Minoans and Mycenaeans produced remain unknown. Although no evidence exists to show that they m a d e both red and white wines, Philip Stanley has suggested that they did distinguish a m o n g qualities. In his discussion of a Linear Β text f r o m Knossos, he notes that ideogram *131, the determinative for wine, was sometimes augmented with the word de-re-u-ko, a term connected with later Greek γλεύκος a n d of uncertain meaning. He interprets dere-u-ko as a word denoting high quality, and deduces that its connection with *131 identified a high grade wine. H e concludes, then, that the Mycenaeans had three grades of wine. T h e best they denoted with the wine ideogram modified by the word de-re-u-ko. An unqualified *131 ideogram identified second class wine. Stanley further argues that *131 is a reduplicated version of *131b, a 1111guistic pattern adopted from Egyptian hieroglyphic to distinguish differences of quality. Hence, the basic ideogram *131b by itself represented the lowest quality wine. It should be noted, however, that other scholars see *131b as designating not wine but a related liquid, either must or vinegar. While Stanley docs not explain the differences in grade, Palmer correlates quality of wine with a partieular stage in the winemaking process. She identifies de-re-u-ko as free-run must forced out of grapes by their own weight before treading. This juice left alone to ferment produces the wine denoted in the text as *131 qualified by de-re-u-ko. She asserts that ideogram * 131 denoted wine m a d e only from trodden grapes, or a mixture of trodden and pressed grapes. She is less sure about ideogram *131b, though she leans toward identifying it as vinegar. 31 Fermentation of wine probably took place in small receiving vats, or most probably in larger pithoi. U p o n completion the wine-filled pithoi were most likely sealed and placed in large storage rooms of palaces or in separate m a g a zines in surrounding districts along with vessels of oil and other commodities. Outside of the few remains of grape pips in E M Myrtos and E H Aghios Kosmas, evidence for wine storage is meager. W h a t evidence there is, such as at 30
P a l m e r , " W i n e a n d Viticulture in the L i n e a r A a n d B," pp. 277 83; idem, Wine in the Mycenaean Palace Economy, passim; K o p a k a a n d Platon, " λ η ν ο γ μ ι ν ω ι κ ο ι ' , " pp. 8 9 96; W a l t e r Burkert, " O r i e n t a l Symposia: C o n t r a s t s a n d Parallels," in Dining in a Classical Context, p p . 7 8. :tl T h e evidence for mechanically pressed g r a p e s in the Bronze Age A e g e a n is questionable. Stanley, " K N U c 160," pp. 577 78; P a l m e r , Wine in the Mycenaean Palace Economy, p. 16. See also P a l m e r , " W i n e a n d Viticulture 111 the L i n e a r A a n d Β T e x t s , " pp. 2 7 4 - 7 5 (vinegar); J o h n C h a d wick, " M y c e n a e a n W i n e a n d the Etymology of ΓΛΥΚΫς," Minos 9, no. 2 (1968): 1 9 2 - 9 7 .
Wine storage
274
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M M Phaistos, L M Monastiraki, and LH O r c h o m e n o s , is ambiguous, since wine storage can rarely be differentiated from preservation of raisins. T h e socalled " W i n e M a g a z i n e " at Pylos acquired its designation from the discovery in two rooms of n u m e r o u s large pithoi and clay nodules of which four bore an impressed wine ideogram. T h e estimated m i n i m u m capacity of the pithoi in the large inner room is 4,683 liters. Since m a n y of the nodules bore no commodity ideogram, products other than wine m a y have been stored there as well. 32
3. Miscellaneous Processes Butchery
Milk byproducts
Fish
Methods of food processing practiced during the Aegean Bronze Age remain littie understood today because of a lack of definitive archaeological material and the ambiguous nature of the linguistic evidence. Some of these processes may have arisen indigenously; others most likely developed under Near Eastern and Egyptian influence. This is particularly true for the production of olive oil and wine, as well as the storage and processing of cereals. Evidence for processing other food items is practically nonexistent. Finds of animal bones, such as those of sheep, goats, swine, cattle, and other small animals and fowl, plus artistic representations of various animals on cups a n d seals, imply the hunting of some and the domestication of other food animals. Although H o m e r ' s epics and the Linear Β tablets present a picture of a M y c e n a e a n diet heavily weighted toward meat, archaeologists have little investigated cut marks on bones to confirm butchery methods, and no art historical material illustrates the process. Ε vidence for cheese production is little better. Cheese (tu-ro2) appears in a Linear Β tablet from Pylos, while H o m e r provides only scant notice of it. In Odyssey 9.218-49, Odysseus describes how Polyphemus milked his goats, then curdled part of it, and stored the whey in baskets. T his cheese would have been quite soft. N o evidence at this period indicates that the curds were pressed in a mold to form a solid cheese, although Vickery suggests that conical strainers m a d e of clay were used to produce cheese. He also notes the discovery of what m a y have been cheese in a house on the island of Therasia. Physical evidence for the dietary role of fresh fish, at least, includes fish hooks and fish bones, found on Cyprus, Faros, Crete at Phaistos, Tylissos, and Knossos (still in a cooking pot), and on the mainland at T h e b e s remains of edible shellfish. Paintings on walls and pottery as well as seals showing fish and fishermen supplement the archeo32
P a l m e r , Wine in the Mycenaean Palace Economy, p p . 17-18, 143-65. For a discussion of various containers for short a n d long-term storage of différent c o m m o d i t i e s , see Bruns, Küchenwesen und Mahlzeiten, p p . 2 2 3 0 ־.
26 1 THE GREEK WORLD: BRONZE AGE - HELLENISTIC PERIOD
logical material, at least for Minoans. Evidence for dried or salted fish, however, is totally lacking. 33
B. Classical and Hellenistic Peú0ds W h a t transpired in the years between the end of Mycenaean civilization in the twelfth century B. C. and the rise of the Greek polis four centuries later, that is, during the transitional period usually termed the " D a r k Ages," remains difficult to determine. Although scale of agriculture no doubt decreased and became no longer centered on a palace, nevertheless, the image of a complete destruction of the social and economic fabric of M y c e n a e a n civilization may be too strong a scenario. Recent studies have suggested that the period saw more of continuity than of discontinuity, particularly in the area of agriculture. Significant, if not overwhelming, evidence implies a continuation in the types of crops grown and kinds of foods eaten. W h a t changed most were, as Lin Foxhall suggests, areas of agricultural activity that required high levels of labor and capital, such as storage facilities and specialist processing skills and equipment. 3 4 Nevertheless, archaeological evidence and early literary sources, such as Hesiod's Works and Days, show that the succeeding Geometric period, dated to the ninth and eighth cen33
Vickcry, Food in Early Greece, p p . 27 (cheese), 61 73 (domesticated animals), 74 79 (sea food), 8 0 - 8 5 (hunting); Bruns, Küchenwesen und Mahlzeiten, p p . 14—15. B r o n z e knives, frequently f o u n d , could have been used to b u t c h e r m e a t . Ibid., pp. 21 22־. Butchery of pigs m a y be implied at Knossos, if the " p e n s " were pig sties a n d not granaries. See Boyd, " C o n t e m p o r a r y Perspective," pp. 3 1 4 - 1 6 . O n the i m p o r t a n c e of m e a t in the M y c e n a e a n diet, see also T h a l i a Phillies H o w e , " L i n e a r Β a n d Hesiod's B r e a d w i n n e r s , " ΤΑΡΑ 8 9 (1958): 5 4 - 5 6 ; C h a d w i c k , Documents, pp. 1 9 5 - 2 1 3 (livestock), 5 2 - 5 3 (cheese). Butter finds n o m e n t i o n in the d o c u m e n t s . O n h u n t i n g a n d fishing, see H a n s - G ü n t e r Buchholz, G e r h a r d J ö h r e n s , a n d I r m g a r d Maull, Jagd und Fischfang. Archaeologia H o m e r i c a I I , J (Göttingen: V a n d e n h o c c k & R u p r e c h t , 1973); Riley, Role of the Traditional Mediterranean Diet, pp. 5 6 1 1 7 ־. J . Sakellarakis, " L e p ê c h e u r d a n s l'art préhistorique E g é e n , " Athens Annals of Archaeology 7 (1974): 3 7 0 - 9 0 ; A n n e G u e s t - P a p a m a n o l i , " P e c h e et p ê c h e u r s m i n o e n s : proposition p o u r u n e r e c h e r c h e , " in Minoan Society. Proceedings of the C a m b r i d g e Coll o q u i u m 1981. O . Krzyszkowska a n d L. N i x o n , eds. (Bristol: Bristol Classical Press, 1981), pp. 1 0 1 - 1 0 ; E d m u n d F. Bloedow, " M y c e n a e a n Fishing in T r o u b l e d W a t e r s , " EMC 31 (1987): 1 7 9 - 8 5 ; for G r e e k z o o a r c h a e o l o g y in general, see esp. the bibliographic essay b y D a v i d S. Reese, " R e c e n t W o r k in G r e e k Z o o a r c h a e o l o g y , " in Beyond the Site. Regional Studies in the Aegean Area. P. Nick K a r d u l i a s , ed. ( L a n h a m , M d . : University Press of A m e r i c a , Inc., 1994), pp. 191 221. 34
Foxhall, " B r o n z e to I r o n , " p p . 2 3 9 - 5 0 . Snodgrass, on the o t h e r h a n d , sees the centuries b e t w e e n the Bronze Age a n d G e o m e t r i c period as a real D a r k Age, with little evidence for agriculture p e r se. H e characterizes the M y c e n a e a n s as p r e d o m i n a n t l y meat-eaters, a n d envisions the transition to a r a b l e f a r m i n g a n d a grain-based diet as slow a n d late developing. A. M . Snodgrass, The Dark Age of Greece ( E d i n b u r g h : T h e University of E d i n b u r g h Press, 1971), pp. 378 80. Cf. also, J . N. C o l d s t r e a m , Geometric Greece (New York: St. M a r t i n ' s Press, 1971), pp. 3 1 2 - 1 3 ; H o w e , "Line a r Β a n d Hesiod's B r e a d w i n n e r s , " p p . 4 4 65.
Greek ״Dark Age"
276
CHAPTER THREE
turies B. C., brought the first stirrings of intensive cereal farming and then rapid developments in food processing. O n c e established, or rather reestablished, the M e d i t e r r a n e a n triad of grain, olive, and grape formed the basis of the Greek diet. T h e quantity and quality of archaeological, literary, and art historical evidence for ancient food technology during the Classical and Hellenistic periods far exceeds that of any period up to that time. This is due primarily to extensive archaeological excavations conducted in many places throughout the Mediterranean area, to the degree to which the results of those excavations have been documented, and to the wealth of extant literary sources written in a language well understood and bearing directly upon the subject.
1. Cereal Processing: a. Storage Hesiod, in his Works and Days, suggests that, once threshed, grain should be stored in terra-cotta vessels in the house. Indeed, many Geometric houses, such as those excavated at Emporio on Chios, Zagora on Andros, Phaistos on Crete, a n d Thorikos in Attica, have stone benches with holes for resting clay vessels or stone-lined bins sunk into the floor. 35 Hesiod's description of the poor Boeotian f a r m e r of the late eighth century B. C., although presenting clear evidence for the growing importance of cereal agriculture, gives an incomplete picture of facilities devoted to grain processing at the end of the Dark Ages. T h e earliest and best evidence is the group of clay model granaries dating between the midninth and late eighth century B. C., and found at Corinth and in many sites in Attica, such as Eleusis and Athens. Basing his conjectures on these models, Rodney Young has suggested that Geometric granaries were constructed on a circular base. Flexible wooden branches inserted into the ground were interwoven with other branches up to a certain height to form a wall. At this point the tops of the branches were bent toward the center, gathered up, tied securely, and perhaps thatched. 3 6 If so constructed, they have left no remains. Geometric granary mode! from the
Aeropagus
A m o n g the most important of the Geometric model granaries is the terra-cotta chest with lid discovered in Athens a n d bearing five granaries on its top (PI. 20). Dating to Early Geometric II (ca. 850 B. C.), the granaries formed part of 35
H e s i o d Op. 600; C o l d s t r e a m , Geometric Greece, pp. 308, 313 14. In a G e o m e t r i c house at Iolkos, in Thessaly, excavators f o u n d a layer of e m m e r w h e a t that had been incompletely threshed, leaving the seeds s u r r o u n d e d by the glumes. T h e partially threshed cereals f o u n d in f o u r t h e e n t h - c e n t u r y B. C . Asssiros T o u m b a , in M a c e d o n i a , have already been m e n t i o n e d (above p. 262). See Sarpaki, " P a l a e o e t h n o b o t a n i c a l S t u d y , " p. 225, note 18. 36 R o d n e y S. Y o u n g , Lite Geometric Graves and A Seventh Century Well in the Agora. H e s p e r i a Suppl. II (Athens: A m e r i c a n School of Classical Studies at Athens, 1939), p. 186.
26 1 THE GREEK WORLD: BRONZE AGE - HELLENISTIC PERIOD
the t o m b furniture belonging to a wealthy Athenian w o m a n buried on the north slope of the Areopagus. W h y they should have been placcd in a w o m a n ' s grave is unknown, though they probably arc emblems of wealth advertising the position of the deceased within society. 37 T h e five granaries are reminiscent of those on the Melos vase, though with significant differences. Unlike the latter graΟ ο ο naries, the Geometric vessels are aligned single-file along the top of the lid, not seemingly grouped about an open court. T h e Areopagus granaries are complete, or nearly so, and show a round base and d o m e d roof coming to a peak at the top. Just below the peak the potter has cut into each vessel a small trapezoidal window, above which is a flap protruding at a right angle from the granary wall. At the base of each granary is a pair of holes that do not penetrate to the interior of the vessel. T h a t the vessels represent granaries seems clear from their close resemblance to the Melos vase and similar ones known from the ancient Near East and Egypt. 3 8 T h e function of real granaries, as reflected by the models, likewise parallels N e a r Eastern types. T h e grain was probably carried up to the window at the top by means of a ladder placed against the outside wall and d u m p e d into the granary. It could be retrieved near ground level by a door or window, not shown. T h e function of the two holes located at the bottom of the granaries is unknown, but they seem to reflect construction similar to actual granaries at Lefkandi also dating to the Geometric period. Stone foundations of what may have been three circular granaries have come to light near a Late Geometric house at Lefkandi. As the best preserved structure rises up only three courses, one cannot know the form of its superstructure. Nevertheless, the foundations show it to have been a stone building with a substructure of stone and rubble. T w o parallel rectangular slots, bordered with large stones, penetrated all the way through the base from front to back. These slots recall the two holes seen at the base of the model granaries from the Areopagus burial, and may have served to allow ventilation below a wooden floor on which the grain rested. 39 If this suggestion is correct, it would constitute the first evidence for subfloor ventilation for grain storage so typical of R o m a n gra37
T h a t the n u m b e r of g r a n a r i e s (five) c o n f o r m s to five h u n d r e d bushels (one h u n d r e d bushels p e r granary) a n d so alludes to the w o m a n ' s h u s b a n d o r f a t h e r as a pentakosiomedimnos m a y be a n over-interpretation of these vessels. See Evelyn Lord S m i t h s o n , " T h e T o m b of a Rich A t h e n i a n L a d y , ca. 8 5 0 B. C . , " Hesperia 37 (1968): 7 7 - 1 16, a n d Pis. 18-27. C o n t r a , C h e s t e r Ci. S t a r r , Vie Economic and Social Growth of Early Greece, 800 500 B. C. (New York: O x f o r d University Press, 1977), p. 208, note 58. See also, Y o u n g , Late Geometric Graves, p p . 186 87; C o l d s t r e a m , Geometric Greece, p. 79. 38 T h e a v e r a g e size of the A r e o p a g u s granaries is 0.107 in. in height (one g r a n a r y has its point missing) χ 0.077 m . in d e p t h . See S m i t h s o n , " T o m b , " p. 94. 39 M . R. P o p h a m , L. H . Sackett, a n d P. G . T h e m e l i s , Lefiandi I. The Iron Age. 2 Parts (London: T h a m e s a n d H u d s o n , 1980), 1: Pis. 5 8, 1 1; 2: 2 4 - 2 5 .
Granaries 0/ Lejkandi
278
Grain storage in Attica
CHAPTER THREE
naries. A similar circular structure, though without evidence for ventilation, dating to the late eighth century B. C., was found in the yard of a house at Old Smyrna. H e r e the silo was partially sunk into the ground and lined with stone. At ground level was a door giving access to the inside. T h e top has been conjectured to have supported a d o m e d wooden roof covered with thatch. T h e r e is also evidence for a central post, probably to help support the roof, which may have parallels with the Bronze Age granaries at Middle M i n o a n Mallia. 40 Greeks during the Classical period appear not to have developed large-scale grain storage facilities, in spite of the fear of famine and the growth of urban populations. Their economy was not a redistributive one typical of the Bronze Age, but one based on the small farmer who cultivated, processed, and stored grain and other products, such as wine and oil, on his farm and transported the product to the urban market. Unfortunately, even for places like Athens, which, in the fifth and fourth centuries B. C., imported huge amounts of grain, little evidence can be found for large urban, state-operated granaries. This does not necessarily mean that none existed, only that there are few indications for them. O n present evidence, it seems that the Athenians did not maintain a large central grain reserve; the state paid close attention to the acquisition of grain from Attica or abroad, through private traders, and sought to control its availability, primarily in an unprocessed state, in the markets. Most grain, perhaps even that imported from abroad and in excess of what could be sold within a short time in the markets of Athens or elsewhere in Attica, may have been stored in the countryside on farms or perhaps in cult centers, from which they could be called when needed. 41 Remains of these country silos have yet to be conclusively recognized. J o h n
40
Snodgrass, Dark Age, p. 380; Coldstream, Geometric Greece, p. 313, a n d Fig. 96b. See above p. 263. X e n o p h o n (Oec. 9.3) notes that the well-ordered estate h a d specialty storerooms, such as a cool r o o m for wine a n d a secure o n e for valuable blankets. F o r grain he r e c o m m e n d e d a dry, covered storeroom. For on-the-farm processing, sec Victor Davis H a n s o n , The Other Greeks (New York: T h e Free Press, 1995), pp. 8 5 - 8 6 . Attic population in the fourth century B. C . m a y have reached between 250,000 a n d 300,000, most of which probably lived outside of Athens. See Isager a n d Skydsgaard, Ancient Greek Agriculture, p. 69, a n d Michael W h i t b y , " T h e G r a i n T r a d e of Athens in the F o u r t h C e n t u r y B. C . , " in Trade, Traders and the Ancient City. H e l e n Parkins a n d Christopher Smith, eds. (London: Routledge, 1998), pp. 114. O n famine, see Michael J a m e s o n , " F a m i n e in the Greek W o r l d , " in Trade and Famine in Classical Antiquity. Peter G a r n s e y a n d C . R. Whittaker, eds. (Cambridge: C a m b r i d g e Philological Society, 1983), pp. 6 - 1 6 . O n the grain trade a n d markets in the G r e e k world d u r i n g the Classical a n d Hellenistic periods, see Whitby, " G r a i n T r a d e of Athens," pp. 102-28, D o m i n i c R a t h b o n e , " T h e G r a i n T r a d e a n d G r a i n Shortages in the Hellenistic East," in Trade and Famine in Classical Antiquity, pp. 4 5 - 5 5 ; Peter G a r n s e y a n d I a n Morris, "Risk a n d the Polis: the Evolution of Institutionalised Responses to F o o d Supply Problems in the Ancient Greek State," in Bad Year Economics, pp. 103-05. For unprocessed grain (σίτος αργός) in the markets, see Ps-Aristotie Ath. Pol. 51 ; for grain inspectors (σιτοφυλάκες) w h o also supervised the sale in the market not only of cereals but also of Hour by millers, see also Ps.-Aristotle Ath. Pol. 51 a n d Lysias 22.16. 41
26 1 THE GREEK WORLD: BRONZE AGE - HELLENISTIC PERIOD
Young, in 1956, suggested that stone towers of Classical date, some of which had threshing floors associated with them, found in conjunction with farmhouse and court in places like Sounion, were granaries. Comparison with similar circular or rectangular silos, dating between the sixth and third centuries B. C., found at Megara and on the Cycladic islands of Siphnos, Keos, Naxos, and Andros, give a fairly clear picture of their original construction and use. Joists cut into the walls indicate that the towers had multiple stories with wooden floors. T h e lowest level was given over to farm work, while the upper floors served as storage areas. Access to the second floor was often through an opening approached by ladder on the outside. T h e interior of the upper floors, as was often the ground floor as well, was subdivided by cross-walls. Grain, following threshing, was probably stored in containcrs on the upper floors. T h e ground floor, in addition to providing ventilation for the upper stories, when needed could serve as the milling area. More recent studies, while not denying the possibility, however, have questioned the agricultural role of these towers, and have concluded that no one can say with certainty that any particular building type always possessed an exclusively agrarian function. 42 b. Milling Roasting of grain prior to processing, c o m m o n today, has been suspected for ancient cultures as old as the ΡΡΝΛ, but no clear evidence for it has been forthcoming. This is particularly true for barley, which is especially resistant to séparation of grain from husk by simple threshing. T h e Greeks, however, had a dish, called the φρύγετρον, or "barley-roaster," which Sparkes has identified with a shallow dish held by a loop with the t h u m b while the fingers, spread out, support the base. This dish was probably used in h o m e or religious settings rather than in any commercial establishment. Although the fifth-century B. C. author οϊ Regimen indicates that barley was roasted, there exist no descriptions of the process. 43
42
J o h n H . Y o u n g , "Studies in S o u t h Attica. C o u n t r y Estates at S o u n i o n , " Hesj)eria 25 (1956): 122-46; Isager a n d Skydsgaard, Ancient Greek Agriculture, p. 68. 43 Regimen 2.40. H e r o d o t u s (2.168) m e n t i o n s that the Egyptian king's b o d y g u a r d s received sperial privileges, including a daily allowance of two m i n a e of "roasted g r a i n " (όπτός σίτος). See also Sparkes, " G r e e k K i t c h e n , " p p . 128-29; M a r i e - C l a i r e A m o u r e t t i , Le pain et l'huile dans la Grèce antique (Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 1986), p. 135. A f r a g m e n t a r y b a r l e y - p a r c h e r of the late f o u r t h c e n t u r y Β. C . was f o u n d in a dining r o o m in the s a n c t u a r y of D e m e t e r a n d K o r e at C o r i n t h . See N a n c y Bookidis, J u l i e H a n s e n , L y n n Snyder, a n d Paul G o l d b e r g , " D i n i n g in the S a n c t u a r y of D e m e t e r a n d K o r e at C o r i n t h , " Hesperia 68, no. 1 (1999): 15. For a late fifth or early f o u r t h - c e n tury B. C . e x a m p l e f r o m the A t h e n i a n A g o r a , see Brian A. Sparkes a n d Lucy T a l c o t t , Black and Plain Potteiy. Vol. X X οϊ The Athenian Agora. 2 vols. (Princton: A m e r i c a n School of Classical Studies at Athens, 1970), pp. 228 29, a n d PI. 96, N o . 1987. Cf. also m o d e r n e x p e r i m e n t s to process cereals b o t h with a n d without prior roasting, in L. Foxhall a n d H. A. Forbes, "Σιτομετρεία: T h e Role of G r a i n as a Staple Food in Classical Antiquity," Chiron 12 (1982): 7 5 - 7 8 .
Parching
280
CHAPTER THREE
Like millers of the ancient N e a r East a n d Egypt, the Greeks used the combitechnology nation of m o r t a r a n d pestle to crush cereals to separate the grain from the chaff. Both m o r t a r (δλμος) and pestle (ύπερος) could be m a d e of stone, but were probably more often fashioned of wood. As evidenced in vase paintings and terra-cotta figurines, the latter took the form of an elongated paddle-like shaft, perhaps five feet in length according to Hesiod, that tapered inward in the center to provide a better grip. T he m o r t a r was either a bowl m a d e of wood or stone placed on a raised base or a tall hour-glass shaped platform, m a d e of stone or perhaps clay and measuring, again according to Hesiod, about three feet, with a cavity at the top to hold the grain. M o r t a r s found at Olynthus were m a d e of stone, consisting of a bowl and a base, either in one piece or in two parts. N o pestles were found. T h e process of p o u n d i n g with m o r t a r a n d pestle continued in use even after the development of hopper mills and, later, the a p p e a r a n c e of the rotary mill because their purpose was different. Pounding separated grain from chaff, while milling reduced the grain into flour. T h e m o r t a r and pestle served their function so well that they ceased to develop further during the Classical era. 4 4 Developments in Saddle querns, found in Athens and Corinth and dating to the Geometric <7nern design period, arc similar to Bronze Age examples in shape and material. Little else is known about them, beyond the few references to grinding stones (μύλαι) found in the Iliad a n d Odyssey. Although some translators treat these as rotary mills, Moritz has convincingly shown that this is not the case. Rotary grain mills did not a p p e a r in Greece until the R o m a n period. 111 the early seventh century B. C. the Bronze Age quern underwent some refinements. This new quern, dressed with a pointed iron tool, was thin and rectangular-shaped. Concomitant with the alteration in quern shape came a change in the method of working the upper stone. At M o r g a n t i n a on Sicily, for example, Archaic Greek saddle querns show a wear pattern that indicates that the miller worked in a back-andforth pattern rather than in r a n d o m somewhat circular movements evidenced
Mortar and pestle
44
Robinson a n d G r a h a m , Hellenic House, pp. 3 3 5 3 6 ־, a n d PI. 79.8 10. Sec also, A m o u r e t d , pain et l'huile, p p . 135-37, esp Fig. 20, a n d PI. 19; Blümner, Technologie und Terminologie, pp. 19-20, esp. figs. 3 5 ; ־Sparkes, " G r e e k K i t c h e n , " p p . 125-26. For the m o r t a r a n d pestle, see esp. D . A. Amyx, " T h e Attic Stelai. Part III: Vases a n d O t h e r C o n t a i n e r s , " Hesperia 27 (1958): 2 3 5 - 3 9 . O n e scholar has suggested that Hesiod [Op. 4 2 3 26) describes a composite mechanical m o r t a r a n d pestie a p p a r a t u s , similar to one used later by the Chinese b u t r u n by water power. T w o m e n , standing on either e n d of an axle to which p e r h a p s four pestles were attached t u r n e d wheels back a n d forth to raise a n d lower the pestles into the mortars. T h i s suggestion lacks any ancient c o m p a r a n d a a n d so has found little favor a m o n g o t h e r scholars. See W . D e n Boer, "Hesiod's M o r t a r a n d Pestle (Works a n d Days, 423-426), , יMnemosyne 10 (1957): 1 10. C o n t r a , A m o u r e t d , Le pain et l'huile, p. 137; Moritz, Grain-mills, 23.כן,note 7. For a g r o u p of terra-cotta figurines representing various activities of baking, including p o u n d i n g grain with a m o r t a r a n d pestle, sec Amyx, "Attic Stelai," p. 235, a n d Fig. 50b.
26 1 THE GREEK WORLD: BRONZE AGE - HELLENISTIC PERIOD 311
on earlier querns. This resulted from increasing the length a n d thickness of the upper stone. T h e handstone, or metate, became heavier and so distributed the grinding pressure over a wider area of the lower stone. T h e u p p e r stone had a narrow elliptical outline and pointed ends that facilitated grasping with the hands, a type d u b b e d by Storck and T e a g u e as the "slab mill." T h e lower stone became flatter and less concave than the usual quern. By the fifth century B. C., toolmakers were dressing the grinding surface of both the lower and upper stones with parallel or herringbone-patterned grooves, which did not coincide but crossed at acute angles to each other, m u c h as occurs in m o d e r n mills. These patterns were c o m m o n to saddle-querns found at Olynthus a n d dated to the fifth and fourth centuries B. C. T h e striations mark a significant innovation in grinding efficiency. T h e y increased the grinding surface, facilitated a better gripping of the kernels by the stones, and enabled the grains to be cut rather than crushed thereby ensuring larger pieces of bran for easier separation later. 45 Saddle querns continued to be a popular grain processing apparatus throughout the Classical and well into the Hellenistic periods. T h e i r use can possibly be seen in various statuettes depicting w o m e n kneeling behind a flat platform and working by h a n d some material placed on its surface. Admittedly, it is often difficult to distinguish between grinding grain and kneading dough. Grinding on a q u e r n was for the Greeks what it had always been in other cultures, a boring labor-intensive activity. O n e way they sought to alleviate the tcdiousness of the work, as well as to coordinate the efforts of workers, was to sing a rhythmic "mill-song," called the ίμαΐος or έπιμύλιος ώδή, sometimes accompanied by the (lute, in the m a n n e r reminiscent of Pharaonic Egyptian grape treaders. A terracotta group of five figurines from T h e b e s shows just such a scene. Four women grind grain on saddle querns (or knead dough) placed on top of a raised platform while a musician plays the flute. 46
45
T h e O l y n t h i a n q u e r n s show a s t a n d a r d i z e d size of 1 8 - 2 4 inches in length, 12 18 inches in width, a n d between 2 a n d 2 3 / 4 inches in thickness. T h e h a n d s t o n e s m e a s u r e d b e t w e e n 15 1 / 2 a n d 21 1 / 2 inches in length, 5 1 / 4 a n d 8 inches in width, a n d 2 a n d 4 1 / 2 inches in thickness. For d e v e l o p m e n t of the G r e e k q u e r n , sec R u n n e l s , " D i a c h r o n i c S t u d y , " pp. 1 17-19; K a r d u l i a s a n d R u n n e l s , Artifact and Assemblage, I: 116 21; Storck a n d T e a g u e , Flour, pp. 72 73; M o r i t z , Grain-mills, p p . 1 - 9 , 18 21, 2 9 - 4 1 ; D o n a l d W h i t e , " A Survey of Millstones f r o m M o r g a n t i n a , " AJA 67 (1963): 2 0 0 - 0 2 . F o r H o m e r i c references to millstones a n d grinding, see Od. 7.103 04, 20.105 1 1 ; / / . 7.270. 4(i B l ü m n e r Technologie und Terminologie, p p . 32, esp. notes 4 5, a n d 63, Fig. 25. See also M o r t i z , Grain-mills, p. 31. Milling a n d singing was n o d o u b t a natural resort of h u m a n s e v e r y w h e r e in all periods to alleviate b o r e d o m a n d in some cases to r e n d e r the activity m o r e efficient. Cf. A t h e n . 14.618d a n d Plutarch Com!, sept. sap. 157E. For a mid-sixth c e n t u r y B. C . Boeotian lekythos with the representation of two figures possibly shaking sistra while two o t h e r w o m e n p o u n d cereal in a m o r t a r , see Sparkes, " G r e e k K i t c h e n , " p. 126, a n d Pl. V I I , 2 .
M ill song
282 The hopper mill
The Olynthian hopper mill
CHAPTER THREE
T h e first significant innovation in grain milling since the appearance of the saddle quern arose somewhere in Greece, probably during the Archaic period. This tool — called variously the h o p p e r mill, lever mill, or push mill — operates on reciprocal motion, as does the saddle quern, but the miller maneuvers the u p p e r stone with a wooden handle. T h e oldest extant hopper mill, found in the Athenian Agora, dates to the late-fifth century B. C. But, since it conforms to this type mill in its developed form, the origin of the innovation no doubt dates to a m u c h earlier time. H o w this new type mill developed is also little understood. In its simplest form, as seen in examples from Priene, Dclos, and T h e r a , it is merely a modification of the refined saddle quern. T h e thick handstone, or rubber, is widened and has cut into it a circular cavity, called a hopper, that can hold a large quantity of grain. T h e hopper-rubber, as it is often called, has in its bottom a narrow slit, running the length of the depression, that allows the grains to fall through onto the grinding slab where they are ground between the two stones when the upper stone is worked in a back-and-forth motion (PI. 21). T h e h o p p e r also lightened the weight of the upper stone and so allowed 2 for an increase in its size. This increased the a m o u n t of grain available to be fed through the hopper and ground. Since the simpler hopper-rubbers cannot be dated precisely, the question of whether this type of h o p p e r mill developed directly from the metate used with a saddle quern and so precedes the developed hopper mill operated by a handle remains a point of controversy. Moritz, for example, postulates that the "earlier" hopper mill actually derived later from the developed f o r m in an attempt to provide portability. 47 Whatever its origin, the hopper b e c a m e an integral part of nearly all later mills whether operated by m a n , animal, or water power. In the advanced h o p p e r mill, the u p p e r stone is no longer a hand stone. T h e milling apparatus is for the first time a machine, though its motive power remains h u m a n . T h e best examples come from Olynthus, in northern Greece, a n d so this type mill often receives the n a m e Olynthian. W h e n first discovered, their identification and use presented a mystery. But, comparison of these stones with the decoration on the so-called " H o m e r i c " bowls (Fig. 19) from M e g a r a showed conclusively that they formed part of h o p p e r mills. T h e developed hopper mill resembles the refined saddle quern in that the lower stone is a thin, rectangular slab with parallel or herringbone striations etched on its upper surface. T h e rubber, now rectangular in shape as well, m a d e of hard porous lava, and
17
M o r i t z , Grain-mills, p p . 4 3 - 4 4 ; W h i t e , "Survey of Millstones f r o m M o r g a n t i n a , " p. 202, note 25; R u n n e l s , " D i a c h r o n i e S t u d y , " p p . 1 2 1 - 2 2 ; D a v i d M . R o b i n s o n a n d J . W a l t e r G r a h a m , The Hellenic House. Vol. VIII of Excavations at Olynthus (Baltimore: T h e J o h n s H o p k i n s Press, 1938), pp. 331 32; Storck a n d T e a g u e , Flour, p. 73.
THE GREEK WORLD: BRONZE AGE - HELLENISTIC PERIOD
283
Pig. 19. Megarian Bowl, found at T h e b e s and preserved in the Louvre (C. A. 936), showing a scene in a Greek Hour mill. At either end is a hand-mill of Olynthian type. From RostovtzefT, " T w o Homeric Bowls in the Louvre," p. 88, Fig. 1.
284
operation of the Olynthian hopper mill
CHAPTER THREE
etched with furrows on the bottom, has a rectangular or, less commonly, round hopper of varying depth surrounded by a narrow rim. T h e sizes of the two stones were fairly uniform, the bottom stone measuring between 17.7 a n d 23.2 inches in length and 11.8 and 1 7.7 inches in width a n d top stone falling between 16.5 a n d 22.4 inches in length and 14.2 and 18.5 inches in width. Cut into the narrow rims on each of the short sides of the rubber is a shallow socket designed to receive a wooden handle, which served as a lever (κώπη). Iron clamps held the handle tightly in the groove. As seen on the Megarian bowls, both upper and lower stones were then placed on a low table where an upright pivot fixed one end of the handle. This allowed the miller to push the free end from side to side in a short arc thereby sliding the upper stone across the surface of the lower stone. Because the handle increases the mechanical power available to move the u p p e r stone, the rubber can a c c o m m o d a t e heavier stones, which render the mill more stationary a n d less mobile. At Olynthus and elsewhere h o p p e r mills have been found alongside saddle querns. T h e no doubt less expensive and more portable saddle querns were probably more c o m m o n in households, while the hopper mills, as suggested by the Megarian bowls, which illustrate a commercial flour mill, operated in business establishments. Storck and T e a g u e cite the increased size of the mill and so the increased strength needed to operate it as indicating a shift away from female millers to male professionals. 48 Using the third-ccntury Β. C. Megarian bowls as a model, the operation of hopper mills becomes clear (Fig. 20). Raising the h o p p e r mill, placing it flat onto a table rather than on an incline, as with saddle querns, and securing it by the pivot allowed the miller to stand upright while working. 4 9 This position is more comfortable than working with a saddle quern where the worker was required to bend over the q u e r n while kneeling or standing. This had the added advantage of allowing the full weight of the upper stone to press down on the lower stone thereby relieving the worker of the necessity of bearing down on the rubber. T h e miller placed a quantity of grain into the h o p p e r and moved the upper stone from side to side with the handle. T h e kernels worked themselves through
18
Storck a n d T e a g u e (Flour, p p . 74 75) see a n i n t e r m e d i a t e stage w h e r e the "push mill" o p e r ated with a heavy, g r o o v e d , r e c t a n g u l a r lower stone resting on the g r o u n d a n d inclined a w a y f r o m the miller, a n d a lighter u p p e r stone with h o p p e r a c c o m m o d a t i n g a h a n d l e . T h e miller p u s h e d the u p p e r stone b a c k a n d forth over the lower one. T h e y call the mill raised o n t o a table, as s h o w n on the M e g a r i a n bowl, the "lever mill." R o b i n s o n a n d G r a h a m , Hellenic House, p p . 327 30 ;־M o r i t z , Grain-mills, p p . 44, 4 8 - 5 0 ; R u n n e l s , " D i a c h r o n i e S t u d y , " p p . 120-21; A m o u r e t ti, Le pain et l'huile, pp. 1 4 0 - 4 2 ; M i c h a e l Rostovtzeff, " T w o H o m e r i c Bowls in the L o u v r e , " AJA 41, no. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1937): 8 6 - 9 6 . 49 O p e r a t i n g the mill o n a table seems to have given the n a m e of τράπεζα to the lower stone. Sec R o b i n s o n a n d G r a h a m , Hellenic House, p. 330. Cf. also Pollux Onom. 7.19.
THE GREEK WORLD: BRONZE AGE - HELLENISTIC PERIOD
285
Fig. 20. Olynthian hopper mill, based upon the illustration on a Megarian bowl. From Robinson and G r a h a m , The Hellenic House. Part YIII of Excavations at Olynthus (Baltimore: J o h n s Hopkins University Press, 1938), Fig. 34.
286
Advantages of the Olynthian hopper mill
Spread of the hopper mill
CHAPTER THREE
the slot into the space between the stones where they were finely ground. T h e grooving on the working surfaces of the stones directed the flour outward and spilled it onto the table where it could be gathered and placed into another container. T h e skill a n d diligence of the worker became less important in determining the fineness of flour produced. T h e Olynthian mill, therefore, begins to approach m o d e r n mills in that through the hopper, it controlled its own feed, and, through the grooves on the milling surfaces of both upper and lower stones, it automatically discharged the processed flour. 5 0 T h e advantages of the hopper mill over the saddle quern are significant. T h e hopper mill a c c o m m o d a t e d larger quantities of grain. It was a laborsaving device since the pivot and lever rendered the mill operation easier for the miller, and he did not have to stop as often, as with a saddle quern, to add more kernels. Sweeping the upper stone back and forth with a lever allowed for a longer grinding stroke. This a c c o m m o d a t e d a larger lower stone. The lever itself increased the mechanical advantage of the worker over use of his arms alone, thereby allowing for use of a larger u p p e r stone. T h e increase in size of both stones served to increase the grinding capacity still further. Accommodation of greater quantity of raw material, that is grain, ease of operation by the worker, a n d larger upper and lower grinding surfaces increased milling efficiency. This had the effect of raising the output without having to expand the n u m b e r of mills in operation, as was apparently the practice earlier at Ebla and Crete. This necessitated fewer workers devoted to milling a n d so freed others to work elsewhere. All was not perfect, however. H o p p e r mills provided no way to remove the flour automatically, although the groove naturally tended to work it toward the periphery and so push it to the areas just beyond the grinding strokes. Second, since the upper stone rested directly on the lower one, no provision was available to adjust the fineness of the flour. 51 Although where the hopper mill first a p p e a r e d is unknown, it spread quickly throughout the Mediterranean, east a n d west, and was in c o m m o n use down to the first century B. C., even after the introduction of the rotary mill. Examples have come from excavations throughout Greece, such as in the Argolid at Corinth a n d Halicis, on Delos, T h e r a , and Aegina. T h e y have been found elsewhere in the Eastern M e d i t e r r a n e a n in Greek and non-Greek cities of Asia Minor, such as Priene, in Phrygia at Gordion, at Tell Halaf in Syria, in the Levant, and in the Egyptian Fayum, as well as in Greek or Phoenician areas of the
50
M o r i t z , Grain-mills, p p . 4 5 5 1 ־ ; RostovtzefT, " T w o H o m c r i c Bowls," p p . 86 96. K a r d u l i a s a n d R u n n e l s , Artifact and Assemblage, 1: 123; R u n n e l s a n d M u r r a y , "Milling in A n c i e n t G r e e c e , " p. 62; Storck a n d T e a g u e , Flour, p p . 7 5 - 7 6 ; W h i t e , "Survey of Millstones," p. 202. 51
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Western Mediterranean, such as southern Italy, on the island of Sicily at M o r gantina, Selinunte, and Motya, and in C a r t h a g e in North Africa. Examples found in non-Greek locations are predominantly crudely m a d e local imitations of the Greek type. T h e dissemination of the hopper mill came as a result of longdistance trade in the stone used to fashion the millstones and in the trade of the finished product by a few specialized production areas. So, for instance, hopper mills found in the southern Argolid came f r o m andesite quarried on the Anatolian island of Nisyros and in the Saronic Gulf on Aegina and Poros. T h e wreck of a fourth-century B. C. ship b o u n d for Cyprus, found off Kyrenia, also contained numerous finished millstones cut from quarries on Nisyros. Interestingly, the ship held hopper mills of standard shape but in three different sizes. T h e basis for the size differentiation remains unknown. Another fourth-century B. C. ship foundered at Sec, off the coast of Mallorca, Spain. Its cargo included thirtyeight millstones of Olynthian type. O n e was cut from Nisyrian stone, while the others derived from basalt quarries on the island of Pantelleria located off the coast of North Africa opposite Sicily. Millstones from the Sec wreck constitute the farthest west that hopper mills have thus far been found. T h e wreck also contained two small hourglass, or Pompeian-type, rotary grain mills. 52 These mills raise the question of the use of the rotary principle to process grain. Those who have attributed to the Greeks a monopoly on intellectual inventiveness have been inclined to credit them with the invention of the rotary grain mill. 53
52
R u n n e l s , " D i a c h r o n i e S t u d y , " p p . 123 27; K a r d u l i a s a n d R u n n e l s , Artifact and Assemblage, 1: 121-24; R o b i n s o n a n d G r a h a m , Hellenic House, p p . 3 2 9 - 3 0 ; M o r i t z , Grain-mills, p. 51; O . W i l l i a m s - T h o r p e a n d R. S. T h o r p e , "Millstone P r o v e n a n c i n g used in T r a c i n g the R o u t e of a F o u r t h - C e n t u r y BC G r e e k M e r c h a n t Ship," Archaeometry 32, no. 2 (1990): 1 1 5 - 3 7 . Since the rotary mill of P o m p c i a n type is u n k n o w n in the G r e e k w o r l d b e f o r e the R o m a n period, discussion of it will be p o s t p o n e d until C h a p t e r Seven. A n early-third c e n t u r y B. C . wreck, located off the southwest coast of Asia M i n o r at Serçe Limani, c o n t a i n e d , in addition to wine a m p h o r a e a n d othcr items, three millstones of the O l y n t h i a n type. Sec C e m a l Pulak a n d Rhys F. T o w n s e n d , " T h e Hellenistic Shipwreck at Serçe Limani, T u r k e y : P r e l i m i n a r y R e p o r t , " AJA 91, n o 1 (Jan. 1987): 4 1 - 4 3 . A m o u r e t t i (Le pain et l'huile, p. 142) points out that s o m e of these mills m a y have h a d uses o t h e r t h a n to process cereals, c r u s h i n g ores f r o m mines, for e x a m p l e . 53
Storck a n d T e a g u e , Flour, p. 72: "It was the G r e e k s w h o first a t t e m p t e d to understand the world — to grasp it in terms of the rational what instead of the d r a m a t i c who that h a d g o v e r n e d m a n ' s previous thinking. By this a p p r o a c h m e n would finally arrive at the skeptical, practical attitude essential to technological a n d scientific progress, which would regard n o t h i n g as finished or final, b u t would e x p e r i m e n t constantly in search of i m p r o v e m e n t . " (Italics a r e original to the text.) For the suggestion t h a t t h e G r e e k s first developed the rotary principle for processing grain, see Storck a n d T e a g u e , Flour, p. 78. T h e y also state (p. 77) that a stone, f o u n d n e a r Lake V a n a n d d a t e d to the eighth c e n t u r y B. C., was an u p p e r stone for a rotary mill, c o m p l e t e with provision, called a rynd, for s e p a r a t i n g t h e u p p e r a n d lower stones to increase g r i n d i n g efficiency a n d to provide a m e a n s to adjust the fineness of the e n d p r o d u c t . If accurately i n t e r p r e t e d , the innovation h a d n o effect on s u b s e q u e n t milling practice in M e s o p o t a m i a or the G r e e k East.
The rotary grain mill
288
77te Delian mill
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T h e trapetum certainly used rotary motion for crushing olives, perhaps as early as the late fifth century B. C., in Olynthus. But, as will be discussed in the chapter on Rome, the general consensus prevailing among scholars today holds that the use of the rotary principle in milling grain arose in the Western Mediterranean, specifically Spain, perhaps as early as the fifth century B. C. This earliest use was in the form of hand mills, or querns, and did not enter Greece in this form until the first century B. C. T h e Pompeian type rotary grain mill, sometimes referred to as the hourglass mill, has yet to be found in a dated context in Greece. 54 A singular example of a rotary mill, however, has been uncovered on Delos. Dating to the third century B. C., the Delian mill is the oldest known rotary grain mill in the Eastern Mediterranean. Although fragmentary examples of the mill had been known earlier, in 1987 a complete installation was discovered in situ in the House of the Seals. 55 W h a t is unique about this mill is that both the upper and lower sections came in individual segments of andesite stone. 56 A wooden frame raised the grinding stones ca. 0.80 m. off the ground. T h e lower, or stationary stone, composed of six specially cut pieces, sat in this framework. T h e separate pieces were arranged in a circle forming a hollow into which the upper, or turning stone, composed of eight separate pieces was inserted. 57 An iron rod set in the top and bottom of each piece anchored them in a vertical position. T h e opposite end of the rods, in both top and bottom, connected to an iron sleeve, located both above and below the grinding stones. A thick wooden post seated vertically into a slot in the floor ran through the bottom sleeve, the axis formed by pieces of the turning stone, and the top sleeve. A horizontal wooden rod pierced the post above the top sleeve. Pushing the horizontal rod turned the vertical post, which, in turn, by way of the sleeve and iron rods rotat-
M a r t i n e z , " O r i g e n y expansion del m o l i n o rotativo b a j o en cl M e d i t e r r â n e o occidental," in Techniques et économie antiques et médiévales: le temps de /,innovation. Dimitri M e e k s a n d D o m i n i q u e G a r c i a eds. T r a v a u x du C e n t r e Camille-Jullian, Vol. 21 (Paris: Editions E r r a n c e , 1997), p p . 1 5 2 3 5,19 M o r i t z (Grain-mills, p p . 10 17, 218), c o n t r a Storck a n d T e a g u e (Flour, p. 80), has s h o w n that, a l t h o u g h the Greeks used t h e w o r d d o n k e y (ονος) to refer to the u p p e r millstone as early as the fifth c e n t u r y B. C., it would be rash to a s s u m e the existence of a donkey-driven rotary mill at this early period. M o r i t z suggests, b u t does not c o m m i t to the idea, that the Greeks used the t e r m to refer to the handles, or " e a r s , " on the n o n - r o t a r y r u b b e r for the saddle q u e r n , t e r m e d by Storck a n d T c a g u c (p. 73) as the "slab" mill. Cf. Aristotle Problemata 9 6 4 b . 3 9 40; X e n o p h o n Cyr. 6.2.31. 55 M i c h è l e B r u n e t , " L e m o u l i n Délien, י יin Techniques et économie, pp. 2 9 - 3 8 ; R u n n e l s , " D i a c h r o n i e S t u d y , " p . 134; Moritz, Grain-mills, p. 1 15. ' ׳T h e ring f o r m e d by the pieces of the t u r n i n g stone h a d an u p p e r d i a m e t e r of 0.60 m. a n d a lower o n e of 0 . 4 4 m . Its height m e a s u r e d 0 . 3 3 m. T h e stationary stone f o r m e d a ring 0.17 m . in height, with an u p p e r d i a m e t e r of 0.58 m . a n d a lower d i a m e t e r of 0.46 m . Brunet, " M o u l i n DéÌicn," pp. 3 0 - 3 1 .
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ed the assembled upper stone that sat inside the lower, or stationary, stone. How grain was fed into the mill is unknown, as is the means, animal or h u m a n , of applying the motive power. Adjustment of the space between the two stones was achieved by inserting wooden wedges between the lower stone and the frame in which it sat. Although the conical form of this mill vaguely recalls the hour glass mills of Pompeii, particularly in its early manifestation known from Morgantina on Sicily, unlike them the upper stone of the Delian mill sat inside the lower stone, not on it. In this sense, the inventor may have had the trapetum in mind. T h e use of individual pieces fitted together to form the upper and lower millstones implies a certain degree of standardization in manufacture. Since the form of rotary grain mill found on Delos has no identifiable predecessors or descendants, it is difficult to prove this. Like the Neanderthal, the Delian mill seems to have been a branch of the evolutionary tree for grain mills that went nowhere. T h e size of the Delian mill implies a grain milling capacity that seems more appropriate to a commercial establishment than a domestic one. 5 8 c. Bread Making Although the Homeric hero was basically a meat-eater, bread had its place in distinguishing m a n f r o m beast and in defining the happy life. Odysseus, addressing the Phaeacians, boasts that, except for Philoctetes, he exceeds all mortals presently alive and who eat bread (σιτόν εδοντες). In another place H o m e r distinguishes bread from meat as foods making up a sumptuous banquet. Cereal agriculture and consumption play an even larger role in Hesiod's Works and Days. By the Classical period, the Greek diet was perhaps as m u c h as 7075%־־ cereal-based, primarily in the form of the basic porridge (μάζα), consisting of coarsely ground barley (αλφίτα) mixed with water or milk and heated, bread (άρτος), and various cakes. 59 T h e different kinds of Greek breads and cakes are legion, and can most conveniently be found listed 111 the Hippocratic. Corpus, which discusses their medicinal uses, and especially in the Deipnosophistae of Athenaeus, who records many types
58
Brunei, " M o u l i n Délien," p. 36; W h i t e , "Survey Ū f Millstones," p p . 199-206. An e x a m p l e m a y h a v e b e e n f o u n d in Egypt at C l y s m a (Suez), d a t i n g to " l ' é p o q u e g r e c q u e . " See Dimitri Meeks, "Les meules rotatives en Egypte. D a t a t i o n et usages," 111 Techniques et économie, p p . 20 28. 59 H o m e r Od. 8.222; 9.9; Hesiod Op. 590; M a r i e - C l a i r e A m o u r e t t i , " L a t r a n s f o r m a t i o n des ceréales d a n s les villes, un indicateur m é c o n n u de la personnalité u r b a i n e . L ' e x e m p l e d ' A t h è n e s à l ' é p o q u e classique," 111 L'origine des richesses dépensées dans la ville antique. Philippe Le veau, ed. (Aixe n - P r o v e n c e : Université de Provence, 1985), p p . 1 3 4 - 3 5 ; N a u m j a s n y , " T h e Daily B r e a d of t h e Ancient G r e e k s a n d R o m a n s , " Osiris 9 (1950): 247; Allaire Brumfield, " C a k e s in the Liknon. Votives f r o m the S a n c t u a r y of D e m e t e r a n d K o r e on A c r o c o r i n t h , " Hesperia 66, no. 1 (Jan.-Feb. 1997): 152 54; Foxhall a n d Forbes, "Σιτομετρεία," p. 71.
Types of breads and cakes
290
Kitchens and baking utensils
CHAPTER THREE
mentioned by Classical Greek authors, such as Archestratos (il. mid-fourth century B. C.). We can lament the loss of works written by Greek authors of the early Roman period and apparently devoted specifically to types of breads and cakes, such as Chrysippus of T y a n a (il. mid-lirst century A. D.), who wrote a work endtied "Pan-baked Bread" (Άρτοπτίκιος).60 Votive offerings, several dating to the early sixth century B. C., discovered in the sanctuary of Demeter and Kore at Corinth, give some idea of the appearance of a few of these cakes. Among these can be identified seven different flat cakes with round, spherical, or oblong shapes. Additionally, literary sources indicate that cakes, especially sacrificial ones, took various forms according to the deity being honored, including animal shapes such as goats and deer, those provided with "horns," and some in the image of a woman's breast. Others assume a name implying origin or ethnic style, such as "Cilician" or "Cappadocian," or resemblance to a small coin, the κόλλυβον. 61 Many, however, have names that betray the method of baking, and so provide hints at Greek technology of bread making. So, for example, unleavened, or flat, breads (άρτος άζυμος) were baked on a brazier in ashes (έγκρυφίας and σποδίτης) or charcoal (απανθρακίς) — sometimes called simply "brazier-bread" (έσχάριτης) , and even placed on a spit (οβελίας) extended over a fire. Breads leavened with yeast (άρτος ζυμίτης), some apparently quite large, were made in ovens (ίπνίτης) or pans (αρτοπτίκιος). Bread baked in a type of crock was called κλιβανίτης. 62 Archaeology has yielded little evidence for Greek kitchens. So, for instance, excavations in the Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore at Corinth have uncovered over thirty-six dining rooms and eight kitchens, dating between the sixth and fourth centuries B. C. T h e kitchens, however, show little more than hearths and signs of burning on the floors, while artifacts found in them have included a few mixing bowls, mortars, and storage jars, and even fewer stewpots and casseroles. Work in the Athenian Agora has yielded griddles to prepare flat-breads, braziers, especially the eschara for brazier-bread, and dome-shaped covers (πνιγεύς) for leavened bread. T h e latter device, similar to the R o m a n testu, worked simply. T h e baker placed the cover over heated coals until it also grew hot. He then tì0
Regimen 2 . 4 0 - 4 4 ; A t h e n a e u s 3 . 1 0 9 b ־l 16a; 1 4 . 6 4 3 e 6 4 9 ־a . For Archestratus, see J o h n Wilkins a n d S h a u n Hill, Archestratus. The Life ofLuxuiy (Devon: Prospect Books, 1994), esp. pp. 4 0 - 4 2 . For types of b r e a d listed in Egyptian papyri of the Hellenistic a n d R o m a n periods, see E m a n u e l a Battaglia, "Artos. " II lessico delta panificazione net papiri greet (Milan: Università del S a c r o C u o r e , 1989), passim. 61 Brumfield, " C a k e s in the L i k n o n , " pp. 1 4 7 - 7 2 , a n d Pis. 4 6 - 5 2 . See especially the a p p e n d i x of n a m e s of k n o w n sacrificial cakes (pp. 1 6 9 7 1 ) ־. See also A t h e n a e u s 3.1 10d (Cilician), 1 12e (Cyprus), 1 12f (κολλάβος), 1 13b-c ( C a p p a d o c i a n ) . 02 For different types of b r e a d , see esp. A t h e n a e u s 3 . 1 0 9 b - l 16a; A n d r e w Dalby, Siren Feasts. A History of Food and Gastronomy in Greece (London: R o u t l e d g e , 1996), p. 91. For the R o m a n clibanus, see below, pp. 3 6 8 - 6 9 .
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moved the ashes to one side, placed the dough down on the heated floor, and covered it with the lid. After gathering the hot coals a r o u n d the cover he let the bread bake. Epigraphic and, particularly, art historical evidence, on the other hand, help to provide a better view of baking activities. Attic stelae, dating to ca. 4 1 5 - 1 4 B. C., for example, record the sale of property confiscated from several individuals, including Alcibiades, convicted of mutilating H e r m s and profaning the Eleusinian mysteries. A m o n g the items listed that were used in cooking and baking include an upper millstone, mortars, pestles, kneading bowls, sieves, and braziers. 6 3 T o learn what these objects looked like and how they were used, however, we must turn to many small figurines, created both as individuals and in groups, found throughout Greece. T h e best evidence derives from the series of terra-cotta statuettes found at T a n a g r a , locate near Thebes. M a n y figures, dating generally to the early fifth century B. C., represent both men and w o m e n in everyday activities, such as holding a cake-pan and cooking on a griddle. In one instance a w o m a n kneads dough in a circular bowl (κάρδοπος) raised on a platform. 6 4 O n the Megarian bowl a man holds a sieve over a similarly shaped kneading bowl. The typical Greek sieve (κόσκινον) was round in shape, perhaps between thirty and fifty centimeters in diameter, and commonly m a d e of basketry. R a t h e r shallow in depth, it usually had a low rim to contain the flour. T h e term κόσκινον probably referred to sieves generally, and included coarse-meshed types designed to separate grain from weed seeds or husks from grain before any grinding, as well as finer-meshed varieties used after p o u n d i n g in a m o r t a r or grinding on a quern. 6 5
63
YV. K e n d r i c k Pritchett, " T h e Attic Stelai. P a r t II," Hesperia 25 (1956): 178; A m y x , "Attic Stclai," p p . 2 2 9 - 3 1 , esp. PI. 4 9 b , c; Sparkes, " G r e e k K i t c h e n , " p p . 128-31, esp. Pl. IV.2; Sparkes a n d T a l c o t t , Black and Plain Pottery, pp. 232 35, esp. Pis. 97 98; Foxhall a n d Forbes, "Σιτομετρεία," p. 81, note 133; Bookidis et ill, " D i n i n g , " p p . 14— 17; N a n c y Bookidis a n d R o n a l d S. S t r o u d , The Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore. Topography and Architecture. Vol. X V I I I , Part III of Corinth (Princeton: A m e r i c a n School of Classical Studies at Athens, 1997), pp. 3 9 3 - 4 1 2 . O n G r e e k braziers, see also Scheffer, Cooking and Cooking Stands in Italy, p p . 81-88. '4 יReynold Higgins, Tanagra and the Figurines (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1986), Fig. 89 (kneading), 90 (cake-pan), 9 3 (grill). For o t h e r e x a m p l e s of k n e a d i n g tables f r o m C o r i n t h , P e r a c h o r a , T i r y n s , Boeotia, Eretria, a n d Athens, see Sparkes, " G r e e k K i t c h e n , " p. 135, a n d Agnes Newhall Stillwell, C o r i n t h X V , Pt. 2: The Potters' Quarter. The Terracottas (Princeton: A m e r i c a n School of Classical Studies at Athens, 1952), p p . 2 0 6 07, 210, a n d PI. 45, nos. xxxiii, 17 a n d xxxiii, 18. S o m e containers for k n e a d i n g have an o b l o n g s h a p e a n d , so, c o n f o r m to the usual translation of " t r o u g h " (μάκτρα). See A m y x , "Attic Stelai, 5 ' p p . 2 3 9 - 4 1 . 65 M o r i t z (Grain-mills, pp. 159-63) discusses in detail the scant evidence for sieves designed specifically for flour. H e concludes that they were in use, if not described o r p i c t u r e d , by the fifth c e n t u r y B. C . at the latest. H e goes on to say that the mesh used in all G r e e k sieves was p r o b a b l y not very fine, a n d that flour p r o d u c e d with t h e m was still fairly dark f r o m the p r e s e n c e of small particles of b r a n (πίτυρον) that p e n e t r a t e d t h e m .
Tanagrafigurines
Fig. 21. Archaic Greek bakery model. From Dar.-Sag., Fig. 5694.
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T h e κόσκινον also appears in the hands of a terra-cotta figurine forming part of an Archaic group (Fig. 21) representing a baking scene. In front of the person with the sieve are two others bending over a kneading trough preparing the dough for the oven shown nearby. This oven (ίπνός) has a shape similar both to one associated with a T a n a g r a figurine from T h e b e s and to fragments of a large mid-sixth-century B. C. oven a n d a portable example dating to the late fifth century B. C. found in the Athenian Agora. 6 6 M a d e with a vaulted roof and fullwidth opening, it sits on top of a firebox. Inside can be seen some oblong cakes. A figure kneels in front and tends to the baking. T h e baker placed charcoal in the firebox under the floor of the oven. T h e floor did not sit (lush on the base so as to allow air to enter the firebox. At the rear, the floor had a slit through which hot air passed into the baking chamber. T h e draft fed the hot charcoal, which, in turn, heated the floor and interior of the oven. A mid-sixth century B. C. Boeotian lekythos, which has painted on it scenes of pounding cereal with a m o r t a r and pestle, grinding grain on a quern, and kneading of dough, also portrays a similar type oven, but here the baking c h a m b e r rests on four legs with an open lire built u n d e r it.1'7
Ovens
H u m a n figures found in the Archaic model are so crudely m a d e that they cannot be identified as males or females. 1). A. Amyx suggests that, if they are men, this group m a y represent a commercial bakery. Aristophanes mentions a bakeshop (αρτοπώλιον), and an Attic inscription of perhaps the third century B. C. indicates that the state imposed a tax (αρτοπωλικόν) on bakeries. T h e bakery represented on the Megarian bowl is probably of this type. Although bakers were undoubtedly nameless m e m b e r s of the lowest classes, free and slave, yet one, T h e a r i o n , a commercial baker of Athens, received due notice by name, while bakers of specific ethnic origin, such as Phoenica or Lydia, received partieular recognition for their baking skills. Female bakers, however, did exist, as Herodotus and Aristophanes attest. At least one received a special honor for services rendered. Croesus, king of Lydia, for example, reportedly honored his female baker by dedicating in the sanctuary at Delphi a gold statue molded in her image. 6 8
Bakers and bakeries
66
A m y x , "Attic Stelai," p p . 2 3 3 - 3 5 (oven), 2 5 9 - 6 1 (sieves); Higgins, Tanagra and the Figurines, Fig. 91; Sparkes a n d T a l c o t t , Black and Plain Pottery, p. 2 3 4 a n d Fig. 19, nos. 2 0 2 6 - 2 7 ; B l ü m n e r , Technologie und Terminologie, pp. 62 64, a n d Fig. 24. '7 יSparkes, " G r e e k K i t c h e n , " p. 127, a n d Pl. V I I . 2 . Sparkes notes o t h e r terra-cotta figurines with similar ovens. See ibid., Pl. VII1.2, 4. See also Higgins, Tanagra and the Figurines, p. 86, Fig. 91. liH T h e a r i o n : A t h e n . 3.112e, q u o t i n g lost works by Aristophanes, a n d Plato Gorgias 518b. A r c h e stratus (Athen. 3.1 12b-c) praises the bakers of Lydia a n d Phoenicia. It was also a p p a r e n t l y c o m m o n for Persian kings to take their bakers with t h e m o n c a m p a i g n . See X e n o p h o n Anab.
294 Beer
CHAPTER THREE
Beer Production T h e Greeks knew of beer made from barley (termed variously βρΰτον, πίνον, and ζΰθος, or ζυτος in Egypt), but were apparently not very fond of it. Sophocles, for example, has a character in this play Tnptolemus comment that drinking inland beer (βρΰτον χερσαιον) was not pleasant. W h a t he meant by "inland" or "mainland" is unknown, but, since Greeks usually associated beer drinking with non-Greeks, he probably was referring to the beer of T h r a c e or Asia Minor. T h e comment by Archilochus, writing in the seventh century B. C., speaking of Phrygians or Thracians drinking beer in parties, is the earliest extant Greek reference to beer. Hecataeus of Miletus (il. late sixth or early fifth century B . C . ) and Hellanicus of Lesbos (il. 4 8 0 - 3 9 5 Β. C.) likewise associate Thracians, espedaily Paeonians, with beer. T h e former author does the same in regard to Egyptians, who, as much during the Late and Ptolemaic periods as in Pharaonic times, produced and consumed beer. No Classical or Hellenistic Greek source discusses beer making, but its potency was widely recognized. A character in Aeschylus' Lycurgus, for example, gets drunk on strong beer (βρΰτον ακμαΐον) and becomes boisterous, and Aristotle, apparently quite impressed with the intoxieating power of beer (πίνον), relates that, while other intoxicants cause drinkers to fall over in any direction, those who imbibe too much beer always fall over backwards. Herodotus' comment that the Egyptians use a drink made from barley (i. e. beer) in place of wine points up the Greek view that drinking alcoholic beverages meant drinking wine. 69 d.
4. Wine Wine in Greek society
Panyasis, the fifth-century B. C. epic poet, says that wine was the "best gift of the gods" (θεών πάρα δώρον άριστον). Greeks believed that drinking wine in moderation and in diluted form distinguished them from barbarians. T h e y also saw vineyards as symbolic of the good life and of the city-state at peace. T h e
4.4.21. H e r o d o t u s (1.51) asserts that the D e l p h i a n s themselves claimed that the i m a g e was of C r o e s u s ' f e m a l e baker. Hut, D a v i d H a r v e y believes t h a t the D e l p h i a n s mistook a statue of C y b e l e holding a t y m p a n u m for C r o e s u s ' b a k i n g w o m a n . See David H a r v e y , " L y d i a n Specialities, C r o e sus' G o l d e n B a k i n g - w o m a n , a n d Dogs' D i n n e r s , " in Food in Antiquity, pp. 2 7 8 - 8 1 . See also Aristop h a n e s Ranae 112 (bake-shop), 8 5 8 (female baker); IG 11.860 (ca. third c e n t u r y B. C.). A m y x ("Attic Stelai," p p . 2 3 4 - 3 5 , a n d PI. 50b) notes a second similar Archaic terra-cotta g r o u p with figurines recognizable as w o m e n (two hold babies in their arms), w h i c h he suggests represents domestic b r e a d m a k i n g . '9 יFor Sophocles, Archilochus, Aristotle, H e c a t a e u s , a n d Hellanicus, see A t h e n . 10.447a-c; H e r o d o t u s 2.77. For b e e r in Hellenistic Egypt, sec M i c h a e l Rostovtzeff, SEHHW, pp. 308 09. F o r the b e e r of G o r d i o n in central Anatolia, see S a m s , "Beer in the City of Midas, pp. 1 0 8 - 1 5 , a n d a b o v e , p. 218. See also C l a r e n c e A. Forbes, "Beer: A S o b e r A c c o u n t , " C J 46, no. 6 (Mar. 1951): 281 85, 300; Olck, "Bier," RE, 3: cols. 4 5 8 - 6 4 .
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chorus of Attic farmers in Aristophanes Pax (308), for example, addresses the goddess Peace as "most loving of the vine" (θιλαμπελώτατη), and at line 520 Aristophanes has Trygaeus ("Vintage" or "Harvest"), a Greek farmer, greet Peace with the appellation " O Giver of G r a p e s " (ώ πότνια βοτρυόδωρε). This drink was for Classical Greeks a basic food item, not a luxury consumed almost exclusively by the u p p e r classes, as in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Bronze Age Aegean. Also unlike areas of the N e a r East a n d Egypt, the small, independent landholder, personally engaged in agriculture, m a d e up the bulk of the population of Greece. M a n y of these — the total is unknown — concentrated their efforts in winemaking. Victor H a n s o n has shown that viticulture was a laborintensive activity requiring year-round maintenance of the vines, but with little capital outlay required if performed by family and slaves. This, he argues, developed in Greek farmers an "ideology of viticulture,'" that stressed value of work and time spent doing it, to the point that the appearance of the land with its vines and the practice of a work ethic served to define the social status of the owner. Viticulturists provided the Greek markets with an a b u n d a n c e of different wines. Besides distinctions between red a n d white wines, discussed below, the Greeks produced wines that had been aged, perfumed, aromatized, resinated, blended, or salted with sea water or brine. Although vintage and estate were not distinguishing characteristics, origin of production was, so that markets boasted both local and imported varieties. 70 T h e importance of wine to Greeks can be seen in the many uses to which they put the drink. Perhaps the most noted usage for wine was its pivotal position in the symposium, a drinking party held after the evening meal. T h e symposium was also a favorite motif for decorating drinking vessels, and even fostered a separate literary genre, exemplified by works of Plato and X e n o p h o n published u n d e r that title. Sympotic literature envisioned the symposium, a c o m m u n a l drinking party accompanied by discussions and entertainment, as symbolic of
70
Panyasis a p . A t h e n . 2.37a. Victor I). H a n s o n , "Practical Aspects of G r a p e - g r o w i n g a n d the Ideology of G r e e k Viticulture, י יin Agriculture in Ancient Greece. Berit Wells, ed. (Stockholm: Paul Aströms, 1992), pp. 1 6 1 - 6 6 ; P o m e r o y et al, Ancient Greece, p. 4. O n A r i s t o p h a n e s Pax, a play given in 421 B. C . in A t h e n s d u r i n g the Dionysia, a festival devoted to Dionysus, a n d o n e full of allusions to foods, see J o h n Wilkins, " E a t ing in A t h e n i a n C o m e d y , " in Food in European Literature. J o h n Wilkins, ed. (Exeter: Intellect books, 1996), pp. 46 56. A r i s t o p h a n e s treats a similar t h e m e in Acharnians. F o r w i n e in c o m e d y , see E. L. Bowie, " W i n e in O l d C o m e d y , " in In Vino Veritas, p p . 1 1 3 - 2 5 ; in ritual, see François Lissarrague, " U n rituel du vin: la libation," in ibid., p p . 1 2 6 - 4 4 . F o r m o d e r a t e d r i n k i n g of wine with w a t e r as a m a r k distinguishing Greeks f r o m b a r b a r i a n s , see H e r o d o t u s 6.84; M n e s i t h e u s ap. A t h e n . 2.36a-c, a n d Plato Leg. 6 3 7 E . For references by G r e e k a u t h o r s to varieties a n d qualities of wine, see especially Broek, "Ancient G r e e c e , " ]Dp. 464—67; M a r i e - C l a i r e A m o u r e t t i , "L'originalité t e c h n i q u e du vin g r e c et les traditions d e la M é d i t e r r a n é e orientale," M BAH 15 (1996): 4 3 - 6 6 ; A t h e n a e u s 1.25f 2.40f, a n d Regimen 2.52.
Vu• symposium
296 Snow-cooled wine
I Vine in medicine and religion
Wine in the Greek economy
CHAPTER THREE
the polis. 71 Attendees at these gatherings may have d r u n k wine cooled by snow. This could take the form of adding snow directly to the wine or by drinking f r o m a special double-walled vessel called a psykter, or wine cooler. T h e inner c o m p a r t m e n t held the wine, while the outer, which w r a p p e d completely around the inner one, held water cooled by snow. Holes at the top a n d bottom allowed for filling a n d draining the outer sleeve, respectively. These vessels date at least to the sixth century B. C. 7 2 Wine also played an important role in medicine both for its own perceived curative qualities and for its use as the basic liquid for medicinal recipes. So, for instance, Regimen 2.52 attributes to wine qualities of hot and dry, a n d says that it acts as a purgative, while Mnesitheus (il. fourth century B. C.) says that Dionysus, the patron god of wine and one of the twelve m a j o r deities, was called physician (ιατρός). A n d finally, wine was an integral part of religious services in several capacities, as a libation, the liquid used to quench burnt offerings on the altar, and an offering to the dead. 7 3 Wine was a valuable item in Greek short and long-distance trade. Although literary sources offer little help in tracing the Greek wine trade, excavations throughout the M e d i t e r r a n e a n have uncovered thousands of Greek transport a m p h o r a e in archaeological contexts, especially shipwrecks, dating from the Archaic to the R o m a n periods. T h e Greeks probably got the idea for the pointed vessel from their early contacts with peoples of the N e a r East, especially the Canaanites, w h o developed the form as early as the second millennium B. C. T h e Greeks developed their own distinct shapes, some of which m o d e r n archaeologists, through study of design characteristics, such as lip and handles, analysis
71
Alcaeus, a poet f r o m Mytilene o n Lesbos, h a d identified Dionysus as the god of wine in a d r i n k i n g song of the early sixth c e n t u r y B. C . See Poetarum Lesbiorum Fragmenta. Ε. Lobel a n d D . L. Page, eds. ( O x f o r d : C l a r e n d o n Press, 1955), fr. 346. O n the s y m p o s i u m , see, for e x a m p l e , Sympotica. A Symposium on the Symposion. O s w y n M u r r a y , ed. ( O x f o r d : C l a r e n d o n Press, 1990); four articles in William J . Slater, cd. Dining in a Classical Context, pp. 2 5 - 1 2 0 ; J a m e s D a v i d s o n , Courtesans and Fishcakes. The Consuming Passions of Classical Athens (New York: St. M a r t i n ' s Press, 1998), pp. 4 3 - 4 9 ; 1). B. Levine, " S y m p o s i u m a n d t h e Polis," in Theognis of Megara: Poetry and the Polis, T h o m a s J . Figueira a n d G . N a g y , eds. (Baltimore: J o h n s H o p k i n s University Press, 1985), p p . 1 7 6 - 9 6 ; O s w y n M u r r a y , " T h e G r e e k S y m p o s i u m in History," in Tria Corda. Scritti in onore di Arnaldo Momigliano ( C o m o : Edizioni N e w Press, 1983), pp. 257 72; a n d T h o m a s H . C a r p e n t e r , Dionysian Imagery in Archaic Greek Art. Its Development in Black-Figure Vase Painting (Oxford: C l a r e n d o n Press, 1986), p p . 1 1 5 1 7 . 72
For m i x i n g w i n e a n d snow, cf. A t h e n a e u s 3.124c.-d. In the fifth century B. C . a n d later the t e r m psykter a s s u m e d a m o r e generic m e a n i n g not always associated with cooling drinks. See Russel M . G e e r , " O n the U s e of lee a n d S n o w for C o o l i n g Drinks," CW 29, no. 8 (16 Dec. 1935): .419 .כן 6 1 - 6 2 ; Forbes, Studies, 6: 1 10-14. For R o m a n refrigeration, see below 7:i O n uses of wine, see Prickett, "Scientific a n d T e c h n o l o g i c a l S t u d y , " p p . 72 78 (wine in m e d icine), a n d Brock, "Ancient G r e e c e , " p. 467.
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of fabric and organic residues, and examination of stamps and painted inscriptions, have been able to identify as containers for wine coming from specific places in the eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea. A m o n g the city-states known to have exported wine are Chios, Cos, Lesbos, Paros, Cnidos, Rhodes, and especially Thasos, a m o n g Aegean islands, M o n d e in Chalcidice, and Sinope on the Black Sea. O t h e r places, such as Athens, were importers of wine. Some a m p h o r a e of Sinope bear an interesting stamp that emphasizes not only that city's participation in the wine trade but also in its manufacture. T h e stamp, apparently unique to a specific person, Phemius, son of Theopeithes, has the figure of a m a n standing in a wicker basket in the act of treading grapes. 7 4 Literary sources for processing grapes into wine are few. Homer, in Odyssey 7.121 25, describes the Phaeacians gathering grapes from the vineyard, drying some to form raisins, and treading others to make wine. Hesiod (Op. 611-13) offers to his brother, Perses, advice on viticulture, specifying that in September he should dry grapes for ten days and then cover them for five more. Afterwards, he can fill vessels with the "gifts of Dionysus." It is unknown if Hesiod describes the preparation of raisins or the drying of grapes to reduce the water content and to concentrate the percentage of sugar preparatory to making raisin wine. Drying in this fashion also induces chemical changes in the grape that affects the wine produced. 7 5 Archaeological evidence is likewise scarce. M u c h can be learned about grape processing, however, from art historical evidence, particularly painted scenes on Attic black and red figure vessels dating between ca. 540 and 430 B. C. 7 6 Although satyrs mostly populate the scenes and not
74
O n a m p h o r a e , see C a r o l y n G . Koehler, " W i n e A m p h o r a s in Ancient G r e e k T r a d e , " in Ongins and Ancient History of Wine, p p . 3 2 3 - 3 7 ; a n d Virginia R . G r a c e , Amphoras and the Ancient I Vine Trade. 2 n d ed. (Princeton: A m e r i c a n School of Classical Studies at Athens, 1979). For T h a s i a n wine a m p h o r a e , in particular, see François Salviat, " L e vin de Thasos: a m p h o r e s , vin et sources écrites," 111 Recherches sur les amphores grecques. B C H Suppl. X I I I (Athens: Ecole Française d ' A t h è n e s , 1986), pp. 145-96. For a recent study of the petrology of G r e e k a m p h o r a e , see I. K. W h i t b r e a d , Greek Transport Amphorae. A Penological and Archaeological Study (Athens: T h e British School at Athens, 1995). F o r the stamps of Phemius, sec Y v o n G a r l a n , " R e m a r q u e s sur les timbres a m p h o r i q u e s de S i n o p e , " CRAI( 1990): 4 9 9 - 5 0 3 , a n d Figs. 8 - 9 . 75 Hesiod Op. 611 13 (δώραΔίωνύσου). See esp. Prickett, "Scientific a n d T e c h n o l o g i c a l S t u d y , " pp. 4 9 - 5 0 . Brock ("Ancient G r e e c e , " p. 464) sees this as p e r h a p s a reference to dried g r a p e wine, r a t h e r t h a n raisins. T h e most i m p o r t a n t G r e e k agricultural m a n u a l extant is the Geoponica, a sixthc e n t u r y A. 1). Latin compilation surviving in a t e n t h - c e n t u r y A. I). G r e e k copy. Books Four t h r o u g h Eight are devoted to viticulture. Because of its late date, I h a v e not used the Geoponica for this c h a p t e r , even t h o u g h m u c h on w i n e m a k i n g by G r e e k a u t h o r s whose works n o longer exist p r o b a b l y m a d e its way into Latin agricultural treatises. 7, ' T h e g r a p e - t r e a d i n g motif a p p e a r s rarely on non-Attic vessels, but can be f o u n d o n a C o r i n t h i a n c o l u m n - c r a t e r of the early sixth c e n t u r y B. C . a n d a few Boeotian lekythoi of slightly later date. See B. A. Sparkes, " T r e a d i n g the Grapes, 5 ' Babesch 51 (1976): 47 49.
Grape processing: treading
298
Treading depicted on Greek vases
CHAPTER THREE
every example shows all the details, nevertheless, the basic technical process of treading grapes seems clearly represented. With one possible exception, discussed later, mechanical pressing of grapes never appears in vase paintings, although the occasional press shown being used to process olives could have served to press grapes as well. T h e earliest Attic vase painter to use the treading motif, and to do so in a realistic fashion, was the Amasis Painter, who flourished in the sixth century B. C. O n black-figure vases, such as the p a n e l - a m p h o r a e now in museums in Basel and Würzburg, he defined the standard motif that, in general, shows little variation over the next century. Typically included in the scenes are satyrs, some picking grapes from the vines, others carrying baskets full of grapes to be placed into the treading trough, while still others perform the treading itself. T h e treader, always singly though this may be only artistic convention, for support often holds onto grape vines, a pole set horizontally above his head, or straps extending down from a pole or roof. Occasionally, the scene depicts a satyr playing on a double flute to help his c o m r a d e tread m o r e efficiently, or perhaps to divert his mind from the repetitive labor. These characteristics indicate that, unless the painter wished merely to show a connection between the two activities, picking and processing, grape treading most often took place in or near the vineyard itself. 77 For a closer look at Greek treading practices it will suffice to discuss in detail a single example and to note variations where necessary. T h e Boston black-figure neck-amphora (PI. 22), decorated by a painter of the Mastos G r o u p , a younger c o n t e m p o r a r y of the Amasis Painter, shows a typical treading scene. T w o satyrs bring wicker baskets full of grapes to be trod. T h e i r work recalls the vineyard scene decorating the shield of Achilles in which H o m e r (//. 18.561—72) describes boys and girls gathering grapes in wicker baskets (πλεκτοί τάλαροι). Between the two satyrs a third satyr stands inside another 77
T h e s e details recall scenes of t r e a d i n g p a i n t e d in Egyptian t o m b s of the P h a r a o n i c period. T o w h a t extent, if at all, these G r e e k motives derive f r o m Egypt r e m a i n s u n k n o w n . Sparkes, " T r e a d i n g the G r a p e s , " p p . 4 9 - 5 6 , esp. Pis. 4 27. Isager a n d Skydsgaard (Ancient Greek Agriculture, p. 57) suggest that, considering the portability of most t r e a d i n g vats, w h e n straps for the treader's use a p p e a r to h a n g d o w n f r o m a roof, the artist implies that t r e a d i n g takes place indoors. O n the Amasis Painter, see also A n d r e w I*'. Stewart, " N a r r a t i v e , G e n r e , a n d Realism in the W o r k of the Amasis P a i n t e r , " in Papers on the Amasis Painter and His World (Malibu: J . Paul Getty M u s e u m , 1987), pp. 2 9 - 4 2 , a n d Dietrich von B o t h m e r , The Amasis Painter and His World. Vase-painting in Sixth-Century B. C. Athens (Malibu: J . Paul G e t t y M u s e u m , 1985), esp. pp. 1 1 3 - 1 8 ( W ü r z b u r g a m p h o r a , no. 265). Geoponica 6.2 describes the H e a d e r a n d his duties. H e must work fully clothed a n d with clean feet to avoid c o n t a m i n a t i n g the must with sweat o r dirt. H e c a n n o t leave the vat often, a n d , w h e n he does, he must cover his feet. W h i l e t r e a d i n g he must r e m o v e a n y leaves a n d o t h e r trash missed by those h a n d l i n g the g r a p e baskets, a n d must also ensure periodically that n o refuse restricts the flow of must into the c h a n n e l s leading to the collecting vat. See K. D. W h i t e , Roman Farming (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1970), p. 46.
2
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type of wicker basket, with handles. This basket sits inside a spouted trough (λήνος), reminiscent of those found at m a n y sites on M i n o a n Crete, but with legs. T h e λήνος slopes down at the front to allow the must, squeezed from the grapes and strained through the wicker basket, to pour into a collecting vat (׳υπολήνιον or τριπτήρ), which has the shape of a large λεκάνη, a c o m m o n household container. 7 8 T h e λήνος was probably m a d e of wood, and so explains why none have come to light in excavations and why it is so difficult to identify locations where grape processing was conducted. 7 9 T h e treading satyr for balance holds onto a nearby grapevine. 8 0 T h a t the grapes are placed inside the wicker basket for treading rather than directly into the λήνος may imply an important innovation in Greek wine technology. Some red-figure vessels show a m a n or satyr merely standing in a large pithos, standing in the vat and bent over with hands down inside the vessel, or in the act of treading in a vat while holding onto a loop. These scenes apparently represent grape treading of a kind different from that shown on the Boston a m p h o ra. H e r e the workers tread grapes directly inside a vessel that appears to provide no means to drain the must. Workers would have to bail it out with small vessels, leaving the skins and pips behind. Β. Λ. Sparkes suggests that grapes trod in a wicker basket, set into the λήνος in order to keep the must separate from the marc, were destined for white wines; grapes trod in the vat alone resulted in red wines. 81 This idea is further strengthened by the appearance on other red-figure vases of scenes where both processes are shown side-by-side. T h e production of both red and white wines by Egyptian viticulturists is suspected f r o m the colors of wine a m p h o r a e shown in wall paintings, but indications from scenes of viticulture of any provision to separate must from m a r c are unclear. Evidence from
78
O n some vases, such as the Basel a n d W ü r z b u r g 265 a m p h o r a e , the υπολήνιον a p p e a r s to be a pithos half-buried in the g r o u n d . 111 addition, sometimes, the υπολήνιον is covered by a filter to prevent any g r a p e r e m a i n s (seeds, stems, etc.) f r o m falling into the must. See Sparkes, " T r e a d i n g the G r a p e s , " Fig. 5. For τριπτήρ, sec A m y x , "Attic Stelai," pp. 2 4 7 - 4 9 . 79 A red-figure Attic a m p h o r a d a t i n g to the fifth c e n t u r y B. C., a n d n o w in Bologna, shows w h a t a p p e a r s to be a t r e a d i n g basket sitting on a shallow stone λήνος without legs. See Sparkes, " T r e a d i n g the G r a p e s , " Fig. 27. Stone λήνοι ([λη]νο! λίθιναι) find m e n t i o n in c o n t e m p o r a r y Attic stelae. See A m y x , "Attic Stclai," p. 242, a n d Isager a n d Skydsgaard, Ancient Greek Agriculture, p. 57. 80 T h e satyr in the W ü r z b u r g a m p h o r a (265) holds a g r a p e vine with one h a n d a n d the h a n d l e of the basket with the other; satyrs on red-figure c o l u m n - c r a t e r s , n o w in Aleria a n d N e w York, both d a t e d to ca. 4 7 0 B. C., hold on to the handles of the basket. T h e satyr o n the vessel f o u n d in Corsica grasps the h a n d l e s even t h o u g h he has h a n d loops a b o v e his h e a d for that p u r p o s e . Perh a p s he holds the rings while t r e a d i n g normally with his feet, b u t grasps the sides of the basket w h e n he w a n t s to i m p a r t a heavier or m o r e forceful t r e a d i n g to the grapes. Sec Sparkes, " T r e a d ing t h e G r a p e s , " Figs. 2 0 - 2 1 . 81 Sparkes, " T r e a d i n g the G r a p e s , " p. 53, a n d Figs. 15-18. A black-figure vase, n o w in M u n i c h , a p p e a r s to show a satyr standing in a vat. See ibid., Fig. 10.
Red versus white wines
300
Fermentation
CHAPTER THREE
Mesopotamia, entirely linguistic in nature, is no better. Greek literary sources, however, frequently distinguish both red a n d white wines. So, for example, Regimen (2.52) says that sweet dark (i.e. red) wines (γλυκέες μέλανες [sc. οίνοι])) were moist, while white wines (oi λευκοί [sc. oivoij) give heat without drying. M n e silheus praises the unique qualities of three wines distinguished by color, black (μέλας), white (λευκός), and a sort of brownish-yellow (κιρρός). T h e production of both red a n d white wines, therefore, may be a Greek innovation to food technology. 82 T h e fermentation process does not a p p e a r in art historical sources, but scenes on a few Attic vases m a y hint at it. An Attic red-figure psykter, now in the Getty M u s e u m in California, for example, bears a particularly interesting motif, the sale of recently produced grape juice. T h e tripartite scene shows a young man a n d an old m a n taking part in some still unclear fashion in the treading of grapes in a large vessel, filling a wineskin with the juice, a n d selling it. W h a t form the liquid took also remains uncertain. It could be merely grape juice, or γλεύκος. Henry I m m e r w a h r , however, points out that this term could also refer to fermenting grape juice or freshly m a d e wine. If so, then fermentation of wine might also have taken place in wineskins. Likewise, a red-figure vase, now in Bologna, shows under the treading vat what looks like a bell-shaped lid to cover a large container, perhaps a pithos. Sparkes suggests that it would cover a vessel used to ferment the must into wine. T w o other red-figure vases show a m p h o r a e near the λήνος, perhaps implying that the must would be transferred directly into them for fermentation. This idea is given some credence from finds in the Athenian Agora where excavators have recovered what a p p e a r to be clay stoppers dating to the Hellenistic Period. T h e diameter conforms roughly to the interior diameter of the mouth of a typical a m p h o r a of the period. Projecting above and below the level of the stopper is a cylinder of clay, which gives the whole a spindle appearance. This central piece appears to have been perforated vertically so as to allow the escape of gases f r o m the amphora. 8 3 Following fermentation, the wine might be aged for a certain n u m b e r of years. This step is better known f r o m R o m a n sources, but it was not unknown to Greeks. H o m e r (Od. 2.340), for example, mentions a ten-year old wine, and Theocritus (7.147) a vintage of four years old. W h e t h e r directly following fer-
!t2
Sparkes, " T r e a d i n g the G r a p e s , " Figs. 24 26; M n e s i t h e u s ap. A t h e n . 1.32d. H o w the darkb r o w n wine was m a d e r e m a i n s u n k n o w n . It was p e r h a p s related to the a m o u n t of time the must was left in contact with the m a r c , or was a wine m a d e f r o m a second t r e a d i n g of g r a p e pulp. it:i Sparkes, " T r e a d i n g the G r a p e s , " Figs. 20, 23, 26; K o e h l e r , " W i n e A m p h o r a s in Ancient G r e e k T r a d e , " p p . 328 30; H e n r y R . I m m e r w a h r , " N e w W i n e in A n c i e n t Wineskins. T h e Evid e n c e f r o m Attic Vases," Hesperia 61, no. 1 (Jan.-Mar. 1992): 1 2 1 - 3 2 , a n d Pis. 2 9 - 3 2 .
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mentation or after a period of aging wine would be decanted into transport a m p h o r a e and sent to an u r b a n market, where it could be sold locally or placed on a ship for export. Greek commercial a m p h o r a e , such as those from Rhodes, held about twenty-six liters. Because they were m a d e of fired clay, the a m p h o r a e had to be lined on the interior to prevent the wine from seeping out. This was accomplished with pitch obtained from heating the resin of the pine tree and smearing it on the interior walls of the vessel. Since the pitch tended to dissolve in the alcohol, the wine often took on a resinated taste. Some wines were imbued with resin during production to augment its keeping quality. After the a m p h o r a e were filled, the vessel was sealed with a stopper, usually of cork or clay, and placed on a ship for transport. 8 4 T r e a d i n g scenes appearing on Attic vases show portable apparatus, capable of being used in the vineyard or transported to a building at a distance f r o m the vines and set up for use once again. Fixed, p e r m a n e n t grape processing installalions, however, are difficult to recognize, since m a n y probably accommodated olive processing as well, or perhaps even primarily, a n d their usually bad or incomplete state of preservation often makes a conclusive determination impossible. Identification of a wine, as distinct from an olive, processing site is based on several factors. These include local m o d e r n parallels to recognized ancient facilities and the absence of stone equipment, such as rollers or weights, typical of oil press installations. M o r e specifically, some scholars argue that a large pressing floor, coated with waterproof plaster, characterizes installations for grape processing, since olives, being m o r e difficult to press than grapes, require a harder, usually stone, surface 011 which to be squeezed. Additionally, they continuc, the vat for collecting olive oil was typically far smaller than that necessary for grape juice. Based on these criteria, they conclude that Athens, Mycenae, Asine, and Olynthus possibly had fixed wine installations, while identification of sites on the islands of Crete, Thasos, a n d Delos seem more secure. These emplacements, particularly those on Delos and at Knossos on Crete, show close similarities to processing installations 111 the Black Sea area, especially at Olbia, N y m p h a e u m , Tyritake, and Mirmekion. Here in the high latitudes of the north shore of the Black Sea wine is the most likely product, since olives prosper only in M e d i t e r r a n e a n climates. 85
84
H o m e r [Od. 2.349 53) m e n t i o n s a m p h o r a e fitted with covers (πώματα) of s o m e sort. K o e h l e r , " W i n e A m p h o r a s in Ancient G r e e k T r a d e , " p p . 328 30. See also C a r o l y n G . K o e h l e r , " H a n dling of G r e e k T r a n s p o r t A m p h o r a s , " in Recherches sur les amphores grecques, pp. 5 0 - 5 5 , esp. Figs. 1 6, w h o notes pitched vessels (κάδωπιττίνω) listed in Attic stelae of the late fifth c e n t u r y B. C . " יFor the g r o w t h r a n g e of the olive {()lea europaea), see Z o h a r y a n d H o p f , Domestication of Plants, p. 137. F o r Delos, see Philippe B r u n e a u a n d Philippe Fraisse, " U n pressoir à vin à Dolos, , יBCH 105 (1981): 127-53; Philippe B r u n e a u a n d Philippe Fraisse, "Pressoir à Dclos," BCH 108 (1984):
Wine amphorae
Distinguishing wine from oil processing installations
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A m o n g Greek cities established on the northern coast of the Black Sea, partieularly in the Strait of Kerch, excavators have unearthed about seventy wineries dating f r o m the late fifth-early fourth century B. C. to the late fourth century A. D. These fall roughly into two general types. T h e first and oldest type, found, for example, at N y m p h a e u m and Tyritake, comprises those consisting only of a flat platform for treading grapes a n d a rectangular tank cut into the floor to collect the must. T y p e O n e installations were all basically similar in size. T h e treading platform of winery M 5 at Mirmekion, for example, measured ca. 1.4 m. χ 2.42 m.; its vat measured ca. 1.15 m. χ 1.54 m. χ 1.47 m. deep, and had a capacity of 1,800 liters. A low wall separated the treading surface from the vat to ensure that the m a r c did not fall into it. T h e must passed through a small hole in the wall and emptied into the tank through a stone spout. Like the treading floor, the collecting vat was coated with a waterproof mortar. At its bottom the tank had a small depression to aid in emptying it of the last of the liquid. N e a r the top, it had provisions for a cover, a characteristic not found in other vats. This particular tank, therefore, m a y have served to ferment the must into wine. Otherwise, one would have to assume that the wine was fermented in pithoi in an adjoining room. 8 6 T h e second type seems to have appeared first in the second century B. C. at Mirmekion as part of a general expansion of the wine industry in the Bosphorus. Installation M 4 at Mirmekion includes two platforms, one for treading and a second, suggested by finds of stone weights and a stone base, for the operation of a mechanical press of the lever-and-weight type described above for pressing olives in ancient Israel. Each platform, coated with a layer of reddish plaster, had a channel for directing the must into a cistern, which likewise was covered with plaster. T h e cisterns had at the bottom a quarter-round in each corner to strengthen it and to keep any solid material from collecting there and making it difficult to clean. T h e wooden portions of the mechanical press no longer exist,
7 1 3 - 3 0 ; M i c h è l e Brunei, " V i n local et vin de cru. Les exemples de Délos et T h a s o s , " 111 La production du vin et de l'huile, p p . 2 0 1 - 1 2 . M e c h a n i c a l pressing will be discussed in detail u n d e r olive pressing. F o r C r e t e , see Jill C a r r i n g t o n S m i t h , "A Late Hellenistic W i n e Press at Knossos," A BS A 8 9 (1994): 3 5 9 - 7 6 , a n d Pis. 4 9 - 5 2 . 8f> Z o f i a Sztetyllo, " P r o d u c t i o n et c o m m e r c e d u vin à M i r m e k i o n à l ' é p o q u e hellénistique," in Etudes et Travaux, I V , Vol. 10 (Warsaw: C e n t r e d'Archéologie M é d i t e r r a n é e n n e du l'Académie Polonaise des Sciences 1970), pp. 9 6 - 1 1 6 ; Nicolas S a w o n i d i , " W i n e - m a k i n g on the N o r t h e r n C o a s t of t h e Black S e a in Antiquity," in IM production du vin et de l'huile, pp. 2 2 7 - 3 5 . S a w o n i d i breaks d o w n the wineries into f o u r types. T y p e s O n e a n d T w o a r e t r e a d i n g installations only; T y p e T h r e e utilizes the lever press, while T y p e F o u r e m p l o y e d the lever-and-screw press. T h e latter type dates n o earlier t h a n the first century B. C . a n d will b e discussed in C h a p t e r Seven below. See also V. 1'־. G a j d u k e v i c , Das Borporanische Reich (Berlin: A k a d e m i e - V e r l a g , 1971), p p . 119-23.
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hut the stone base on which it rested does. T h e rectangular stone platform had a ring-channel cut into the stone surrounding the place where the grapes, probably in a basket or sack, were set to be pressed. T h e must flowed along the channel and through a stone spout that overhung the vat in which it was collected. T h e two collecting vats together had a capacity of ca. 4,000 liters. T h e second-century B. C. emplacement at Knossos shows characteristics similar to these Black Sea installations. The treading floor, once covered with flagstones and of sufficient size to a c c o m m o d a t e up to four workers, sloped toward a collecting tank, and had a rim preventing the m a r c from falling into it. Must trod f r o m grapes on the floor would pass through the barrier by means of a small hole and flow through a stone spout into the vat. Several layers of a reddish plaster coated the interior of the tank, which had in its floor a shallow cavity to aid in periodic cleaning. T h e walls of the tank had two pairs of stepping stones that facilitated the efforts of workers to empty the vat of its liquid and to clean it later. Processing installations found on Delos also h a d similar characteristics, including some evidence for a mechanical press." 7 T h e primary questions remain, however. Did the installations at Knossos and on Delos, similar to those in the Black Sea, process only wine? O r , did they function for olives as well? Likewise, did those emplacements with a stone bed for a mechanical press process only olives, or, could they have also processed grapes, like those in Mirmekion? T h e present state of the evidence for wine a n d olive processing in the eastern M e d i t e r r a n e a n is such that the questions must remain open. W h a t is clear, however, is that advancements in olive pressing technology did take place during the Hellenistic Period.
5. Oil Unlike their m o d e r n counterparts, ancient Greeks neither produced nor consumed olive oil at the same level as they did cereals a n d wines. Its expense was prohibitive for m a n y farmers, as the trees compete with cereals and vines for good soil, take at least five years to bear their first crop, yield olives only every two years, and the fruit is difficult to process. Not every farmer could afford the extra land, the long delay for an initial crop, and the lengthy wait between yields that were never guaranteed because of the vagaries of weather and war. Since olives h a d to be crushed and then pressed to release the majority of its oil, only small-scale production was possible without the use of mechanical crushers and presses, both of which were expensive to acquire and to maintain. Therefore, H7
S m i t h , " Late Hellenistic W i n e Press at Knossos," p p . 3 5 9 - 7 6 , a n d Pis. 4 9 5 2 ; ־B r u n e t , " V i n local et vin de c r u , " p. 205; B r u n e a u a n d Fraisse, "Pressoir Déliens," p. 721.
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m a n y farmers diversified their crops a n d grew cereals, grapes, and olives in a pattern that provided for an economical use of labor and a sequential yield of various crops throughout the agricultural year. 8 8 Through the development of more efficient mechanical olive crushers and presses olive oil production, partieularly by the Hellenistic period, became an important agricultural commodity for local consumption a n d for m a n y cities and regions a lucrative export item. T h e olive could be eaten as a fruit, while uses of olive oil included fuel for lamps, a liquid for anointing, a base for medicines a n d perfumes, and a staple in the diet where it served as a cooking oil a n d as an ingredient in various dishes. 89
Crushing olives
Classical Greek literary, archeological, and art historical evidence for olive processing is scant. Enough exists, however, to form a basic idea of its characteristics. Considerably more evidence dates to the Hellenistic period, but it derives primarily from excavations in the N e a r East, particularly in Israel. This latter material will serve as c o m p a r a n d a for the former, thereby assisting our understanding of oil processing in Greece. T h e N e a r Eastern material will also provide insights into the innovation a n d spread of pressing technology in the Greek world generally during the Hellenistic era. Following picking, the first step leading to the extraction of the oil from the olive is crushing. This step reduces the olive to a pulp and, if desired, allows the olive stone to be removed. Some R o m a n writers thought that bruising or crushing the olive stone altered the taste of the oil, and so suggested avoiding it. This does not seem to have posed a problem prior to the R o m a n s . Before the develo p m e n t of adjustable mechanical crushers olives could receive rather rough handling while being crushed in any of three different ways: pounding with a pestle in a rock-cut or free-standing mortar, mashing with a stone roller in a shallow rock-cut or free-standing rectangular basin, a n d treading with the feet, probably covered with wooden sandals of some sort, on a flat crushing bed. 9 0 By the early
!,H
A l t h o u g h olive trees d o g r o w on p o o r soils a n d c a n withstand s o m e d r o u g h t , they d o best on the s a m e type of land r e q u i r e d for cereals. Lin Foxhall, "Oil Extraction a n d Processing E q u i p m e n t in Classical G r e e c e , " in La production du vin et de l'huile, p p . 192-93; Sallares, Ecology, p p . 3 0 4 - 0 9 ; Foxhall a n d Forbes, "Σιτομετρεία," pp. 6 9 - 7 0 ; H a n s o n , The Other Greeks, pp. 7 4 - 7 6 . Foxhall argues t h a t in w a r f a r e , oil a n d winepresses, located most often in the fields, not the trees a n d vines themselves, were p r i m e targets for e n e m i e s r a v a g i n g f a r m l a n d s d u r i n g w a r f a r e . See Lin Foxhall, " F a r m i n g a n d Fighting in A n c i e n t G r e e c e , " in War and Society in the Greek World. J o h n R i c h a n d G r a h a m Shipley, eds. (London: R o u t l e d g e , 1993), p p . 1 3 4 - 4 5 . 89 A m o u r e t t i , Le pain et l'huile, p p . 177 96. 90 T h e s e m e t h o d s received attention a b o v e (pp. 187 89) in a discussion of olive processing in the N e a r East d u r i n g the Chalcolithic period. See also A m o u r e t t i , Le pain et l'huile, pp. 154-66. See also Isager a n d Skydsgaard, Ancient Greek Agriculture, p. 61; Foxhall, " O i l Extraction a n d Processing E q u i p m e n t , " p. 184. T h e R o m a n s w e r e a p p a r e n t l y being overly fastidious in p r o d u c i n g their oil. For R o m a n oil processing, see below p p . 3 8 0 - 9 4 .
4
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Hellenistic period mechanical olive crushers operated on the principal of rotary motion. T h e development of rotary motion is a landmark innovation in food processing technology. Its use in olive processing almost certainly predated its use in cereal milling by a considerable period of time for reasons which can only be speculated upon. 9 1 Rotary motion, unlike back-and-forth or reciprocal motion used in milling, allows for continuous action, and ultimately permits the development of animal and water driven devices. Neither the place of origin nor the date of the initial use of the principle of rotary motion in olive processing can be determined. 9 2 T h e earliest securely dated oil mill, at least part of it, was discovered at Olynthus and dates to the late fifth century or early fourth century B. C. A crushing stone was also found at Pindakas on the island of Chios, and comes f r o m a context datable to the fifth century B. C. as well. These stone artifacts undisputedly belong to a type of rotary oil crusher that the R o m a n s (Cato RR 20-22) called a trapetum (PI. 34). Interestingly, the word itself is Greek, derived f r o m the verb τραπέω, used in reference to treading grapes. 9 3 T h e noun, however, appears nowhere in Greek literature, and so provides little help in determining the origin and date of the rotary oil mill. Rafael Frankel, in his exhaustive study of oil processing in ancient Israel, has identified three basic types of olive crushers, with numerous variations. T w o , found in Israel, North Africa, Egypt, the Levant, and Cyprus, have flat crushing surfaces, while the third, the Olynthian type and its R o m a n descendent, rarely found in Israel but more c o m m o n in Greece, southern Italy, and Alalta, has a concave crushing surface. All three were in use during the Hellenistic period, and, since they differ only slightly in a technical sense, Frankel sees a c o m m o n origin for all of them. H e asserts that the concave crusher reached Italy fully developed "probably" from Greece, a n d remarks that the flat crushing basin predominated numerically in Israel, Syria, and the Levant. H e believes that the simpler fiat type crusher predated the more sophisticated con-
91
Frankel (Wine and Oil Production,68 . )כןattributes the use to the fact that " . . . w h e a t was g r o u n d by reciprocal m o v e m e n t using a h a n d q u e r n , while in m a n y eases olives were crushed using m o r tar a n d pestle action that was partly rotary in c h a r a c t e r . " B r u n suggests that the a p p e a r a n c e a n d spread of rotary oil mills must be seen in the context of a general c h a n g e f r o m small-scale p r o d u c tion for a household or local m a r k e t e c o n o m y to large-scale p r o d u c t i o n for an export e c o n o m y . T h i s would have affected cities a n d regions at different times. J e a n - P i e r r e B r u n , " L ' i n t r o d u c t i o n des moulins d a n s les huileries antiques," 111 Techniques et économie, p p . 6 9 78. 92 K n o w l e d g e a n d use of the principle of r o t a r y m o t i o n m a y e x t e n d back to the Paleolithic period. C o n t i n u o u s rotary m o t i o n was used in M e s o p o t a m i a for the potter's wheel as early as the fourth millennium B. C . See V. G o r d o n C h i l d e , " R o t a r y M o t i o n , " History of Technology, 1: 187-215. •):t Foxhall, "Oil Extraction a n d Processing E q u i p m e n t , " p. 190; M o r i t z , Grain-mills, pp. 57 58; A m o u r e t t i , L· /min et l'huile, p p . 165 66; R o b i n s o n a n d G r a h a m , Hellenic House, p p . 337 39.
Rotary motion
Rotary olive crusher
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cave type. From these observations he concludes that the rotary oil mill originated in the Levant or Anatolia perhaps as early as ca. 7 5 0 - 5 0 0 B. C. N a h u n Sagiv and Amos Kloner, on the other hand, prefer to see the spread in the opposite direction. T h e y conjecture that the rotary oil mill originated in M a c e d o n i a or the Greek islands and spread to the Levant a n d Palestine by way of Macedonians and Greeks who, settling the area in the wake of Alexander's conquests, brought with them the knowledge of the principle. O n c e there the mill was adapted to prevailing local conditions. And finally, Jean-Pierre Brun, though admitting the lack of evidence for it, links the development of the rotary mill with the increase in olive oil production in Attica in the seventh and sixth ccnturies B. C. H e suggests that the Greeks m a y have transferred the knowledge of rotary oil mills to the N e a r East u n d e r the Seleucids and Ptolemies. 94 W h e t h e r the Greeks of the Archaic a n d Classical periods knew and used a prototype of the trapetum with a flat crushing surface derived from the N e a r East, or originated one of their own with concave crushing surface, must remain at present an unanswerable question. H o w widespread was their use of it before the R o m a n period also remains uncertain. W h a t can be confidently asserted is that rotary olive crushers were in use in Greece by the fourth century B. C., and probably earlier. iMtin terms fir parts of the trapetum
Although the trapetum is best known in its R o m a n manifestation, it clearly derives from the Greek rotary mill, which probably worked in a similar m a n n e r . A detailed description of its form, using Latin terms to denote its various parts, and its m o d e of operation, therefore, would not be out of place here. 9 5 T h e rotary oil mill (Fig. 31, p. 383) consisted of two principle parts, the m0rtarìum, the circular stone basin with a concave crushing surface, in the center of which stood a raised pillar, called the miliarìum, having a socket (modiolus). An iron axle (Latin columella), secured into the socket of the center post with lead, supported a wooden beam lying horizontally on top of the miliarium and projecting on either side. Each end fitted through the mortise of an upright, round, lense-shaped crushing wheel m a d e of stone, called an orbis, which sat in the concave interior of the mortarium, fiat side facing inward. 9 6 T h e wood beam, extending through the orbes, provided a handle (cupa) that, when pushed by two men, one on each side, rotated the orbes within the mortarium and crushed the olives placed in the 94
Frankel, Wine and Oil Production, p p . 6 8 - 7 5 ; Brun, " L ' i n t r o d u c t i o n des moulins," p p . 69 78; N a h u n Sagiv a n d A m o s K l o n e r , " M a r e s h a : U n d e r g r o u n d Olive Oil P r o d u c t i o n in the Hellenistic Period," in Olive Oil in Antiquity, p p . 2 8 0 . 8 1 ־ 95 A. G. D r a c h m a n n , Ancient Oil Mills and Presses ( C o p e n h a g e n : Levin & M u n k s g a a r d , 1932), pp. 7 - 4 9 ; Moritz, Grain-mills, p p . 5 7 - 5 8 . F o r the R o m a n trapetum, see below C h a p t e r Seven, pp. 381 83. 90 S o m e trapeta h a d only o n e orbis. T h e O l y n t h i a n oil mill utilized two crushers. Brun, " L ' i n t r o duction des m o u l i n s , " p. 70; Foxhall, " O i l E x t r a c t i o n a n d Processing E q u i p m e n t , " p. 190.
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basin. T h e two orbes could apparently be adjusted by placing wooden disks over the pivot to allow for a separation of their crushing surfaces from the bottom of the basin. In this way the workers could control any blockage caused by an accumulation of olive skins, pulp, and pits. O n c e the olives had been crushed and the pits (perhaps) removed, the pulp was placed on a press and squeezed. H o w early the Greeks used the mechanical press is unknown. A lever-and-weight press may have operated in Late M i n o a n K o m m o s , but the evidence is scant and ambiguous. T h e earliest datable evidence for Greek knowledge of the mechanical press comes from the scene painted on an Attic black-figure skyphos, dated to the sixth century B. C. (PI. 23) and now in the M u s e u m of Fine Arts in Boston. T h e usual interpretation of the motif is that of two men using a lever-and-weight press to express oil (actually a combination of oil and water, called αμύργη, Latin arnurca), from olives contained in a basket. O n e m a n adjusts the first of two weights on the b e a m , while the second worker has grabbed the beam with arms and legs and adds his own weight to increase the pressing power. T h e fact that the basket sits not on a low stone platform but on a less-than-sturdy-looking table with four legs has led some to conelude that what is being pressed here are grapes not olives. T h e distinction is not so important as the fact that this is the earliest art historical representation of the lever-and-weight press known. 9 7 T h e motif is not complete in all details, however. For instance, there is no indication of how the b e a m is anchored on the right. Presumably, it fit into a wall. Secondly, the two weights are either very large stones, a most unlikely option, or else the large objects represent sacks, probably holding many small stones, which have been tied to the beam with ropes. Archaeological evidence, albeit from the Hellenistic period, helps to provide a better understanding of how the early Greek level-and-weight press worked. Little archaeological evidence for Greek oil factories has come to light. Perhaps the best example comes from a third-century B. C. house at Praesos, on Crete. T h e press-room, measuring 9.6 m. χ 8.35 m., had an oblong tank in its center, perhaps to hold olives for pressing, and a low platform running a r o u n d the room. T h e r e was no recognizable means to crush the olives. A stone circular press-bed, similar to one found at fourth-century B. C. Olynthus (PL 24), however, sat on the low platform, though it may once have been raised higher, and apparently supported a lever-and-weight press. It had a ring-channel and spout through which the liquid oil (lowed into a receptacle, no longer present. T h e wall above the press-bed had two sockets, one above the other, into which one
97
Foxhall, "Oil Extraction a n d Processing E q u i p m e n t , " p. 184. Isager a n d Skydsgaard (Ancient Greek Agriculture, p. 63) note the existence of a n o t h e r representation, similar b u t u n p u b l i s h e d , n o w in the m u s e u m at T h e b e s . Cf. note 98 below.
Pressing
Hellenistic Greek lever-and-weight press
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Maresha, Israel
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end of the b e a m was set. T w o sockets allowed the fixed end of the beam to be raised or lowered in the wall, according to the height of the container to be pressed. Since m a x i m u m pressure arises when the beam is horizontal and the pressure exerted is vertical, the ability to change the setting of the beam during pressing to allow for the reduction in height of the mass of olive pulp is critical. T h e narrowness of the margin outside the ring-channel has led the excavator to speculate that the olives were not contained in baskets but placed on layers of folded square cloth. 98 A second, larger press-bed was also found, but it had been cut in two to form the sides of the tank in the center of the room. In addition to a ring-channel, it also had other small channels designed to direct the flow of oil, which overflowed the circular ring-channel, toward the spout. Bosanquet surmises that the large press-bed may have a c c o m m o d a t e d a different type container for the olive pulp, one that was less confining and so allowed oil to spill out over a larger area requiring extra channels to control runoff. T h e smaller, more portable press-bed perhaps used a newer type container m a d e of cloth. T o get a more complete picture of oil processing during the Hellenistic period, we should turn to the N e a r East to the site of M a r e s h a (Tell Sandahanna), located just northeast of Lachish in Israel. This site is instructive for five reasons. First, the completeness of the remains presents a better picture of how an oil factory operated. Second, the similarity of the oil installations with each other indicates that the design a n d specifications for the e q u i p m e n t and their m o d e of operation by the third or second century B. C. were becoming standardized. 9 9 98
R . C . B o s a n q u e t , " E x c a v a t i o n s at Praesos. I," ABSA 8 (1901-02): 259 68. B o s a n q u e t (p. 266) suggests that the material b e i n g pressed on t h e Boston sykphos, s h o w n in a l t e r n a t i n g layers of black a n d white, represents not a basket but layers of cloth holding olive pulp. See also Frankel, Wine and Oil Production, p. 61. For the O l y n t h i a n press b e d , see R o b i n s o n a n d G r a h a m , Hellenic House, p p . 3 3 9 - 4 2 , a n d Pis. 8 1 - 8 3 . 99 T h i s is also the case for the Hellenistic oil installation u n c o v e r e d in K o p e t r a on C y p r u s . H e r e excavators f o u n d a pressing installation similar to that at M a r e s h a but h a v i n g some differences. It lay a b o v e g r o u n d , utilized the local limestone, a n d h a d the basic a p p a r a t u s . Λ small, single-orbed trapetum, ten b e a m weights, a press bed resting o n a low r u b b l e p l a t f o r m a n d s u p p o r t i n g two presses a n c h o r e d into the back wall, a n d two collecting tanks. S o m e of the weights w e r e fixed with an i n v e r t e d - T suspension system, while o t h e r s h a d merely a horizontal b o r e for a t t a c h i n g ropes. T h e large monolithic press b e d (3.72 m . χ 1.30 m.) h a d t h r e e ring-channels. T h e left a n d right c h a n n e l s e a c h s u p p o r t e d a lever-and-weight press; the central ring-channel m a y h a v e served to support the basket after pressing. It directed a n y residual liquid flowing out of the frail, a n d facilitated c a t c h i n g a n y oil that overflowed f r o m the two flanking c h a n n e l s while in use. T h e ringc h a n n e l s directed the liquid squeezed f r o m the olives, the pits of which were f o u n d in the soil below, t o w a r d collecting tanks, s q u a r e in f o r m a n d 70 cm. in d e p t h . R a t h e r t h a n using a spout, the lips of the tank p e n e t r a t e d into slots cut into the press bed. T h e tank was capable of being covered, a n d h a d a small c o n c a v e depression in the floor to assist in cleaning. See Sophocles H a d j i s a w a s , Olive Oil Processing in Cyprusfrom the Bronze Age to the Byzantine Period (Nicosia: Paul Aströms,
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T h i r d , M a r e s h a was heavily Hellenized, and so its oil production no doubt closely reflects Greek equipment and methods. Fourth, one can detect adaptations in response to local conditions. And finally, the M a r e s h a presses show technical innovations beyond the simple lever-and-weight press. Surveyors over the past fifteen years have found twenty oil production plants in Maresha, and estim a t e that the city had perhaps m o r e than thirty dating between the Hellenistic and Byzantine periods. These installations provided the city of ca. 7000 inhabitants with far more oil than locally needed, perhaps 300,000 liters annually. T h e excess was exported to Egypt. T h e oil plants lay underground 111 cool rooms cut from the soft limestone. 100 Although not all pressing-rooms h a d complete oil-processing apparatus, many did. Typically, a Mareshan plant possessed a crushing mill differing from the usual Greek or R o m a n trapetum. Here each basin normally a c c o m m o d a t e d only one lens-shaped crushing stone ranging in diameter between 0.7 m. and 0.85 m. M a d e of local nari limestone, a stone softer than the basalt commonly used in the West, the M a r e s h a n orbes and mortarium were less durable. T h e mortarium, usually with an outer shape that was round, wide, and low, had an external diameter m u c h larger than R o m a n mortana, ranging from 1.6 m. to 1.9 111. T h e miliarium rose higher above the lip of the mortarium and did not have the simple iron pin (columella) of the R o m a n trapetum, but a wooden pole which extended all the way to the ceiling where it was inserted into a depression and sometimes secured by horizontal posts. Each oil plant possessed one or more " i m p r o v e d " lever-and-weight presses, apparently derived from the simple lever-and-weight presses with central collection of Iron Age date. T h e wooden beam, calculated to have been ca. 5.0 m. to 6.0 m. in length, passed between two piers sculpted from the rock a n d rested in a niche cut into the back wall. T h e piers flanked a plastered collecting vat and, in the m a n n e r of a sleeve, served to hold the wicker baskets of olive pulp over the vat, which had a capacity of between forty and ninety liters. T h e piers also provided a place to rest the beam while the vat was emptied or the weights were adjusted. T h e y were usually spaced at about one-third of the distance between the point where the beam sat in the niche of the wall (the fulcrum) and the other
1 9 9 2 ) , 3 4 - 4 0.קנן,esp. Figs. 62 a n d 65; idem, " " I n t r o d u c t i o n to Olive Oil Production in C y p r u s , " pp. 6 7 6 8 ־. A m o n g o t h e r Hellenistic oil installations f o u n d in the N e a r East are Q a l a n d i y e h a n d T i r a t Y e h u d a in Israel. See A n d r e a M . Berlin, " B e t w e e n Large Forces: Palestine in the Hellenistic P e r i o d , " BiblArch 60, no. 1 (1997): 9 (Qalandiyeh), 1 5 1 6 (Tirat Yehuda). 100 Sagiv a n d K l o n e r , " M a r e s h a , " pp. 2 5 5 92; A m o s K l o n e r a n d N a h u m Sagiv, " T h e Olive Presses of Hellenistic M a r e s h a , Israel," in IM production du vin et de l'huile, p p . I 19 36; Arnos K l o n er, " U n d e r g r o u n d Metropolis. T h e S u b t e r r a n e a n W o r l d of M a r e s h a , " Biblical Archaeology Review 23, no. 2 (Mar.-April 1997): 2 4 - 3 5 , 67.
׳improved ״leverand-weighi press
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end. This provided a pressing force approximately three times the weight of the stones. 101 In the bottom of the vat was a small depression useful for cleaning out all the oil a n d any sediment that might fall into the vat. T h r e e stone weights, usually rectangular at the bottom but trapezoidal in section and weighing between 250 kg. and 400 kg. each, normally applied the power to press the olives. T h e most c o m m o n Hellenistic beam weight, used here, was the reversed T-weight. Perhaps a development from the vertical bored doughnut weight of the Iron Age period, this weight had a vertical bore to a certain depth where a horizontal bore gave access to each side. A rope was slipped through the vertical bore and tied to a stout piece of wood or metal rod inserted through the horizontal bore. Some weights found in situ give a good idea of the spacing of the weights along the b e a m . T o facilitate attachment to the b e a m , these weights usually sat in a trough cut below the floor surface on which the press rested. A rope attached to the rod through the top hole in the weight was probably connected to a winch, suspended below the beam that was used to hoist each weight off the ground. Handspikes served to turn the winch and, when braced against the beam, acted as a brake a n d kept the weights secured at the determined height. T h e r e is no physical evidence for winches, which were probably m a d e of wood and have not survived; their existence is assumed from the difficulty a person would face in lifting the large stone weights. Also probably made of wood and so not likely to survive the millennia was a round lid that probably sat on the container of olive pulp a n d distributed the pressing force of the beam over the surface of the frail, which itself has not survived. W h a t it looked like, one can only surmise from art historical evidence, such as the Boston Black-figure lekythos or the fragment of a sculpted relief now in the British Museum. 1 0 2 T h e collection vats had no facility for draining, so the oil had to be bailed after pressing and placed in jars for separation from the water. It was then stored in large tanks, with a capacity of several thousand liters, until moved to market. T h e suggestion that winches were employed to lift the stone weights used in l(
" T h e qualifier " i m p r o v e d " is that of Frankel ( Wine and Oil Production, pp. 76-77), used to indieate presses characterized by technical innovations b e y o n d the simple lever-and-weight presses typical of I r o n Age Israel, particularly those c o m m o n in s o u t h e r n Israel f r o m which the M a r e s h a press derived. For the estimate of pressing p o w e r relative to the p l a c e m e n t of the piers, see Frankel, ibid., p. 61. Frankel (pp. 7 7 - 8 2 ) identifies a n o t h e r possible Hellenistic oil press w h i c h used two slotted piers to a n c h o r the b e a m r a t h e r t h a n a n i c h e in the back wall. T h e Z a b a d i Press, so designated f r o m the location of its best e x a m p l e , is f o u n d only in R o m a n contexts, t h o u g h Frankel suggests that a press using a single slotted pier, f o u n d at U m m el יA m a d in a Hellenistic context, is the prototype. Slotted-pier oil presses will receive m o r e detailed t r e a t m e n t in the next chapter. 102 Isager a n d Skydsgaard, Ancient Greek Agriculture, p. 65, PI. 3.14. See B l ü m n e r , Technologie und Terminologie, p. 34, Fig. 125. F o r the reversed T - w e i g h t , see Frankel, Wine and Oil Production, p. 101.
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presses at Maresha derives some support from the Villa Albani relief in Rome, which shows an oil press with a rope wound around a winch. O n e end of the rope attaches to the beam, while the other end seems to fasten to a stone weight. D r a c h m a n n correlates this apparatus with the weight-and-drum press described by Hero of Alexandria, who probably lived in the first century A. D. l()3 Book T h r e e of Hero's treatise on mechanics describes several oil presses, all of which differ to some degree from typical R o m a n presses and so probably reflect Greek presses. T h e date of the development of this particular variant of the lever-andweight press is unknown, but one during the late Hellenistic period is not unlikely 104 Interpretation of Hero's descriptions is difficult not only because of the technical complexities being described but also because the treatise survives only in a ninth-century A. D. Arabic translation and a reconstruction of the Greek text is fraught with uncertainties. D r a c h m a n n ' s translation and interpretation of Hero's text, however, suggest that Hero used a d r u m , or winch, and two pulleys (not embodied in the excavator's reconstruction of how the Maresha presses operated) to lift weights onto the beam (Fig. 22). A rope attached to the winch fed through two pulleys, one on the beam and one on the stone, and tied to the beam. How the pulley was attached to the weight is not specified. A crosspiece tied to the top of the pulley allowed it to be secured to the beam when the stone was raised. T h e winch was placed not under the beam, which would result in pulling the beam out of its mortise in the wall, but firmly fixed into the ground inside between the weight and the wall. Workers used long handspikes to rotate the d r u m to draw up the ropes through the pulleys and so to lift the stone. A short thick piece of wood inserted into a hole in the winch served to prevent a backlash in case the worker's grip slipped while raising the stone and to anchor the d r u m when the stone had been raised to the required height. D r a c h m a n n thinks that a separate pulley was used to lift the beam when attending to the baskets of pressed olives, a system suggested in the reconstruction of the Hellenistic beam-and-weight presses at Kopetra on Cyprus. This idea, however, rests on no physical evidence other than the conclusion that the building housing the presses was roofed. 105 As sometimes still practiced in Crete, before pressing hot water is poured over
10:!
D r a c h m a n n , Ancient Oil Mills and Presses, p. 67, a n d Fig. 21. See also A m o u r e t t i , h pain et l'huile, p. 168. 104 S. C . Bakhuizen suggests that the w e i g h t - a n d - d r u m |Dress can be d a t e d at least to 350 250 B. C . based on the finds of four large stones "with swallow-tail mortises" f o u n d at Goritsa in M a c e d o n i a . See S. C . Bakhuizen, " T o r c u l a G r a e c a n i c a : A N o t e o n the Archaeology of Olive a n d G r a p e Pressing, , יin Slips Votiva. Papers Presented to C. M. Stibbe. M . G n a d e , ed. (Amsterdam: Allard Pierson M u s e u m , 1991), pp. 1 - 6 . 105 H e r o Mechanica 3.14; D r a c h m a n n , Ancient Oil Mills and Presses, p p . 6 3 6 7 ; ־A. G . D r a c h m a n n , The Mechanical Technologγ of Greek and Roman Antiquity ( C o p e n h a g e n : M u n k s g a a r d , 1963), pp.
Hero of Alexandria
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Fig. 22. D r a c h m a n n ' s interpretation of Hero's weight-and-drum press described in Book T h r e e of Mechanica. D r a c h m a n n , Ancient Oil Mills and Presses, Fig. 20.
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the pulp to assist in removing the oil. U n d e r pressure both water a n d oil (low into the collecting vat. Following pressing, the oil had to be separated from the water. O n e way to do this was to bail the oil, which rises to the top, with a small vessel. 111 a second room of the house at Praesos, however, excavators found a two-handled j a r possessing a spout at the bottom. In a m a n n e r not unlike that employed by Bronze Age inhabitants of Myrtos, Palaikastro, and elsewhere on Crete using clay tubs possessing a similarly placed spout, the Praesos workers could unplug the spout and drain the water. At the appropriate time, they would plug it again, leaving only oil in the container. 1 0 6
Separation of oil from water
6. Animal Processing a. Butchery T h e Greeks consumed many species of domesticated and wild animals, such as cattle, oxen, goats, sheep, and poultry. Before roasting, boiling, frying, or any other preparation, the animal had to be killed and dismembered. The sacrifice of cattle and oxen are fully documented in H o m e r , and formed an important part of the P a n a t h e n a e a at Athens as well as in festivals at other places, such as Delos. These animals were maintained on farms, as indicated by their appearancc a m o n g confiscated goods listed in the Attic stelae; literary references to meat dishes show that they were also butchered for food. Evidence for the tools themselves a n d for the butchery process, however, is meager, and derives prim a n l y from art historical and archaeological sources. T h e latter material includes finds of a few iron knives in Building N:21 in the Sanctuary of D e m e t e r and Kore at Corinth and a knife and butcher's cleaver or chopper in the sanctuary of Hercules at Heraclion on the island of Thasos. Interestingly, both derive from religious contexts and so probably involved tools used in sacrifice. T h e cleaver served to cut through bone, while knives were sufficient to separate bones at the joints and to remove meat from bones. As might be expected for a sanctuary to D e m e t e r over one-half of bones found at Corinth were of the domestic pig and piglet, with far fewer n u m b e r s of goat and sheep bones. These animals were probably sacrificed and later eaten in the dining rooms. 107
1 1 0 - 1 6 ; J . G . Landcls, Engineering in the Ancient World (Berkeley: University of C a l i f o r n i a Press, 1978), p p . 1 9 9 - 2 0 8 . T h e G r e e k s were using the pulley p e r h a p s as early as the eighth c e n t u r y B. C . O n pulleys, see Ps-Aristotlc Mechanica 18.853a־b. Sec H a d j i s a w a s , Olive Oil Processing in Cyprus, p. 39, Fig. 6 5 (Kopetra). "" יB o s a n q u e t , " E x c a v a t i o n s at Praesos," p p . 2 6 8 69. T h e s e vessels also b r i n g to m i n d the E k r o n - t y p e oil separators used in Israel. See above, p p . 2 3 2 - 3 3 . O n use of hot w a t e r d u r i n g pressing, see A m o u r e t t i , Le pain et l'huile, p. 155; Foxhall, " O i l Extraction a n d Processing," p. 184. 107 Pritchett, "Attic Stelai," p p . 2 5 5 - 6 1 ; Bookidis et al, " D i n i n g in the S a n c t u a r y of D e m e t e r
Butchery tools
314 Greek butchery in the art historical evidence
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Some idea of the process of butchery can be gleaned from the art historical evidence. So, for instance, an early sixth-century B. C. Corinthian column crater carries the scene of a m a n holding a large cleaver in one hand while he offers to another m a n a leg portion of an animal of some kind. O n a three-legged table, or tripod, between them lie other pieces of meat. Among the most famous representations of butchery, this time of a tunny, is the scene represented on a fourth-century B. C. bell crater from the Lipari Islands off Sicily. A man has come to purchase a piece of fish from the butcher shown holding a large cleaver and in the act of cutting up a tunny lying on a tripod. A similar theme appears on an Athenian Red-figure amphora, except this time the fish is small, perhaps a mullet. 108 T h e butchery motif tends to be repetitive, showing the typical three-legged table and a cook or butcher holding a large cleaver. T o judge from these paintings and from finds of actual knives and cleavers, it seems that Greek butchery tools and methods have changed not at all from what was typical in the ancient Near East and Egypt. Large choppers served to cut through bone, while smaller sharp knives were best for slicing meat or removing it from the bone. Isager and Skydsgaard's comment on the comparison between the relatively unchanging shapes of agricultural hand tools and the significant technological development in Greek presses and oil-mills probably applies to butchery tools as well: The very production of wine and oil is a case of an industry developing from agricultural products, frequently with a view to marketing, and the multitude of containers for wine and olive-oil goes to show that they were often transported far afield throughout the Mediterranean area. For that reason, it undoubtedly paid to improve working procedures here, whereas simpler manual tools rapidly attained a functional excellence that did not prompt any attempt at improving them in any fundamental way.109
a n d K o r e , " p p . 17-44; Isager a n d Skydsgaard, Ancient Greek Agriculture, pp. 8 9 - 9 6 ; D a l b y , Siren Feasts, pp. 5 8 - 6 5 . For the relationship of b u t c h e r y a n d religious sacrifice, see esp. G u y Berthia u m e , Les rôles du Mágeir0s. M n e m o s y n e Suppl. 70 (Leiden: E. J . Brill, 1982), esp. pp. 1 7 - 6 1 ; Jacques des Courtiis, A n n e Pariente, a n d Armelle G a r d e i s e n , "Sacrifices d ' a n i m a u x à l ' H é r a k 1eiŪn de T h a s o s , " BGH 120 (1996): 815. 108 Sparkes, " G r e e k kitchen," p. 132, a n d Pl. VIII.6. For other examples of butchery a n d of cleavers, see ibid., p. 132, note 6, a n d p. 136, A p p e n d i x No. 65; Berthiaume, Rôles du Mâgeiros, esp. Pis. 6 7, 13 16, 19-20. For cutting u p fish, see Brian Sparkes, "A Pretty Kettle of Fish," in Food in Antiquity, pp. 1 5 0 6 1 ־, Fig. 11.7-11.9. As can be seen f r o m the fish pieces f o u n d in the Punic A m p h o ra Building in C o r i n t h (below pp. 318-IS)), fish h a d also to be cut up preparatory to preservation. T h i s included gutting a n d cutting into pieces of various shape or f r o m different parts of the fish. 109 Isager a n d Skydsgaard, Ancient Greek Agriculture, p. 66. T h e y f u r t h e r c o m m e n t that m a n y tools used in ancient G r e e c e c a n still be f o u n d in m o d e r n G r e e k m a r k e t s in basically the s a m e f o r m , a n d a d d that, " T h i s is not i n t e n d e d to suggest t h a t we are dealing with a r e t a r d e d material culture: r a t h e r , to show that at a very early time m a n developed a technology a d j u s t e d to his environment."
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b. Daiiy Products Milk, except possibly a m o n g rural populations, was not a popular drink a m o n g the Greeks, nor were byproducts from it, except cheese. Sheep and goat's milk were the most popular, though cow's milk, which Aristotle says actually produced more cheese per a m p h o r a than goat's milk, was also used. Specialty sellers sold cheeses by weight in the Athenian market. Athenians could buy not only local cheeses but also varieties imported from as far away as Sicily and the T h r a cian Chersonese or as close as the Cycladic island of Cythnus, Boeotia, and particularly Tromileia, a city in Achaea. N o Greek literary source explains cheese making, but terminology used to describe different cheeses gives a hint at the process. So, for example, Aristotle, in his Historia Animalium, says that milk could be curdled with fig juice or rennet. 111 one of his plays the comic poet Antiphanes, in listing six different cheeses, adds more information to confirm that the Greeks m a d e true cheeses. 111 addition to a fresh and a cream cheese he also notes cheeses that were dry, crushed, grated, and sliced. From this we can surmise that w a r m milk was first allowed to curdle by the addition of fig juice or rennet, the stomach contents of an unweaned calf. After a certain period of time the curds were separated off from the liquid whey. T h e degree to which the curds were drained, through cheddaring or pressing or both, gave rise to cheeses that ranged from soft types that could be sliced to dry ones needing to be crushed or grated. T h e latter kinds required the curds to be squeezed in some fashion, such as today takes place in molds. T h e ancient Greek evidence for this, however, is lacking. 110 ׳
Ο
Greeks were making true cheese at least by the ninth century B. C., and probably earlier. T h e evidence for this comes from the find of cheese graters among the objects in three ninth-century B. C. warriors' graves discovered in the T o u m b a cemetery at Lefkandi in Euboea. Finds of similar items in other warrior graves indicates that the cheese grater was a common item in the soldier's equipment. Soldiers could use this portable tool to grate hard cheese into dough to make bread or over meat or fish as a garnish. M. L. West, in commenting on Homer Iliad 11.63840־, suggests that a soldier might also grate cheese to concoct a palatable painkiller. T h e three bronze cheese graters found in a seventh-century B. C. domestic setting on the island of Pithecusae are probably to be associated with Euboean Greek activity in
110
Cheese
Dalby, Siren Feasts, p p . 66, 108, 13536־. See also Aristotle HA 522a'22-b6; A n t i p h a n e s ap. A t h e n . 402e. Cf. Euripides Cyc. 136. Sec also A r i s t o p h a n e s Ra. 1369 (cheese sold by weight), Eq. 4 8 0 (Boeotia), 8 5 4 (cheese seller); Lysias 23.6 (cheese market); Alexis ap. A t h e n . 12.516e (Cythnus); E p h i p p u s ap. A t h e n . 9. 370c (Chersonese); P h i l e m o n ap. A t h e n . 14.658a (Sicilian cheese); S e m o n i d e s of A m o r g u s ap. A t h e n . 14.658c (Achaea). T h e o c r i t u s (11.20) m e n t i o n s a c r e a m cheese.
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the Bay of Naples at that time. Euboean contacts with the local populations most likely accounts for the cheese graters found in wealthy Italic graves along the Tyrrhenian coastline as far as north as Populonia in Etruria. 1 " T h e Greek cheese grater (τυρύκνηστις) consisted of a flat piece of bronze or iron perforated from one side so as to impart to the other side where the punch exited a series of holes surrounded by burrs, sharp jagged pieces of metal. Most extant graters arc incomplete, so exact determination of usual size is difficult to ascertain. O n e example from Olynthus, for example, had a complete length of 0.107 m. Width of surviving pieces in the best condition seem to vary between 0.057 m. and 0.07 m. A border, large enough to accommodate nails, surrounds the perforated areas. Nails could attach the bronze grater to a wooden frame. H o w it was used can be seen in terra-cotta figurines, such as the example from Rhitsona, dating ca. 500-474 B. C. T h e cook, always shown seated but he could just as well stand up, grasped the grater in one hand, usually by a handle, sometimes decorated with the image of a lion, attached to its upper face, and rubbed the cheese over the sharp surface. T h e cheese fragments fell into a mixing bowl or directly onto the food being prepared. 112
Fish in the Greek diet
c. Fish H o m e r indicates that, as was the case in the prehistoric era, some fishing was practiced in the early Archaic period. T h e scant notice given to fish as food in the epic poems should probably be attributed to the attitude that fishing as an occupation and the eating of fish implied low social standing. Fish was the food of c o m m o n men, not of heroes. Nevertheless, Greeks of all social classes in the Classical age and later were avid consumers of fresh and processed fish. O n e need only scan the n u m e r o u s references to fish m a d e by Greek comedy writers and preserved in the Deipnosophistae of Athenaeus to perceive the Greek love of fish. Greek affection for fish cannot be better illustrated than by observing that the word οψον, which designated generally a relish eaten with bread or meat, came to mean "fish." By the Classical period fish were not a sometime food, but a mainstay of the Greek diet. 113 /
111
D a v i d R i d g w a y , " N e s t o r ' s C u p a n d the Etruscans," OJA 16, n Ū . 3 (Nov. 1997): 3 2 5 4 4 ; ־M . L. West, " G r a t e d C h e e s e Fit For H e r o e s , " J HS 118 (1998): 190 91. 112 Sparkes, " G r e e k K i t c h e n , " p. 132, A p p e n d i x N o . 56, a n d Fl. V I I I , 3 . For G r e e k cheese graters, sec esp. Paul J a c o b s t h a l , "Λέαινα έπ\ Τυροκνήστιδος," MDAI(A) 57 (1932): 1 7, a n d Ι). M . R o b i n s o n , Metal and Minor Miscellaneous Finds. Part X of Excavations at Olynthus (Baltimore: J o h n s H o p k i n s University Press, 1941), pp. 191 94, a n d Pis. 4 8 - 4 9 . For the decorative h a n d l e in the f o r m of a lion, see A r i s t o p h a n e s Lys. 231 32־. See also A r i s t o p h a n e s Av. 1579, V. 938, 963. 113 A t h e n . 7.276e. Plutarch (Timoleon 14) indicates that o n e t e r m for the fish m a r k e t was οψόπωλις. J a m e s Davidson, " O n the Fish Missing f r o m H o m e r , " in Food in European Literature, pp. 5 7 - 6 4 ; Buchholtz et al ,Jagd und Fischfang, pp. 131 80; Η . Ν . C o u c h , "Fishing in H o m e r , " (J 32 (1936 37): 171 72; H e n k H ö p p e n e r , Halieutica. Bijdrage lot de Kennis der oud-grieksche Visscherif
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Since fish die and begin to spoil soon after removal from water, medium and long-term preservation of fish meat became a primary concern. T h e various products arising from the preservation processes created a popular food item for Athenians, who as early as the fifth century B. C. imported preserved fish from eastern regions as far away as Byzantium and the Crimea on the Black Sea and from Spain and Sicily in the west. During the Hellenistic period, salted fish also came to Athens from Cyprus and Italy. Greek terms for preserved fish denote two broad categories. T h e first, τάριχος (Lat. salsamentum), was a general term used to designate any meat, especially fish, preserved by various methods, whether salted, dried, or smoked and preserved whole or cut into smaller pieces. Specific names attached to particular end products distinguished by shape or form in which they were processed, saltiness, and type and age of fish used. So, for example, τρίγωνον (triangular) and τετράγωνον (rectangular) designated particular shapes; ακρόπαστος (lightly salted), τέλειος (fully salted), τάριχος λεπιδωτόν (salted without scales), υπογάστρια (stomach portion), μελάνδρυα (dorsal slice), θυννίδες (tunny), κορακίδια (korakinos), and ώραιον (young tunny) illustrate other end products. T h e second category included the fish sauces, particularly γάρον (Lat. garum) and άλμη (Lat. muria), known from R o m a n sources to have been made from small whole fish and innards of larger species. 114 "fliese terms provide only a hint at the details of the processes utilized by the Greeks to preserve fish. Full descriptions from literary sources date only to the R o m a n period. Therefore, discussion of the technology of Graeco-Roman fish processing will await discussion of the Roman methods. At this point, we can say that Greek fish preservation included the use of salt and a variety of fish cut up in various ways and preserved in different forms, shapes, and sizes. 115
Preserved fish products
Literary and epigraphic sources dating to the Classical and Hellenistic periods ( A m s t e r d a m : H . J . Paris, 1931),11().161 .קנן G r a e c o - R o m a n fishing, see Radcliffe, Fishing-, pp. 6 3 140; D ' A r c y T h o m p s o n , A Glossary of Greek Fishes ( L o n d o n : O x f o r d University Press, 1947), passim; D a l b y , Siren F e a s t s , . 7 6 66 .קבן 114 Cf., e.g., Black Sea: Nicostratus frs. 4, 5 E d m o n d s , A n t i p h a n e s frs. 77 a n d 181 E d m o n d s ; D e m o s t h e n e s In Lacritum 9 3 3 - 3 4 ; S p a i n a n d Sicily: Eupolis fr. 186 E d m o n d s ; T h e o p o m p u s fr. 51 E d m o n d s ; C y p r u s : Poseidippus fr. 17 E d m o n d s ; Italy: E u t h y d e m u s ap. A t h e n . 3.1 16c. See also J a c q u e s D u m o n t , " L a p ê c h e du thon à Byzance à l ' é p o q u e hellénistique," REA 78 79 (1976-1977): 9 6 - 1 1 7 ; C h r i s t o M . D a n o v , " P o n t o s Euxeinos," R E , Suppl. IX (1962), passim. For a m o r e detailed discussion, with extensive d o c u m e n t a t i o n , of the terminology of processed fish in the G r e e k East, see R o b e r t I. Curtis, Garum and Salsamenta. Production and Commerce in Materia Medica (Leiden: E . J . Brill, 1991), esp. p p . 6 1 5 ־, a n d D e m e t r i u s J . G e o r g a c a s , Ichthyological Terns for the Sturgeon and Etymologγ of the International Terms Botargo, Caviar and Congeners (Athens: G r a p h e i o n D e m o s i e u m a t o n tes A k a d e m i a s , 1978), esp. pp. 1 5 4 - 6 1 . 113 A n in-depth discussion of the ancient salting processes a p p e a r s in C h a p t e r Eight, w h e r e the chemical processes at w o r k a n d m o d e r n m e t h o d s of fish preservation will also find description a n d c o m p a r i s o n with ancient techniques.
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clearly substantiate salted fish and fish sauces in the Greek East at least as early as the fifth century B. C., though they probably existed much earlier. A fifth-century B. C. inscription describes the Black Sea as a "place full of fish," while literary sources corroborate fish salting in the Black Sea generally, referring to its products as τάριχος Ποντικός. Particular Greek colonies, such as Sinope and especially Byzantium, were famous for their salted fish products, which they apparently shipped to Athenian markets. Fish were salted at Parion on the southern coast of the Hellespont, at Phaselis on the coast of Lycia, and on several islands off the coast of Asia Minor, such as Samos, Cos, and Cyprus. O t h e r places where tunny watches operated, such as at Halicarnassus and on the island of Lesbos, probably also processed fish. Surprisingly, considering the wealth of literary evidence, archaeological excavation has yielded no trace of fish processing installations in the Greek East dating prior to the R o m a n period. This fact, at least to some extent, has probably led some recent scholars to downplay the importance of processed fish in Greek society and to view its role merely as "a source of sustinence (sic) during periods of scarcity due to reduced crop yields." 116 Excavations at one Greek city, however, have yielded physical evidence for processed fish. Punic amphora building in Corinth
In Corinth during the mid-fifth century B. C. a private house served partially as a residence and partially to store or reprocess wine and salted fish. After rénovations, it functioned totally in this commercial capacity. 117 Local Corinthian amphorae and similar vessels from Chios, Mende, and other places apparently at one time contained wine. Approximately forty per cent of amphorae, however, were Punic, coming from the area of Kouass on the northwest coast of modern Morocco or the southern coast of Spain opposite. 118 Excavators n a m e d this house
" , יT . W . G a l a n t , A fisherman's Tale. Miscellanea G r a e c a , Fase. 7 (Gent: Belgian Archaeological Mission in G r e e c e , 1985), p. 44. But cf. Curtis, Garum and Salsamenta, p p . 1 1 3 - 1 3 1 . Sec also Nicholas Purcell, " E a t i n g Fish. T h e P a r a d o x e s of S e a f o o d , " in Food in Antiquity, pp. 132-49, w h o takes a position i n t e r m e d i a t e b e t w e e n G a l a n t a n d Curtis. See Inscriptions Graecae Metricae. T . Prcger, ed. (Leipzig, 1891), p. 7 (ίχθυοέσσα χώρα); Pontic salt fish: C r a t i n u s fr. 40 E d m o n d s . David B r a u n d points out that most salt-fish described in the literary sources as c o m i n g f r o m B y z a n t i u m in reality p r o b a b l y c a m e f r o m n u m e r o u s locations a r o u n d the Black Sea a n d was merely transshipped t h r o u g h B y z a n t i u m . See D a v i d B r a u n d , "Fish f r o m the Black Sea: Classical Byzantium a n d the Greekness of T r a d e , " in Food in Antiquity, p p . 162-70. 117 C h a r l e s K. Williams, II a n d J o a n E. Fisher, " C o r i n t h , 1975: F o r u m S o u t h w e s t , " Hesperia 4 5 (1976): 1 0 4 - 0 7 ; C h a r l e s K. Williams, II, " C o r i n t h , 1977: F o r u m S o u t h w e s t , " Hesperia 47 (1978): 1 5 - 2 0 ; C h a r l e s K. Williams, II, " C o r i n t h , 1978: F o r u m S o u t h w e s t , " Hesperia 48 (1979): 1 0 7 - 2 4 ; C h a r l e s K . Williams, II, " C o r i n t h Excavations, 1979," Hesperia 49 (1980): 108-11. " B Identification of origin is based on physico-chemical analysis of the clay content of the vessels c o m p a r e d with the geology of known areas of P u n i c a m p h o r a p r o d u c t i o n . T h e Punic vessels c o n f o r m to Punic type M a n a - P a s c u a l A-4a. Y. Maniatis, R . E. J o n e s , I. K. W h i t b r e a d , A. Kostikas, A. Simopoulos, C h . K a r a k a l o s , a n d C . K. Williams, II, " P u n i c A m p h o r a s F o u n d at C o r i n t h , G r e e c e : a n Investigation of T h e i r O r i g i n a n d T e c h n o l o g y , " JFA 1 1 (1984): 2 0 5 - 2 2 .
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the "Punic A m p h o r a Building" from the abundance of sherds of this type amphora found there. 119 M a n y sherds had still adhering to them pieces of preserved bream and tunny (PI. 25). T h e fish had been cut into small pieces convenient for shipping in the clay vessels. These rectangular segments seem to conform to fish processed in salted form or preserved in brine, called τετράγωνον from their shape. T h e r e is no evidence to show that these fish products were originally processed in Corinth. Excavations in the Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore, however, confirm the local consumption of processed fish. Mostly unburncd fish bones, ranging in size between eleven and fifteen ccntimctcrs, found in the dining rooms of the sanetuary may represent the remains either of salted fish or of fish sauce that formed part of ritual meals. 120 T h e most likely place of origin for the bones in the Punic Amphora Building is the source of the amphorae themselves, Spain or North Africa. N o salting installations dating prior to the R o m a n period have come to light in North Africa. Recent finds in the areas of Cadiz, ancient Gades, dating to the mid-fifth century B. C., however, may provide a hint at the technological processes used by Carthaginians in Spain to produce salt fish and fish sauce. At Las Redes, near Puerto de Santa Maria, Cadiz, excavators have unearthed the remains of a salting installation. A building, measuring 10.7 m. χ 10.6 m., possessed five separate rooms. O n e room contained two vats, one square and one rectangular, which may have served for salting whole or dismembered fish. Another room may have served to produce fish sauce, since its floor was covered with a dark deposit, perhaps the decomposed remains of fish sauce. A small hearth for heating the concoction, a step commonly used in preparing fish sauce quickly, was found in the room as well. T he association with fish seems assured by the presence in the house of fishhooks and net weights and needles; a connection with the trade in processed fish is implied by the finds of Corinthian wine a m p h o r a e and Punic vessels of type Mana-Pascual A-4a, the same types found in the Punic A m p h o r a Building at Corinth. O t h e r sites in the Cadiz area, such as in the Plaza de Asdrúba1, seem also to have produced processed fish. T h e Punic salting installations in the area of Gades flourished between 430 and 325 B. C., after which they decline rapidly until disappearing ca. 200 B. C. 121 T h e reasons
119
T h e a m p h o r a f r a g m e n t s w e r e all mixed together, p r o b a b l y h a v i n g b e e n b r o k e n once e m p tied of their contents. T h i s renders impossible the attribution of the fish to a particular container. T h e P u n i c vessels seem the most likely candidates. Williams, " C o r i n t h , 1978," p p . 117 18. 120 Bookidis et al, " D i n i n g in the S a n c t u a r y of D e m e t e r a n d K o r e , " p. 44. 121 G . de Frutos, G . C h i c , a n d N. Berriatura, " L a s a n f o r a s de la factoria p r e r o m a n a de salazones de 'Las R e d e s ' (Puerto de S a n t a M a r i a , Cadiz)," in Ac las 1" Congreso Peninsular de Historia Antigua. G . Pereira M e n a u t , ed. (Santiago de C o m p o s t e l a : Conscllo da C u l t u r a Gallcga, 1988), 1: 2 9 5 - 3 0 6 ; Angel M u n o z Vicente, G r e g o r i o de F r u t o s Reyes, a n d N c r e a Berriatua H e r n a n d e z , " C o n t r i b u t i o n a los origenes y difusiôn comercial de la industria p e s q u e r a y conservera G a d i t a n a
Punic preserved-fish processing in Spain
320
Transfer offish processing technology into the western Mediterranean
CHAPTER THREE
for this arc unknown, but are probably related to the effects of the Second Punic W a r on the Carthaginian economy in Spain. The Punic salting vats, as will be shown below, are similar in construction to R o m a n installations, and so probably served as the model for them. As the evidence for the later period is much fuller, a detailed discussion offish salting installations will be postponed until then. T h e question arises as to w h o first developed fish processing into a commercial enterprise in the western Mediterranean. If one excludes, as seems justified from the lack of any evidence to the contrary, that the industry did not develop indigenously, the candidates are two, Greeks and Phoenicians, both of w h o m colonized extensively throughout the area. O n e scenario would have Greek colonists learn the salting process from inhabitants of the Black Sea as early as the seventh ccntury B. C., and carry this knowledge with them to other parts of the Greek East and subsequently to the western Mediterranean. Greek colonists, specifically Phocaean according to one suggestion, in the sixth century B. C. might have introduced the technology to Tyrian inhabitants of southern Spain. As the Spanish peninsula became more Punicized, however, these inhabitants forgot the Hellenic origins of the salting industry. 122 Most scholars, however, believe that the salting industry was a Phoenico-Punic innovation brought by colonists first directly from the Levant in the ninth and eighth centuries B. C. and later by Carthaginians. T h e Phoenicians in their homeland were active in the purple dye industry, which utilized production methods similar to those employed by R o m a n s to produce fish sauce. It may be more than coincidence that PhoenicoCarthaginian colonial population centers frequently precede the siting of R o m a n fish processing installations. Indeed, the Punic salting industry in Spain must have begun long before the fifth century B. C. if it had developed by that time to the point that it was exporting processed fish to the eastern Mediterranean, and if the product from Gades in particular had a reputation in Athens equal to that for preserved fish produced in the Black Sea salteries. At present, however, no Greek fish salting installations have come to light in the western Mediterranean, while the earliest Punic site dates no earlier than the mid-fifth century B. C. T h e quesa T r a v é s de las recicntes a p o r t a c i o n e s de las factorias d e salazoncs de la Bahía de C a d i z , " in Actos de Congreso Internacional el Estrecho de Gibraltar Ceuta~Noviembre 1987 (Distancia, 1989), pp. 487 508; J . A. Ruiz Gil, " C r o n o l o g i a de las factorias d e salazoncs p ú n i c a de C á d i z , " in Atti del II Congresso Intemazionale di Studi Fenici de Punici ( R o m e : Consiglio nazionale delle ricerchc, 1987), 3: 1211 14; Curtis, Garum and Salsamenta, pp. 4 7 4 8 ; ־Benedict J . Lowe, " T h e T r a d e a n d Production of G a r u m a n d its R o l e in the Provincial E c o n o m y of H i s p a n i a T a r r a c o n e n s i s , " P h . D . diss. University of E d i n b u r g h , 1997, p p . 6 4 . 6 6 ־ 122 R o b e r t Etienne, " A p r o p o s du ' g a r u m s o c i o r u m ' , " Latomus 29 (1970): 2 9 8 - 9 9 ; Carl Roebuck, Ionian Trade and Colonization (New York: Archaeological Institute of A m e r i c a , 1959), p. 127; Curtis, Gamm and Salsamenta, pp. 1 14 15. But cf. R o b e r t Drews, " T h e Earliest Ci reek Settlements Θ η the Black S e a , " JHS 96 (1976): 29.
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tion must, therefore, remain unanswered, although it seems probable that the technology for fish preservation came from the East. 123 Egypt and the ancient Near East during the Hellenistic period also produced salt fish. Diodorus, writing in the first century B. C., says that the Nile River and Lake Moeris contain a wide variety of fish in unbelievable numbers, many of which were processed in saJteries (ταριχεΐα). Salted fish and fish sauce figure prominently in accounts, inventories, and grocery lists extant among numerous papyri. How the Egyptians preserved fish is unknown, but may have been similar to the modern Egyptian method for producing a dried salt fish. They first clean and wash the fish, after which they rub down the gills, mouth, and body cavity with salt. They then stack the fish with alternating layers of salt, finally covering the whole with a dryJ matting ο and allowing Ο it to stand in the sun for three to five days. Then they turn the stack over and allow it to stand for an equal period. That fish were processed in vats, as was done in Punic Gades and later during the Roman period, is not verifiable owing to a lack of archaeological evidence. 124 Our knowledge of Near Eastern commerce in preserved fish during this time is not very extensive. One Ptolemaic papyrus, a collection of administrative documents from Tebtunis dating to 259 B. C., provides information on the movements of preserved and fresh fish within the Arsinoite nome and between the Fayum and Alexandria in the Delta. The documents speak of large consignmcnts of fish, fresh and salted, at Alexandria and the tax levied on them. The quantities noted imply a rather large enterprise, perhaps state operated or one managed by a holder of a gift-estate. 125 Salted fish came from outside as well during this period. Hieron of Syracuse in the late third century B. C., for exampie, sent a ship loaded with ten thousand jars of salt fish as a gift to Ptolemy. 111 259 B. C., Zenon, the private secretary to Apollonios, a treasure official of Ptolemy II, preserved the report and inventory of a four-camel caravan carrying salted fish and other items between Pelusium in Egypt to Galilee via Gaza and Sidon. Along the way Zenon purchased salt fish from Sicily, Byzantium, Syria, and the Greek islands of Peparethos and Thasos. 1 2 0
12:5
G a d e s : Nicostratus frs. 4, 5 E d m o n d s ; A n t i p h a n e s fr. 77 E d m o n d s ; E u t h y d e m u s ap. A t h e n . 3.116c. Curtis, Carum and Salsamenta, pp. 4 6 - 4 7 , 6 5 6 6 ־. O n p u r p l e dye p r o d u c t i o n , see Pliny / / V 9.133. Ben Lowe, in his recent dissertation on fish sauce p r o d u c t i o n in Hispania T a r r a c o n e n s i s , has discussed in detail the question of origin a n d has strongly a r g u e d that it is P h o e n i c i a n . Lowe, " T r a d e a n d P r o d u c t i o n of G a r u m , " pp. 5 2 . 7 7 ־ 124 Forbes, Studies, 3: 1 9 3 - 9 4 . H e r o d o t u s 2.15, 77, 113; D i o d o r u s 1.36.1. A t h e n a e u s (3.118f-119a), a citizen of N a u c r a t i s in the Nile Delta, m e n t i o n s salteries at M e n d e s . F o r accounts, inventories, a n d grocery lists, sec Curtis, Gamm and Salsamenta, p. 135, note. 1 1 7. 125 ρ Teh. 701. See Curtis, Carum and Salsamenta, p p . 135-37. O n taxation o n fishing a n d processed fish, see ibid., pp. 1 3 9 - 4 0 . 126
Sicily: A t h e n . 5.209a. F û r Z e n o n papyri, see P.Col. III.2,- (Egypt), P.Lond. V I I . 2 1 4 1 . ( ״Siei-
Pish /)messing in Ptolemaic Egypt
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7. Sweeteners Honey
Honey was the only sweetener known to the Greeks and, for that reason, was highly esteemed. 1 2 7 Archaeological excavations have yielded a few examples of Greek horizontal bee hives, such as those found at Vari and T r a c h o n e s in the foothills of Mt. Hymettus in Attica and generally dated to the third century B. C. Study of the bees themselves, their hive, a n d its function, however, belongs to the field of apiculture, a subset of husbandry, and so requires only a few comments. H o w the honey was removed from the hive a n d what processes it underwent subsequently arc of greater interest to us, but apparently these topics had little appeal to the Greeks who have left no comments on the subject. Based on some similar late-Roman fragments capable of restoration found near Corinth, the Hellenistic Greek hives found on Mt. Hymettus can be reconstructed as long terra-cotta vessels with wide mouths and a thin disk-shaped lid. Hoops capable of fitting on the opening of the m o u t h could be attached to extend the length of the vessel. T h e bees would build a honeycomb inside the vessel, extending it over the entire length, including the attached ring. T h e farmer could, then, harvest the honey by merely removing the ring extension without disturbing the bees with smoke, which might affect the taste of the honey. This also m a d e harvesting m o r e efficient and faster. O n c e harvested the c o m b with its honey might be sold together in the markets at Athens. Questions concerning the removal of the c o m b and what processing it underwent after harvesting is more difficult to discover, a n d can best be learned from R o m a n writers, who apparently based m u c h of their knowledge on Hellenistic works no longer extant. 1 2 8
ly). See also B y z a n t i u m : P.Cair.Zen. 5 9 6 8 2 ; PSI IV.413; Syria: P.Can.Zen. 5 9 0 1 2 , 59013; P e p a r e t h o s a n d T h a s o s : PSI V . 5 3 5 . For the Z e n o n Papyri, see P. W . P e s t m a n , A Guide to the Zenon Archive. 2 vols. (Leiden: E..J. Brill, 1981). Cf. also Plutarch Ant. 29. 127 G r e e k knowledge of sugar goes back to the f o u r t h c e n t u r y B. C., but it was confined to reports of the sweetener b r o u g h t b a c k to G r e e c e f r o m India. Cf. N e a r c h o s ap. S t r a b o 15.1.20 (C694). Cf. M e g a s t h e n c s fr. I X . 4 1 0 a n d N e a r c h o s Indika 8.61, q u o t e d in Forbes, Studies, 5: 100. 1211 T h e works on apiculture by two Hellenistic Greeks, Philiscus of T h a s o s a n d A r i s t o m a c h u s of Soli, m e n t i o n e d by Pliny ( H N 1 1.19) are, u n f o r t u n a t e l y , not extant. See Forbes, Studies, 5: 93. O n G r e e k apiculture, see esp. Aristotle HA 6 2 3 b 1 6 - 6 2 7 b 2 2 ; C r a n e , Archaeology of Beekeeping p p . 4 5 - 5 1 ; A. J . G r a h a m , "Beehives f r o m A n c i e n t G r e e c e , " Bee World 56, no. 2 (1975): 6 4 - 7 5 ; J o h n Ellis J o n e s , "Hives a n d H o n e y of H y m e t t u s . Beekeeping in Ancient G r e e c e , " Archaeology 29, no. 2 (April 1976): 8 0 - 9 1 ; C r a n e a n d G r a h a m , "Bee Hives of the Ancient W o r l d . 1," pp. 2 3 - 4 1 ; C r a n e a n d G r a h a m , "Bee Hives of the A n c i e n t W o r l d . 2," pp. 148 70; A d r i e n n e M a y o r , " M a d H o n ey!" Archaeology 48, no. 6 (Nov.-Dec. 1995): 3 2 4 0 ; ־Pritchett, "Attic Stelai," p p . 2 6 0 - 6 1 . O n 11υηe y c o m b sold in the m a r k e t , see A r i s t o p h a n e s ap. A t h e n . 9.372b; Eubulus ap. A t h e n . 14.640b.
CHAPTER SEVEN
ROMAN WORLD I
T h e western M e d i t e r r a n e a n region generally enjoyed the same climate a n d vegetation resources as those found in the eastern part. Consequently, the diet also centered a r o u n d the triad of cereals, grapevine, and olive. Italy, Sicily, and certain areas of North Africa and Spain were particularly blessed with rich soils that supported the growth of these crops. O t h e r sections, especially farther north, grew them in less a b u n d a n c e or not at all. T h e olive, for instance, because of cold weather will not survive much beyond a line running across northern Spain and Italy. During the R o m a n period North Africa and southern Spain were m a j o r suppliers of olive oil to Italy. T h e grapevine is hardier and can also grow in areas of western and central Europe. T h e cereals, especially wheat and barley, are found nearly everywhere, though they thrive best in rich soils with Mediterranean climates. So, for example, during the R o m a n period Sicily, Egypt, and North Africa were the primary suppliers of grain to Italy. 1 Defining with precision the geographical and chronological parameters of the " R o m a n world" and the " R o m a n period" is difficult. O v e r time the R o m a n Empire camc to cover a vast and diverse area, not only including lands bordering upon the eastern and western shores of the Mediterranean Sea but also those as far north as Britain and east as Mesopotamia. Additionally, different parts of this expanse c a m e under R o m a n control or influence at different times. Distinguishing the Hellenistic from the R o m a n period at a particular time in one area may, therefore, be inapplicable to a n o t h e r region. So, for instance, the Antigonid dynasty of Greece and M a c e d o n i a fell to R o m e in the mid-second century B. C., but Ptolemaic Egypt did not become " R o m a n " until m o r e than a century later. T h e same point can be m a d e for Sicily and Spain in the western area as well. In general, therefore, for purposes of discussion I have treated the western Mediterranean as a whole, including areas to the north, as part of the R o m a n world, even if not under direct R o m a n control. Innovations in food technology attributed to areas of the eastern Mediterranean, however, are included as part of the R o m a n world only if they can be dated to the first century B. C. or later. 1
Z o h a r y a n d H o p f , Domestication of Plants, pp. 137 (olive), 143 (grape vine); Peter G a r n s e y , Food and Society in Classical Antiquity ( C a m b r i d g e : C a m b r i d g e University Press, 1999), p p . 12 19,
l lie Roman world defined
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ROME I
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Extant sources dealing with food technology during the R o m a n period are far more plentiful, varied, and, in m a n y cases, directly related to the question at hand, than for earlier periods. Particularly valuable are the agricultural writers, Cato, Varro, and Columella, in addition to the encyclopedist Pliny the Elder, who give sometimes quite detailed descriptions of the processes. These provide information on food technology from the second century B. C. through the first century A. 1). Palladius, an agricultural writer of the fifth century A. 1)., provides valuable information for the late empire. Augmenting these literary sources and, especially, providing information for the intervening periods are the numerous archaeological excavations, particularly in the western Mediterranean, and art historical materials, which provide a visual perception of the ancient techniques. Indeed, the R o m a n period offers a wealth of information on food technology for the period between the first century B. C. a n d third century A. D., a period of significant advancement in m a n y areas, especially in milling and pressing technology.
A. Cereal Processing 1. Storage Following harvesting and threshing of ccrcals Romans, depending upon their needs, either moved directly to mill the grain into flour for bread and other cereal products a n d to consume or transport it to market, or to place it into storage for future use. W h e t h e r the purpose was for short, medium, or long-term storage certain challenges arose in maintaining the grain 111 usable form. If the surroundings are excessively hot or d a m p , grain will through respiration give off heat, oxygen, and water, will begin to germinate, become susceptible to the growth of fungi and molds, and ultimately spoil. Additionally, unless maintained in a secure place, rats a n d vermin, such as weevils, gain entrance and either consume the grain or contaminate it through their droppings. For these reasons grain storage facilities had to be dry, cool, dark, and confined. 2 R o m a n agricultural writers discuss various types of granary used contemporaneously in their own day in diverse parts of the R o m a n world. Different climates required distinct storage techniques and so varying kinds of facilities. Varro,
2
T o d a y , grain optimally should he stored in a cool, d r y , a n d d a r k place, a n d m a i n t a i n e d at a t e m p e r a t u r e below 60° F. G e o f f r e y R i c k m a n , The Com Supply of Ancient Rome ( O x f o r d : C l a r e n d o n Press, 1980), p p . 1 3 4 - 3 5 ; W h i t e , Roman Panning, p. 197; A n n e J o h n s o n , Roman Torts of the / ׳׳and 2nd Centuries A. I), in Britain and the German Provinces ( L o n d o n : A d a m a n d C h a r l e s Black, 1983), p. 142.
Underground storage
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writing in the first century B. C., states that grain was stored in underground caves (sub terris speluncas) in C a p p a d o c i a and T h r a c e , while inhabitants of Carthaginian areas of Spain as well as the area around Osca (mod. Huesca) in Hispania Citcrior used pits (putei). T h e latter lined the bottom with straw and sealed them in such a way that neither moisture nor air reached the grain except when opened to remove some. Columella (il. first century A.D.) notes that inhabitants of dry regions, such as those in certain overseas provinces (transmarìnis quibusdam provinciis), stored grain in underground pits (sin). T o which provinces he refers is unknown, but probably included those in specific areas of Spain, Cappadocia, T h r a c e , and North Africa, specifically mentioned by his contemporary Pliny the Elder as characterized by storage in underground pits or trenches (.scrobes).3 U n d e r g r o u n d food storage, however, was not unknown in the Western Mediterranean before the R o m a n s . Indigenous populations of n o r t h e r n Spain a n d southern Gaul, for example, utilized simple terra-cotta j a r s a n d small silos from as early as the Neolithic period. These latter containers, a r r a n g e d in small groups, had depths of a littie m o r e t h a n three feet a n d capacities r a n g i n g from 300 to 400 liters, sufficient for a family-size unit. By the seventh century B. C. they were utilizing silos of various sizes, with the largest r e a c h i n g a capacity of 10,000 liters. T h e smaller ones m a y have stored seed grain for the next year's crop or to feed individual families, while larger ones p r o b a b l y held provisions for entire communities or c o n t a i n e d excess grain e a r m a r k e d for trading purposes. T h e f o u r t h a n d third centuries B. C. saw an increase in the use of silos, particularly in the area a r o u n d E m p o r i o n in n o r t h e r n Spain a n d in southern Gaul. T h i s m o d e of storage c o n t i n u e d in Spain down to the second century B. C. a n d in southern G a u l into the first century B. C. Greeks seem to have introduced into parts of the western M e d i t e r r a n e a n , such as in G a u l a n d Italy, the use of pithoi (Latin dolium), large immobile terra-cotta vessels used to store especially grain or wine. 4 Storage in u n d e r g r o u n d facilities, such as silos a n d pits, or in enclosed terra-cotta vessels, sought to protect the grain f r o m air a n d water. W h e n sealed, c a r b o n dioxide emitted by the grain, which for a period of time after harvesting continues to respire, replaces the available oxygen a n d gives off heat a n d moisture. Any pests a n d fungi so confined would quickly die. Additionally, the cool, dry a t m o s p h e r e in the sealed con-
3
V a r r o RR 1.57.2; C o l u m e l l a RR 1.6.15; Pliny HJV D o m i n i q u e G a r c i a connects this increase in grain western M e d i t e r r a n e a n . See D o m i n i q u e G a r c i a , "Les M é d i t e r r a n é e n o r d - o c c i d e n t a l e a u p r e m i e r millénaire é c o n o m i q u e , " in Techniques et économies, pp. 88 92. 4
18.306. storage with the rise of G r e e k t r a d e in the structures dc conservation des céréales en a v a n t J . - C . : innovations techniques et rôle
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taincr would also slow clown the respiration process a n d so preserve the grain for a considerable period of time. 5 U n d e r g r o u n d or otherwise scaled storage was not the only option. V a r r o (RR 1.57.1) says that wheat should be stored in abovcground granaries (in granaria sublimia) ventilated with windows on the east and north sides. Pliny ( H N 18.301), in terms that recall Greek and N e a r Eastern granaries, describes storage buildings with brick walls three feet thick that were accessed from above and had no windows for ventilation, but adds that others suggest that windows be added on the north or north-east exposures. Columella (RR 1.6.12-14) remarks that some granaries had vaulted ceilings and were subdivided into bins in order to separate out each food item. These granaries were sited above ground on earthen floors. For this reason the R o m a n s specially treated the floor and walls, and in some instances the grain itself, to keep out weevils and other vermin. Columella (RR 1.6.9-16) describes this process in some detail. H e prescribes that the dirt floor be turned over, soaked with fresh unsalted lees (amurca) of pressed olives, and packed clown tightly, as in opus signinum floors. Tiles made from sand, lime, and amurca (specifically not water) should overlay this dirt floor, as well as seal the wall and floor joints. He then suggests applying to the walls a plaster of clay and amurca mixed with (probably crushed) dry leaves of the wild olive. W h e n dry the walls should be sprinkled with amurca. Only then should the grain be placed in storage.·' Additional safeguards in storing grain included spraying amurca directly on the grain itself, and storing it in spikelet form (condita in spied).־ Columella (RR 1.6.16-17) notes that grain stored ground, unless located in dry areas, tended to spoil. areas that have wet climates, such as Italy, utilize an vatcd on supports (pensile horreum), with floors and
5
in granaries sitting on the He then recommends that aboveground granary elewalls specially treated as
V a r r o (RR 1.57.2) says that w h e a t stored in caves a n d wells kept for fifty years, millet for o n e hundred. 6 V a r r o (RR 1.57.1) states that the walls a n d floor should be covered with a plaster of crushed m a r b l e (opere tectorio marmorato), or with a clay mixed with grain chaff a n d amurca. Cf. C a t o RR 9 1 - 9 2 ; Vitruvius De Arch. 6.6.4; Pliny HN 15.33, 18.306. W h i t e (Roman Fanning, p. 197) suggests that the "exceedingly strong a n d n a u s e o u s o d o u r " of amurca would repel v e r m i n . 7 V a r r o R R 1.57.2; Pliny H N 18.299 307. Cf. also Palladius Opus Agr. 1.19. V a r r o ( R R 1.57.2) says that some f a r m e r s use a p o w d e r or spray m a d e of C h a l c i d i a n or C a r i a n chalk or w o r m w o o d , while Pliny (HN 18.306) suggests that an e a r t h f r o m O l y n t h u s a n d C e r i n t h u s in E u b o e a prevents grain f r o m rotting. C o l u m e l l a (RR 1.6.16 17) expressly r e c o m m e n d s against w i n n o w i n g grain that has already b e e n a t t a c k e d by weevils in the g r a n a r y . T h i s serves, he a d m o n i s h e s , only to mix the weevils m o r e deeply into the grain, w h e r e a s leaving t h e m alone restricts their d a m a g e to the u p p e r layers alone. See G e o f f r e y R i c k m a n , Roman Granaries and Store Buildings ( C a m b r i d g e : T h e University Press, 1971), p p . 85-86.
Aboveground storage
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described for granaries sited directly on the ground. 8 V a r r o (RR 1.57.3) had earlier also mentioned that inhabitants of Hispania Citerior and of Italy, specifically Apulia, stored grain in raised above-ground granaries located in the fields (supra terram granarìa in agro sublimia).9 fliese structures, V a r r o explains, have windows on all sides that allow the wind to cool the grain by blowing through the windows and underneath the floor as well. H o w early granaries of this type were built is unknown, but Ibero-Punic granaries located in northeastern Spain and dating from the fifth to third centuries B. C. apparently sat on supports. Rectangular 111 shape with sides ranging from four to six meters in length, these granaries had running parallel to each other a series of three or four low walls, ca. 0.80 cm. in height, which apparently supported a wooden floor. It likewise remains unclear if this structural design was of local origin or, as suggested by Dominique Garcia, constitutes a western Mediterranean variant to earlier Greek and Carthaginian examples. In any case, above-ground grain-storage buildings m a d e of wood a n d raised on supports b e c a m e an important feature of R o m a n granaries. 1 0 Raised grammes in Italy
Excavations have revealed two granaries of this type in Italy, one in Latium at Yicovaro, the other near Ravenna at Russi. Both formed part of larger farm buildings, not isolated structures in the fields, and employed dwarf piers to support a raised wooden floor. T h e granary at Vicovaro was quite large (29.5 m. χ 14.8 m.) and utilized three rows of piers set 3.0 m. apart transversely and 2.8 m. apart longitudinally. T h e small granary (7.0 m. χ 9.9 m.) at Russi had two series of piers formed of two closely spaced rows each. A gap of 3.0 m. separated the two series of piers. Although the wooden superstructure of both granaries is lacking, to judge
ί!
C o l u m e l l a is s o m e w h a t a m b i g u o u s c o n c e r n i n g the relationship between the p r e p a r e d floor a n d the floor of a raised g r a n a r y . It seems unlikely that the w o o d e n floor would have a dirt layer, p r e p a r e d as described, placed o n top of it, a n d o n top o f t h a t a layer of tiles. It is best to a s s u m e that the dirt floor, if actually e m p l o y e d with raised granaries, served as a f o u n d a t i o n over which the g r a n a r y was s u s p e n d e d . ייV a r r o R R 1.57.3. T h e s e m a y be similar to ones attested in n o r t h e r n G a u l d u r i n g the Bronze a n d Iron ages, w h e r e r e c t a n g u l a r structures m a d e of posts a n d wedges m a y have served to store grain in bulk. T h a t these h a d raised floors is u n k n o w n . See G a r c i a , " S t r u c t u r e s de conservation des céréales," pp. 9 2 . 9 3 ־ 10 G a r c i a , " S t r u c t u r e s d e conservation des céréales," pp. 9 2 - 9 4 . Cf. also Pliny HN 11.120. C o m p a r e a b o v e , p . 277, the r e m a i n s of w h a t m a y have b e e n a raised floor in a circular aboveg r o u n d silo associated with a L a t e G e o m e t r i c house in Lefkandi in G r e e c e . R i c k m a n , in his discussion of military horrea, notes that R o m a n g r a n a r i e s at N u m a n t i a , d a t i n g to the mid-second century B. C., show similarities to later R o m a n military honea, particularly to the type c o m m o n in G e r m a n y . H e believes, however, that the R o m a n tradition of g r a n a r y construction m a y go back t h r o u g h the G r e e k East, specifically the t h i r d - c e n t u r y B. C . storehouses o n the acropolis at Pergam u m in Asia M i n o r , to the large g r a n a r y at H a r a p p a , in the I n d u s Valley, d a t i n g to the early seco n d m i l l e n n i u m B. C . R i c k m a n , Roman Granaries, pp. 2 5 1 - 5 5 .
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from the placement of the piers on each side of a wide space the organization of the one from Russi seems fairly clear. Along each side of the interior of the granary and separated by a central aisle and workspace was a series of bins for holding the grain. Another large room at Russi, identified as a barn, also had two rows of similarly spaced piers that may have supported a second, smaller granary." Columella (RR 1.6.9-10) discusses one other type of storage facility. This was the multi-storied farm building that, as in the Greek world, served to store a variety of products. Iii this case, he indicates that liquids destined for market, such as oil and wine, should be placed on the bottom floor, while the upper, presumably wooden, floors stored grain, hay, and other dry products. Ladders provided access to the upper floor, which was ventilated by small windows. 12 T h e foundation of structures of this type would have been at liest, a hard, prepared floor, and, if it survived at all, would not today permit its identification as a granary. Iii sum, then, R o m a n s knew of underground and aboveground storage facilities, and constructed some of them in brick. Nevertheless, at least through the first century A. D., the date of the latest agricultural writer who comments in detail on the subject, R o m a n granaries usually took the form of an aboveground wooden structure, possibly with floors and walls treated with amurca to repel vermin. Proper ventilation, provided by inserting small windows into one 01 ־m o r e walls and by raising the floor off the ground on supports, kept the grain cool and dry. T o what extent the archaeological evidence bears out the literary dcscriptions is our next concern. Almost thirty years ago Geoffrey Rickman published what remains the standard treatment of" R o m a n granaries. 1 3 For Rickman, R o m a n s knew, generally speaking, two broad categories of granaries, civil and military honea, each susceptible of division into various subcategories. This is a useful construct and will be followed here. R o m a n agricultural writers offered advice to farmers primarily concerned with maintaining for the m e d i u m or long term produce destined for family consumption or transportation to market, or with reserving a supply of seed for the next year's crop and, perhaps, retaining a portion as a hedge against a bad year. T h e army, having similar purposes and faced with comparable constraints, on the whole, constructed granaries conforming more to their prescriptions. So, for example, Tacitus (Agiicola 22.2) says that during his campaigns in Britain Agricola built forts stocked to withstand a siege lasting a full year. " J . J . Rossiter, Roman Farm Buildings in Italy. B. A. R. I n t e r n a t i o n a l Series 52 ( O x f o r d : B. A. R., 1978), p p . 57 59. 12 Ventilation of a b o v e - g r o u n d g r a n a r i e s of all types is also a p r i m e consideration for V a r r o [RR 1.57.1), Vitruvius (De Arch. 1.4.2), a n d Pliny (HN 18.302). F o r G r e e k f a r m houses that a c c o m m o d a t e d grain storage on the u p p e r lloor, see a b o v e p. 279. 3 י
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Timber granaries
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R o m a n military granaries could contain any perishable foods but were spedaily constructed to a c c o m m o d a t e grain. Testing on burnt remains dating to the third or fourth century A. 1). found at the army supply base at South Shields in Britain, for example, showed that stores consisted primarily of spelt wheat and bread wheat, the latter possibly representing imported grain, perhaps from northern Gaul. South Shields functioned as the m a j o r food supplier of garrisons m a n n i n g the forts along H a d r i a n ' s Wall. 14 Excavations in R o m a n forts in Britain, G e r m a n y , and elsewhere have shown that, generally speaking, all military forts, except the smallest, would have had one or more granaries within their protective walls, the n u m b e r a n d size determined by the size of the garrison a n d strategic purposes of the fort. Although variations in granary design do exist from one area to another and from one individual fort to another, several basic characteristics serve to define the R o m a n military granary. 1 5 R o m a n military granaries fall into two general categories: timber and stonebuilt buildings. T h e first type, m a d e entirely of wood, typifies R o m a n forts of the first century A. D. Examples include Rögden, Haltern, Vindonissa, and H o f h e i m in G e r m a n y and, in Britain especially the auxiliary forts of Fendoch and Hod Hill and the legionary fort of Inchtuthil. Because of their perishable nature, little physical evidence has survived beyond remains of their foundations. Evidence for ground plans of these granaries show that they were long, rectangular structures m a d e entirely of wood with the superstructure raised off the ground on wooden posts. T h e y averaged between seventeen and twentyfour meters in length and from eight to nine meters in width. T h e supports, usually circular in cross-section and standing up to one meter high, either sat on horizontal beams fixed into the ground, were inserted into individual post-holes, or sat in post-holes aligned along the bed of shallow trenches running either Iongitudinally or, most commonly, transversely. T h e posts a n d the trenches in which they sat were usually spaced about one a n d one-half meters apart. T h e aboveground appearance of these buildings is unknown. 1 6
14
Paul Bidwell, Roman Forts in Britain (London: B. T . Batsford, 1997), p p . 8 5 - 8 7 . See also, for Wales, J . L. Davies, " N a t i v e P r o d u c e r s a n d R o m a n C o n s u m e r s : the M e c h a n i s m s of Military Supply in W a l e s f r o m C l a u d i u s to T h c o d o s i u s , " in Roman Frontier Studies, 1995. W . G r o e n m a n - v a n W a a t e r i n g e , B. L. v a n Beek, W . J. H . Willems, a n d S. L. W y n i a , eds. (Oxford: O x b o w Books, 1997), p p . 2 6 7 - 7 2 . 15 R i c k m a n (Roman Granaries, p. 250) argues strongly that, despite n u m e r o u s differences of detail, R o m a n military forts in Britain a n d G e r m a n y a r c r e m a r k a b l y similar in design a n d fiinction. 16 R i c k m a n , Roman Granaries, p p . 2 1 5 - 2 1 , 2 3 8 - 4 1 ; J o h n s o n , Roman Forts, p p . 144-45, 153, a n d esp. Fig. 105, p. 146, a n d Figs. 1 1 1 - 1 1 2 , p. 154, for a suggested reconstruction of the t i m b e r gran a r y at the L u n t , Baginton, Warwickshire, E n g l a n d , based u p o n the original R o m a n g r o u n d plan.
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Although timber granaries continued to exist, during the T r a j a n i c period stone-built granaries began to replace timber structures as the preferred type. T h e earliest examples thus far known show that this form developed directly from timber granaries, and later exhibited numerous variations. Most stonebuilt granaries were single buildings, measuring usually ca. twenty feet wide, although some were of double width. Lengths varied, but in Britain commonly conformed to a ratio of three times the width. Placement within the fort was usually on high ground near the pnncipia, where the c o m m a n d e r could keep a close eye on the food supply, and near a gateway. T h e y might stand alone, be arranged in pairs facing each other across a courtyard, or be placed end-to-end. Granaries usually sat on a firm foundation of cobble and clay, and walls of squared stone or squared stone facing a rubble and mortar core frequently measured between three and four feet thick. Flooring might assume any one of five different forms. Early stone-built granaries, like timber granaries, had wooden floors supported on a series of dwarf walls r u n n i n g at right angles to the long axis. T h e most c o m m o n arrangement, however, embodied dwarf walls running longitudinally and supporting a wooden floor. M a n y floors were, no doubt, of wood, while a few were m a d e from flagstones. Some granaries, such as at Housesteads (Fig. 23), had stone pillars arranged in parallel rows. Still others sat directly on the ground. T h e granary at C a e r h u n in Wales sat on a cement floor, perhaps constructed according to the recommendations of Columella (RR 1.6.9-16). T h e external walls of granaries themselves, at intervals that could vary between seven and fifteen feet, integrally incorporated stone buttresses, often ranging from two and one-half to three feet square and extending up to roof level. Halfway between the buttresses and located near ground level were narrow vertical openings, or louvers, sometimes splayed inward. These provided ventilation beneath the floor, while keeping out pests. Access to the granaries for loading a n d unloading was through a double-leaved door placed at one or both short ends. T h e doors probably formed the only source of light by which to work inside the granary. Some granaries had a loading platform or steps in front. 1 7 T h e superstructure of stone-built granaries is better known than that for tin!ber granaries, although evidence for a second story, except possibly for the lateimperial fort at Dover, is still lacking. Roofs were constructed of wooden beams covered with tile and possessed a wide overhanging cave. T h e purpose of the overhang was to provide more shade to cool the grain and to prevent rainwater 17
R i c k m a n , Roman Granaries, p p . 2 2 1 - 3 6 , 2 4 1 - 5 0 ; J o h n s o n , Roman Forts, p p . 1 4 4 - 5 7 ; Bidwell, Roman Forts in Britain, pp. 8 5 8 6 ; ־J a m e s C r o w , Homesteads (London: B. T . Batsford, 1995), pp. 51-53.
Stone granaries
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Fig. 23. Interpretation of the North G r a n a r y at the legionary fort of Housesteads on Hadrian's Wall. Crow, Housesteads, ] 5 3.נ,Fig. 32. Courtesy of Chrysalis Books Group.
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from standing at the base of the walls. H o w the grain was stored on the inside remains a matter of conjecture. T h e R o m a n s m a y have stored grain in loose form on the floor of wooden bins lining each side of a central walkway. Some scholars support this suggestion by arguing that exterior buttresses were designed specifically to oppose the outward force of the loose grain on walls that had been further weakened by the addition of louvers. Others think not. T h e y argue that if grain were stored in this fashion, wooden granaries also would have required buttresses, but no evidence for them exists. T h e y conclude that buttresses probably served primarily to support the heavy tiled roof, the thick granary walls alone being sufficient to resist the outward thrust of the grain. Likewise, storage in loose form would have m a d e it difficult to regulate the turn over of grain to ensure that the oldest grain was used first. Storage in wicker baskets or in sacks, however, would solve this problem and render moot the question of pressure on external walls. T h a t sacks were commonly used to move grain can be seen in the wall painting from Ostia, now in the Vatican Museum, that shows the scene of dock workers carrying sacks of grain onto a ship called the Isis Giminiana.18 T h e mention of Ostia brings the discussion to the second general type of granary, the civil horreum. T h e city of R o m e itself apparently did not possess granaries before the time of Gaius Gracchus, who in 123 B. C. pushed through legislation to establish a place for keeping secure the public grain (ad custodiam frumenti publia). Ostia, from the reign of Claudius, was R o m e ' s m a j o r deep-water port. T h r o u g h her docks came most of the goods b o u n d for the city. Chief a m o n g these items was food, particularly grain. Dockworkers offloaded grain from sea-going ships onto small boats or barges for the short trek upriver to the city. W h a t could not be taken up immediately had to be stored. Likewise, what arrived in R o m e had to be stored until distributed. Excavations in Ostia have revealed several grain warehouses, or honea, such as the Honea Epagathiana and the Grandi Honea, sited within the city so as to give easy access to and from the river. G r o u n d plans engraved on the Severan marble plan of R o m e , as well as excavations within the city of such first-century B. C structures as the Ilonea Galbana and Honea Agrippiana, give a good idea of granaries in R o m e itself. 19 Rick-
Civil h o n e a
R i c k m a n , Roman Granaries, 38קנן. 2 3 6 ; ־J o h n s o n , Roman Forts, 57 153 . ;קנןBidwell, Roman 149.)קnotes that the Forts in Britain, 86 85 . ;קנןC r o w , Housesteads, 51.ק.J o h n s o n (Roman Forts, potential coolness created by use of g r a n a r i e s lacking a subfloor ventilation system, such as those sited directly o n a w a t e r - p r o o f e d dirt or flagstone floor, might also r e q u i r e the use of palkns, or p e r h a p s straw, to insulate the sacks. For the Isis Giminiana, see Russel Meiggs, Roman Ostia. 2"11 ed. (Oxford: C l a r e n d o n Press, 1973), pp. 2 9 4 - 9 5 . W h e t h e r the grain travelled by sea in loose f o r m in the hold of ships is a n o t h e r question. 19 R i c k m a n , Roman Granaries, pp. 15-160; Festus, p. 370L.
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Ostian granaries
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m a n ' s study of honea in Ostia and R o m e shows that civil granaries usually conformed to buildings consisting of multiple rows of deep narrow rooms that faced onto a square or rectangular courtyard. Variations in design do exist, however. So, for example, a second Ostian type had two rows of rooms facing onto a central corridor. Rickman sees prototypes for courtyard granaries found in the provinces in the storerooms of second-millennium B. C. palaces at Mari in Syria, the Hittite capital of Boghazköy, and A m a r n a in Egypt. For Italy he is less sure of the direct influence, but concludes that R o m e h a d courtyard honea by the middle of the second century B. C., and perhaps earlier, and that the origin was likewise the East. 20 Ostian granaries, always separated from surrounding buildings in case of fire, had walls up to one meter thick a n d constructed of tufa reticulate or brick-faced concrete. Only a few external walls received any buttressing. T h e r e was a minimal n u m b e r of easily guarded doors and windows that provided some ventilation but little light. T h r e e honea in the city had longitudinally aligned dwarf walls that elevated the floor only about forty centimeters off the ground. Bipedal bricks spanning the distance between the walls permitted construction of a raised floor not of wood but one consisting of several courses of brick or stone slabs. T h u s these particular granaries, brick a n d cement structures with a brick or stone floor resting on dwarf walls, differed significantly from the aboveground wooden granaries described by the agricultural writers and seen in military horrea in Britain and G e r m a n y . Rickman dates this particular innovation not before the second century A. D. 21 T h e internal layout of Ostian honea consisted primarily of a series of rooms (eellae) to store grain in bulk or, more likely, contained in sacks. T h e Grandi Horrea, for example, had sixty-four such rooms measuring between 4.5 m. and 5.5 m. in width a n d from 7.0 m. to 17.5 m. in depth. Stairwells found in some Hadrianic and later honea indicate the presence of upper stories. W h a t these contained is unknown, but, since the flooring was most likely of wood, they probably did not have the same load capacity as the lower floors, which rested on the dwarf walls. Roofs of the individual rooms were formed of large barrel or cross vaults. T h e roof of the honea itself was probably gabled, and had gutters for drainage and eaves extending out perhaps about three feet. 22 20
R i c k m a n , Roman Granaries, p p . 1 4 8 - 5 5 . O t h e r variations included in Portus a n d occasionally at R o m e the discarding of the c o u r t y a r d altogether a n d a r r a n g i n g the rows of r o o m s back-to-back facing in opposite directions. 111 Asia M i n o r a n d N o r t h Africa g r a n a r i e s often consisted only of o n e row of very d e e p r o o m s all facing in the s a m e direction. 21 R i c k m a n , Roman Granaries, pp. 7 7 . 9 7 293' ,84־ 22 R i c k m a n , Roman Granaries, ]Dp. 7 7 8 6 ; ־G u s t a v H e r m a n s e n , Ostia. Aspects of Roman City Life ( E d m o n t o n : University of A l b e r t a Press, 1981), p p . 227 37.
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T h e city o f K a r a n i s in Egypt had ten large granaries, probably state or lern- Granaries pie-owned, a n d n u m e r o u s smaller, private ones. R o o m s in the southern section Egypt of one first-century A. D. granary were built on two levels. In an arrangement similar to some Ostian granaries, five rooms on each side faced out onto a central corridor. T h e floors of the ground-floor rooms were about three feet lower than the corridor a n d had partitions dividing them into from four to six separate bins. Each room had a small window in the wall just below the vaulted ceiling situated a little over nine feet above the floor. T h e walls of the rooms were covered with a m u d plaster and were m a d e even darker by being coated with carbon. T h e vaulting of the rooms provided the support necessary to maintain the upper floor. T h e northern section had a n u m b e r of vaulted rooms, large unroofed bins, and numerous small bins, plus another twenty u n d e r g r o u n d vaulted rooms accessed through trap doors in the floor of the corridors. T h e open bins, reminiscent of the type granary bin seen in the wooden model from the Twelfth-Dynasty T o m b of Meket-re, could serve just as well as vaulted bins to store grain, at least for a short period of time, since the Egyptian climate was sufficiently dry to avoid spoilage. T h e vaulted bins, capable of being locked, m a y have operated for long-term storage of private grain, while the open bins could have contained grain to be held for only a short time before being sent to state O
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of Roman
ο
or temple bakeries or transferred to state granaries for distribution or export. Grain for export from Alexandria was loaded onto large ships that plied their way to Puteoli or Ostia. Enroute grain might be offloaded for temporary storage or for transshipment at certain places, such as at M y r a and Patara 011 the southern coast of Lycia a n d at Tholos on the northeastern coast of Crete. 2 3
2. Milling T h e Olynthian hopper mill was not only being used in the western Mediterranean by the mid-fourth century B. C., but was also being produced there as well. The shipwreck off the coast of Mallorca, Spain, at Sec, dated to ca. 3 7 5 - 3 5 0 B. C., for example, contained thirty-eight Olynthian mills (PI. 21) made of basalt mined and shaped on the island of Pantelleria, located between Sicily
23
Elinor M . H u s s e l m a n , " T h e G r a n a r i e s o f K a r a n i s , " TAPA 83 (1952): 5 6 - 7 3 ; Breasted, Egyptian Semant Statues, Pl. 1 l b ; YVinlock, Models, passim. T h e C r e t a n g r a n a r y , which dates to the late first or early second century Λ. 1)., is similar to g r a n a r i e s in Ostia. T h e large (55.7 m. χ 9.60 m) o b l o n g building was constructed of c o n c r e t e faced o n the inside with brick a n d on the exterior with dolomite blocks. T h e d o o r is of opus signinum, a n d t h e walls, which rise to two stories, h a d ten buttresses. D o n a l d C . Haggis, " T h e Port of T h o l o s in Eastern C r e t e a n d the Role of a R o m a n H o r r e u m A l o n g the Egyptian ' C o r n ' R o u t e , " OJA 15, no. 2 (July 1996): 183-209. O n transporting grain f r o m the source to R o m e , sec R i c k m a n , Com Supply, pp. 120 55.
lie Olynthian hopper mill
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and the coast of North Africa. Olynthian-type mills continued in use at certain places in the western Mediterranean during the R o m a n period. So, for instance, excavations at Morgantina on Sicily yielded lever mills in contexts datable between the late fourth century B. C. and the mid-first century B. C. T h e i r use in Italy can be assumed from at least the mid-second century B. C., if, as seems likely, the mala trusatilis, mentioned by Cato, is the Latin expression for the Olynthian hopper, or push, mill. 24 Also found in the Sec wreck were two small hour-glass mills similar to animal-driven rotary mills c o m m o n to Pompeii (PI. 27). T h e stone for these mills came from Mulargia in Sardinia. T h e Sec mills are the earliest rotary mills of this type thus far known. T h e combination of hopper mills and rotary mills found in a single shipwreck is paralleled by the contemporaneous existence of these two type mills at Morgantina in contexts dating to the third century B. C. Therefore, by the early fourth century B. C. at the latest the western Mediterranean knew both the Greek reciprocal motion hopper-rubber mill and the true rotary grain mill, a type unknown in the Greek world at this time. Since Cato mentions a mold asinaria, or donkey-driven mill along with the mola trusatilis, apparently the R o m a n s knew both (though they rarely used the Olynthian mill) by at least the early to mid-second century B. C. 25 T h e animal-driven Pompeian mill, however, was not the only nor was it the earliest grain processing apparatus operating on the principle of rotary motion. Rotary motion
T h e origin and date of the application of rotary motion to milling grain remains shrouded in mystery. V. G o r d o n Childe, writing in 1943 in response to articles published earlier by Cecil C u r w e n , first suggested that rotary motion used in grain processing on a h a n d q u e r n h a d a western Mediterranean, specilically Spanish, origin, an idea taken up a few years later by Moritz. Whereas C u r w e n saw the rotary h a n d q u e r n as later than and derived from the animaldriven Pompeian mill, Childe suggested the reverse sequence. He saw the nccessity of an efficient and portable apparatus for grinding grain arising not from any u r b a n and commercial context, where C u r w e n argues that the larger donkey-mill would have arisen, but from the need of soldiers on campaign or in c a m p to grind grain into flour. H e cites the presence of rotary hand querns in
24
C a t o RR 10.4, 11.4; W i l l i a m s - T h o r p e a n d T h o r p e , "Millstone P r o v e n a n c i n g , " pp. 115-37; W h i t e , " S u r v e y of Millstones," p p . 2 0 4 05; M o r i t z , Grain-Mills, p p . 62 66. An O l y n t h i a n h o p p e r r u b b e r of R o m a n d a t e was also f o u n d in M o n t a l t o in eastern Sicily. See O l w e n W i l l i a m s - T h o r p e , " P r o v e n a n c i n g a n d Archaeology of R o m a n Millstones f r o m the M e d i t e r r a n e a n A r e a , " JArchSci 15 (1988): 261. 25 M o r i t z (Grain-Mills, p p . 6 3 64, 67 73) notes that mills or mill houses (pistrina) receive m e n tion fifteen times in the plays of Plautus, w h o , himself, is s u p p o s e d to have w o r k e d in a mill house. T h e reference to a d o n k e y mill in the Asinaria (lines 2 0 8 - 0 9 ) implies the knowledge of the rotary mill. If a c c u r a t e , r o t a r y mills o p e r a t e d in Italy at least by ca. 184 B. C . , the d a t e of Plautus' d e a t h .
S
ROME I
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337
the R o m a n c a m p at N u m a n t i a in 150 B. C. that resembled the Spanish type, Spanish rotary hand labeled mola hispaniensis by Cato. 2 6 T h e Spanish cylindrical h a n d quern had a quem lower stone with a slightly convex shape, while the upper stone was slightly concave on the bottom and had a shallow, flat-bottomed hopper on top. It also had projections on the sides, similar to handles found on some saddle-querns f r o m which this type rotary q u e r n appears to have derived. T h e handle ends had vertical slots in which to insert wooden handles to rotate the stone. 27 Childe had suggested that rotary querns were operating in Spain by the fourth century B. C., but recent excavations in northeastern Spain have found examples dating a century earlier. These millstones measure between thirty and forty-three centimeters in diameter and stand about ten centimeters high. Their appearance in Spain m a y be related to the development of iron tools, which may have allowed stone cutters to fashion the precise shapes, and the appearance of the potter's wheel, which m a y have suggested the idea of rotating the upper stone. T h e innovation of rotary motion to process increased amounts of grain may also be linked to the contemporaneous increase in grain storage facilities in the area. From Spain the rotary h a n d mill spread into southern Gaul between the fourth and second centuries B. C., into Sicily by the third century B. C., and ultimately into northern Europe a n d Britain by the Íirst century B. C. Its spread probably owed m u c h to the movements of the R o m a n army. 2 8 Rotary h a n d mills are a Military rotary hand c o m m o n find a m o n g R o m a n military forts, such as at Haltern in Westfalia and mills Chesters on H a d r i a n ' s Wall (PI. 26). Some, such as those found in Britain at Greatchesters a n d in G e r m a n y at Mainz, Wiesbaden, and Straubing, bore
26
C a t o RR 10.4, 1 1.4; Ε. Cecil C u r w e n , " Q u e r n s , " Antiquity 1 1 (1937): 133 51; i d e m , " M o r e A b o u t Q u e r n s , " Antiquity 15 (1941): 15 32; V . G o r d o n C h i l d e , " R o t a r y Q u e r n s o n the C o n t i n e n t a n d in the M e d i t e r r a n e a n Basin," Antiquity 17 (1943): 19-26; M o r i t z , Grain-Mills, pp. 103 21. C u r w e n ( " Q u e r n s , " p. 137; " M o r e About Q u e r n s , " p. 16) t h o u g h t that the Greeks h a d invented the a n i m a l - d r i v e n rotary mill by the fifth c e n t u r y B. C., a n d believed that this type p r e c e d e d the rotary h a n d mill. Cf. C u r w e n , " M o r e A b o u t Q u e r n s , " p. 15: " [ D o n k e y mills] w e r e a p r o d u c t of u r b a n civilization, in w h i c h they stood for f o o d - p r o d u c t i o n on a c o m m e r c i a l scale. A q u e r n , w h e t h e r of the saddle or rotary variety, was an i n s t r u m e n t of peasant-culture, that is, of individual f o o d - p r o d u c t i o n . T h e first application of the rotary principle to c o r n - g r i n d i n g was such a prof o u n d d e p a r t u r e f r o m existing practice that it c a n n o t well be r e g a r d e d as a n o r m a l d e v e l o p m e n t f r o m the i m m e m o r i a l s a d d l e - q u e r n , the m o v e m e n t of which was oscillatory." 27 Childe, " R o t a r y Q u e r n s , " p. 20, esp. Fig. I; M o r t i z , Grain-mills, pp. 1 10. T h e N u m a n t i a n q u e r n s h a d holes in the u p p e r stone n e a r the edge for inserting w o o d e n handles. 28 M a r t i n e z , " O r i g e n y expansion del m o l i n o rotativo b a j o , " pp. 15 19, 235. T h a t the inventor was an indigenous S p a n i a r d o r s o m e o n e of P u n i c descent r e m a i n s u n k n o w n . In Britain a n o t h e r type q u e r n also a p p e a r e d , the " b e e h i v e " type, c h a r a c t e r i z e d by a r a t h e r flat, thick u p p e r stone of small d i a m e t e r h a v i n g a vertically slotted hole for a w o o d e n handle. M o r t i z , Grain-mills, p p . 109 10; Childe, " R o t a r y Q u e r n s , " pp. 19 20. For a m a p s h o w i n g the distribution of rotary h a n d mills, see W i l l i a m s - T h o r p e , " P r o v e n a n c i n g a n d Archaeology, י יp. 259, Fig. 3c.
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The Moretum
inscriptions identifying them as belonging to a specific century. Apparently each century, or even contubernium, h a d its own quern, which was used to grind the individual soldier's grain ration. 2 9 T h e author of the Moretum, or "Vegetable Salad," a poem dating to the Augustan period and traditionally ascribed to Vergil, describes the operation of a rotary hand mill by a poor Italian peasant farmer who grinds grain to make his bread: 3 0 Then he calls his hands to work, distributing it to each one. The left hand is intent upon assistance, the right upon work. The latter rotates and impels the disk in continuous circles (the grain struck repeatedly runs from the swift blow of the stones), occasionally the left hand takes over from her tired sister and changes roles; now he sings rustic songs and by a rude voice eases his work (24-30). Then, When the revolving work discharged its proper end, then by hand he transferred the copious (lour into a sieve and shook. The dark detritus remains on top, the pure material settles down, and the cleaned flour is filtered through the holes (38 42).
Design and function of the rotary hand mill
It seems, then, that hand mills were individually operated. O n e hand fed the grain through a hopper, while the other turned the upper stone. This was apparently tiresome and boring work, as the miller exchanged hands when he became tired, and he accompanied his labors with song. W h e n finished, he strained the flour through a sieve to separate it from the chaff and any fragments of stone that had been sheared off. From this description, it seems clear that two important factors had to be considered in mill design: case of turning the upper stone and fineness of the finished product. A quick look at mill construction will show how these problems were solved. Although the author of the Moretum does not describe the h a n d mill itself, its appearance and technical features can be seen in the m a n y examples found in R o m a n military forts in Britain and elsewhere. Curwcn's study of rotary hand mills in Britain revealed n u m e r o u s variations to the rotary quern over time and
29
J o h n s o n , Roman Fork,198-200 .קנן, a n d Fig. 151. Moretum 2 4 - 3 1 : Advocat hide manus open, partitus utroque/ laeva ministerio, dexlra est intenta laboriJ Haec rotat adsiduum gyris et concitat orbem/ (tunsa Ceres silicum rapido decurrit ab ictu),/ interdum Jessae sueMorecedit laeva sorori/ altematque vices, modo rustica carmina cantat/ agiestique suum solatur voce laborem tum 3 8 - 4 2 : Postquam implevil opus iustum versatile JinemJ transfert inde manu fusas in cribra farinas/ et quatit; atra manent summo purgamina dorso,/ subsidit sinceia foraminibusque liquatur/ emundata Ceres. T h e w o r d moretum refers to a simple, rustic m e a l c o i r p o s e d of various herbs, vinegar, olive oil, a n d salt. For the a u t h o r a n d date, see E . J . K e n n e y , 77ie Ploughman's Lunch. Moretum. A Poem Ascribed to Virgil (Bristol: Bristol Classical Press, 1984),קנן. xxi xxiii. 30
ROM κ ι
339
between geographical locations. In general, the rotary hand mill of the R o m a n period consisted of two parts, an upper or running stone, called the catillus, a n d a lower, stationary one, or meta, both usually m a d e of volcanic stone. Cut into the center of the lower stone was a socket into which was fixed a thin, vertically positioned spindle m a d e of wood or iron. T h e upper stone had a centrally placed hole penetrating its entire thickness, through which the spindle fit. T h e upper surface of the catillus usually had a shallow hopper to hold the grain surrounding the central hole; sometimes the surface was fiat except for a low lip around the hole or near the outer edge of the stone. T h e hole through the upper stone was oval-shaped or round with slots on either side to allow free passage of the grain past the spindle into the space separating the two grinding stones. 31 T h e placement of the top stone on the bottom and the location of the handle were crucial elements in the proper operation of the h a n d mill. O n the bottom surface of the catillus a dovetail cutting on both sides of the hole a c c o m m o d a t e d a similarly shaped rynd, a wooden or iron bar with a centrally placed hole or a socket on its lower surface. T h e rynd spanned the hole but did not completely block it. T h e spindle, whose head seated into the hole or socket, partially supported the weight of the upper stone and, when properly positioned, permitted a slight separation of the stones. T h e kernels, then, could drop through the hole past the rynd a n d into the opening between the two stones where they were ground. T h e spindle also served to keep the stones concentric, one aligned on top of the other. T h e use of the rynd and spindle as well permitted the grinding surfaces of the stones to become flatter, though never completely so, and allowed for a thinner upper stone and so a lighter apparatus overall. Grooves or furrows sometimes cut into the grinding surfaces of both upper and lower stones facilitated discharge of flour and chaff. 32
Catillus and m c t a
A wooden handle seated vertically into a hole in the top millstone allowed for ease of grasping and rotating the upper stone. Some h a n d querns with thick, or "bee hive-shaped" upper stones had horizontal holes for the handle, while flatter querns sometimes had a groove cut into the top surface radiating out from the
Handle
31
C u r w e n , " Q u e r n s , " pp. 137-50; idem, " M o r e A b o u t Q u e r n s , " pp. 16-26; Henri A m o u r i c , "L'anille et les meules," in Techniques et économie, pp. 44 45; M a r c u s ] u n k e l m a n n , Panis Militaris. Die Ernährung des römischen Soldaten oder der Grundstoffder Macht (Mainz a m R h e i n : Philipp von Z a b e r n , 1997), p. 116, Fig. 57. 32 Earlier mills h a d slight c u r v a t u r e s of both u p p e r a n d lower stones (convex in the latter instance, c o n c a v e for the former) to keep t h e m concentric d u r i n g o p e r a t i o n . T h e convexity of the lower stone also served to direct the meal d o w n toward the sides as the grain was crushed a n d g r o u n d . A m o u r i c , "L'anille et les meules," p p . 39 43; M o r t i z , Grain-mills, p. 117; C u r w e n , " Q u e r n s , " p. 145. R u n n e l s ( " R o t a r y Q u e r n s in G r e e c e , " p. 148, Fig. 1.1) notes that R o m a n q u e r n s f o u n d in G r e e c e h a d the r y n d m o u n t e d on top of the catillus. See also K a r d u l i a s a n d R u n nels, Artifact and Assemblage, p. 125.
Rynd and spindle
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center. In either case, the horizontal shaft probably had a vertical hole at the end for inserting an upright handle. O n e h a n d mill found in the R o m a n fort of Chesters on Hadrian's Wall had an iron ring a r o u n d its circumference that included a vertical socket for a wooden handle (PI. 26); another mill, dating to the Augustan period, found at Haltern, in G e r m a n y , had an iron ring embedded into the edge of the stone. Placing the handle farther out from the center makes rotating the upper stone easier. It allowed the a r m to extend farther and traverse a wider arc, thereby permitting the application of more leverage on the upper stone to cause it to rotate faster a n d more smoothly. Curwen reconstructed several rotary h a n d querns a n d experimented with grinding wheat. He describes the results thus, The upper and lower stones should fit so that they are in light contact all round the outer edge, but nearer the centre there should be a little space between them. When a handful of grain is fed into the central aperture some of it immediately passes into this space, and as the individual grains work outwards toward the periphery they lift the upper stone slightly off the spindle; in this way they take the full weight of the revolving stone. It is here, near the outer edge, that the grinding is done, but the slight lifting of the upper stone inevitably allows a few whole grains and a good many partly crushed grains to escape round the circumference. After this the upper stone settles down as the remaining grains are crushed smaller and smaller, and if for the time being no more whole grains are fed in to the quern, really fine flour is produced. If, however, the quern is worked empty for too long, grit from the stones may get into the flour. Bridge-tree
The friction produced by the upper stone riding over the lower, even if confined to the outer edges, would have generated enough resistance to keep down the speed of rotation and to have produced a coarse meal of uneven fineness mixed with stone shavings. 33 An innovation in mill design, noted as early as ca. A. D. 70 at Glastonbury in Britain, permitted adjustments in the separation of the two grinding stones to allow the miller a choice in the fineness of meal produced. As in modern Scottish rotary mills and similarly with Olynthian hopper-rubber mills, the two stones rested on a table. A long spindle passed from below through the table and lower stone, now perforated throughout its thickness. It then penetrated through the rynd affixed to the bottom of the u p p e r stone. T h e base of the spindle sat on a wooden lever, or "bridge-tree," located beneath the table. T o increase or decrease the space between the lower a n d upper stones the miller merely twisted 33
C u r w e n , " M o r e A b o u t Q u e r n s , " p p . 2 5 2 9 ־, a n d Fig. 26; M o r i t z , Grain-mills, p p . 1 0 6 - 0 7 ; C u r w e n , " Q u e r n s , , יpp. 140 50. For the H a l t e r n mill, see J u n k e l m a n n , Panis Militaris, p. 116, Fig. 57.
ROME I
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a wooden handle attached to a string fed through a hole in the table and tied to the free end of the lever. T h e twisting of the string raised or lowered the bridgetree, which, in turn, imparted the same movement to the spindle. Because the spindle carried the weight of the upper stone, as the spindle rose or fell the space between the grinding stones increased or decreased, respectively. 34 Although the h a n d mill probably produced a more finely ground meal and could be operated by both male and female, the donkey-driven, or hour-glass, mill had the advantage of providing a greater output per unit of time. It became the primary commercial milling apparatus until the water mill. This type of rotary mill is frequently called the Pompeian mill from its c o m m o n appearance in R o m a n Pompeii in southern Italy. This specific type mill probably developed in the region, but the basic design and technology goes back at least to the early fourth century B. G. and probably earlier. T h e oldest datable examples arc the two mills found in the Sec wreck near Mallorca. M a d e of lava from Sardinia and probably taken aboard ship in Carthage, they arc thus far unique. T h e upper stone (catillus) is shorter than later types, measuring about 42 cm. in height, has straight sides, and handles positioned at the base rather than half way up. T h e meta has been likened to a "fat cigar" a n d lacks a hole at the top to support a spindle. 35 T h e closest parallel to the Sec mill is the Morgantina mill, so called from its discovery in Sicily at Morgantina (Fig. 24) a n d dated to the third century B. C. 3 6 T h e short u p p e r stone (catillus) has externally a slight inward curve to its sides reflecting the internal shape of two unequal cones. T h e upper cone, usually of shorter length, served as a hopper, while the lower cone fit over the top of the lower stone (meta), which was cut in the shape of a cone and seated in a cylindrical base. This particular design m a d e it impossible, as with later Pompeian mills, to reverse the catillus. At the bottom of the catillus on each side was a projecting socket that supported rectangular wooden beams, which, when pushed, rotated the upper stone. Pins secured the beams in the socket. O n the top rim of the upper stone at 90° from the position of the projecting sockets two notches probably supported a wooden lid or hopper extension. T h e cone of the meta was truncated forming a flat surface, many of which had a vertical hole cut into the top, perhaps to support a spindle. T h e fact that the M o r g a n t i n a mill is relatively 34
A m o u r i c , "L'anille et les meules," pp. 40 41, esp. Fig. 4; M o r i t z , drain-mills, pp. 118 21, a n d Fig. 1 1. M o r i t z (p. 120) notes that the existence of completely p e r f o r a t e d lower stones does not necessarily imply that the mill was adjustable, as o t h e r possibilities m a y a c c o u n t for this feature. 35 YVilliams-Thorpe a n d T h o r p e , "Millstone P r o v e n a n c i n g , " pp. 1 18 19. 36 W h i t e , " S u r v e y , " pp. 202 04. W i l l i a m s - T h o r p e a n d T h o r p e ("Millstone P r o v e n a n c i n g , " p. 118) m e n t i o n o t h e r P o m p e i a n - t y p e mills f o u n d on Sicily at Akrai, M a g a r a H y b l a e a a n d Punic M o t y a . A meta f r o m the latter site m a y go back to the fifth c e n t u i y B. C .
Animal-driven rotary mills
The Morgantina mit!
342
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Pig. 24. Comparison between the Pompeian donkey mill and the Morgantina type. From White, "Survey of Millstones from Morgantina," Pl. 48, Fig. 10. Courtesy of Donald White.
ROME II
343
small, measuring between 23.0 cm. and 35 cm. in height, has led some scholars to suggest that this type, unlike the later, and larger, Pompeian mill, was driven by h u m a n power, probably slaves. 37 H o w the idea of applying rotary motion to milling grain arose in Sicily is unknown. Donald White has tentatively suggested that Spanish mercenaries, brought to Sicily by Carthaginians as early as 480 B. C., introduced the knowledge of rotary milling to the Sicilian Greeks. T h e latter, sometime during the fourth century B. C., extended the idea of rotary hand mills to larger h u m a n driven rotary mills. White posited his suggestion in 1963 when evidence was lacking for Spanish rotary h a n d mills dating to the fifth century B. C. Recent finds in Spain lend strong support to his idea, but examples of rotary hand mills in Sicily remain few a n d m u c h later in date. T h e fact that the Pompcian-style rotary mill found in the Sec wreck was m a d e of lava quarried at Mulargia on Punic Sardinia and that the mills themselves were probably placed on board in Carthage may indicate that the Pompeian-type mill was a Punic rather than a Sicilian Greek creation. T h e shift from the simple rotary h a n d mill m a d e of two shaped stones to one formed of significantly larger stones incorporated into a wooden frame is more difficult to explain. W a s there an intermediary form (or forms) between the two? W h a t was the impetus for this innovation, and did it have anything to do with crushing ore? M o r e evidence is needed before these questions can be answered. In any case, the development of the Pompeian-type mill seems fairly clear, even if its origin is not. T h e early fourth-century B. C. form appearing in the Sec wreck, with its straight-sided catillus and simple haudies, gave way in the third-century B. C. to the Morgantina type, having a short catillus with curved profile and spindle. Both were probably operated by h u m a n power, presumably slaves. T h e type apparently m a d e its way to Italy during the late third century B. C. where it underwent f u r t h e r development. Plautus, early in the following century, mentions a rotary mill driven by a slave or maid, while Cato, a few years later, knows it as an animal-driven mill and calls it the tnola asinana.38 T h e rotary donkey mill is known best from excavations at Pompeii, Hercula-
37
W h i t e , " S u r v e y , " p. '206; M a r t i n e z , " O r i g e n y expansion del m o l i n o rotativo b a j o , " pp. 1 5 - 1 9 ; W i l l i a m s - T h o r p e a n d T h o r p e , "Millstone P r o v e n a n c i n g , " pp. 118 19. T h e P o m p e i a n mill in the H o u s e of Sallust at Pompeii has a catillus m e a s u r i n g 70 cm. in height. M o r i t z , Grainmills, p. 75. 38 W h i t e , " S u r v e y , " pp. 206; M a r t i n e z , " O r i g e n y expansion del m o l i n o rotativo b a j o , " pp. 15-19; W i l l i a m s - T h o r p e a n d T h o r p e , "Millstone P r o v e n a n c i n g , " pp. 118-19; D i o d o r u s 2.1.5; Plautus Asinaria 2 0 8 - 0 9 ; C a t o R R 10.4, 11.4. W h i t e (p. 205) e m p h a s i z e s that differences in size a n d construction b e t w e e n the M o r g a n t i n a a n d P o m p e i a n mills show that the f o r m e r is a p r o t o type of the latter a n d not merely a smaller version of it.
Origin of the Pompeian, or donkey, mill
344 The Pompeian donkey mill
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ncum, and Ostia, although examples have been found in other parts of the westcrn Mediterranean, such as Sicily, Sardinia, and North Africa, but more rarely in northern Europe. T h e y are almost totally absent from the eastern Mcditerranean. 3 9 In addition to archaeological finds, art historical evidence, particularly in the form of sculpted reliefs found in Italy, is fairly plentiful. 40 T h e Pompeian mill is significantly larger a n d taller than the Morgantina mill (Fig. 24), averaging about 69.5 cm. high and 73.5 cm. in diameter. It is much too large and heavy to be operated easily or efficiently by h u m a n power. A few smaller mills, accommodating a single handle, have been found, however. Slaves or a single animal may have operated mills of this size.41 Volcanic lava, or grey leucitite, was the most c o m m o n stone used for donkey mills, because its porosity insured that even after lengthy use the surface remained rough. Whereas a local material was used for rotary h a n d mills, this stone was imported from around Ο n i e to in Etruria. 4 2 T h e Pompeian bakery (Casa dei Fornai) at Reg. VII.ii.22, with its four large donkey mills, three of which are complete (PI. 27), provides a good example with which to discuss the donkey mill. 43 T h e meta, m a d e of lava and having a cylindri39
D . P. S. Pcacock, " T h e Mills of P o m p e i i , " Antiquity 63, η υ . 239 (June 1989): 2 0 5 - 1 4 ; J a n T h e o Bakker, The Mills-Bakeries of Ostia ( A m s t e r d a m : J . C . G i e b e n , 1999), passim; Olvven W i l l i a m s - T h o r p e a n d R . S. T h o r p e , " T h e I m p o r t of Millstones to R o m a n M a l l o r c a , " JRA 4 (1991): 1 5 2 - 5 9 ; Ο . W i l l i a m s - T h o r p e a n d R. S. T h o r p e , " T h e P r o v e n a n c e Mf D o n k e y Mills f r o m R o m a n Britain," Archaeometry 30, no. 2 (Aug. 1988): 275 89; W i l l i a m s - T h o r p e , " P r o v e n a n c i n g a n d A r c h a e o l o g y , " pp. 2 5 5 - 6 0 , a n d Fig. 3a, p. 259; M o r i t z , Grain-mills, p p . 9 1 - 9 6 ; Meeks, " M e u l e s rotatives en E g y p t e , " pp. 2 3 24. 1(1 For reliefs f o u n d in Italy that show the P o m p e i a n donkey mill, see esp. G e r h a r d Z i m m e r , Römische Berufsdarstellungen. Archäologische F o r s c h u n g e n Bd. 12 (Berlin: G e b r . M a n n Verlag, 1982), p p . 20- 25, 1 0 6 - 2 0 . A n e x a m p l e has b e e n f o u n d at N a r b o , in G a u l . See Michel R e d d e , "Les scènes de m é t i e r d a n s la sculpture f u n é r a i r e g a l l o - r o m a i n e , " Gallia 36 (1978): 59, Fig. 5. 41 See, c. g., the small, h a n d - o p e r a t e d P o m p e i a n - t y p e mill displayed in the C a s a dei F o r n a i , but p r o b a b l y not f o u n d there. Peacock ("Mills of P o m p e i i , " p. 210) classifies the h a n d o p e r a t e d mill as T y p e 3a, a n d notes that extant e x a m p l e s a r e n o t associated with bakeries. M o r i t z (Grain-mills, p. 75, Fig. 8) gives the m e a s u r e m e n t s of a d o n k e y mill f r o m the b a k e r y at Reg. VI.ii.6 as follows: base: 4 ' 6 " wide a n d 18 inches tall; meta: 2' 6 " wide, 2' tall; catillus·. 2' 4 " in d i a m e t e r at top a n d b o t t o m openings, 7 " interior d i a m e t e r at its n a r r o w e s t p o i n t , a n d 2' 4 " tall. O n the whole question of w h e t h e r only a n i m a l s o r b o t h a n i m a l s a n d slaves p o w e r e d P o m p e i a n mills, see M o r i t z , Grain-mills, pp. 6 4 - 6 5 , esp. Plate 5a, a n d p p . 97 102. 42
O f p a r t i c u l a r interest in this context is the c o m m e n t by Pliny the E l d e r (HN 36.135), citing V a r r o as his source, that rotary mills w e r e invented in E t r u r i a at Volsinii. See Peacock, "Mills of Pompeii," pp. 206-13. 13 T h e b a k e r y f o r m s a w o r k a r e a c o n n e c t e d to t h e H o u s e of t h e Popidii (Reg. VII.ii.20). See Betty J o M a y e s k e , " B a k e r s , Bakeshops, a n d Bread: A Social a n d E c o n o m i c S t u d y , " in Pompeii and the Vesuvian iMiidscape ( W a s h i n g t o n , D . C . , T h e A r c h a e o l o g i c a l Institute of A m e r i c a , 1979), p. 45. Since the b a k e r y also c o n t a i n s a large o v e n a n d k n e a d i n g m a c h i n e , we will r e t u r n to it again later w h e n the discussion t u r n s to b a k i n g b r e a d . Peacock ("Mills of P o m p e i i , " p. 210) d e n o t e s this type mill as T y p e 3c a n d says that it is the most c o m m o n f o r m of P o m p e i a n d o n key mill.
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cal lower part and a conical or bell-shaped upper section, was seated into a cylindrical base of larger diameter made of rubble and cement. Unlike the lower J Ο stone of the M o r g a n t i n a mill, the R o m a n meta had a rounded top (Fig. 24). A few metae were grooved, and some had at the apex a square or circular hole to a c c o m m o d a t e a spindle. 111 only a few instances, housed in Museums in Naples, Sicily, and in Algeria, the base had an upper surface of smooth plaster that sloped inward from the outside to create a channel to catch the meal falling from above. This channel can best be seen in the sculpted relief from the T o m b of P. Nonius Zethus, from Ostia (Pl. 28). T h e catillus has the shape of two cones stacked apex to apex, giving the a p p e a r a n c e of an hourglass. T h e interior of each cone was hollow and a hole ran through the part where the apexes met (Fig. 25). T h e upper cone served as the hopper, while the lower fit over the meta. W h e n rotated the exterior surface of the meta and the interior surface of the cone fitting over it ground the grain between them. T h e r e is little evidence, beyond what m a y be signs of channelling on mills shown in sculpted reliefs, that the grinding surfaces were grooved. After a time, when excessive grinding had worn the grinding surface of one cone, the catillus could be reversed to make the upper cone the grinding surface. In this way the catillus doubled its effective life. O n the exterior of the catillus at the point where the cones met was a square sockct on opposite sides. T h e y do not penetrate into the central hole, but do accommodate a wooden frame used in turning the u p p e r stone. Holes for pins secured the beams to the catillus (PI. 27, mill nos. 1 and 3).44 H o w the mill actually operated is a m o r e difficult question to answer. T h e best ev idence comes from sculpted reliefs that invariably show donkeys or horses providing the motive power. T h e animals were harnessed to the two horizontal b e a m s inserted into the sockets on the sides of the catillus. W o o d e n beams, secured with pins to the horizontal ones, rose vertically alongside the catillus and attached to a n o t h e r horizontal b e a m placed above it (Fig. 25). T h e upper cone of the catillus could function as a hopper, but sometimes a separate, a n d probably detachable, hopper was affixed, just off center, to the u p p e r horizontal b e a m of the wood frame. T h i s m u c h seems clear. U n d e r s t a n d i n g how the internal fittings functioned is m o r e problematic, since the sculpted reliefs c a n n o t show these parts. S o m e metae had provision for inserting a wooden or iron spindle into a hole in the apex; others, lacking such a provision, probably supported a spindle attached to an inverted metal bowl-like piece m a d e to slip over the top of the meta. T h e spindle went through the upper conc of the catillus
44
M o r i t z , Grain-milts, p p . 7(5 79; W i l l i a m s - T h o r p e , " P r o v e n a n c i n g a n d A r c h a e o l o g y , " pp. 2 5 5 60, esp. p. 256, Fig. la, for a meta f o u n d in S p a i n not seated into a base; C u r w e n , " Q u e r n s , " p. 138; Bakker, Mills-Bakeries 0J Ostia, p p . 5 6 ־.
Operation of the donkey mitt
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Fig. 25. Rotary Pompeian donkey mill. From M a u , Pompeii-, p. 389, Fig. 221.
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and attached to the crossbeam above it. W h e n the catillus turned, the metal piece revolved on the apex of the meta. T h e bell-shaped lower stone was so formed that, when the catillus sat on the meta, the grinding surfaces touched at only a few places, especially near the periphery. This left a space between the two stones toward the center into which the kernels fell from above. As the catillus moved, the grain was worked toward the outside a n d ground between the two stones. Some mills may have had a rynd with a hole in the center for the spindle and four other holes near the periphery to allow grain to fall into the space between the grinding surfaces. Sincc only one rynd has ever been found, its use may have been exceptional. In any case, it would not have been necessary to ensure that the two stones remained concentric, since the mere weight of the catillus would have sufficed. 45 Several Pompeian metae had a wear pattern that indicated that the catillus rotated in less than a perfectly upright fashion. Apparently, even with a spindle it did not sit exactly level and tended to rock as it was rotated. O v e r time, if the rocking went unchecked, the grinding surface of the meta became less centered as the top of the meta wore down unevenly, thereby causing a skewed wear pattern. As with rotary h a n d mills, it would have helped to ensure a space between the grinding surfaces, but, as Moritz argues, even this is unnecessary given the bell-like shape of the meta. Additionally, a rynd would not be required to adjust this space to different grades of grinding, since, as perhaps seen on the tomb of P. Nonius Zethus (PI. 28), slipping wedges between the head of the spindle and the upper horizontal b e a m of the framework would serve to lift the catillus.46 Apuleius (fl. mid-second century A. D.) in his Metamorphoses describes the operation of a donkey mill in a bakery, perhaps in a North African context. A comparison of his portrayal with pictorial scenes represented in sculptcd reliefs provides a good idea of milling activity in a bakery. Lucius, Apuleius' protagonist in the novel, has by magic been turned into a donkey and describes his life as such
15
For a d r a w i n g of the rynd with f o u r holes s u r r o u n d i n g the central hole, see N e u b u r g e r , TechnicalArts and Sciences, p. 94, Fig. 154. +ö Moritz, Grain-mills, pp. 7 4 - 9 0 . See esp. Storck a n d T e a g u e , Flour, p. 79, Fig. 42, for the two alternative m e t h o d s of m o u n t i n g the catillus o n t o the meta. For separate h o p p e r a t t a c h e d to the w o o d e n f r a m e w o r k , sec Z i m m e r , Römishce fíerufsdarstellungen, pp. 112 13 (relief f r o m the V i g n a delle T r e M a d o n n e n e a r Rome). T h e same m o n u m e n t shows a metal b a n d a r o u n d the center of the catillus that seems to be connected to the pins securing the horizontal b e a m s inserted into the sockets. Cf. also the bakery (pistrinum) of Sextus Patulcus Felix in H e r c u l a n e u m (Ins. Or. 11.8) where, today, one can see a mill with catillus placed on a meta whose m a s o n r y base has partially fallen away revealing how it was encased in the rubble. Next to this mill is a meta without its catillus. See M a r i o P a g a n o , " C o m m e r c i o e c o n s u m o del g r a n o ad E r c o l a n o , " in Le ravitaillement en blé de Rome et des centres urbains des débuts de la république jusqu'au Haut Empire. Collection du C e n t r e J e a n Bérard, 1 1 (Naples: C e n t r e J e a n Bérard, 1994), p.' 144, Fig. 2.
Apuleius Metamorphoses
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until changed back into a man by Isis. O n e experience related was his work in a bakery (Met. 9.11): There multiple circuits of many donkeys with various roundabout movements turned round the mills (tnolas); not by day only, but even through the entire night continuously by means of the perpetual spinning of the machines they produced the eternal flour. . . . but ou the following day, in the morning, I am harnessed to a mill that seemed to me to be the largest one, and with my face covered I am immediately impelled along the circular track of a winding rut, so that in a circle of never-ending limit, with my walking having come back around, retracing my footsteps I wander in a fixed direction.
Water-powered grain mills
Clearly life for the donkey was hard and full of strenuous and repetitive work. T h a t its eyes were covered to keep it from becoming ill in its continuous circular perambulations can also be seen on milling reliefs from Rome. Although neither mentioned by Apuleius nor clearly evident from the reliefs, most mills were probably set up in an open courtyard, such as was apparently the case with the Casa dei Fornai. T h e floors of milling areas were frequently paved to keep the animals from wearing a deep rut into the ground. How much flour a bakery could produce depended on many variables, such as the supply of grain, the n u m b e r of working mills, and the hours per day spent in milling. Although we do not know any of this information for any particular bakery, we do learn from the jurist Gaius that T r a j a n decreed that a Latin working as a miller could obtain R o m a n citizenship if lie could produce at least one hundred measures (:modii), or a little over 873 liters, of flour per day for a period of three years. 47 Before surveying as a whole all activity associated with cereal processing that took place in a R o m a n bakery, we need to turn to the logical culmination in the development of ancient milling technology, the application of water power to rotary milling. T h e earliest industrial use of waterpower was to drive millstones to grind grain. W h e n and where this first occurred is difficult to say. Strabo (ca. 64 B.C.-A.D. 21) says that Mithridates VI had built a water mill (ΰδραλέτης) near his palace at Cabira in Pontus. Exactly what this mill consisted of is unknown. T h e author of a poem collected in the Anthologia Palatina, usually identified as Antipater of Thessalonica (fl. ca. 15 B. C.), though resident in Italy, sings joyful17
G a i u s Inst. 1.34. Z i m m e r , Römische Berufsdarstellungen, Figs. 21 a n d 23 (animal with blinkers); J e a n - P i e r r e A d a m , La construction romaine. Matériaux et techniques (Paris: Picard, 1984), p. 347. Apuleius Met. 9.1 1 : Ibi complurium iumentorum multivii circuitus intorquebant molas ambage varia; nec die sed tantum, verum perpeti etiarn nocte prorsus instabili machinarum vertigine lucubrabant pervigilem farinam die sequenti rnolae, quae maxima videbatur, matutinus adstituor et illico velata facie propellor ad incurva spatia Jlexuosi canatis, ut in orbe termini circumfluentis reciproco gressu mea recalcans vestigia vagarer errore certo. Cf. also Apuleius Met. 7.15.
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lyJ that w o m e n who had earlier labored at the h a n d mill could relax,' since the water mill now performed their work for them. His description of nymphs leaping u p o n the top of the wheel to make it turn and so to move the millstone seems a fairly clear portrayal of an overshot water mill at work. 4 8 His contemporary, the architect Vitruvius, provides the only technical description of a water mill, this time an undershot mill: 49 By this same principle water-mills are turned, in which all things are the same, except for the fact that at one end of the axle has been placed a wheel with teeth. Moreover, having been fixed perpendicularly on its edge, it is turned at the same time with the wheel. Behind this a larger wheel, likewise toothed, is fixed horizontally, by which it is held. So, the teeth ofthat wheel, which is fixed on the axle, by driving the teeth of the horizontal wheel compels the rotation of the millstones to take place. In this machine a hopper suspended above supplies grain to the millstones and by this same turning meal is ground. 5 " T h e earliest archaeological evidence for a water mill discovered anywhere is the small, undershot mill associated with the early first-century A. D. villa at San Giovanni di Ruoti, located northwest of m o d e r n Potenza in Lucania. Archaeologists have also revealed a mid-first century A. D. timber water mill near Aventicum (mod. Avenches) in Switzerland. T h e remains include the stone portions of the mill, including the conical-shaped basalt millstones, and evidence for both head and tail races, the wooden structures that directed the water to the wheel from the stream. T h e small, vertical undershot-type mill seems to have belonged to a wealthy private villa owner. Also found in proximity to the mill were various carbonized grains of barley, oats, rye, and five different species of wheat, but particularly bread wheat, Tnticum spelta. ייT h e earliest literary evidence, there-
lH
S t r a h n 12.3.30 (C 556); See Anlhologia Palatine! 9.418. For a translation a n d c o m m e n t o n the textual reading, see M o r i t z , Grain-mills, p. 131. S o m e scholars assume the ΰδραλέτης of S t r a b o was a w a t e r mill; others c o n c l u d e that it was a water-lifting device. V e r y little i n f o r m a t i o n exists u p o n which to base a n y firm conclusions. See P a a v o Roos, " S t r a b o a n d the Water-mill at C a b e i r a , " ORom 20 (1996): 9 9 103. ,, י־Vitruvius De arch. 10.5.2: Eadem ratione etiam versantur hydraletae, in quibus eadem sunt omnia, praeterquam quod in uno capite axis tympanum dentatum est inclusum. Id autem ad perpendiculum conlocatum in cultrum versatur cum rota panier. Secundum id tympanum mains item dentatum planum est conlocatum, quo continetur. Ita denies tympani eius, quod est in axe inclusum, inpellendo denies tympani plani cogunt fieri molarum circinationem. In qua machina inpendens infundibulum subministrat rnolis frumentum et eadem versatione subigilurfarina. 50 See note 63 below. 51 Alastair M . Small a n d R o b e r t J . Buck, eds. Hie Excavations of San Giovanni di Ruoti. Vol. I: 'The Villa and Their Environment (Toronto: University of T o r o n t o Press, 1994), pp. 4 7 - 4 9 , a n d Figs. 26 27, pp. 3 0 8 - 0 9 ; R . J . A. Wilson, "Tot aquarum tarn multis necessariis molibus . . . . Recent Studies on Aqucducts a n d W a t e r Supply," JRA 6 (1996): 21; Daniel Castella et al, L· ׳moulin hydraulique gallo-romain d'Avenche "en Chaplix."Aventicum VI (Lausanne: Cahiers d'archéologia r o m a n d e , 1994). T h e a u t h o r dates the Aventicum mill r a t h e r precisely. It was built in A. D . 5 7 / 5 8 a n d a b a n d o n e d in A. I). 80.
Earliest evidence for a water mill
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fore, dates to the first century Β. C. a n d portrays the water mill as a novelty, while archaeological evidence proves that the practical application of the innovation was in place a century or less later. W h e r e this first occurrcd is more difficult to say. T h e earliest archaeological evidence points to a western, perhaps even, Italian, innovation, but the (slightly earlier) literary evidence argues for an eastern origin. T h e question, therefore, still has no firm answer. 5 2 W a t e r mills of different types, including horizontal mills and both undershot and overshot vertical mills, have been confirmed in second-century A. D. contexts in Gaul, at Barbegal near Aries, at Dasing in G e r m a n y , at H a g e n d o r n in Switzerland, and in Britain, at Ickham, K e n t . T h i r d a n d fourth-century A. D. examples come from R o m e on the J a n i c u l u m Hill a n d u n d e r the Baths of Caracalla, from Britain at Ickham, Kent, from Tunisia at C h e m t o u (ancient Simitthus) and Testour, and possibly f r o m Israel at N a h a l T a n n i n i m on the Crocodile River. 5 3 An important overshot water-mill operated in the Athenian agora d u r i n g the fifth century A. D. Archaeological remains from n u m e r o u s sites, sometimes undatable a n d in lesser states of preservation, indicate the definite or probable presence of other water mills, including those at V e n a f r u m in Italy a n d at m a n y places 111 Britain, such as along H a d r i a n ' s Wall. T h e communis opinio has for a long time held that water mills, though known in the Augustan period, were not put to practical use nor did they become important before the fifth or sixth century A. D. This is no longer a tenable position, as these finds indicate that not only were the R o m a n s using water mills in the first century
52
Ö r j a n W i k a n d e r , Handbook of Ancient Water Technology (Leiden: Brill, 2000), pp. 394—97. O n the typology of w a t e r mills generally, see W i k a n d e r , Handbook, pp. 3 7 3 - 7 8 . See also G a u l : F e r n a n d Benoit, " L ' u s i n e de m e u n e r i e h y d r a u l i q u e de B a r b e g a l (Arles)," RA (1940): 1 9 - 8 0 ; A. T r e v o r H o d g e , " A R o m a n F a c t o r y , " Scientific American (Nov. 1990): 1 0 6 11;־Philippe L e v e a u , " T h e Barbegal W a t e r Mill in its E n v i r o n m e n t : A r c h a e o l o g y a n d the E c o n o m i c a n d Social History of A n t i q u i t y , " JRA 9 (1996): 1 3 7 - 5 3 . Switzerland a n d G e r m a n y : Wilson, "To/ aquarum," p. 21. Britain: R o b e r t ]. S p a i n , " T h e S e c o n d - C e n t u r y R o m a n o - B r i t i s h W a t e r m i l l at I c k h a m , K e n t , " History of Technology 9 (1984): 1 4 3 - 8 0 ; C . J . Y o u n g , " T h e Late R o m a n W a t e r mill at I c k h a m , K e n t , a n d the S a x o n S h o r e , " in Collectanea Historica. Essays in Memory of Stuart Rigold. Alec Detsicas, ed. (Maidstone: K e n t A r c h a e o l o g i c a l Society, 1981), p p . 3 2 - 4 0 . R o m e : M a l c o l m Bell, III, " A n Imperial Flour Mill on t h e J a n i c u l u m , " in Le ravitaillement en blé de Rome, !5p. 7 3 - 8 9 ; R a b u n T a y l o r , " T o r r e n t o r Trickle? T h e A q u a Alsietina, the N a u m a c h i a Augusti, a n d the T r a n s t i b e r i m , " AJA 101 (1997): 4 8 6 - 8 8 ; Th t ì rki1d Schi01er a n d Ö r j a n W i k a n d e r , " A R o m a n W a t e r - m i l l in the Baths of C a r a c a l l a , " ()Rom 14, no. 4 (1983): 47 64. T u n i s i a : G . R ö d e r , " D i e M ü h l e a m M e d j e r d a - F l u s s : H i g h - T e c h v o r 1700 J a h r e n , " Bild der Wissenschaft 12 (1989): 9 4 - 1 0 0 ; A n d r e w Wilson, " W a t e r - p o w e r in N o r t h A f r i c a a n d the D e v e l o p m e n t of the H o r i z o n t a l W a t e r - w h e e l , " JRA 8 (1995): 4 9 9 - 5 1 0 . Israel: J. P. O l e s o n , "A R o m a n W a t e r - m i l l on the C r o c o dilian R i v e r n e a r C a e s a r e a , " Z P a l V 100 (1984): 137 52; T h o r k i l d Schioler, " T h e Watermills at the C r o c o d i l e River: A T u r b i n e Mill D a t e d to 3 4 5 - 3 8 0 A . D . , " PalE(l J u l y - D e c . 1989): 1 3 3 - 4 3 . See the brief overview of R o m a n w a t e r mills in Castclla et al, Moulin hydraulique gallo-romain, p p . 53
20-27.
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A. D. at the latest but their use had become widespread by the fourth century A. D. 5 4 W a t e r mills, even the least efficient horizontal type, were expensive to build and to operate, but they did considerably increase the output of meal, and so provided more product per unit of time expended. Both of these considerations mean that water mills needed a larger investment and produced yields greater than that of donkey-mill installations. Therefore, water mills were usually owned and operated by a wealthy landowner, who needed the flour to feed a large n u m b e r of f a r m h a n d s and probably to export to an urban market, a partnership (societas) of landowners, or the state. T h e water mill at San Giovanni di Ruoti in Lucania conforms to the first, the Barbegal mill near Aries to the second, and the mills in R o m e on the J a n i c u l u m and in the Baths of Caracalla to the third. W a t e r power did not replace the animal-driven rotary mill nor the rotary handmill. Diocletian's Price Edict of A. D. 301, for example, lists m a x i m u m prices for water mills (2,000 den.), horse-mills with stones (1,500 den.), donkey mills (1,250 den.), and h a n d mills (250 den.), showing that all three continued to operate side-by-side. 55 O u r interest in water mills principally lies not with the motive power of the water wheel per se, that is, whether, as in the horizontal and the vertical undershot wheels, the water pushed the paddles at a speed dependent upon the force of the stream alone, or, as in the vertical overshot wheel, the water moved the wheel by the combined force of the stream and the weight of the water as it fell onto the paddles from the millrace. W e arc concerned, however, with the rnechanism by which the moving water wheel caused the millstones to turn. Nevertheless, something will have to be said on the arrangement of the wheel while focussing on the action required to operate the millstones. Which type of mill 54
See esp. W i k a n d e r , Handbook, p. 372, w h o says that forty-nine w a t e r mills, d a t i n g b e t w e e n the first a n d fifth centuries A. D., have b e e n f o u n d . F o r a partial list, see Ö r j a n W i k a n d e r , "Archaeological Evidence for Early Water-mills — an I n t e r i m R e p o r t , " History of Technology 10 (1985): 151-79. W i k a n d e r notes that he will catalogue all finds in his f o r t h c o m i n g book. See also W h i t e , Greek and Roman Technology, A p p e n d i x Six, p p . 196 201; A. T r e v o r H o d g e , Roman Aqueducts & Water Supply (London: D u c k w o r t h , 1991), pp. 254- 61. For the A t h e n i a n water-mills, see A r t h u r W . Parsons, " A R o m a n Water-mill in the A t h e n i a n A g o r a , " Hesperia 5 (1936): 7 0 - 9 0 ; R o b e r t J . Spain, " T h e R o m a n Water-mill in the A t h e n i a n A g o r a . A N e w V i e w of the E v i d e n c e , " Hesperia 56, no. 4 (1987): 3 3 5 - 5 3 . Art historical evidence for w a t e r mills is quite scarce, being limited to exactly two examples: a w a t e r wheel, or p e r h a p s a water-lifting device, a p p e a r s in a wall p a i n t i n g f r o m the C a t a c o m b of St. Agnes in R o m e , d a t i n g to ca. third-century Α. I)., a n d a fifth-century A. D . mosaic f r o m C o n s t a n t i n o p l e . See Castella, Moulin hydraulique gallo-romain, p. 20. >זי־Edict. Diocl. 15.52 55. W h i t e (Greek and Roman Technology, p. 198) c o m m e n t s that the close a g r e e m e n t b e t w e e n the m a x i m u m price for w a t e r mills (2,000 den.) a n d that for animal-driven mills ( 1 , 2 5 0 1 , 5 0 0 ־den.) indicates that the f o r m e r " m u s t have b e c o m e ver) ־c o m m o n by this time."
Horizontal versus overshot and undershot vertical water mills
352
Horizontal helixturbine mill at Chemtou, Tunisia
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the R o m a n s chose to use depended upon several factors, the most obvious being the availability of water. If a fast moving stream were nearby, all the better. If not, water from a variety of sources, including baths, could be collected in a millpond and fed to the mill as needed. T h e horizontal mill was perhaps the simplest, sincc the wheel, pushed by the water, turned a vertically placed axle that was linked directly to the millstones. It was cheaper to build and to operate, but it was least efficient and required a steady flow of water to operate. W h e r e the water source was unreliable during parts of the year, such as in Italy, a mill could remain idle for a considerable part of the year, unless it had access to a water head created by a d a m or pond. T h e same considerations drove the decision to use the vertical undershot mill. T h e most efficient mill was the vertical overshot mill, although it was considerably more expensive to construct a millpond and to build the framework for the millraces a n d walls needed to direct the water onto the paddles f r o m above. 5 6 Most E u r o p e a n water mills conformed to the vertical overshot type, with some undershot mills, while the North African mills were uniformly horizontal, perhaps indicating the origin of these particular types. 57 T o illustrate the different ways the R o m a n s operated grain mills with water power, I will briefly discuss two types of mill that moved the millstones in different ways: the horizontal, helix-turbine mill at C h e m t o u in Tunisia and the vertical overshot mill at Barbegal. T h e mill at C h e m t o u utilizes the simplest way to turn the millstones, the horizontal wheel with vertical axle. This particular mill is interesting because its three wheels sit in circular shafts. W h e n sluice gates were opened water from the river flowed through channels that narrowed as they approached the wheelshafts a n d struck the slanted wheel paddles tangentially. Since the wheel filled the surrounding stone casing, or wheel pit, little energy was lost to water escaping around the paddles. This a r r a n g e m e n t effectively created a turbine. The
50
O n b a t h w a t e r used to p o w e r a f o u r t h - c e n t u r y A. I), w a t e r mill associated with a bakery, see Palladius Opus Agr. 1.41. J . G . Landels, Engineering in the Ancient World (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978), p p . 1623־. P o w e r g e n e r a t e d d e p e n d s u p o n the velocity of the w a t e r w h e n it strikes the wheel paddles a n d the size of the p a d d l e - a r e a so struck. T h e efficiency of the vertical u n d e r s h o t mill is ca. twenty-two p e r cent; that for the overshot type is ca. 65 70 % . Sec H o d g e , Roman Aqueducts, p. 255. See Procopius 5.19.19~22, w h o says that d u r i n g the siege of R o m e by the G o t h s in A. 1). 537, after the e n e m y h a d destroyed the a q u e d u c t s , to keep a c o n t i n u o u s supply of flour for the p o p u l a t i o n the R o m a n s placed w a t e r mills on ships a n c h o r e d on the T i b e r River. T h e water wheel itself was s u s p e n d e d in the w a t e r b e t w e e n two boats, while the grindstones rested in o n e of t h e m . Literary sources also m e n t i o n floating mills of a similar kind at G e n e v a a n d D i j o n later that s a m e century. See Ö r j a n W i k a n d e r , "Mill-channels, Weirs, a n d Ponds. T h e E n v i r o n m e n t of A n c i e n t Water-mills," ORorn 15 (1985): 14954 ;־W i k a n d e r , Handbook, p p . 379 -83. •7 יWilson, " W a t e r - p o w e r in N o r t h A f r i c a , " p p . 5 0 3 10.
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wheel turned the vertically placed axle that connected directly to the millstones installed in the mill room above the shafts. A spindle inserted into the axle passed through the lower millstone where it seated into a metal rynd attached to the grinding surface of the upper millstone. As the water turned the wheel, its axle rotated the spindle, which in turn moved the upper stone. Apparently the distance between grinding surfaces could be adjusted by a tentering system. Placed next to a n d parallel to the wheel shaft was another shaft fitted with a vertical wooden pole. Attached to its lower end was a pivoted horizontal bridgetree the opposite end of which was seated under the waterwheel. T h e miller, by raising or lowering the vertical pole in the mill room, could impart the same m o v e m e n t to the waterwheel, which in turn raised or lowered the axle and spindie, thereby increasing or decreasing the space between the grinding stones. Unfortunately, the wooden superstructure of the mill is not extant, so the positioning of grinding stones with their f r a m e a n d hoppers cannot be ascertained. T h e vertical water mills of Europe, however, used a different, more complicated system to operate the grindstones. 5 8
9
T h e water mill at Barbegal, located n e a r Aries (ancient Arclate) on the southern slope of a ridge, operated between the second a n d fourth centuries A. D . It once constituted a large building (61 m. long χ 20 m. wide) composed of sixteen millhouses arranged in two parallel rows of eight extending down the slope, each set of two millhouses on a different level (Fig. 26). A g r a n d stairway separated the houses a n d gave access to each one. All total, the complex supported sixteen mills operated by wheels turned by water from an a q u e d u c t that a p p r o a c h e d from the rear. It is easily the largest extant water-powered grainmill from the ancient world. T h e water mill's foundations, p a r t of the walls, and a few grinding stones are extant; the wooden superstructure is not (PI. 29). T h e capacity of the mill complex c a n n o t easily be c o m p u t e d , since we do not know the rotation rate of the millstones, how long per day it operated, nor with what efficiency. Earlier scholars have connected the mill with imperial ownership designed to provide flour from imported grain to the court, the population of Arelate and the surrounding region, and the army, or with municipal ownership designed to supply flour to the city's population f r o m grain raised in the neighborhood. T h e most recent suggestion has the mill
58
Röder, "Die Mühle am Medjerda-Fluss," 9 4 - 1 0 0.;קנןWilson, " W a t e r - p o w e r in N o r t h Africa," 4 9 9 - 5 1 0.קנן,esp. pp. 5 0 6 - 0 9 , for a list of possible R o m a n N o r t h African horizontal w a t e r mills. Wilson distinguishes b e t w e e n the helix-turbine type of C h e m t o u a n d T e s t o u r located on a river, a n d the " d r o p - t o w e r " type, c o m m o n to small streams or hilly areas, particularly in the N e a r East, w h e r e w a t e r is less a b u n d a n t or irregular. H e r e a tower forms a reservoir to contain a h e a d of w a t e r that exits t h r o u g h a nozzle at the b o t t o m c r e a t i n g the stream n e e d e d to o p e r a t e an unenclosed wheel.
Vertical overshot water mill at Barbegal, France
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Fig. 26. Interpretative drawing of the Barbegal water mill. T h e slope was more gentle than shown, ca. 17°. From Hodge, " R o m a n Factory," p. 109. Courtesy of A. T r e v o r Hodge.
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owned privately by a consortium (.societas) of wealthy landowners w h o grew the grain themselves. 5 9 H o w the mill operated is fairly clear in most particulars. Power to drive the wheel, and by extension the grindstones, came from water conducted in a small aqucduct that paralleled the main Aries aqueduct. The aqueduct approached the mill through a cut in the top of the ridge, where two diagonal channels directed the water to each side. T h e r e it poured into millraces, which are stepped down the slope of the hill having a gradient of 30.5% or ca. 1 7°.60 T h e water flowed through the millraces, which were placcd along the interior face of the mill's side walls, powering the waterwheels in each of the eight pairs of millhouses as it went. Since the wooden portions of the mill arc not extant, we can only conjecture how it looked. Each millhouse contained the water wheel and the milling room, probably separated from the wheel by a wall or, most likely, a floor to prevent the water from wetting the meal. T h e milling area contained the millstones, somewhat conical in shape as at Aventicum, the wooden framework surrounding it to provide stability, the hopper {fundibulum) to feed grain into the central hole of the upper grindstone, and room for sacks of grain and meal. T h e r e had to be headroom to mount the hopper on top of the grindstones and for workers to accomplish the necessary tasks of feeding the hopper and gathering and storing the meal. As with all water mills, the apparatus was covered, though in this instance the roofing system remains unknown. Some controversy remains over whether the water wheel was constructed as a vertical undershot mill or, most likely, overshot.111 Regardless, the gearing system to move the grindstones would be the same, and probably
59
Leveau, "Barbegal W a t e r Mill," p p . 137-53; Peter S. Bellamy a n d R . Bruce H i t c h n c r , " T h e Villas of the Vallée des B a u x a n d t h e Barbegal Mill: Excavations at la M é r i n d o l e Villa a n d C e m e t e r y , " JRA 9 (1996): 154-76. 60 Nearly all published reconstruction drawings of the Barbegal water mill show a gradient of ca. 30°, not 17°, because of an e r r o r published by Benoit in 1940. T h i s is a considerable discrepancy, which has also led to m a n y miscalculations of the daily output of the mill. At 17" the water descended the hill at a m u c h slower rate t h a n if the slope were actually 30.5°. Sec esp. P a a v o Roos, "For the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Excavations of the Water-mill at Barbegal: A C o r r c c tion of a Long-lived Mistake," R A (1986): 3 2 7 - 3 3 . For a t t e m p t s to calculate the capacity of the mill, see, for example, R o b e r t H . J . Sellin, " T h e Large R o m a n W a t e r Mill at B a r b e g a l (France)," History of Technolog)! 8 (1983): 9 1 - 1 0 9 ; J a m e s B r o m w i c h , The Roman Remains of Southern Trance. A Guidebook (London: Routledge, 1993), pp. 159-60. For reasons cited above (p. 353), an a c c u r a t e calculation of mill capacity is impossible. T o o m a n y variables r e n d e r any estimate unhelpful if not misleading. el T h e water mill located on the J a n i c u l u m hill, for a n u m b e r of reasons, is assumed to have been of the vertical undershot type, so construction on a slope docs not rule out either a r r a n g e m e n t . It is, however, the only k n o w n undershot w a t e r wheel driven by an a q u e d u c t . Bell, " I m p c r ial Flour Mill," p p . 7 3 8 9 ; ־T a y l o r , " T o r r e n t or Trickle?" pp. 486-88,' Size of millstones used with water wheels varied widely. W i k a n d e r (Handbook, p. 392) says that millstones varied between
Operation of the Barbegal water mill
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Fig. 27. Gearing arrangement for vertical undershot water mill according to Vitruvius De arch. 10.5.2: a. W a t e r wheel, b. Vertical cogwheel (tympanum dentatum). c. Horizontal axis. d. Horizontal cogwheel (shown here as a lantern pinion mounted on a bridge-tree), e. Vertical axis. f. Dovetail rynd. g. Lower millstone (meta), h. U p p e r millstone (catillus). i. Hopper. Based on illustration from Saalburg Jahrbuch, Vol. 3, p. 91, Fig. 45. Courtesy of the Saalburg Museum.
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approximated that described by Vitruvius for the undershot mill (Fig. 27) and that suggested for the overshot mill under the Baths of Caracalla in Rome. 0 2 W a t e r flowing through the millraces fell upon the paddles of the wheel and ()/)nation of the caused it to rotate. This turned the horizontal shaft (axis) whose other end, fitted «earing system of a with a metal journal, was inserted into a socket in the wall opposite. Affixed tight- water mitt to grind ly to the same axle was the tympanum dentatum, vertical cogwheel (or driver gear), grain Between the water wheel and the vertical cogwheel, resting on a bridge-tree, sat either a second cogwheel (tympanum) oriented horizontally or, most likely, a smaller lantern pinion (or driven gear) into which the teeth of the vertical cogwheel meshed. 6 3 T h e pinion had attached to it a vertical spindle that rose to pierce the meta from below. O n the top of the spindle sat a fixed iron dovetail that fit into a reccssed hole of the same shape on the grinding surface of the catillus.(A W h e n the water turned the wheel, the axle rotated the vertical cogwheel. T h e teeth of the cogwheel engaged in the lantern pinion, which in turn rotated the spindle and dovetail causing the upper millstone to spin. T h e centrifugal forces generated by the spinning catillus impelled the crushed meal to the periphery of the millstones
fifty-five a n d eighty-five centimeters in d i a m e t e r . Stones in early mills were s o m e w h a t conical in s h a p e , flatter later. E x a m p l e s f r o m A v e n t i c u m r a n g e d b e t w e e n 60.0 c m . a n d 73.0 c m . in d i a m e ter a n d b e t w e e n 6.0 c m . a n d 18.0 c m . in m a x i m u m height. At Barbegal the millstones m e a s u r e d b e t w e e n 43.0 cut. a n d 87.0 c m . in d i a m e t e r . Castella, Moulin hydraulique gallo-romain, pp. 46 62. T h o s e studied by W i l l i a m s - T h o r p e ( " P r o v e n a n c i n g a n d A r c h a e o l o g y , " p. 260) m e a s u r e d between 48.0 c m . a n d 92.0 cm. in d i a m e t e r a n d b e t w e e n 10.0 c m . a n d 45.0 c m . in thickness. For Barbegal as a n u n d e r s h o t mill, see Bromwich. Roman Remains, p. 157. '2 יVitruvius De arch. 10.5.2. See also Landels, Engineering, p p . 23 25; M o r i t z , (ìrain-mills, pp. 122 30; Sehiolcr a n d W i k a n d e r , " R o m a n Water-mill," p p . 51 55־, esp. Fig. 15, p. 57. Ii:! T h e r e is n o archaeological evidence for a second tympanum of the type that Vitruvius describes. H o w e v e r , excavations at Saalburg, G e r m a n y , o n the site of a water-mill, t h o u g h p r o b a bly not for milling grain, yielded a n iron spindle with fixed dovetail, at the b o t t o m of which was a lantern pinion. M o r i t z , Grain-mills, p p . 122 30. Vitruvius, w h e n describing his u n d e r s h o t mill, says that the vertical cogwheel was smaller t h a n the horizontal d r u m t h a t rotates the spindle that m o v e s the catillus. 111 o t h e r words, this " g e a r e d - d o w n " a r r a n g e m e n t m e a n t that the millstones rotated at a slower rate t h a n the w a t e r wheel. T h i s is not the usual a r r a n g e m e n t , so s o m e scholars h a v e a m e n d e d the text to show a " g e a r e d - u p " a r r a n g e m e n t , w h e r e b y the millstones spin faster t h a n the w a t e r wheel. But since Parsons ( " R o m a n Watermill, pp. 70 90) h a d a r g u e d that the fifth-century A.I), w a t e r mill in A t h e n s o p e r a t e d with j u s t such a " g e a r e d - d o w n " a r r a n g e m e n t as Vitruvius had described, o t h e r scholars have a c c e p t e d this a n d a t t e m p t e d to explain it in various ways. See, e. g., W i k a n d e r , Handbook, p p . 389 92; L. A. M o r i t z , "Vitruvius' Water-Mill, , יClassical Review 70 (1956): 193 96. S p a i n ( " R o m a n W a t e r m i l l , " p p . 335 53), however, has recently a r g u e d that the A t h e n i a n w a t e r mill did indeed have a " g e a r e d - u p " a r r a n g e m e n t . 64
Castella notes that the spindle of the A v e n t i c u m mill a t t a c h e d to the catillus in a fashion differcut f r o m that used in later w a t e r mills. H e r e the top of the spindle, after having passed t h r o u g h the u p p e r stone, h a d a t t a c h e d to it a horizontal b a r each end of which bent d o w n w a r d a n d seated into small holes in the top surface of the catillus. Castella believes that this is a n early solution to the p r o b l e m of t u r n i n g the u p p e r stone a n d p r e c e d e d the use of a rynd, which b e c a m e p o p u l a r in perhaps the second century A. 1). See Castella, Moulin hydraulique gallo-romain, pp. 46 62, esp. Fig. 31.
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where it collectcd in a trough or other container. T h e spacc between the two millstones could be adjusted to produce a finer or coarser meal, as desired, by raising or lowering the bridge-tree supporting the lantern pinion. W e do not know the process by which grain, delivered to a water mill, was then processed into flour, but we have a very good idea of this activity from sculpted reliefs showing cereal processing and baking of bread in bakeries operating donkey mills.
3. Bread Making Sarcophagus of I.. Annius Octavius Valerianus
Tomb of Eurysaces
T h e sarcophagus of L. Annius Octavius Valerianus (PI. 30) exhibits two registers depicting the sequence (though not every step) of cereal agriculture from planting to processing to bread making. T h e top register, reading left to right, shows a farmer ploughing, then tilling his field, and finally reaping the harvest. T he bottom register, reading right to left, shows the farmer apparently conducting the grain in an oxen-driven cart to the bakery, where it is first ground and (probably) kneaded into dough. It is uncertain which activity is being shown in the relief, since the apparatus' construction with a spindle inserted into the upper stone bears no resemblance to any known grain mill. Although the container, however, looks more like a catillus and meta a r r a n g e m e n t for a rotary hand mill, the apparatus would not work well as shown because there is no provision to feed the grain into the mill. It probably, therefore, represents a human-powered kneading machine. T h e last scene shows either dough, formed into loaves, being placed into the d o m e d oven or else baked bread being removed. 6 5 T h e scene seems to depict bread making on the farm. Perhaps the best display of cereal processing in a large u r b a n bakery can be seen in the sculpted reliefs on the late first-century B. C. T o m b of M. Vergilius Eurysaces in R o m e . Eurysaces was a baker w h o contracted with the state to proccss grain into flour and to bake it into bread. H e was apparently a wealthy freedman who spared no expense in proclaiming his service to the state by prominently displaying both roles, pistor and redemptor, on his tomb (Fig. 28).66 Since Eurysaces' funerary relief shows each step from receiving the grain to baking the bread, it provides an
6
• יT h e artist m a y not have b e e n entirely knowledgeable of the m a c h i n e he was a t t e m p t i n g to represent. M o r i t z (Grain-milk, pp. 8 1 - 8 2 ) dates the s a r c o p h a g u s to the A u g u s t a n period or later. 66 Paola C i a n c i o Rossetto, II sepolcro delIfomaio Marco Virgilio Eutisace a Porta Maggiore. I M o n u m c n ti R o m a n i V ( R o m e : Istituto de Studi R o m a n i , 1973); M a r i o Petrassi, "II m o n u m e n t o del fornaio a (1974): 4 8 ; ־Ollc Brandt, " R e c e Porta Maggiore,' יCapitolium 49, nos. 2 5 6 ־3 T o m b of Eurysaces," ORom 19, no. 2 (1993): 13-17; Peter H e r z , Studien zur römischen Wirtschaftsgesetzgebung. Die Lebensmittelversorgung (Stuttgart: F r a n z Steiner Verlag, 1988), pp. 40, 7 8 - 7 9 , 113; Paul Z a n k e r , The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus. Alan S h a p i r o , transi. (Ann A r b o r : University of Michigan Press, 1988), p. 15; Z i m m e r , Römische Berufsdarstellungen, pp. 1 0 6 0 9 ״.
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Bakers and bakeries
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excellent vehicle with which to study R o m a n cereal processing and to see the role of the state bureaucracy whose interest in it was not too unlike that of Pharaonic and Sumerian government officials. T h e scenes on the south side (reading right to left) show cereal processing. T h e state delivered the grain, probably in sacks, from the granary to Eurysaces' bakery. Representatives of the state apparently checked and recorded the total amount of grain received so that it might be compared with the total amount of bread produced. T h e scene then shifts to two donkey mills used to grind the grain. T h e grain used is probably a naked wheat, such as bread wheat (7riticum vulgare), or siligo, which responds easily to threshing and can be ground directly on the mill. A glume variety, such as e m m e r (probably to be identified with Latin far), or a hulled grain, such as barley, would require roasting followed by pounding with mortar and pestle to remove the tough outer coating before grinding. 67 Neither process is represented in this relief. Pliny ( H N 18.97), after remarking that inhabitants of Etruria roasted e m m e r wheat (far toslum) and, using a pestle having a piece of iron fixed to the business end, pounded it in a mortar with a particularly rough surface, goes on to say that most of Italy used a bare pestle in a wooden m o r t a r so as not to pulverize the seeds. It remains uncertain whether his next comment, that water power might also be used, refers to pestles powered by a water mill. Certainly no other author mentions a machine of this kind. 68 T h e pounding (Latin pinsere) of emmer, or far, apparently accounts for the Latin words for mill, pistrinum. W h e n the miller moved to town and began to bake bread as well as mill flour, he maintained the title that reflected his earlier occupation, that is, pistor. His place of business, the bakery, took a similar name, pistrina or pistrinum. So Servius remarks in his commentary to Vergil Aeneid 1.179: "Because a m o n g our ancestors there was no use of mills, they roasted grain frumenta) and pounded it in mortars (])ilas). Whence, they have been called 'pounders' [pinsores) who now are called bakers (pistores)."69 T h e meal so produced, according to Pliny, the Romans 07
See esp. L. A. M o r i t z , " H u s k e d a n d ' N a k e d ' G r a i n , " CQ.49 (1955): 12934 ;־idem, " C o r n , " CQ,49 (1955): 135-41; idem, Grain-mills, pp. xxi-xxv. (iît Cf. Hesiod Op. 4 2 3 - 2 6 , a n d the c o m m e n t s in C h a p t e r Six, p. 280, note 44. Λ study of cereal finds at Acquarossa, d a t i n g f r o m the late-seventh to the early sixth century B. C., indicate that the d o m i n a t e grain was barley, with e m m e r a n d einkorn w h e a t c o m m o n . All of these cereals would need roasting a n d p o u n d i n g with a pestle before g r i n d i n g into flour. See H a k o n Hjelmqvist, A Ceieal Find from Old Etruiia (Partille, Sweden: Paul A s t r ö m , 1989), p p . 3 21. W i k a n d e r (Handbook, p p . 4 0 3 04) does not dismiss the possibility of w a t e r - p o w e r e d pestles. C u r w e n ( " M o r e About Querns," pp. 2 9 3 1 ) ־c o n d u c t e d e x p e r i m e n t s with g r i n d i n g w h e a t a n d barley on a rotary h a n q u e r n a n d f o u n d that roasting b e f o r e h a n d m a d e t h e m brittle a n d m o r e easily g r o u n d . 69 S e n ius on Vergil Aeneid 1.1 79: El quia apud maiores nostros mo/arum usus non erat, frumenta tombant et ea in pilas missa pinsebant, et hoc erat genus molendi. Unde et pinsores dicti sunt, qui nunc pistores vocantur. Cf. V a r r o Ling. 5.138. Millers, as distinct f r o m bakers, went by the t e r m molitor, rnolinarius, or molendi־ nanus. See VVikander, Handbook, p. 398.
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used not for bread but for porridge, called puis, the basic food of early Rome. W h e n they began to bake bread at h o m e is unknown, but, again according to Pliny, professional bakers, pistores, a p p e a r in R o m e only in ca. 171 B. C. T o judge from epigraphic and art historical sources, most professional bakers were male, but V a r r o tells us that Lucilius, in one of his satires, refers to a female baker (pistrix). Bakers apparently retained their title even though they began to mill grain primarily with the donkey mill, which had entered Italy not long before. Since Pliny says that in his day convicts worked the m o r t a r and pestle to process grains, it is possible that Eurysaces also ground in his mills husked grains roasted and p o u n d e d elsewhere before being brought to his bakery. Grains, such as e m m e r and barley, which have to be roasted before milling, however, cannot be used to make leavened bread because the heat destroys the enzymes necessary for gluten in the meal to expand. Breads m a d e from them were, therefore, not popular products. 7 0 T h e two donkey mills of Pompeian type shown on Eurysaces' relief grind the grain into meal. T o the left of the mills two individuals stand at a table and sift the meal to obtain a fine grade of flour. T h e last scene on the south side shows a n o t h e r state bureaucrat checking the quality of flour to be used for the bread. Finely ground flour as free as possible from the detritus of milling yielded a well baked loaf of superior texture. Production of high-grade flour was more a factor of sieving than it was of grinding. T h e miller had to be careful not to adjust his mill so coarsely that whole grains and large pieces escaped reduction nor so finely that even the b r a n was ground to a powder. Grinding too long also prescnted problems, since then pieces of the millstones could break off into the meal. It is doubtful that R o m a n donkey mills could be so accurately adjusted consistently. Therefore, sieving after grinding b e c a m e m o r e important in ensuring high quality flour. T h e baker, to j u d g e f r o m Seneca's remarks about grinding grain (Ep. 90.2223)־, probably p e r f o r m e d successive grindings on each batch of grain, not so much to make the meal finer but to ensure that all grains had been crushed. O n e can only assume f r o m the utility of doing so in
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For the pistrix, see Lucilius 1250 51 ap. V a r r o Ling. 5.138; i d e m a p . Festus p. 1221 ״Pliny H.\ 18.83-84, 1 0 7 - 0 8 , 112 (referring to processing alicd). Cf. V a r r o a p . N o n i u s M a r c e l l u s 152.14. See also K.. 1). W h i t e , "Cereals, Bread a n d Milling in the R o m a n W o r l d , " in Food in Antiquity, pp. 38 43. M o r i t z (Grain-mills, p p . xix xxii) says that the shift f r o m puis to b r e a d c a m e a b o u t f r o m a desire to avoid two disadvantages of p o r r i d g e as a basic food item: its short keeping capacity a n d the fact that it r e m a i n e d liquid or mushy. For a discussion of puis, see M a x W ä h r e n a n d C h r i s t o p h S c h n e i d e r , Die pub. Römischer Getreidebrei (Äugst: R ö m e r m u s e u m Äugst, 1995); for pistores, see Betty J o Mayeske, "Bakeries, Bakers, a n d B r e a d at Pompeii: A Study in Social a n d Econ o m i c History." P h . D . diss., University of M a r y l a n d , 1972, pp. 1 4 .
(Grindinggrain and sieving meat
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m o d e r n experiments that sifting followed each successive grinding in antiquity as well. 71 T h e R o m a n s had several types of sieves. Pliny (HJSÍ 18.108), for example, says that the Gallic provinces developed sieves of horsehair, while Egyptians m a d e them of rush and papyrus. T h e general Latin word for sieve, crìbrum, could be augmented with an adjective to distinguish a m o n g the different types, interestingly in light of innovations in grain storage and milling on the rotary quern arising from Spain, Pliny credits that province with producing two kinds of sieve from flax, one to sift meal, (cribrum) excussoiium, another to sift flour, (cnbrum) pollinarium. T h e Latin term pollen designated one of the finest R o m a n flours. Indeed, Pollux (6.74) says that the change f r o m reed sieves to those of flax m a d e fine flour possible. C a t o (RR 76.3) mentions another coarse-meshed sieve, the cnbmm faiinanum, referring to the kind used to sift meal ground from e m m e r , which, as a husked grain, had to be roasted and p o u n d e d before being ground. It seems, then, that R o m a n s had both coarsely-meshed and finely-meshed sieves. The former separated the b r a n (furfures) from the meal; the latter produced first-quality flour. 72 Since sieves were m a d e of perishable materials, none have survived. W h a t they looked like, however, can be seen on some funerary reliefs, such as that of Eurysaces and of P. Nonius Zethus (PI. 28); how they were used is clear from the description in the Moretum of the peasant farmer grinding grain for his salad. Sieves apparently were round in shape, and the method used to tie off the material on the periphery created a raised border that prevented any detritus from falling off into the sifted flour. Although R o m a n sieves differed little in shape from their predecessors, significant improvements are discernible in materials used and, especially, in quality of flour produced. 7 3 After sifting the flour and obtaining approval from the state official, the activity shifts to baking, shown on the north side of the monument. Eurysaces' workmen first knead the mixture into dough using an animal-driven mechanical kneading machine. T o the left of the kneading machine are two tables where workers form the loaf from the moist dough. Another state bureaucrat checks to ensure that there
71
N o t e v e r y o n e p a i d as close attention to Hour quality as these state b u r e a u c r a t s , to j u d g e f r o m H o r a c e ' s w a r n i n g to travelers to avoid the b r e a d of C a n u s i u m because it was full of stone fragm e n t s (lapidosus). H o r a c e Sat. 1.5.91; S e n e c a Ben. 2.7.1 (panis lapidosus). See Moritz, Grain-mills, p p . 15-58. S e n e c a (Ep. 2 2 - 2 3 ) , relates that Posidonius, the Stoic philosopher, taught that the idea of g r i n d i n g grain b e t w e e n two stones c a m e to the wise m a n f r o m observing h o w the teeth, w h e n chewing, b r o k e u p the food again a n d again until it could b e swallowed easily. 72 Cf. also Plautus Poen. 5 1 3 (cribrum pollinarium). See Moritz, Grain-mills, pp. 164-67. A n o t h e r high quality flour was called siligo, f r o m a grain of the s a m e n a m e . See Moritz, Grain-mills, pp. xxiv-xxv. 73 See also Z i m m e r , Römische Berufsdarstellungen, p p . I 1 6 - 1 7 (marble relief f r o m Ostia). For the Moretum, see a b o v e p. 338.
2
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is no waste. O n e important step in the process must have occurred at this point, but Leaven is not shown. Assuming that the grain milled was a naked wheat, and not a husked wheat that would have its gluten destroyed by roasting, the workers would have presumably mixed into the flour water, salt, any other ingredients desired, and leaven. Pliny (HN 18.102-03) records various kinds of leaven, including a compressed yeast made by mixing grape juice with the bran from milled wheat, allowing it to sit for three days in the sun to dry, then forming it into cakes. When the time came, bakers soaked cakes of this leaven in water mixed with emmer flour 'farina) and added it to the flour being used to make the bread. Pliny (.HN 18.68) is our earliest source for the use of another type of leaven the existence of which has been assumed, but unproven, for bread making as early as Old Kingdom Egypt. He says that inhabitants of Spain and Gaul used grain to produce a drink (i. e. beer) that formed a foam during the preparation process. They used this foam, called brewer's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) today, to leaven their bread, which, he laments, is lighter than that of Italy. But Pliny (HN 18.104) adds that in his day the usual source of leaven was dough that had been saved over from the previous day's baking. 74 This is probably the kind of leaven that Eurysaces' workers used. T h e R o m a n s kneaded dough in a n u m b e r of ways. If small quantities were Mechanical kneading needed, as in home baking, they could do it by hand, as depicted in the Moretum machine (lines 42-46). Cato (RR 74) begins his description of the process with an admonition: "Wash your hands and the bowl!" T h e cook placed flour in a bowl, added water, salt and leaven (both omitted by Cato), a n d any other additives desired, and worked it with the fingers and fist until it thickened. H e then placed it on a table and shaped it into the proper form according to the bread product being made. T h e purpose of kneading dough is to aerate it and to assist the development of gluten, all aimed at producing a lighter and finer-textured bread. Professional bakers, like Eurysaces and many of those in Pompeii and other cities, however, needed large quantities of dough and so turned to mechanical kneading machines. W h e t h e r operated by h u m a n s or by animals, these machines were identical. 75 A low round container (Fig. 29), measuring up to two feet in diameter and made of volcanic material, such as was used for millstones, held the
74
Exactly w h e n the R o m a n s began to use leaven is u n k n o w n . C a t o (RR 74) does not m e n t i o n il w h e n discussing k n e a d i n g d o u g h to m a k e b r e a d . Since Seneca (Ep. 90.23) also fails to mention it in his discussion of b r e a d making, J a s n y suggests that it did not b e c o m e c o m m o n in Italy until the mid-first century A. D. F r a y n , on the other h a n d , believes it was used earlier. Sec N. J a s n y , " T h e Daily Bread of the Ancient Greeks a n d R o m a n s , " Osiris 9 (1950): 249; J o a n M . Frayn, " H o u s e b a k i n g in R o m a n Italy," Antiquity 52 (1978): 31. O n leavening, see M c G e e , On Food and Cooking, pp. 3 6 0 - 0 3 , 437 38 75 T h e m e a n i n g of the last phrase in Vitruvius De arch. 10.5.2 is the focus of varied discussion. S o m e scholars believe that the expression subigere farina m e a n s "to k n e a d , " a n d so conclude that
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Fig. 29. Plan and cross section of the R o m a n kneading machine from Pompeii. M a u , Pompeii-', p. 391, fig. 224.
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dough. Into this vessel lit a central wooden beam with two or three wooden arms, projecting at right angles and extending almost to the interior wall. T h e bottom arm was reinforced on its underside with an iron bar secured to the beam by a pin. T h e bottom of the iron bar had a projection that seated into an iron socket in the bottom of the container, which allowed the central beam to rotate. 111 the interior walls of the container (PI. 31) were two or three holes to receive wooden teeth. These projected almost to the central post and were placed so as not to obstruct the arms on the central beam as it turned. Near the top of the central post was a horizontal b e a m extending beyond the exterior walls of the container. W h e n pushed by h u m a n 01 ־animal the b e a m rotated the central post with projecting teeth. These teeth pushed the dough in one direction, while the stationary teeth fixed into the side of the container resisted the movement and so kneaded the dough. 7 6 T h e importance of this apparatus to the baking process is best seen in the fact that the design of Eurysaces' t o m b incorporates vertically and horizontally stacked cylinders identified as representing kneading machines. 7 7 T h e kneaded dough was left on the tables to rise, that is, ferment, before being formed into the proper shape based on the product being made. During rising yeast cells multiply and create carbon dioxide, which expands air pockets in the dough causing it to increase in size, usually to twice its original size. Part of this dough was put aside to be used as leaven for the next clay's batch, while most of it was destined to be m a d e into bread in the nearby oven. T o j u d g e from paintings, sculpted reliefs, and actual items recovered from excavations at Pompeii and Herculaneum, R o m a n bread was usually round in shape and scored on top into six or eight wedges (panis quadratus) before baking. 78 Vitruvius is h e r e referring to a w a t e r - p o w e r e d k n e a d i n g m a c h i n e . Although h u m a n a n d , possibly, animal-driven k n e a d i n g m a c h i n e s a r e attested, n o c o r r o b o r a t i n g evidence of a water-driven apparatus if it ever existed has c o m e to light. Since this is the only reference to il, a n d its interpretation is o p e n lo question, this type of m e c h a n i c a l k n e a d i n g m a c h i n e must be considered unsubstantiated. R o m a n b r e a d did not always contain salt. Sec F r a y n , Subsistence Farming, p. I l l ; W i k a n d e r , Handbook, p. 402; M o r i t z , "Vitruvius' Water-mill," pp. 193 96. O n kneading, sec Seneca Ep. 9 0 . 2 3 (below, n o t e 84), a n d M c G e e , On Food and Cooking, p p . 3 0 6 - 0 7 . 76 August M a u , "Su certi apparecchi nei pistrini di Pompei " M D A I ( R ) 1 (1886): 4 5 4 8 ־, a n d PI. 3; idem, Pompeii. Its Life and Art. Francis W . Kelsey, transi. 2<״l cd. (New York: Macmillian a n d Co., 1 9 0 2 ) , 3 9 2.;גןBakker, Mills-Bakeries of Ostia, pp. 6 7 ; ־Pagano, " C o m m e r c i o , " pp. 144-45, a n d Fig. 3. 77 B r a n d t , " R e c e n t R e s e a r c h on the T o m b of Eurysaces," pp. 15 17. O t h e r scholars have identified the cylinders as grain measures. Cf. also the design of the f u n e r a r y relief of P. N o n i u s Z e t h u s (PI. 28).' 7!i Cf. A t h e n . 3.114e. A d a m , IM construction romaine, p. 324, Figs. 7 3 9 - 4 0 ; Mayeske, "Bakeries, Bakers, a n d Bread at Pompeii," p p . 47 55. Excavators f o u n d eighty-one loaves ο ['panis c/uadratus in the bakery at Reg. VII.i.36 37. See Betty J o Mayeske, "A P o m p c i a n Bakery," in Studia Pompeiana & Classica in Honor of Wilhelmina F. Jashemski. 2 Vols. (New Rochelle, N e w York: Aristide D. C a r a t z a s , 1988), 1: 154. O n the stage in bread m a k i n g in which the d o u g h rises, see M c G e e , On Food and Cooking, pp. 3 0 7 - 0 8 .
Fermentation
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State bakeries and bread distribution
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T h e R o m a n baking oven (furnus) came in two shapes. Like that shown on Eurysaces' m o n u m e n t , it could take the form of a beehive, made of brick or brick-faced rubble. T h e d o m e covered a baking c h a m b e r accessed through an opening in front only large enough to allow the dough to be inserted, and the baked bread removed, using a long-handled tool similar to a peel, in much the same way as pizza is handled today. T h e baker heated the inside of the baking c h a m b e r by burning wood or charcoal and then removed the ashes when the walls of the c h a m b e r had become sufficiently hot. 79 M a n y bakeries in Pompeii had a second type oven, this same simple beehive oven but encased in brick to conserve more of the heat (PI. 27). T h e bricking extended to the ceiling of the 2\ house where smoke was vented through openings in the roof. Sometimes an enclosed terra-cotta flue conducted any smoke up and out of the area. Some bakeries extended the bricking out from the oven entrance to form a sort of foyer entered through an arched opening. This extension created a work area that had passageways extending to one or both sides leading probably to a kneading room or storeroom. The process of baking, therefore, in this arrangement might follow this scenario. T h e baker heated the baking c h a m b e r with combustible materials, removed the ashes, and placed them in a c o m p a r t m e n t beneath the oven door. Without ever leaving his position in front of the oven, he could receive dough from the kneading room, place it in the oven using a peel, bake it, remove it with the same tool, and then pass the baked product to another room. 8 0 This elaborate arrangement does not appear in the Eurysaces' relief. T h e whole of the tomb's western side (reading left to right) shows bread being carried in baskets to the weighing station where state bureaucrats are probably checking the finished product not only for quality but also for quantity in relation to the a m o u n t of grain delivered earlier. 81 W h o received the bread from Eurysaces' bakery is unknown, but it probably found its way to the table of the emperor, the Praetorian G u a r d , and other government functionaries, as well as into the hands of people who could afford it. 82
79
T o d a y , b r e a d b a k i n g usually requires an oven t e m p e r a t u r e between 400° a n d 425° F. See M c G e e , On Food and Cooking, pp. 308 10. See also below, p. 369. 80 Mayeske, " P o m p e i a n Bakery," 1: 149-65; Mayeske, "Bakeries, Bakers, a n d Bread at P o m pcii," pp. 23 26; A d a m , IM construction romaine, pp. 324, 3 4 7 - 4 8 , a n d Fig. 623, p. 288. Mayeske ( " P o m p c i a n Baker)׳," p. 153) notes that twenty-nine of these elaborate bakeries have been f o u n d in Pompeii to date. N i n e t e e n bakeries h a d p r e p a r a t i o n r o o m s n e a r the oven. Bakker (Mills-Bakeries of Ostia, pp. II 13) says that only twenty-one c a n be identified as bakeries, with ten others as possible bakeries or as pistrina dulciaria, pastery shops. 81 O n the whole question of b r e a d yield f r o m flour e x p e n d e d , see Mortiz, Grain-mills, pp. 195-209. 82 Sec Petronius Sat. 44, w h e r e G a n y m e d e complains a b o u t food prices in general, but specifically accuses magistrates a n d bakers of working together to keep the ])rice of bread high.
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For the people of R o m e the R o m a n government sought to provide a sufficient and dependable grain supply at an affordable price. W h e n Eurysaces' operated his bakery and for m a n y years before and after, the government operated a monthly dole in the form of grain for qualified R o m a n citizens, all done from Augustus on under the watchful eye of the emperor through his praefectus annonae. In the early third century A. D., control of the grain supply merged with the control of the city's water supply. Shortly after, the government went into the bakery business itself, when it substituted baked bread for the usual grain dole. Malcolm Bell has connected the combining of the responsibilities of the praefectus annonae and curator aquarum and the change in the administration of the dole to the construction of the water mills on t h e j a n i c u l u m hill and possibly the water mills under the Baths of Caracalla. Therefore, most people in R o m e would purchase grain on the market or, before the third century A. D., receive it from the government, but would have to process it themselves to make bread, unless they exchanged it with bakers for processed flour or for fresh bread. 8 3 H o m e baking was apparently the rule in R o m e until the mid-second century B. C. when, as Pliny (HN 18. 107) informs us, professional bakers arrived in the city. It was, no doubt, the standard rule in rural areas at all times, and for many urban dwellers even after 171 B. C. T h e processes of home baking were not stagnant; as Seneca relates in the words of Posidonius, it underwent gradual change over time: ...at first hot ashes (cinis) and a heated tile (testa) thoroughly baked the bread. T h e n little by little ovens fumi) were devised and other things of that sort, whose heat will be of use to the will (of the wise man).8'1
T h e earliest method used to bake bread reached far back into Rome's past and continued to be used well into the historical period. Most of our information on these methods come from later writers w h o seem to be describing vestiges of earlier times still practiced in their own day or relating tradition as they understood it. Ovid (Fasti 6.315-16), for example, in speaking of rustics (coloni) prepar-
83
J a s n y , "Daily B r e a d , " p p . 2 5 2 5 3 ; ־Bell, " I m p e r i a l Flour Mill," p p . 8 4 8 7 ־. O n the history ΰ Γ the R o m a n grain supply, its administration, a n d its role in R o m a n political life, see Peter G a r n sey, Famine and Food Supply in the Graeco-Roman World ( C a m b r i d g e : C a m b r i d g e University Press, 1988), pp. 167-268; R i c k m a n , Corn Supply, passim; C a t h e r i n e Virlouvet, Tessera Frumentarìa. Les procédures de la distribution du blé public à Rome (Paris: École française de R o m e , 1995); E m i n T e n g s t r ö m , Bread for the People. Studies of the Corn-supply of Rome During the Late Empire (Stockholm: Paul Aströms, 1974). R o m e of the fourth century A. D . h a d between 250 a n d 275 " l a r g e " bakcries. H o w m a n y were state o w n e d a n d o p e r a t e d is u n k n o w n . Bakker, Mills-Bakeries of Ostia, p. 13. 84 S e n e c a Ep. 90.23: ...quem [panem] primo cinis calidus et fervens testa percoxit, cleindefumipaulatim reperd et alia genera, quorum fervor seruiret arbitrio.
Home baking
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Clibanus
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ing bread on a low hearth, says that "the hearth itself used to bake bread placed under ashes, and a broken tile had been laid on the warm ground." Pliny (HN 18.107) states that women customarily performed this job. T o j u d g e from these and other literary sources early home baking followed this scenario. T h e cook placed a broken tile on the low hearth, which had been heated. O n top of this she placed dough covered with perhaps bay or celery leaves to flavor the bread. She then banked the hot coals around the dough and waited for the bread to cook. 85 Seneca says that ovens developed "little by little" (paulatim), but does not discuss any methods intervening between cooking on ashes and baking in an oven (furnus). We do, however, have some idea of those incremental stages from other sources. T h e first step up from baking directly on the ashes was to enclose the d o u g h by m e a n s of some sort of simple lid. W h e n this first occurred is unknown. 8 6 C a t o , in his recipe for kneaded b r e a d , r e c o m m e n d s placing d o u g h u n d e r a pot (sub testu) with or without a bed of leaves. T h e a u t h o r of the Moretum adds the additional detail that the cook also covered the lid with ashes. 87 T h i s m e t h o d of baking b r e a d continued in use even after other forms a p p e a r e d . T h e simple baking cover could be n o m o r e fancy than one terracotta plate placed over a n o t h e r of the same kind, or it could take a m o r e specific form, called the clibanus, a word a d o p t e d from the Greek κλιβανίτης. M a d e f r o m e a r t h e n w a r e , bronze, or iron, the clibanus, often p r e h e a t e d , was used to cook not only b r e a d but also meat. Literary a n d archaeological evidence from places like Cosa, Pompeii, a n d R o m e show that the clibanus was round or d o m e d - s h a p e d a n d wider at the bottom than at the top. S o m e apparently had a central o p e n i n g or vents to allow steam to escape and to p e r m i t some basic t e m p e r a t u r e control. T h e y varied in size between a b o u t
85
O v i d Fasti 6 . 3 1 5 1 6 ־: sup/mi turn einen panem focus ipse parabatj strataque erat tepido tegula quass solo. See also Pliny HN 19. 168, 20.185; C a t o RR 76.3. See also Frayn, Subsistence Faming, p p . 107 08. T h e Vulgate Bible (Genesis 18.6; Exodus 12.39) refers to b r e a d b a k e d in the ashes as subcinericius. 86 Archaeologists have identified in several sites in southern Italy a dish for m a k i n g b r e a d similar to m o d e r n Italian Jocaccia. C i r c u l a r in shape, the dish has in its b o t t o m an incised cross with small circular depressions m a d e by the t h u m b in the wet clay before firing. T h e shallow dishes d a t e to the Late Bronze o r Early Iron ages, that is, tenth to sixth centuries B. C. See R u t h D . VVhitehouse, " B r e a d a n d Milk: Iron a n d Bronze Age E c o n o m i e s in South Italy," Antiquity 44 (1970): 5 5 - 5 6 . 87 C a t o RR 7 4 - 7 5 ; Moretum 4 9 50. The R o m a n s a p p a r e n t l y knew a b o u t a Syrian b r e a d called mamphula, which, Festus (122L) tells us, b e f o r e being cooked in a clibanus, used to fall into the coals a n d ashes. T h i s is a fairly clear reference to the N e a r Eastern use of the tannur oven. T h a t the R o m a n s used tannur ovens at a n y time seems unlikely, since no o t h e r source, literary or a r c h a e o logical, attests it.
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twenty-one and fifty centimeters in diameter, with an internal height of ca. twenty centimeters. 8 8 T h e fixed oven, or furnus, the d o m e d oven shown on Eurysaces' m o n u m e n t and the typical oven used by commercial bakers, came from the farm. According to Ovid, R o m a n s of an earlier time apparently parched their grain far) directly in the fire before processing, but incurred loses not only when their houses caught lire but also when they swept up indiscriminately grains and ashes. T h e y then built a drying oven, fomax and invented a goddess of the same n a m e to represent the activity of parching grain. From this apparently arose the festival of the Fomacalia, or "feast of ovens/' Since constructing a parching oven would constitute a significant investment, apparently several farms shared a c o m m o n oven. Frayn suggests that millers (pistores) operated parching ovens on the farms, but when they moved to an urban setting and became bakers as well, they used a similar oven, called the furnus, to bake their bread. This oven originated on the large farm or villa, which often had a bread oven sited separately from the household fire focus). In other words, she argues that the commercial bread oven arose on the farm from the rural grain parcher and family oven. 8 9 T h e commodities produced by R o m a n bakers were numerous. Quality distinguished many types of bread. W h e a t bread always ranked barley bread, and some flours, such as siligo, defined the best bread (pants siligineus). Seneca (Ep. 1 19.3), for example, distinguishes the finest bread (siligineus) from the c o m m o n type (plebeius). In another letter (Ep. 18.7) he describes a lesser quality product eaten during the Saturnalia as "hard and filthy" (durus ac sordidus), though he does not indicate if it were always so. Pliny (HN 18.90) speaks of second quality bread as secundanus or cibanus. Breads could also come in different sizes, to judge
κ» Frayn (Subsistence Fanning, p. 110) sees a socio-economic distinction between clibanus a n d sub testu cooking. She identifies the clibanus as a m o r e sophisticated portable oven associated, not with p e a s a n t households, but with the m o r e affluent rural a n d u r b a n dweller. C u b b e r l e y , on the o t h e r h a n d , sees the t e r m clibanus arising in the w a k e of the surge in G r e e k influence b e g i n n i n g in the second century B. C . , which the R o m a n s a d o p t e d to show their urbanitas. It simply substituted for the t e r m testu a n d referred to a type of cooking already k n o w n to R o m a n s . See A. L. C u b b e r l e y , J . A. Lloyd, a n d P. C . Roberts, "Testa a n d Clibani: the Baking Covers of Classical Italy, 5 ' PBSR 56 (1988): 9 8 119; A n t h o n y C u b b e r l e y , " B r e a d - b a k i n g in Ancient Italy. Clibanus a n d Sub Testu in the R o m a n W o r l d : F u r t h e r T h o u g h t s , " in Food in Antiquity, p p . 55 68. Cf. Columella RR 5.10.4; Dioscorides '2.81, 96. Isidore (Origines 20.2.15) refers to b r e a d m a d e in this type p a n as clibanicius, while Pliny (HN 18.88, 105) notes a type of p a n b r e a d (artoplicus ) b a k e d in an artopta, a p p a r e n t l y of G r e e k origin. A third term, thermospodium, m a y h a v e identified a p o r t a b l e oven consisting of two distinct parts, m u c h like m o d e r n casseroles. See C u b b e r l e y , " Testi a n d Clibani," p. 1 16; Frayn, Subsistence Fanning, p. 1 10. 89
F r a y n , Subsistence Fanning, p p . 109-10. See O v i d Fasti 2 . 5 1 9 - 3 0 ; 6.313 14. Cf. also Festus 82L: feriae institutae sunt farris tonendi gratia, quod adfornacem, quae in pistrinis erat, sacrificium fieri solebat. Pliny (HN 18.88, 105) calls b r e a d baked in a n oven furnaceus.
Origin of the bakery oven
Types of bread
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from the twenty-four plain shallow, circular pans of different diameter found in the bakery of Sextus Patulcus Felix in H e r c u l a n e u m (Ins. Or. II.8). Fancy pans included those designed to impress the face of Medusa on the bread, as well as molds formed to create bread in the shape of pigs, hares, and even a ham. Different types of breads can be understood from the titles of bakers specializing in them. So, for instance, besides the pistor, who made bread generally, the libanus made cakes used in religious sacrifices. Sweet breads were no doubt the product of the dulciarìus and crustularìus.90 4. Beer Production Beer in the western Mediterranean
R o m a n s in Italy may have known of beer, but there is little evidence that they produced, imported, or even much liked it. W h e n mentioned at all, the context is always of a provincial product resorted to from an inability to produce wine. Beer remained a popular drink in Egypt, although it seemed to have been on the wane by the mid-third century A. D. Beer apparently had a long tradition in Spain, and Pliny the Elder says that the Spanish terms for beer were caelia and cereal T h e Gauls called it cewesia. Since the Latin word for beer was also cervesia, the R o m a n s probably learned of the product from them. Its reputation was not a good one, as Dionysius of Halicarnassus pejoratively describes Gallic beer as a "malodorous liquid of barley rotted in water." 9 2 Even if beer did not make its way in any great amounts to Italy, it did form part of trade in the western provinces. In the late first century A. D., for example, a soldier of the fleet that cruised the Rhine River (miles classis Germanicae) left a votive inscription in Augus-
90
Libanus (CIL IV. 1768), crustularius (Seneca Ep. 56.2), dulciarius (Martial 14.222, Apuleius Met. 10.13). Λ Late Latin glossary also lists the placentarius alongside the dulciarius. See csp., Mayeske, "Bakeries, Bakers, a n d Bread at P o m p e i i , " pp. 52 55. For the different kinds of breads a n d pastries m a d e in G r a e c o - R o m a n Egypt, see Battaglia, "Artos, " pp. 7 1 - 1 2 7 . 91 Daniel Woolls, in an Associated Press report d a t e d Nov. 28, 1998, relates that a n analysis of residue f r o m a clay j a r , f o u n d in G e n o , Spain, a n d tentatively d a t e d to the late second millennium B. C., revealed traces of e m m e r w h e a t a n d barley used in m a k i n g beer mixed with herbs. I have been u n a b l e to locate f u r t h e r i n f o r m a t i o n on this discovery. For beer in Spain, see Pliny H N 14.149; 18.68; 22.164; Dioscorides Mat. Med. 2.88; S t r a b o 3.3.7; a n d Polybius 34.9.15 (= A t h e n . 1.16C). 1יי01 ־Egypt, see Pliny H N 14.149, a n d H a n s - J o a c h i m D r e x h a g e , " B i e r p r o d u z e n t e n u n d Bierhändler in d e r papyrologischen Ü b e r l i e f e r u n g , " M B A H 16 (1997): 3 2 - 3 9 . T h e listing of b e e r in the Edict of Diocletian (2.11 12) m a y imply some degree of long-distance t r a d e in the p r o d u c t . O n ancient beer generally, see Olck, s.v. "Bier, , יRE (1899): cols. 4 5 8 - 6 4 . 92 Dionysius of Halicarnassus 13.11.1: κριθής σαπείσης έν ΰδατι χυλω δυσώδει. For beer m a d e in G a u l , sec Pliny H N 14.149; 18.68; 22.164; D i o d o r u s 5.26.2; A t h e n a e u s 4 . 1 5 2 C . Cf., esp., Anth. Pal. I X . 3 6 8 (= Oxford Book of Greek Verse, no. 626), a p o e m a b o u t beer, written by the e m p e r o r J u l i a n in the m i d - f o u r t h century A. D. Like Dionysius of Halicarnassus, J u l i a n has n o t h i n g good to say a b o u t it. For a translation, see Forbes, "Beer: a S o b e r A c c o u n t , " pp. 2 8 4 - 8 5 .
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ta T r e v e r o r u m (Trier). H e styled himself a negotiator cervesaiius, and apparently engaged in the beer trade, probably shipping the brew in barrels along the waterways of northern Europe. 9 3 T h e army must have been a prime market for beer merchants, if the Batavian auxiliaries stationed at Vindolanda, near Hadrian's Wall, are any indication. O n e writing tablet found there is a letter from a soldier to his c o m m a n d e r stating that the troops were out of beer and requesting a resupply. T h a t same c o m m a n d e r , Flavius Cerialis, himself a Batavian, apparently favored the drink, since another tablet, constituting a list of goods for his household, includes several entries for beer. A third tablet found at Vindolanda lists a brewer, cervesar[ius]. Unfortunately, the few references to beer in the R o m a n period give very little information on how the provincials produced beer. 9 4 Pliny indicates that inhabitants of Gaul a n d Spain made beer in several ways, but he gives no details, except to say that they produced it from grain soaked in water. Dionysius of Halicarnassus states the same thing, and, along with Diodorus Siculus, mentions that the Gauls used barley. T h e best literary evidence for beer making comes from Zosimos, an Egyptian from Panopolis who lived during the late third or early fourth century A. 1). His recipe involves first preparing malt from good-quality barley. This malt is made into a dough, to which a leaven is added, and then partially-baked. Next, the bread is soaked in water and strained through a sieve. T h e liquid is then placed in a container and stored. Archaeological evidence for beer production, however, comes only from Britain. T h e R o m a n town of Scole, a small town lying astride the River Waveney, apparently operated a brewery south of the stream. Little remains today, but archaeologists have recognized a grain-drying kiln with finds of partially sprouted grain. Close by near a channel from the river they found evidence for a large wooden tank equipped with a sophisticated drainage system. Considering the nearby grain parching facility, excavators have identified the structure as a malting tank. 9 5
93
A n d r é T c h e r n i a , " L e t o n n e a u , de la bière au vin," in Techniques et économie, p. 123. For the negotiator cervesarius at T r ê v e s , see L'AnnEp. (1928): 183. 94 Tab. Vinci. 11.190, in Alan K. B o w m a n , Life and letters on the Roman Frontier (London: British M u s e u m Press, 1994), pp. 1 15-17. See also A. R. Birley, "Supplying the Batavians at V i n d o l a n d a , " in Roman Frontier Studies 1995. O x b o w M o n o g r a p h s 91 (Oxford: O x b o w , 1997), pp. 273 80. 95 M y k Flitcroft a n d A n d r e w T e s t e r , "Scole," Current Archaeology 12 (Sept.-Nov. 1994): 3 2 2 2 5 ־. A supply of water would have been a prerequisite for brewing. In this regard, cf. P.Lond. 1177 (A. D . 113), which records the rent paid by a b r e w e r to have water piped to his establishment. For Zosimos' recipe for m a k i n g beer, see above pp. 133-34.
Brewing
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Β. Wine
Distinguishing grape ami olive processing installations
T h e grape and olive formed the second and third leg of the Mediterranean triad. As for the Greeks, along with cereals they were the most important agricultural products in the R o m a n economy. T h e wine and oil produced from them formed the major export product of several provinces in the empire. Archaeologists have found numerous wine and oil a m p h o r a e not only in port areas and inland cities, but also in many shipwrecks discovered along major Méditerranean sea routes. Spain, for example, was the principal exporter of olive oil to Italy in the second century A. D. until superceded by North Africa during the following century. T h o u s a n d s of a m p h o r a sherds piled up on M o n t e Testaccio in Rome bear mute testimony to R o m e ' s need for Spanish oil. Although wine was a m a j o r crop in Italy itself, the capital also imported numerous varieties from both the eastern and western Mediterranean. Pliny the Elder, for example, claims to know about eighty different kinds of wine produced empire-wide, twothirds of which, he says, were Italian. 96 G r a p e and olive processing contrasted in significant ways, utilizing for the most part different facilities and different apparatus, except in one particular. T h e same kind of press served to squeeze fruits. J . J . Rossiter has shown that it is unlikely that a single installation processed both wine a n d oil. The villa at Settefmestre in Etruria, for example, produced both oil and wine in two differcnt facilities, each utilizing the same kind of press. If only press beds characterize a particular site, it is often impossible to distinguish which operation was conducted there. 9 7 Outside of chemical analysis of remains, determination must be based on certain criteria, such as a characteristic apparatus. So, for instance, the presence of an oil crusher (trapetum) would signal olive processing. Beyond that little can be said with absolute certainty. Rollers, for example, could be 96
Pliny devotes most of Book F o u r t e e n to wine; for the wine trade specifically, see esp. Pliny HN 14.59-76, 9 4 - 9 7 . Since the bibliography on both wine a n d oil, a n d their c o m m e r c i a l a m p h o r a e , is massive, a few selected citations must suffice. For a brief s u m m a r y , see Frankel, Wine and Oil Production, pp. 38 40. O n M o n t e Testaccio, see J o s é M a . B1ázquez M a r t i n e z et al, Excavaciones arqueotögicas en el Monte Testacccio (Roma) (Madrid: Ministerio de C u l t u r a , 1994). See also D a v i d J . Mattingly, "Oil for E x p o r t ? A C o m p a r i s o n of Libyan, Spanish a n d T u n i s i a n Olive Oil P r o d u c t i o n in the R o m a n E m p i r e , " J R A 1 (1988): 33 56. O n the wines of Italy, see esp. A n d r é T c h e r n i a , Le vin de l'Italia romaine (Paris: École Française de R o m e , 1986). Interest in these two p r o d u c t s r e m a i n s high, as evidenced by the n u m b e r of national a n d international congresses that meet to discuss t h e m , such as, for e x a m p l e , the congress held in Barcelona, Spain in 1987, f r o m w h i c h a p p e a r e d El vi a Fantiguitat, economica, produccio i commerç al Mediterrani occidental (Badalona: M u s e u de Badalona, 1987), a n d in Aix-en-Provence in 1991, whose p a p e r s were p u b lished in La production du vin et de l'huile . 97 Frankel (Wine and Oil Production, p. 138) notes that in Israel certain types of press seem partieularly associated with g r a p e processing, while others seem designed for olive pressing.
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used to crush olives or grapes, though the f o r m e r is the m o r e likely use. Wine installations required a treading floor, but if it were m a d e of wood, nothing would have survived. Recent studies on this question have shown that no absolute criteria can be established, since installations show significant variation in use of apparatus from region to region and in different time periods. 9 8 T h e r e f o r e , in discussing grape a n d olive processing I shall first discuss R o m a n wine and wine making generally, describing all its particulars except for pressing. I shall then treat olive processing, including the presses used for both olives and grapes. It remains unknown when and by what m e a n s the grape a n d its by-product, wine, first arrived in the western M e d i t e r r a n e a n . The best guess is that the Phoenicians, long familiar with the fruit and the drink, introduced both during their trading a n d colonizing activities, particularly in North Africa and Spain. If accurate, then one can speculate that inhabitants of the western Méditerr a n e a n were enjoying and probably producing wine by the eighth century B. C. T h e earliest physical evidence for domesticated grapes at C a r t h a g e dates only to the period between about 350 a n d 146 B. C. Later R o m a n writers, however, preserve excerpts from the writings of Mago, the Carthaginian agricultural writer of the late third and early second centuries B. C. He apparently wrote an agricultural m a n u a l in which he not only discussed how to raise grapes but also included directions for making a raisin wine. Greeks, through trade and colonization, probably played the m a j o r role in introducing the grape a n d wine production to other areas of the west, particularly in Italy, Sicily, and southern Gaul. Drinking vessels similar to Greek forms used for wine, for example, a p p e a r in Italian tombs in central Italy by the late eighth or early seventh century B. C. 9 9 T h e earliest archaeological evidence for wine production in the West comes f r o m Spain where excavations at l'Ait de B e n i m a q u í a (Denia-Alicante) have revealed the remains of four houses with wine making installations dating to the early sixth century B. C. The location was apparently an indigenous Spanish settlement that p r o d u c e d enough wine to support its own needs and to
98
J . J . Rossiter, " W i n e a n d Oil Processing at R o m a n F a r m s in Italy," Phoenix 35 (1981): 3 4 5 6 1 ; ־J e a n - P i e r r e B r u n , " L a discrimination e n t r e les installations oléicoles et vinicoles," in L7 production du vin et de l'huile, p p . 51 1 37; A n d r e a C a r a n d i n i et al, Settefinestre. Una villa schiavistica nell'Etruria romana. 3 vols. ( M o d e n a : Edizioni Panini, 1984), 1: 126-28. 99 It r e m a i n s possible that, as with the case of olive oil, the technology for wine m a k i n g in N o r t h Africa m a y have c o m e f r o m R o m a n a n d G r e e k contacts r a t h e r t h a n t h r o u g h Phoenician colonists. M a g o : Pliny HN 18.22; C o l u m e l l a RR 12.39.1 2. Sec also J o s e p h A. G r e e n e , " T h e Beginnings of G r a p e Culltivation a n d W i n e P r o d u c t i o n in P h o e n i c i a n / P u n i c N o r t h Africa," in Origins and Ancient History of Wine, pp. 311 22; Stager, "Firstfruits," pp. 180 81.
Origin of wine making in the western Mediterranean
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export to s u r r o u n d i n g areas. Since the a m p h o r a e used for this purpose were Phoenician in design, their knowledge of wine-making technology probably originated from Phoenician or Punic colonists. Roughly rectangular or irregular in shape, the vats vary in length between 1.78 m. and 3.0 m., in width between 1.0 m. a n d 1.60 m., and in depth between 0.18 m. a n d 0.26 m. Excavators have estimated the c o m b i n e d m i n i m u m capacity of the four installations at ca. 2,500 liters. Since the vats had no means of draining off the must from the marc, red wine m a y have been the p r i m a r y product p r o d u c e d . T h e lack of evidence for presses m a y imply that they relied only on treading in vats to express the must that they then fermented in the vats themselves or in terracotta containers. 1 0 0 Wine in Roman daily life
O n c e introduced wine became the most popular R o m a n drink. Petronius (Sat. 34), for example, says that wine was life itself (vinum vita est). It served as a drink both during and after meals, as a libation in religious ceremonies, and in medicine to provide the liquid necessary for the proper consistency of various medicinal concoctions. Most R o m a n s drank wine, whether red or white, at room temperature, or at the temperature of the room in which it had been stored. Wealthy R o m a n s could afford snow or ice to cool their drinks even further or could heat it by the addition of w a r m water (caldum) or by heating the wine itself. Wine (or water) in the wealthiest homes could be heated in a "self-boiler," the authepsa or miliarium, which came in several types. Its simplest form was that of a tall cylindrical bronze vessel divided into two parts. T h e lower portion held the heated charcoal while the u p p e r part contained the water or wine, which could be drawn off through a spout. A particularly elaborate one was found in a villa at Stabiae, located south of Pompeii (Fig. 30). M a d e of bronze it was constructed of three parts sitting in a base measuring forty-three centimeters square. W a t e r poured into the tall, slightly tapered cylindrical container through the top flowed through the short central channel into the hollow walls of the round fire-box. Hot charcoal placed in the center of the box heated the water or wine, which was accessed through a decorative tap on the side. 101
100
N u m e r o u s finds of g r a p e seeds indicated the p r o d u c t processed here. See Carlos G o m e z Bcllard, Pierre G u é r i n , a n d Guillcm Pérez J o r d à , " T é m o i g n a g e d ' u n e p r o d u c t i o n de vin d a n s l'Espagne p r é r o m a i n e , " in 1/1 production du vin et de !,huile, p p . 3 7 9 - 9 5 . 101 See K a t h e r i n e M . I). D u n b a b i n , " W i n e a n d W a t e r at t h e R o m a n Convivium," JRA 6 (1993): 1 1 6 - 4 ! ; J o h n W a r d - P e r k i n s a n d A m a n d a Claridge, Pompeii A. D. 79. 2 Vols. (Boston: M u s e u m of Fine Arts, 1978), 1: 172 73, esp. no. 154. T h e total height of the miliaúum f r o m Stabiae is fiftyo n e centimeters. O n w i n e in R o m a n society, see the various contributions to In Vino Veritas, esp. pp. 167 317. O n wine in medicine, see Prickett, "Scientific a n d Technological S t u d y , " p p . 72-78.
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Fig. 30. Miliarium, from Stabiae. From J o h a n n e s Overbeck and August M a u , Pompeji in seinen Gebäuden, Alterthümem und Kunstwerken. 4 I ״ed. (Leipzig: Wilhelm Engelmann, 1884), p. 442, Fig. 299.
376 Types of wine and non-alcoholic grape products
Wine making: treading
CHAP TER SEVEN
w inc
was not the onlv product made from grapes.10'^ So, for example, R o m a n s drank grape juice (mus turn), a n d cooked with defrutum and sapa. Defrutum was must reduced by boiling to one-half its volume, while sapa was must reduced by one-third. Passum was a raisin wine m a d e from dried grapes, while protropum was fermented must from grapes that had not been trod or pressed but allowed to seep naturally from the grapes and then collected and fermented. Pliny, in his discussion of wine, ranks both Italian and foreign vintages into classes based on their quality. A m o n g the former he marks out for special praise the wine of Setia in Latium and C a e c u b a n from grapes grown south of Fundi. Lower quality wines included Falernian, a n d that m a d e from grapes grown at Alba and Surrentina. A m o n g foreign wines, he favors those from Thasos, Chios, Lesbos, Cyprus, and Egypt. Not all wines were considered good. Pliny mentions a drink m a d e from grape skins, pressed a n d soaked in water, or from the dregs of wine making (faecatum). He cannot bring himself to call these beverages wines, but notes that they pass for such a m o n g the lower classes and so are called vina operaria, or "workmen's wines." 1 0 3 Although R o m a n wines probably had an alcoholic content of less than sixteen percent, it was sufficient to cause inebriation if overindulged. As in all societies where drinking is popular, drunkenness was also a R o m a n problem. After discussing the various wines, Pliny laments the result of over-indulgence, a problem not only of the lower classes, but, as Cicero relates of Antony's excesses, of the upper classes as well. 104 R o m a n methods of producing wine were quite consistent, as the procedures described by the agricultural writers agree in nearly all particulars. 1 0 5 T h e apparatus, however, receive little or no description. Before beginning work, the tools, utensils, and containers had to be cleaned and prepared. Specifically, terra-cotta jars (dolia) and treading vats (lacus vinarius) were lined with pitch to prevent seepage. Next, grapes brought from the vineyards were separated into those that
102
N o r w e r e g r a p e s the only fruit f r o m which wine was m a d e . T h e R o m a n s also knew wines f r o m dates as well as figs. See Pliny HN 14.102. Dioscorides (De mat. med. 5.1), a n a r m y physician a n d c o n t e m p o r a r y of Pliny the Elder, gives a recipe for d a t e wine, φοινικίτης. H e suggests placing dates in a c o n t a i n e r h a v i n g a plugged hole in the b o t t o m . A q u a n t i t y of w a t e r a c c o r d i n g to the desire for sweetness of the wine is t h e n a d d e d a n d allowed to stand for ten days to f e r m e n t . T h e p l u g was t h e n r e m o v e d to p e r m i t the w i n e to d r a i n out. 103 Pliny HN 14.59 76 (classes), 8 0 8 2 ( ־passum a n d sapa), 8 3 (mustum), 85 (protropum), 86 [vina operaria). M a r t i a l likewise lists m a n y of t h e s a m e wines, d o m e s t i c a n d foreign, a m o n g his xenia. T . J . Leary, " M a r t i a l ' s C h r i s t m a s Winclist," Greece and Rome Ab, no. 1 (April 1999): 34 41. A m o d e r n study of R o m a n w i n e m a k i n g p r o c e d u r e s takes a dim view of the quality of R o m a n wines. See Prickett, "Scicnlific a n d T e c h n o l o g i c a l Study, pp. 54~67. 104 Pliny HN 1 4 . 1 3 9 - 4 8 ; C i c e r o Phil. 2.63; Prickett, "Scientific a n d T e c h n o l o g i c a l Study, pp. 6 0 - 6 1 . O n drunkeness, see J o h n H . D ' A r m s , " H e a v y D r i n k i n g a n d D r u n k e n e s s in the R o m a n W o r l d : F o u r Q u e s t i o n s for Historians," in In Vino Veritas, p p . 304 17. 105 C a t o RR 2 3 - 2 6 ; V a r r o RR 1.54; C o l u m e l l a RR 12.18.
32
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were to be eaten and those to be m a d e into wine. T h e latter were sometimes sieved to remove a n y husks a n d other debris. S o m e grapes apparently were left to ripen on their own so that their weight caused t h e m to exude their juice. T h i s free-run juice was then collected and placed in j a r s to ferment into protropum. T h i s type wine was particularly well liked, because free-run must was less acidic a n d sweeter t h a n must f r o m grapes that h a d been trod or trod a n d pressed. T h e first active step involved treading the grapes using the feet. Few literary sources c o m m e n t on how this was done. Vergil, for example, merely says that workers trod with naked legs (nudata crura). G r a p e treading was apparently considered too basic to need description. Palladius, however, writing in the fifth century A. 1)., does describe h o w to construct a n d equip a wine-making installation. 106 He suggests orienting the building to the north a n d siting it away f r o m sources of foul odors, such as stables, d u n g hills, a n d standing water, which could affect the wine adversely. H e then proceeds to describe an a r r a n g e m e n t for treading grapes, while omitting any reference to pressing. H e r e c o m m e n d s establishing a treading floor (calcatorium) on an elevated foundation a p p r o a c h e d by two or three steps. Flanking the treading floor were two tanks (lacus). T h o u g h he does not say so, presumably the floor sloped in the direction of the tanks so that the must flowed into them. T h e s e tanks had gutters or terra-cotta pipes a r o u n d the inside walls to direct the must through other channels that emptied the juice into dolia placed on the side. Palladius then r e c o m m e n d s that, if the vintage were large, o n e might place wooden barrels (cupae) on stands set between the dolia so that the barrels were higher t h a n the large vessels. Presumably, workers transferred must to the barrels when the dolia b e c a m e full. H e adds that if stands are not used, the barrels should sit on a floor m a d e of tiles a n d provided with raised borders. Its p u r p o s e was to catch any wine leaking from the barrels and to direct it toward a vat placed b e n e a t h it. 111 this way, no must was lost. Art historical material, such as the f r a g m e n t a r y stone relief n o w in the Vatican M u s e u m (PI. 32), however, gives a good view of the procedure. 1 0 7 In this instance three workers, naked f r o m the waist d o w n , stand inside a tub resting on stools. T h e y hold o n t o each other for support, while they tread in unison. T h e must streams into dolia t h r o u g h two lion-heated spouts placed on the side. T h i s can be seen as well on a third-century A. 1). mosaic from Cerchel, in N o r t h Africa. T h e C a l e n d a r mosaic in the Maison des Mois at El D j e m , also in
'<" ־Vergil Georg. 2.8; Tibullus 2 . 1 . 4 5 - 4 6 ; C a t o RR 25, but cf. V a r r o RR 1.54; Palladius OpusAgr. 1.18; Prickett, "Scientific a n d Technological S t u d y , " p. 51. 11)7 C o m p a r e also the d e c o r a t e d blue glass vase in the M u s e o Nazionale di Napoli. See Wilhelmina J a s h e m s k i , The Gardens of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and the Villas Destroyed by Vesuvius (New Rochelle: C a r t a t z a s Brothers. Publishers, 1979), p. 225, Fig. 331.
Art historical evidencefortreading
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Pressing
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North Africa, has a treading scene in which two treaders seem to hold in their hands curved sticks for hooking an overhead support or ropes already attached above, perhaps to a horizontal pole or grape trellis (not shown). 108 T h e R o m a n method of treading apparently differed little from that used by Pharaonic Egyptians. Some vats were p e r m a n e n t fixtures, others, as above, could be temporary in nature. Not all vats had spouts to allow the must to drain out. Those that did not probably most often produced red wine, since the must would remain in contact with the m a r c for a period of time. Indeed, Pliny (HN 14.80) says that wines c a m e in four colors: white (alburn), brown (fulvum), blood-red (sanguineum), and black (niger). Wine from free-run must (protropum) was presumably white, as was, or nearly so, the must separated immediately after treading. Wines must have grown progressively darker the longer the must was in contact with the marc. Must from treading was placed into pitched dolia or vats to ferment. T h e next step involved pressing. The grape skins and seeds were removed from the treading vats and placed in a basket. T h e y were then pressed using a mechanical press, to be described below. Must from this pressing was added to the must obtained from treading. T h e skins then underwent a second pressing, the must from which was stored separate from that of the first pressing. This must apparently had a sharp taste and was later added in small amounts to fermenting wines. T h e remaining skins were then soaked with water and pressed a third time to produce lora, a drink specified by both C a t o and Varro as suitable for laborers and farm hands. 1 0 9 T h e must from treading and the first pressing was then placed in dolia, often buried to one-half their height, and allowed to ferment for a certain period. 110 Cato specifies about thirty days. During this time various additives could be included, such as chalk or marble dust to deacidify the wine, pine resin and myrrh to create specialty wines or, perhaps, to mask a poor wine that spoiled easily, and seawater to act as a preservative. Boiled must, or defrutum, was also a reco m m e n d e d preservative for wine. A stone relief (PI. 33) now in the British Muse- 33 um shows, on the left, workmen boiling must. O n the far right, sits a dolium. T h e worker to the right of the vessel pours must (or wine) into the dolium. T h e worker to the left has removed some wine (or must) and prepares to carry it in a small
108
K a t h a r i n e M . 13. D u n b a b i n , lite Mosaics of Roman North Africa. Studies in Iconography and Patronage (Oxford: C l a r e n d o n Press, 1978), p p . 111, 115, a n d Figs. 9 9 a n d 105. 109 C a t o RR 25; V a r r o RR 1.54. 110 Frankel ( Wine and Oil Production, pp. 138-58) notes that wineries in the n o r t h e r n p a r t of the M e d i t e r r a n e a n tended to collect a n d f e r m e n t wine in dolia (or pithoi), w h e r e a s wineries in southern areas of the M e d i t e r r a n e a n , Egypt, a n d Israel used vats, sometimes r a t h e r large.
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pitcher to the kettle. 111 Cato recommends that containers of fermenting wine be wiped off twice daily, no doubt to keep them cool. This would be particularly important for dolia not buried partially in the ground. Keeping fermenting must cool reduces to a minimum microbial activity that leads to spoilage. Pliny also suggests that dolia containing fermenting wine should be placed under a roof with windows facing east or northeast. A large urban vineyard (Region II.v) in Pompeii, for example, had just outside the pressing room a shed with large windows, which protected ten dolia. Another vineyard at Pompeii, located at Region I.XX. 1, stored its must in an underground room. T h e roof of the cellar had a hole through which the must was poured into a large vat located at one end of the room. T h e roof in the center of the room had another opening to provide ventilation for the fermentation gases to escape. 112 O n c e fermented, the wine was usually rackcd, that is separated from the lees, Storage and and transferred to amphorae for aging or transportation. Columella says that transportation wines should be placed in the vicinity of smoke, as this assists the aging process, a suggestion at odds with modern methods, which call for a cool, dry storage area. 113 Pliny (HN 14.132) notes that inhabitants of areas near the Alps in northern Italy stored their wine in wooden barrels (cupae). In fact, barrels for transport of wine was probably a Gallic, or perhaps a northern Etruscan, invention, at least by the first century B. C. Palladius (Opus Agr. 1.18), in the fifth century A. 1)., describes the use of barrels to collect must draining off the treading floor. T h e y are found in great numbers along the R h i n e - D a n u b e waterway, and were commonly used to ship wine to Rome in the fourth century A. D. From the Augustan period to at least into the second century A. D., wine also traveled in bulk, stored in large terra-cotta dolia carried in special ships, such as the Italian ship discovered near Caesarea Marittima in Israel. 114 Terra-cotta transport amphorae fre111
C o l u m e l l a (RR 12.19-30) gives several o t h e r m e t h o d s for preserving wine. C a t o RR 25; Pliny H N 14.75, 92; J e r e m y Patterson, " R o m e , Classical," in Oxford Companion to Wine, p. 820; Prickett, "Scientific a n d Technological S t u d y , " pp. 5 5 - 5 6 ; Jashemski, Cardens of Pompeii, pp. 201-32. 112 Cf. Pliny HJV 14.132-33. Cf. M c G e e , On Food and Cooking, p. 448 (cool d u r i n g fermentation). For the press r o o m ol Region II.v, see below, pp. 3 9 0 - 9 1 . 113 Plutarch Mor. 1088f; Columella RR 1.6.20. Cf. H o r a c e Carm. 3.8. Pliny ( / / Λ Ί 4 . 1 3 5 ) says that dolia used to ferment wine should never be filled to the top, presumably to allow the f e r m e n t i n g wine to breathe, although this m a y have contribued to early spoilage. O n the i m p o r t a n c e of keeping containers airtight a n d the wine away f r o m air, see M a c r o b i u s Sal. 7.12.13-16. See also Prickett, "Scientific a n d Technological Study," pp. 6 4 67; M c G e e , On Food and Cooking, pp. 4 5 0 - 5 2 . 114 Giulia Baratta, "Le botti: dati e questioni," in Techniques et économie, pp. 109-12; A r m a n d Desbat, "Le t o n n e a u antique: questions techniques et p r o b l è m e d'origine," in Techniques et économie, pp. 113-20. C h e m i c a l analysis of barrels found n e a r the military c a m p at O b e r a d e n , dating to the Augustan period, detected the presence of tartaric acid, a strong indicator of wine. See A n d r é T c h e r n i a , " L e t o n n e a u , de la bière au vin," in Techniques et économie, p. 123. See also Antoinette
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quently received an inside lining of pine pitch to prevent seepage. This probably also gave R o m a n wines a resin taste, if it did not already have it. A stopper of some sort, such as a cork, sealed the vessel's mouth and rendered it water resistant and durable. If wine is not sealed properly, bacteria in the air produce an acid that quickly spoils it. This sour wine the R o m a n s called acetum, or vinegar. 115
C. Oil Olive oil in Rowan society
T h e ripe fruit of the olive tree could be eaten raw or preserv ed by various methods, such as in salt water, for consumption later. Its primär) ׳value, however, came from its oil. Romans used olive oil in numerous ways, including as an ingredient in culinary dishes, medicines, and perfumes, as a lubricant, a preserv ative, a fuel, and in religious services as part of sacrifices, to name only a few. 116 This myriad of uses naturally made it an important part of the Roman economy and a major source of income for particular geographic areas, such as Spain and North Africa. Pliny particularly praises Italian oil produced in Venafrum and the area of Histria. Oil even became part of the annona, along with grain, in the third century A. 1). Most information dealing with its manufacture comes from the agricultural writers and from numerous archaeological sites throughout the Mediterranean area." 7
H e s n a r d , " E n t r e p ô t s navires à dolia: l'invention du transport de vin en vrac," Techniques et économie, p p . 130-31; A. J . Parker, " T h e W i n e s of R o m a n Italy," JRA 3 (1990): 3 3 0 - 3 1 ; T c h e r n i a , Le vin, p p . '285-92. O n aging in barrels today, sec M c G e e , On Food and Cooking, pp. 4 5 4 - 5 5 . " ייO n wine a m p h o r a e , see esp. T c h e r n i a , Le vin, pp. 233 56. S o m e a m p h o r a e h a d corks p r o vided with a string to assist in r e m o v i n g it a n d covered with plaster or with plaster set in wax. T h e wax o r plaster would serve to m a k e the c o n t a i n e r watertight. See K o e h l e r , " H a n d l i n g of G r e e k T r a n s p o r t A m p h o r a s , " p. 53, note 21. O n the use of corks covered with pitch to seal wine jars, sec H o r a c e Cam. 3.8 (corticem adstrictum pice). See also M c G e e , On Food and Cooking, pp. 4 5 0 (vinegar), 4 5 5 57 (corks). (311 lining the inside of a m p h o r a e , see Kochlcr, " W i n e A m p h o r a s in Ancient G r e e k T r a d e , " p. 328; Pliny HN 14.127 28; Plutarch Mor. 6 7 6 b ־c . C h e m i c a l analysis has revealed pine pitch used as lining on a n u m b e r of transport a m p h o r a e of different periods. See C u r t W . Beck, C h r i s t o p h e r J . S m a r t , a n d D o r r e e n J . Ossenkip, "Residues a n d Linings in Ancient M e d i t e r r a n e a n T r a n s p o r t A m p h o r a s , " Archaeological Chemistry IV. Ralph O . .Allen, ed. (Washington, 1). C.: A m e r i c a n C h e m i c a l Society, 1989), p p . 3 6 9 - 8 0 . O n vinegar, see Prickett, "Scientific a n d Technological S t u d y , " pp. 63 64. 116 Columella RR 12.49 51( ־preserving olives). O n uses of olive oil, see esp. A. S. Pease, " O l e u m , " RE 17 2 (1937): cols. 2 4 6 0 69. O n olive oil in literature, sec S. M a r i n e r , "El olivo y el aceite en las literaturas clàsicas," in Producciony commercio del aceite en la antigiiedad. P r i m e r congreso internacional (Madrid: Universidad C o m p l u t e n s e , 1980), pp. 2 4 3 - 5 4 . 117 See esp., C a t o RR 6 4 - 6 9 ; V a r r o RR 1.64; C o l u m e l l a RR 12.52-53; Pliny HN 15.1 23; Palladius Opus Agr. 1.20. O n olive oil p r o d u c t i o n as a m a j o r c o m p o n e n t of the R o m a n e c o n o m y see, R o b e r t Bruce H i t c h n e r , "Olive P r o d u c t i o n a n d the R o m a n E c o n o m y , " in IM production du vin et de l'huile, p p . 4 9 9 - 5 0 8 .
!4
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As noted when discussing Greece, olive oil production involved three m a j o r steps: crushing, pressing, and settling. Each stage in the process had its characteristic apparatus. So, for example, the development of rotary motion led to the use of the olive crusher, called in Latin the trapetum. Advances in pressing technology saw improvements in the lever-and-weight press. And, finally, settling tanks served to separate water (amurca) from the oil, which was decanted into smaller vessels. These apparatus received treatment in the previous chapter, particularly as they developed during the Hellenistic period at Olynthus in Greece and at M a r e s h a in Israel. Further innovations arose during the R o m a n period, and these will receive the focus in this chapter. Columella (RR 12.52.6-7) lists four pieces of equipment used to crush olives: the trapetum, mola, canalis et solea, and tudicula. Little is known of the last two apparatus. T h e solea probably refer to shoes worn when olives were trod in a canalis, an elongated wooden vat, and are known only through Columella (RR 12.52.6) and the R o n d a n i n i Relief in Rome. Even less is known of the tudicula, which may have been similar to a tribulum, or a threshing sledge. It has been tentatively identified with numerous examples of a hollow, oval-shaped, bronze apparatus studded with projecting points found on farms in North Africa. With a wooden handle inserted, it was probably used like a hammer. 1 1 8 Columella is quite clear that neither method compared favorably with either the trapetum or the mola. W h a t Columella m e a n t by a mola separate f r o m a trapetum is complicated by the fact that C a t o mentions only the trapetum, and V a r r o defines the trapetum as a mola olearia m a d e from a h a r d and rough stone. Most scholars see the two as separate apparatus, with the mola olearia being identified with a round crushing basin with flat crushing surface, reserving the term trapetum for the round basin with concave crushing surface (PI. 34). Although this distinction has been generally accepted, Rafael Frankel has recently suggested that the mola olearia is best identified specifically with the horizontal oil mill characteristic of the Quadalquivir valley in southern Spain. He argues that Columella, being from Spain, would have known this, and, as an expert in agriculture, would have known of other types of mills as well. Therefore, he asserts that Columella used the term mola to refer specifically to the Spanish mill, which derived from and was similar to a rotary grain mill. He further suggests that Columella used the word trapetum to refer generally to other types of rotary mill used to crush olives. Frankel notes that rotary oil mills came in at least five different varieties differing
1,8
J e a n - P i e r r e B r u n , L'oléiculture antique en Provence. Les huileries département du Var (Paris: Editions du C e n t r e national de la R e c h e r c h e Scientifique, 1986), p p . 6 9 (canalis et solea), 80 (turdicula); D r a c h m a n n , Ancient Oil Mills, p. 144, Fig. 10; B l ü m n e r , Technologie und Terminologie, p. 351, Fig. 129 ( R o n d a n i n i Relief). O n w o o d e n shoes w o r n to tread olives, see a b o v e p. 188.
Crushing
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Pressing
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principally in the shape of the crushing surface, whether concave or flat, and the a r r a n g e m e n t of the central post (milicinum), if present, and the presence or absence of a socket (modiolus) for the iron pivot (columella). Trapeta with flat crushing surfaces were used primarily, though not exclusively, in the eastern Mediterranean, such as in Syria a n d Israel, and in Tunisia in North Africa, while those with concave surfaces were typical of the middle and western areas, such as Greece, Italy, and Gaul. 1 1 9 Whatever their relationship a m o n g themselves in terms of origin and date of appearance, their function was the same, to crush the olives in preparation for pressing. Columella asserts that crushing olive stones released its bitter juice, implying that it produced an inferior product. H e comments on the ability to avoid this by adjusting the height of the crushing stones (orbes) in the trapetum. C a t o suggests doing this by inserting wooden disks over the pivot (Fig. 31). Columella's c o m m e n t has inclined most subsequent authors to conclude that the R o m a n s tried to avoid crushing the olive pit in the mills. Even if this were desired — and Columella's statement implies that some R o m a n s certainly did — it is doubtful whether it could be wholly achieved. T h e best results one could hope to obtain would be to create a uniformly crushed mixture of pulp, meat, and fragmented nuts. Marie-Claire Amouretti has plausibly argued that any adjustments m a d e to the trapetum were motivated not by a desire to avoid crushing the pits, since the juice would not substantially affect the taste of the oil, but to insure that the orbes did not become clogged by crushed accumulations of olive skins, pulp, and pits. 120 O n c e the olives had been crushed, they were placed in baskets and pressed. M u c h work has been done on ancient processing technology since A. G. D r a c h m a n n ' s seminal publication in 1932 entitled Ancient Oil Mills and Presses. During the last fourteen years a re-evaluation of earlier publications and an increased pace of new excavations augmented by field surveys have combined with a heightened interest in pressing technology to e n h a n c e our understanding of how R o m a n s processed olives and grapes. D r a c h m a n n ' s study of the oil press, or torcularium, used primarily literary sources a n d a few archaeological examples, 119
V a r r o RR 1.55.5: ...ad trapetas, quae res motae oterariae ex duro et aspero lapide. See also C a t o RR 2 0 - 2 2 ; R a f a e l Frankel, " T h e Trapetum a n d the Mola Olearia," in La production du vin et de l'huile, pp. 4 7 7 - 8 1 , esp. Fig. 1. T h e orbes of the R o m a n c r u s h e r differed f r o m those of the O l y n t h i a n type. T h e latter were not lense-shaped b u t flat on both surfaces, h a d a n a r r o w e r c r u s h i n g surface, a n d were usually larger in d i a m e t e r , m e a s u r i n g 0.8 m . or larger. See Foxhall, " O i l Extraction a n d Processing E q u i p m e n t , " p p . 1 9 0 - 9 1 ; B l ü m n e r , Technologie und Terminologie, pp. 3 3 8 - 4 3 . 120 C a t o RR 2 0 - 2 2 ; C o l u m e l a RR 12.52.6. C a t o {RR 66) notes that o n e of the duties of the w a t c h m a n at an oil press was to m a k e sure that n o olive pit was pressed because the oil would have a b a d taste. Discussed above, p. 304. David Mattingly, " O l e a M e d i t e r r a n e a ? " J RA 1 (1988): 156; M . - C . A m o u r e t t i , " D e s a g r o n o m e s latins a u x a g r o n o m e s p r o v e n ç a u x : les moulins à huile," Provence Historique 24 (1981): 8 3 : 100.
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Orbis
Fig. 31. Drawing of a trapetum, a rotary olive-crushing apparatus.
383
384 Typology of Roman olive presses
Lever-and-weight press
Wedge press
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particulary from Italy. Recent studies, such as those by Jean-Pierre Brun, David Mattingly, and Rafael Frankel, using D r a c h m a n n ' s discussion as a point of departure, have focussed on localized areas where the archaeological material is particularly a b u n d a n t , such as southern Gaul, North Africa, and Israel, respectivcly. In doing so they have identified five basic ancient oil press types, some of which also processed grapes. These include the lever-and-weight press, levera n d - d r u m press, lever-and-screw press, direct screw press, and the wedge press. T h e y have further refined these to create a tentative typology of presses that include the basic forms as well as numerous subtypes. An important point made in these studies is that regional variation not only in design of a specific press or pressing arrangement but also in the development of pressing technology is the rule. So, for instance, not all areas have a linear development from, say, the lever-and-drum through the lever-and-screw press to the direct screw press. Some areas show a shift from lever-and-drum directly to the direct-screw type. And, finally, some regions show an indigenous development at variance with that in a neighboring locale, such as differences in press construction or operalion shown between various sections of Israel. Likewise, press technology in a particular region might indicate external influences in addition to local innovation. So, for example, the presses of p r e - R o m a n southern Gaul betray borrowing from both Greeks and Romans. 1 2 1 Limitations do not permit a full discussion of all subtypes of press, nor is one required to illustrate the principles of R o m a n pressing technology. I will begin with a description of the literary evidence for oil presses and then discuss this in relation to the archaeological material to define the basic types. T w o presses can be dismissed quickly, the lever-and-weight press and the wedge press. T h e former has already received detailed discussion in the previous chapter, particularly as it related to Greek oil processing and to press rooms at Maresha in Israel. This type press did make its way to the western Mediterranean, as examples have been found in southern Gaul, an area influenced early by Greek colonists. Although frequently found in the Near East, they are quite rare in the West, with none so far confirmed in Italy. 122 T h e wedge press was a simple apparatus compose of a wooden frame into which horizontal boards
121
Brun, L'oléiculture antique, passim; Frankel, Wine and Oil Production, passim; David J . Mattingly a n d R . Bruce H i t c h n e r , " T e c h n i c a l Specifications for S o m e N o r t h African Olive Presses of R o m a n D a t e , " IM production du vin et de l'huile, pp. 4 3 9 62. 122 B r u n , L'oléiculture antique, pp. 8 7 9 0 ־, esp. Fig. 28 (Types AO a n d A l ) . See also Frankel, Wine and Oil Production, pp. 6 1 - 6 7 , 76 86 (lever-and-weight presses), 9 2 - 9 4 (in Italy a n d Gaul). Cf. the R o n d a n i n i Relief in R o m e , s h o w n in D r a c h m a n n , Ancient Oil Mills, p. 69, a n d Fig. 10. Frankel ( Wine and Oil Production, pp. 9 2 9 3 ) ־notes that a n y conclusions based on this relief, w h i c h m a y show a lever-and-weight press, should be cautious ones.
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could be inserted. T h e basket of crushed olives placed under the bottom board was pressed when rows of wedges, alternately facing in opposite directions, were h a m m e r e d between the boards. Four paintings found in Pompeii and Herculan e u m (Fig. 32) depict a wedge press being used to extract oil from the olive pulp. In each instance, however, the context is that of the flower industry. A recent study of these paintings and the scarce archaeological evidence for wedge presses concludes that this type press, found only in urban settings, was used strictly to extract high quality, low viscosity oil, from green olives to make perfumes. Its compact arrangement m a d e it ideal for small perfumeries, but its method of operation limited its size and its capacity. Although the wedge press could have extracted oil for uses other than perfumes, the volume of oil obtainable per time and effort expended would have rendered it uneconomical for producing large quantities of oil. Apparently other type presses were used to extract from mature olives large volumes of lower quality oil, which found numerous uses, such as food. 123 These include the lever-and-drum, lever-and-screw, and direct screw presses. It is a short step from the lever-and-weight press that employs a drum to hoist the stone up, such as was probably used at Maresha, to the simple lever-andd r u m press, which became the most widespread type of olive and grape press, at least through the first century B. C. Date and place of its origin remains unknown, but Cato the Elder was familiar with it in the mid-second century B. C. when he describes it in detail (Fig. 33). 121 According to Cato, one end of a long wooden beam [prelum) had a tongue (lingula) which was inserted under a crossbeam fitted into slots cut into two wooden piers (arbores) anchored in the floor. T h e b e a m rested on the basket of crushed olives set in front of the piers on the press bed (ara). Inserted between the beam and the top of the basket was a circular wooden piece (orbis) to insure an even pressure on the frail. T h e press bed had a circular groove cut with a diameter wider than that of the basket to insure that the oil expressed would be channeled to a receiving vat. T h e free end of the beam passed between two wooden uprights (stipites). These piers framed
123
Frankel, Wine and Oil Production, p p . 125 26; B r u n , L'oléiculture antique, p p . 82 83; D . J . M a t tingly, "Paintings, P r e s s e s a n d P e r f u m e P r o d u c t i o n at P o m p e i i , " OJA 9, no. 1 (1990): 71 90. M a t tingly (p. 86, a n d fig. 11) identifies as a wedge press a press f r o m Pompeii, in Reg. VII.iv.24, usually identified with a n d reconstructed as a direct screw press. 121 C a t o RR 18 19. Cf. also Pliny HN. 18.317. T h e w e i g h t - a n d - d r u m press, which utilized a winch or d r u m to lift stones up to the b e a m , w h e r e they w e r e lashed in place, discussed in the previous c h a p t e r , is really a variant of the lever-and-weight press. It is not a simple lever-andd r u m press, which has yet to be c o n f i r m e d in the eastern M e d i t e r r a n e a n . H e r o of Alexandria does not m e n t i o n this type of press, which D r a c h m a n n , with s o m e reserve, doubts was known in Greece. See D r a c h m a n n , Ancient Oil Mills, p. 67.
Lever-and-drum press
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Fig. 32. Wedge press operated by erotes, from a painting found in the House of the Stags (Ins. IV.21) in Herculaneum. This detail forms part of a larger scene of erotes making and selling perfume. Illustrated in The Gentleman's Magazine (Aug. 1773): Pl. VII.
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North African variant to the leverand-drum press
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and fixed a winch or d r u m (sucula). A rope attached to the beam and to the drum. A lever or handspike (vectis), when rotated, wound the rope around the d r u m , thereby drawing down the free end of the beam and pressing the basket of crushed olives. A wall painting in the House of the Vcttii (Region VI.xv. 1) shows cupids operating just such a levcr-and-drum press to squeeze grapes. Excavators of the Villa of the Mysteries found a press room and evidence for two similar presses (PI. 35). T h e y reconstructed one generally along the lines of Cato's description of a lever-and-drum press but with some differences, such as the use of a single arbor.1'25 In North Africa the most c o m m o n type lever-and-drum press was the variant that utilized two stone arbores and a d r u m attached to a counterweight (Fig. 34). These were particularly popular in the Kasserine area of Tunisia. 1 2 6 T h e heavy stone arbores were usually over six feet tall and possessed a series of holes and grooves to accommodate b e a m adjustments as the height of the basket of crushed olives decreased under pressure. Since the greatest pressing efficiency comes when the beam approaches horizontal, the beam would have to be removed a n d fitted into a lower slot in the piers at various points in the process. At the other end of the beam, the d r u m was secured to a counterweight. This comprised a heavy stone block with a large dovetail cut-out which accommodaied the wooden windlass. Rotating the d r u m brought the free end of the beam down at the same time as the counterweight was lifted oil' the ground. T h e susp e n d e d counterweight then provided a steady pressure that could be adjusted as needed. T h e North African presses provide a confirmation of literary and epigraphic evidence that indicates that Africa was a m a j o r producer of olive oil. T h e numerous presses, perhaps over one hundred, found in the Kasserine survey arc all the more remarkable because the area is only marginally agricultural. Tripolitania apparently produced olive oil on an even larger scale. This seems indicated not only by the large n u m b e r and size of presses found but also from the fact that many of these were grouped into veritable factories of sometimes more than five presses per installation. Presses varied in size, so that no standard
12
"' M a u , Pompeii, p. 336, Fig. 168. Since the reconstruction does not cjuite coincide in a n u m b e r of particulars, two scholars recently r e i n t e r p r e t e d it as an i n t e r m e d i a t e stage utilizing both a d r u m a n d a screw. See note 131, below. See J . J . Rossiter a n d E. H a l d e n b y , "A W i n e - m a k i n g Plant in Pompeii Insula II.5," E M C 8 (1989): 2 3 2 - 3 3 . T h e simple l e v e r - a n d - d r u m press falls u n d e r T y p e B20 of B r u n , L'oléiculture antique. p p . 9 0 - 9 2 . 12(i See csp. Mattingly a n d H i t c h n e r , " T e c h n i c a l Specifications," pp. 4 4 0 54. T h e s e fall u n d e r T y p e E 3 of Brun (L'oléiculture antique, pp. 105-09). Mattingly a n d H i t c h n e r (p. 446, note 12) note that stone arbores d o m i n a t e d only in areas surveyed by t h e m ; w o o d e n piers generally p r é d o m i n â t cd in N o r t h Africa as in Italy.
3
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Fig. 34. Composite plan of a Tripolitanian oil press with slotted piers, of the R o m a n period. From Mattingly, "Megalithic Madness and Measurement," p. 189, Fig. 5. Courtesy of David J . Mattingly
390
lMer-and-drum press with a screw
CHAPTER THREE
existed. N o doubt larger ones were designed for large-scale production, while smaller ones suited reduced output. M a n y of the large North African presses had piers that measured over nine feet tall and press beams reaching about twenty-seven feet in length. Some counterweights weighed two or three tons. 127 It is difficult to determine the capacity of a R o m a n oil press. Nevertheless, David Mattingly, using the height of extant stone arbores, measurements of the press bed, and, from this, estimates of the capacity of olive baskets has calculated the load capacity for some of the largest presses he surveyed in Tripolitania at between 400 and 1000 kilograms of crushed olives. This would yield about 80 to 250 kilograms of olive oil per press. He further estimates an annual yield from a b u m p e r harvest at up to 10,000 kilograms per unit. 128 Presses of this size and capacity, especially when constructed in series in oilcries, would require a significant investment in capital. It would also produce a yield of oil far in excess of local needs. It seems clear that in certain areas, such as Tripolitania, pressing technology permitted large-scale production that translated into increased wealth for specific regions and particular states and individuals. 129 Ulpian, in Digest 19.2.19.2, preserves information from a letter dating to the reign of T r a j a n , which lists an inventory of agricultural implements needed to press olives and grapes. These include beams, winches, screws (cocleae), and ropes. Rossiter and Haldenby have recently interpreted this list as constituting elements of a type of lever-and-drum press that also utilized a screw, and have identified such a press in the press room of the large urban vineyard in Pompeii at Region II.v. 130 T h e y speculate from a single posthole near the back wall that the press had a single a r b o r that fixed one end of the beam. T h e free end was lowered by a combination of winch and screw. T h e y base their recreation on three postholes in the floor. T h e y suggest that the two postholes flanking the free end of the beam indicate the presence of the usual stipites, which secured a winch. A third hole, beyond and larger than the previous two, they argue, held
127
Mattingly a n d H i t c h n e r , " T e c h n i c a l Specifications," pp. 4 5 4 61. In comparison, Mattingly estimates the capacity of C a t o ' s press at between 470 a n d 650 kilograms. T h e olive contains an estimated sixty to seventy-five p e r cent w a t e r (amurca) a n d only from six to twenty-five per cent oil. M o r e can be obtained by p o u r i n g hot water over the olive pulp a n d pressing a second time. See Forbes a n d Foxhall, " Q u e e n of all T r e e s , " p. 39. Mattingly estimates a yield of twenty-five per cent f r o m each pressing. See David J . Mattingly, " M a x i m u m Figures a n d M a x i m i z i n g Strategies of Oil Production? Further T h o u g h t s on the Processing Capacity of R o m a n Olive Presses," La production du vin et de. l'huile, pp. 4 8 3 9 8 ; ־David J . Mattingly, "Mcgalithic M a d n e s s a n d M e a s u r e m e n t . O r H o w M a n y Olives Could an Olive Press Press?" OJAT, no. 2 (1988): 177-95. 129 H i t c h n e r , "Olive Production," pp. 4 9 9 508; Mattingly, "Oil for E x p o r t , " pp. 33 56. 130 Rossiter a n d H a l d e n b y , " W i n e - m a k i n g Plant," pp. 2 2 9 - 3 9 ; not accepted by B r u n , " I n n o v a tions techniques," p. 547, note 21. 128
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the screw apparatus. 1 3 1 Placing the screw mechanism securely in this hole prevented it from rotating when the screw was turned. It might also serve as a drop hole for a counterweight attached to the screw assembly. Rossiter a n d Haldenby suggest that the winch first lowered the beam, and the screw provided added pressure to squeeze more juice from the grapes. T h e y see this combination of winch and screw as an intermediate step between the simple lever-and-drum press and the lever-and-screw press described by Pliny ( H N 18.317). Pliny notes that the lever-and-screw press was invented in Greece about a century before his own time, that is the mid-first century B. C. H e r o of Alexandria, Pliny's contemporary, is likewise familiar with this new press and attributes the innovation to the need to avoid potential mishaps inherent in using large hanging weights with the lever-and-wcight press. From a technical viewpoint use of the screw to lower the free end of the b e a m increases the mechanical advantage over that obtainable with the lever-and-drum press, with or without press weights. Although the lever-and-scrcw press assumed many variant forms in different geographical areas, and even within a single area, the general principal remained constant. T h e basic arrangement of lever, piers into which the lever fits, and press bed remains the same as the earlier lever-and-drum press. W h a t differs is the addition of a screw attached to the free end of the lever and two intermediary piers placed between the press bed and free end of the b e a m (Fig. 35). Although the slotted intermediary piers kept the beam from moving laterally during pressing, their primary function was to support a cross-piece fitted under the beam to create a pivot point. This permitted the back end of the beam, when unsecured from the rear pier arrangement, to be lowered or raised from the free end when replacing or adjusting the basket of crushed olives. 132 Pliny says that the lever-and-screw press that raised a box of stones was "espedaily approved." This arrangement recalls the lever-and-drum press from North Africa, described above, that had its d r u m fitted into a large counterweight that rose oil" the ground when the handspikes were turned. In Pliny's example (Fig. 35), the screw nut, or female screw, is inserted into the beam or
131
Rossiter a n d H a l d e n b y postulate that the press f o u n d in the Villa of the Mysteries has b e e n erroneously reconstructed as a basic l e v e r - a n d - d r u m press. T h e y see it as a parallel with the press a r r a n g e m e n t f o u n d Region II.v, a n d identify the large posthole b e n e a t h the free e n d of the b e a m with the location of the screw a n d not as some sort of access hole as the excavators suggested. Rossiter a n d H a l d e n b y , " W i n e - m a k i n g Plant," pp. 2 3 2 - 3 3 . Cf. Pl. 35. 132 Frankel, Wine and Oil Production, pp. 86 87 (interpretation of Pliny's text), 107-08. See also H e r o Mechanica 3.15 ( D r a c h m a n n , Mechanical Technology, pp. 115 17). O n the d a t e of the invention of the lever-and-screw press, see D r a c h m a n n , Ancient Oil Mills, p p . 125-28. F o r the different variations of the lever-and-screw press, see Brun, L'oléiculture antique, pp. 109-17 (Fig. 28, T y p e s A4, C 4 , D4, H.4, J . 4, G . 5, a n d J 5 ) ; Frankel, Wine and Oil Production, p p . 107 21.
Lever-and-screw press
392
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Fig. 35. D r a c h m a n n ' s interpretation of Pliny's description (HN 18.317) of the second type of leverand-screw press. D r a c h m a n n , Ancient Oil Mills and Presses, Fig. 16.
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sits across the split of a beam forked on its free end. T h e base of the screw fits into a counterweight in such a way as to allow the screw to turn but not become unseated. As the screw is turned in one direction, the stone is lifted off the ground and begins to turn with the screw. As it does, the free end of the screw turns in the screw furrow of the nut, thereby lowering the end of the b e a m and so pressing the olives on the press bed. Turning the screw in the opposite direction reverses the order and raises the beam. 1 3 3 T h e final development in pressing technology during the R o m a n period, according to Pliny (HN 18.317) occurred a mere twenty-two years before he wrote his Historia Naturalis, that is, about A. D. 50 or a little before. This innovation, the direct screw press, discarded the b e a m altogether, and placed the screw, sometimes two, into a fixed wooden frame, not unlike that used for wedge presses, which sat above the basket of olives or grapes. 134 He does not indicate the origin of this development. This created a smaller press that could fit into a restricted area. Although Pliny discusses this press in the context of processing grapes, its only representation in art historical evidence shows that it was used in clothing shops to press garments. 1 3 5 Archaeological evidence for direct screw presses dating before the Byzantine period, however, is scarce. 136 Following pressing the oil had to be separated from the water (amurca). According to Cato (RR 66) this was done immediately after pressing. He suggests that the villa press should have, in addition to guards for the storeroom and pressroom, a ladler (capulator) whose duty it was to skim the oil off the amurca using a shell. He then poured the oil into a lead caldron (use of copper caldrons was expressly prohibited) that had been placed in the vat into which the oil flowed from the press. This was transferred into a second caldron, being careful each time to remove any dregs and water. Columella (RR 12.52.8 12) suggests using an iron ladle to transfcr the oil into an earthenware tub. He further recommends having three different
133
Pliny also described a lever-and-screw press that h a d a long screw a n c h o r e d int» the floor a n d ceiling, but could m o v e w h e n t u r n e d with handspikes. T h e screw passed t h r o u g h a nut resting on top of the b e a m , which m a y have been forked at this point. D r a c h m a n n , Ancient OH Mills, pp. 52 56. Cf. H e r o Mechanica 3.15 ( D r a c h m a n n , Mechanical Technology, pp. 115- 16) a n d D r a c h m a n n , Ancient Oil Mills, pp. 70 73. 134 O n direct screw presses, see Brun, I. ,oléiculture antique, pp. 124-32; Frankel, Wine and Oil Production, pp. 122 37. 135 Cf. also H e r o of Alexandria Mechanica 3.19 ( D r a c h m a n n , Mechanical Technology, pp. 126 37). See M a u , Pompeii, p. 395, Fig. 227. Cf. also Brun, Λ'oléiculture antique, p. 127, Fig. 63. Mattingly ("Paintings, Presses a n d P e r f u m e P r o d u c t i o n , " p. 86) believes that the press reconstructed in the house at Region VII.iv.24 as a direct screw press should b e altered to show it as a w e d g e press. 130 Frankel, Wine and Oil Production, p. 132 (one e x a m p l e in Israel, d a t i n g to the second century A. D.); Brun, L'oléiculture antique, pp. 62 63 (a single press bed f r o m K h o r a z i n , Palestine, d a t i n g to the third century A. I).).
Direct screw press
on séparation
394
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tubs, one for each pressing. T h e best oil being that obtained from the first pressing. He then instructs that oil in each of these be transferred to other vessels, up to thirty or more, being careful not to mix the different qualities of oils in any way. T h e oil is allowed to stand in each successive vessel until it can be separated from any remaining water. Each time the oil is separated it contains less lees and water and so becomes clearer. In an aside (RR 12.52.10) Columella alludes to a more sophisticated method of oil separation, a "built up vat with two compartments" (structile gemellar). N o other ancient author mentions this method, but archeologists have found similar structures in R o m a n pressrooms. Frankel has identified four different methods of oil separation: skimming, overflow décantation, underflow décantation, and a combination of the last two. T h e first accords with the comments of Columella. R o u n d vessels divided into two compartments have been recognized in two villas from Boscoreale in Campania. Although here workers may have employed skimming to transfer oil from one section to the other, at other sites two or more collecting vats placed in a row and connected successively by channels located near the top operated by the overflow method. Oil from the press flowed into the first vat, or, if not directly connected, workers transferred the oil in vessels. As the first vat filled up, the oil flowed through the channel into the next vat, leaving the lees behind. As the oil overflowed into each successive vat it became more and more pure. This type arrangement has been found in such diverse areas as Israel, North Africa, Yugoslavia, and Italy. Underflow décantation has been documented as early as the Bronze Age Aegean, but only one from the R o m a n period, the fourth-century A. D. pressing installation on Sicily at Agrigento. 111 this set up, the channel located at the bottom of the vat was sealed while the oil was being poured in. After a period of time, the stopper was removed and the water allowed to drain off, leaving the oil behind. T h e fourth method combined elements of both overflow and underflow décantation. Only one example of this type has been found, in .Algeria at Madaure. It is considered to be ancient, but its date is uncertain. Here, the first vat had two compartments, separated by a channel at the bottom of the dividing wall. By underflow décantation the water flowed into the second compartment where the oil rose to the top. A second channel at the top conducted the oil to the second vat by overflow. This latter method also transferred oil into the successive vats. In summary, although skimming was the simplest method of oil separation, it was labor intensive and time consuming. Even so, it continued to be employed even when in some places the more complicated methods were known. During the R o m a n period, overflow décantation seems to have been the most widespread method. 1 3 7
137
Frankel, Wine and Oil Production, p p . 174 76.
CHAPTER
EIGHT
R O M E II
D. Animal Processing 1. Butchery M a n y R o m a n s of all social classes in one way or another had access to various kinds of meat, which they consumed roasted, boiled, and stewed. Consumable meats came especially from quadrupeds, such as cattle, oxen, sheep, goats, but particularly boars, young pigs, and small animals such as hares and dormice. T h e portions particularly enjoyed included the womb, breast, hams, and head of the pig, as well as sausages. A m o n g fowl, cluck and geese were popular. Nevertheless, meat played a small role relative to cereals in the R o m a n diet and its expense for the most part limited its enjoyment to those who could afford it.1 M a n y towns of R o m a n Italy had livestock markets where animals might be bought live on the hoof. Rome, for instance, at least through the second century B. C., had a Jorum boarium, or "cattle market." T h e city also operated a pig market, or forum suanum, and the cities of Aeclanum, Aquileia, Atina, Falerii, and Ferentinum possessed fora pecuaria. N o doubt many other towns had livestock markets, at present unattested. Rural estates in the surrounding countryside supplied most of the animals sold here. Perhaps the best example of a villa that apparently raised pigs in excess of local needs and so, no doubt, supplied animais to urban markets is the villa of Scttcfinestrc in the Valle d ' O r o near Cosa in Etruria. 111 its second phase (second century A. D.) the villa possessed a large pigsty subdivided into twenty-seven stalls for boars and sows, which could produce between an estimated 200 and 400 piglets annually. Some of the animals may have been conveyed on the hoof to urban livestock markets, while others were processed on the farm or else in a butcher shop in town. T h e Forum Boanum in Rome, for instance, may have served only to market live animals, but its loca-
1
T h e peasant f a r m e r described in the A u g u s t a n p o e m , Moretum (55), was a p p a r e n t l y too p o o r to have a piece of pork h a n g i n g on the meat-rack placed n e a r the h e a r t h . Mireille G o r b i e r , " T h e A m b i g u o u s Status of M e a t in Ancient R o m e , " Food and Foodways 3, no. 3 (1989): 2 3 4 - 3 7 ; J a c q u e s A n d r é , L'alimentation et la cuisine a Rome. 2 n d ed. (Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 1981), pp. 134-48; W . A. Becker, Gallus, or Roman Scenes of the Time of Augustus. Rev. Frederick Metcalfe, transi. (London: L o n g m a n s , G r e e n , a n d C o . , 1903), pp. 4 6 2 - 6 5 .
Meat markets
396
Vie state as a supplier of meat
Meat preservation
CHAPTER THREE
tion near the ancient salinae, or salt market, has suggested to some scholars that it may have offered salted meat as well. 2 Not only farmers but also the state provided meat for the market (macellum). During the Republic, for example, quaestors sold in the markets meat left over from public sacrifices and deposited the profit in the treasury. Meat of animals, such as boars, stags, and even of exotic species, slaughtered in the arena were also sold in the markets. This practice caused much chagrin for some Christians who were forbidden to eat meat so procured, but who, like other Romans, desired it as part of their diet. Those who could not afford meat might still obtain it in several ways. During the Republic wealthy individuals sometimes shared meat with the populace to court celebrity and influence. These distributions, called viscera tiones, were often connected with funerary meals or gladiatorial games. Additionally, the emperor Aurelian, when he substituted baked bread in lieu of the usual grain dole, also initiated distribution to eligible recipients of wine a n d pork, probably in preserved form and cut into specific portions. Ofiicial distributions of meat, sometimes as fresh meat, sometimes as lard, continued into the fifth century A. D. And, finally, emperors at gladiatorial exhibitions often provided free meat distributions in a n u m b e r of different ways. For exampie, they might include meat portions, probably preserved in some fashion, in baskets of food distributed as gifts. T h e y also included pieces of meat a m o n g items thrown at r a n d o m into the stands a m o n g the spectators, who had to fight with each other to catch them. 3 Official meat distributions and scatterings in spectacles required a steady and dependable supply of meat preserved in some fashion. O n e would think, then, that knowledge of the methods to be followed would form a significant part of basic farm knowledge. A m o n g agricultural writers, however, directions pertaining to meat preservation fell under the category of "minor things," perhaps another indication of the subordinate role meat played in the R o m a n diet and the relatively small part it played in the R o m a n economy. 4 Consequently, infor-
2
See J o a n M . Frayn, Markets and Fairs in Roman Italy (Oxford: C l a r e n d o n Press, 1993), pp. 145 53; C a r a n d i n i , Settefinestre, 1: 179, a n d 2: 182-88. 1 regret that I was u n a b l e to consult L a u r a Cioffi, Caro: ilmercato delta came nell'occidente romano. Atlante T e m a t i c o di T o p o g r a f i c a antica, Suppl. 4 ( R o m e : ' L ' E r m a di Bretschneider, 2000). 3 M e a t distributed in these ways was p r o b a b l y not fresh, raw pieces, because of the likelihood that they would spoil in the hot weather, as well as d r a w flies. See esp. S.HA. Aurel. 35.48. See also C o r b i e r , " A m b i g u o u s Status of M e a t , " pp. 223 34; D o n a l d G . Kyle, Spectacles of Death in Ancient Rome (London: Routledge, 1998), p p . 184 212 ;־Joan Frayn, " T h e R o m a n M e a t T r a d e , " in Food in Antiquity. J o h n Wilkins, David Harvey, a n d Mike Dobs, eds. (Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 1995), j). 1 13. For the meal market, see esp. Claire D e R u y t , Macellum. Marché alimentaire des Romains (Louvain-La-Neuve: Institut Supérieur d'Archéologie et d'Historire de l'Art, 1983), pp. 3 4 5 - 4 7 . 4 C o l u m e l l a RR 12.55. ! : nunc ad minora redeamus.
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mation on the technology associated with meat preservation is difficult to ascertain. Since R o m a n s of Italy, particularly in the central regions, preferred pork to beef, goats, and sheep, what literary references 011 processing animals are available tend to concentrate on the pig. יColumella, for instance, describes a method used to salt pork during the winter months. After the pig has been butchered, the meat is deboned and rubbed with coarse salt. Placed on a flat surface weights are applied to the meat for three days to press out any remaining blood. If the weather is sunny, Columella recommends rubbing the meat with salt on each of nine succeeding days. If the weather is inclement, he continues, on the eleventh or twelfth day wash off any salt from the surface of the meat, dry it a little, and then smoke it in the larder (carnanum).6 Columella (RR 12.55.4) indicates that salting pork and fish followed similar procedures: 7 And there is another salting method which can even be used in hot places at every season of the year. When the pigs have been prohibited from water for a day, on the next day they are slaughtered and are deprived of hair either with boiling water or with a small flame made from slender pieces of wood, for in each way the hairs are removed. The flesh is cut up into pieces of a pound each. Parched salt, but moderately broken as we have said above, is laid down in large containers. The small pieces of meat are thickly arranged, and salt is placed on alternately. But when the throat of the jars has been reached, the remaining part is filled with salt and with weights placed on top is pressed down into the containers. And this llesh is always preserved, just as salt-fish is preserved in its own liquid. T h e relationship between the sailing of meat and of fish can be finds of sheep and cattle bones in fish salting vats in Kerobestin Gaul. Apparently, in the off season meat preservation kept the centers active. Cato the Censor (RR 162), in the second century
further seen in and Telgruc in fish processing B. C., also rec-
*' Pork m a y have been p o p u l a r m o r e because it was readily available t h a n because R o m a n s p r e f e r r e d its taste to beef. Pigs r e p r o d u c e at a m u c h higher rate t h a n cattle. See W . G r o e n m a n van W a a t e r i n g e , "Classical A u t h o r s a n d the Diet of R o m a n Soldiers: T r u e or False?" in Roman Frontier Studies, 1995. W . G r o e n m a n - v a n W a a t e r i n g e , B. L. V a n Beek, W . J . H. Willems, a n d S. L. W y n i a , eds. (Oxford: O x b o w Books, 1997), p. '263. O n the i m p o r t a n c e of raising pigs on the f a r m , see V a r r o RR 2.4.3: (hiis enirn fundum colit nostrum, quin sues habeat. . . ("For w h o of us r u n s a f a r m w h o docs not raise pigs...?"). T h a t m e a t , particularly cattle, f o r m e d a significant portion of the R o m a n military diet can n o longer be denied. See A n t h o n y King, "Diet in the R o m a n World: a Regional Inter-site C o m p a r i s o n of the M a m m a l Bones," J RA 12 (1999): 168 202; R. W . Davies, "'!'he R o m a n Military Diet," Britannia 2 (1971): 122 42; C o r b i e r , " A m b i g u o u s Status of Meat," pp. 226, 2 2 9 - 3 0 , 242 44־. r> Columella RR 12.55.1-4. See also A n d r é , L'alimentation, pp. 141 43. 7 R o b e r t I. Curtis, darum and Salsamenta. Production and Commerce in Matena Medica (Leiden: E . J . Brill, 1991), p. 75, esp. note 140. T h e chemical a n d technical aspects of salting will receive detailed discussion below, pp. 4 0 7 - 0 9 .
Salting
398
Butchers and butcher shops
Types of processed meat
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o m m e n d s a process of layering of pork and salt followed by drying and smoking. T h e resulting product, he assures his reader, neither moths nor worms will touch. Presumably other meat animals besides pig could be preserved in similar fashion. These probably included domesticated goats and certain game animals, such as rabbits, stags, wild boar, and various fowl. H o w and where the animals were butchered remain questions difficult to answer. Farmers might butcher and process their own animals on the farm and transport the preserved meat to urban or rural markets directly. T h e animals might also be driven to town and sold to the butcher, or lanius, who slaughtered the animal and processed the meat in his own slaughterhouse, called the laniena. T h e slaughterhouse probably consisted of a holding area, or fold, for live animais and the abbatoir where the butchering actually took place. Identifying these areas within R o m a n towns is difficult and can be confidently conjectured in only a few places, such as near the macellum at Pompeii and, perhaps, near the market at Dougga in Tunisia. Most lanienae, if for no other reason than the strong smells associated with corralled animals, were probably situated near the city limits or even outside of town, like most tanneries and fish salting factories. Epigraphic evidence indicates that lanii apparently operated in R o m e near the Porta C a p e n a . Animals slaughtered elsewhere might be conveyed to another butcher, the macellarius, who butchered the meat and sold it from his independent shop or from a stall in the macellum, as his n a m e implies. C o m m e n t s by Cicero and Livy indicate that butchers in R o m a n society occupied a rather low place in the social hierarchy. 8 Art historical evidence provides some idea of what these butcher shops and butchery implements looked like. So, for example, a funerary relief (PI. 36) from Ostia shows an u n n a m e d butcher, cleaver in hand and standing next to a cutting block, prepared to carve to order a piece of meat, the haunch or pema, for a patron. T o the right stands a container to catch the blood, and hanging on hooks of the camatium, or rack for hanging up meat for display, are a boar's head (sinciput) and other cuts of pork, such as the haunch and ribs (costae). T o the left hang scales to weight out the portions. Pigs approach from left and right. Another funerary relief, this time from R o m e , depicts a butcher, probably to be identifled with Iulius Vitalis whose large bust appears to the right, also using a cleaver to split a pig's head lying on a block. In the background h a n g another pig's head and other animal parts, such as a leg of pork (succidium), sow's udder (sumeri), and
« Cf. C i c e r o De O f f . 1.150; Livy 22.25.19. Sec Frayn, " R o m a n M e a t T r a d e , " p p . 107-14; Frayn, Markets and Fairs, p p . 69 73. O t h e r terms identified as specifying b u t c h e r s include bublarìus a n d confectuarius F o r the m e a t markets at Pompeii a n d D o u g g a , see D e R u y t , Macellum, pp. 1 3 7 - 4 9 (Pompeii), 212 18 (Dougga).
3(
57
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lung [pulmo). Literary sources referring to a pig's head sheared laterally indicates that it was apparently a popular cut. T h e bones of such a specimen, probably preserved in some fashion, was found a m o n g some kitchen utensils in the living quarters of a R o m a n ship, dated to ca. 50 B. C., that wrecked olf the coast of Provence. 9 Some meat was sold whole, including the intestines, cum intestinis omnibus (Plautus Pseud. 343), but often was cut into smaller pieces, which might be further divided at home into individual portions (ofellae) before cooking. T h e process of slaughtering the animal probably paralleled the ritual killing of sacrificial animais, where the animal was struck over the head with a mallet and then had its throat cut. T h e blood was collccted in a container, after which the butcher began dismembering the carcass. Pools included the cleaver and knife, which can be seen in the sculpted reliefs of the butchers noted above and in another example on the side of the altar of Atimetus (PI. 37) from R o m e . Here two individuals sell a variety of knives, many of which could be used to butcher meat, shown displayed in a cabinet. W h a t is remarkable about the utensils and butchery techniques illustrated in R o m a n reliefs is their similarity to butchery impiements and techniques depicted on the walls of tombs in Pharaonic Egypt and painted on black and red-figure pottery from Greece. 1 0 R o m a n technology in butchery had improved little beyond what had been achieved two millennia earlier.
Butchey tools
2. Dairy Products Romans, like Greeks, did not drink large quantities of fresh milk. Since the hot weather caused it to spoil quickly, they preferred to convert milk into butter (butyrum) or cheese (caseus), which had better keeping quality and allowed for transportation to a market at a distance from the farm. Pliny calls butter the "foam of milk" (spuma lactis), and describes the process of butter making. Recommending preferably cow's milk, he says that in the winter one merely warms the milk to produce butter. In the summer, however, he indicates that you should
9
A n d r é T c h e r n i a , Michel G i r a r d , a n d François Poplin, "Pollens et ossements a n i m a u x de l'ép a v e r o m a i n e 3 de Planier (Provence)," in 1/1 mer comme lieu d'échanges et de communication. Vol. II of L'exploitation de la mer de l'antiquité a nos jours. VI"־mes r e n c o n t r e s internationales d'archéologie et d'histoirc d'Antibes (Valbonne: Association P o u r la P r o m o t i o n et la Diffusion des C o n n a i s s a n c e s Archéologiques, 1986), p p . 2 3 1 - 5 6 , esp. p p . 252 53, for a discussion of the pig's h e a d as a delicacy. For reliefs of b u t c h e r s a n d b u t c h e r y implements, see Z i m m e r , Römische Berufsdarstellungen, p p . 17-20, 9 3 - 1 0 6 ; Natalie K a m p e n , Image and Status: Roman Working Women in Ostia (Berlin: G e b r . M a n n Verlag, 1981), pp. 99, 141, 157, a n d Figs. 4 3 45. All b u t c h e r s shown are m e n . 10 Frayn, " R o m a n M e a t T r a d e , " p. 112.
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put the milk, with a small a m o u n t of water or vinegar, in a tall vessel, sealed except for a small hole below the mouth. Shaking the container vigorously curdies the milk. T h e solid material floating on the top is butter. Although they knew that barbarian races employed butter in cooking, the R o m a n s used it, particularly combined with rose oil, mostly in medicines as an emollient, astringent, and cleansing agent, since they considered the fatty substance similar to oil." O f all the milk products, cheese pleased the R o m a n s most. It formed an important part of daily fare, a n d the desire for various types of cheeses spawned a lively trade. Pliny says that the city of R o m e consumed not only Italian cheeses, particularly those from Liguria, U m b r i a , Tuscany, and Latium, but also imported specialty cheeses from as far away as Gaul, especially from the area around Nemausus (Nîmes). Cheeses differed according to the animal that supplied the milk — R o m a n s preferring that from the cow, sheep, and goat — and to the taste resulting from various additives or optional processes. Columella, for example, says that one can vary the flavor of cheese by placing green pine cones in the milk while it curdles or by mixing in crushed green pine kernels or thyme. In fact, he notes that the taste of cheese can be modified by adding any condiment one desires. H e also adds that cheese hardened in brine and smoked with wood specifically from the apple tree yielded a pleasant tasting product. Pliny likewise indicates that, especially with respect to goat's cheese, smoking augments the cheese taste. 12 In general, however, R o m a n s m a d e two basic types of cheese: soft and fresh, and hard and dry. T h e agricultural writers, Varro, Columella, and Palladius, provide detailed descriptions of the process of cheese making. T h e i r instructions are remarkably consistent a m o n g themselves and are similar to modern methods. Cheese could no doubt be m a d e at any time of the year, but Varro suggests that the best time was between early M a y and mid-July in early morning to mid-afternoon. After filling the milk-pail (;mulctrum) with fresh, full-cream milk, the farmer added rennet to curdle it. Rennet was made from "beestings," the milk produced by an animal, especially a cow, just after giving birth and consumed by its offspring. Hence, it could be collected from the calf's stomach as well. Columella suggests rennet from a lamb or kid, while V a r r o recommends the hare or kid. Although
11
S h e e p a n d goat's milk were also used to p r o d u c e butter. See Pliny HN 11.239, 2 8 . 1 2 3 - 3 5 ; Celsus Med. 3.22.14, 4.22.3, 4.25.2, 5.15, 6.18, 8.4.19; Columella RR 6.12.5; A n d r é , L'alimentation, pp.155-56 12 V a r r o R R 2.1 1.3; C o l u m e l l a RR 7 . 8 . 6 - 7 ; Pliny HN 1 1.240 42. O n the medicinal value of cheese, sec Pliny HN 2 8 . 1 3 1 - 3 2 ; G a l e n De alim. fac. 3.16. See also A n d r é , L'alimentation, pp. 152-55. For a study of cheese p r o d u c t i o n a n d c o m m e r c e in Hellenistic a n d R o m a n Egypt, see H a n s - J o a c h i m D r e x h a g e , " D e r H a n d e l , die Produktion u n d d e r V e r z e h r von Käse n a c h d e n griechischen Papyri u n d O s t r a k a , " MBA II 15 (1996): 3 3 - 4 1 .
58
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rennet alone was considered best, optional additives suggested for curdling milk included vinegar, (lower of wild thistle, seeds of safflower, and especially fig juice. Only a small a m o u n t of rennet was necessary; V a r r o advises a piece no larger than the size of an olive for each one and one-half gallons of milk. T h e pail of milk and rennet mixture was placed near a source of heat and allowed to stand until the liquid thickened. T h e warm temperatures served to increase the rate of enzymatic activity leading to the coagulation of the casein to form curds. This could have also been done in milk-boilers, which allowed the milk to boil without spilling over. Archaeologists have identified several such vessels dating from as early as the Bronze Age. These pots had a lid or insert resting on the mouth or interior ledge of the container. O n e specimen had a raised hollow centcrpiece with a large hole surrounded by several small ones. T h e boiling milk rose through the center hole and drained back into the pot through the small ones. 13 T h e mixture was then poured into a wicker basket, pottery strainer, or mold where the liquid whey, draining slowly, separated from the curd. Excavations in a R o m a n fort on the Antonine Wall uncovered a terra-cotta cheese mold (PI. 38) that was round in shape and shallow." T h e whey drained from the soft moist curds through holes placed a r o u n d the sides. Columella notes that farmers (rustici) hastened the process by immediately placing weights on top to press out the whey. T h e y then removed the soft cheese and placed it in a cool, shady place to keep it from drying too fast, and sprinkled it with salt. W h e n it had hardened, they placed it back into a basket or mold and pressed it again. T h e salting and pressing were repeated twice more over a period of nine days. T h e repetitive pressings insured that the finished product was not full of holes, while care was also taken not to over salt the cheese. T h e y then removed the cheese and washed it with fresh water, after which they packed the cheeses closely together in a place protected from the winds. 15 This process yielded a cheese that was hard, dry, and capable of storage for a considerable period of time as well as suitable for transportation long distances. R o m a n s also made a fresh soft curd or cottage cheese. Τ he whole process 13
See W h i t e h o u s e , " B r e a d a n d Milk," pp. 5 5 - 5 6 ; Scheifer, Cooking and Cooking Stands in Italy, pp. 108-09. " For cheese molds, see also J u n k e l m a n n , Pants Militaris, 153.כן,a n d Fig. 48. For cheesemaking, see V a r r o RR 2 . 1 1 . 3 - 5 ; Columella RR 7.8.1-6; Palladius Opus Agr. 6.9 (De caseo faciendo). For pottery strainers possibly used for m a k i n g soft cheese, see W a r d - P e r k i n s a n d Claridge, Pompeii A. D. 79, p. 205, no. 285. ' 15 T h e a u t h o r of the Morelum (57) describes a h a r d , r o u n d cheese pierced by a string a n d h u n g up by the rustic p l o u g h m a n . See also Frayn, Subsistence Faming, pp. 4 1 - 4 3 . T h e w h e y was not wasted, since it was used to feed pigs. Cf. C a t o RR 150. It r e m a i n s possible, as with honey processing, that the cheese was pressed using the s a m e type press used to process olives. See B r u n , " L a discrimination," p p . 5 1 3 14.
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could take place in the milk pail within a short period of time. Vergil (
Fish formed a favorite motif for painting and mosaic decoration in private homes, and played a symbolic role in pagan and Christian religious belief. In Italy during the first century B. C. and first century A. D. raising expensive or exotic fish in ponds was one way that some R o m a n aristocrats displayed their wealth and social status. In fact, Cicero was so exasperated at this group of nobles that he referred to them disparagingly as piscinarìi, or "fishpond lovers." From a more practical standpoint, fishing and raising fish in ponds in the R o m a n world was an important occupation for a large n u m b e r of people, and consumption and trade in fresh and preserved fish provided a livelihood for thousands more. Fresh fish was for many Romans, and no doubt for all poor Romans, like meat, an expensive food and, so, one not often eaten. For those with the resources, fresh fish could be purchased in the fish stalls in or near the public market, macellum, examples of which have been uncovered at Pompeii and Ostia. H e r e were also provisions for scaling fish before sale, such as tables, drainage facilities, and fresh water. Some cities, such as Rome, had a special area, the fomm piscatonum, set aside specially for fishmongers. If fish were to be transported long distances or stored for a period of time, they would have to be
C o l u m e l l a RR 7 . 8 . 6 - 7 . Cf. Vergil Eel. 1.33-35. T h e present discussion of the R o m a n salt-fish industry s u m m a r i z e s the m o r e detailed treatm e n t f o u n d in my Carum and Salsamenta. Production and Commerce in Materia Medica (Leiden: E. J . Brill, 1991). N o t h i n g has a p p e a r e d within the previous nine years to alter a n y conclusions d r a w n in 1991. 1 have, however, noted a few new sites r e p o r t e d since then, a n d have included some bibliographic references that have a p p e a r e d in the m e a n t i m e . 17
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preserved in some fashion. Producers, such as the j o c k of New Carthage in Spain and A. Umbricius Scaurus of Pompeii, and merchants, such the negotiatores allecarìi of Lower G e r m a n y and M. Primus Secundianus of L u g d u n u m in Gaul, provided a variety of salted fish products that were affordable to people of all social classes who consumed significant quantities in their daily lives.18 T h e principal commodities produced at R o m a n salting installations were salt- Types ofpreserved ed fish and fish sauce. T h e former product, called salsamentum (Grk. τάριχος, or fish: salt-fish sometimes τέμαχος), derived from Latin sal, meaning salt, and designated any meat, but particularly fish, so preserved. Greek vocabulary for salted fish is more precise, and so gives a better idea of the varieties of salted fish. So, for example, Greek terms indicate that salt-fish could be lightly or fully salted, with or without scales. Some names indicate the shape of the final product, such as triangular or rectangular, or the specific part of the fish from which the product came, for example the dorsal section or the stomach portion. T he terminology of a saltfish product might also derive from the n a m e of the species of fish from which it was made. T h e R o m a n , however, did not distinguish types of salt-fish to the same degree, usually preferring to subsume them all under the general term salsamentum.19 W h e r e the classical Greeks knew only two fish sauces (γάρον and αλμη), the Fish sauces R o m a n s distinguished four different products, garum, liquamen, allée, and muna.20
18
O n fish a n d markets, see I)e Ruyt, Macellum, p p . 1 1 5 - 2 4 (Ostia), 1 3 7 - 4 9 (Pompeii), 3 4 1 - 4 5 ; Frayn, Markets and Fairs, pp. 6 5 - 6 9 , 107. For p r o d u c e r s a n d m e r c h a n t s of preserved fish, see C u r tis, Garum and Salsamenta, esp. pp. 148-75. O n fish ponds, see Cicero Alt. 1.19.6, 20.3. See also J a m e s H i g g i n b o t h a m , Piscinae. Artificial Fishponds in Roman Italy (Chapel Hill: T h e University of N o r t h C a r o l i n a Press, 1997), esp. pp. 4 1 - 6 4 ; J a s h e m s k i , Gardens of Pompeii, p p . 48, 108-12. For fish in art a n d religion, see M a r t i n e Sciallano, Poissons de l'Antiquité Istres (Istres: M u s é e d'Istres, 1997), pp. 6 9 - 8 9 ; Angela Donati a n d Paolo Pasini, Pesca e pescatori nell'antichità (Milan: L e o n a r d o Arte, 1997), pp. 1 0 9 - 4 5 . O n fish, fishermen, a n d fishing, generally, see Ludovicus B u n s m a n n , De Piscatorum in Graecorum atque Romanorum Litteris Usu (Monasterii G u e s t f a l o r u m : Typis Aschendorffii, 1910); Diedrich Bohlen, Die Bedeutung der Fischerei für die antike Wirtschaft. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Antike Fischern ( H a m b u r g : H . Christian, 1937); T h o m a s C o r c o r a n , " T h e R o m a n Fishing Industry of the Late Republic a n d Early E m p i r e , " Ph.D. diss., N o r t h w e s t e r n University, 1957; Radcliife, Fishing From the Earliest Times, pp. 141-288; Peter O r s t e d "Salt, Fish a n d the Sea in the R o m a n E m p i r e , " in Meals in a Social Context. Aspects of the Communal Meal in the Hellenistic and Roman World. Inge Nielsen a n d H a n n e Sigismund Nielsen, eds. (Aarhus: A a r h u s University Press, 1998), pp. 13-35; A n d r é , L'alimentation, pp. 9 5 - 1 1 3 . 19 W h e r e the R o m a n s were precise, the t e r m s w e r e Latinized Greek forms, such as trigonum, cyhium, a n d melandryum. For G r e e k n a m e s for salt fish, see above p. 312. 20 S o m e scholars prefer to interpret certain p r o d u c t labels on R o m a n a m p h o r a e as identifying fish sauces on the basis that the vessel shape c o n f o r m e d to o n e of those which normally held fish sauce. T h e s e include limphatum, laccatum, largarinum, a n d s o m e t h i n g known only as C0D. T h e latter m a y actually not be a sauce but a particular type of salt-fish m a d e f r o m the y o u n g tunny, c0(r)rf(y1a). See Curtis, Gamm and Salsamenta, p. 9, note 12.
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T h e fact that Latin garum derives directly from Greek γάρον seems to indicate that R o m a n knowledge o f f i s h salting derived from the Greeks. This question is complicated, however, by the inability yet to determine who introduced the process into the western Mediterranean, the Greeks or the Phoenicians and Carthaginians. T h e intermediate position of Italy between the Greek world of the eastern Mediterranean, which may have been processing fish by the seventh century B. C. or before, and the Spanish peninsula, where Punic fish salting installations were operating by the fifth century B. C. or earlier, makes possible either one as the source of R o m a n knowledge. T h e R o m a n s could have learned the techniques from the Carthaginians, with w h o m they had early contacts, but have adopted the terminology from the Greeks of M a g n a Graecia. Greek colonists could have brought the knowledge of the salting process with them from their mother city and passed it along to the Italian inhabitants of Italy, even though there is no archaeological evidence to date of any fish processing in southern Italy before the Augustan period. Literary evidence, however, implies that some fish processing was taking place in southern Italy as early as the fourth century B. C. 21 Whatever the case, no classical Greek source describes the process used to salt fish. The earliest sources extant are R o m a n . Salting Jish similar to salting pork
Literary evidence for fish sauce preparation
T h e first-century A. 1). R o m a n agricultural writer Columella, after describing how to salt pork, says that fish are preserved in the same fashion. 22 From this one can deduce that the R o m a n s followed this procedure. The worker first cleaned, gutted, and cut up the fish. He then took a container of some sort and laid down in the bottom a layer of salt. O n top of this he arranged a layer offish meat, covered by a layer of salt. H e continued to alternate layers offish with layers of salt until the top of the vessel was reached. He then packed on a last layer of salt and placed on top a heavy object, such as a roof tile. Over a period of time as the fish were compressed, the salt entered the meat (salsamentum) and a salty liquid (muria) was expressed. T h e parts of the fish not salted in this fashion, small whole fish a n d the innards and gills of large fish, for example, were not wasted. T h e y went into making fish sauces. Several literary sources describe how to make fish sauce. Manilius (fl. first century A. D.) describes fishermen on the shore catching and processing tunny fish. Part of the fish went into large salting vats to produce salt-fish and muria while another part, though he does not n a m e them specifically, were made into fish sauces. T w o other sources, attributed to the third and fourth centuries A. I).,
21
See a b o v e p. 3 1 9 - 2 1 . See also E u t h y d e m u s ap. A t h e n . 3.116c; Archestratus ap. A t h e n . 7.302a; Aelian NA 15.3. See esp. Lowe, " T r a d e a n d Production of G a r u m , " pp. 5 2 7 7 ; ־Curtis, Garum and Salsamenta, p p . 85 86. 22 C o l u m e l l a Rust. 12.55.4. See a b o v e p. 397.
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respectively, though probably of a later date, describe m a k i n g fish sauce. PsGargilius Martialis describes a m e t h o d by which layers of herbs a n d spices, fish, and salt are placed alternately u p o n each other u p to the capacity of a "solid well-pitched container." T h i s mixture was allowed to sit in the sun for twentyseven days. After the seventh day, the material required stirring two or three times daily. At the end of the period the garum was strained a n d collected in a vessel. Ps-Rulius Festus employed a quicker m e t h o d of m a k i n g sauce. He reco m m c n d s applying heat to a container of fish material, wine, a n d salt until the liquid reduced by two-thirds. This was then strained into a glass flask.23 T h e best a n d most complete description of garum production comes f r o m the Geoponica (20.46.1-6), a tenth-century A. D. Greek agricultural m a n u a l that may derive f r o m a sixth-century A. 1). Latin treatise. 111 the chapter entitled " P r e p a r a t i o n of G a r u m s " (Γαρων ποίησις), the a u t h o r describes two m e t h o d s of p r e p a r i n g garum, a slow p r o c e d u r e , w a r m i n g by solar heat in a baker's kneading trough for u p to three months, and a faster m e t h o d , heating the material in a small container over a fire: 1. The so-called liquamen21 is made in this manner: the intestines offish are thrown into a vessel and salted. Small fish, either the best smelt, or small mullet, or sprats, or wolffish, or whatever is deemed to be small, are all salted together and, shaken frequently, are fermented in the sun. 2. After it has been reduced in the heat, garum is obtained from it in this way: a large, strong basket is placed into the vessel of the aforementioned fish, and the garum streams into the basket. In this way the so-called liquamen is strained through the basket when it is taken up. The remaining refuse is allex.25 3. The Bithynians prepare it in this manner: it is best if you take small or large sprats, but if not, wolffish, or horse-mackerel, or mackerel, or even alica, and a mixture of all, and throw these into a baker's kneading trough, in
23
Manilius Astron. 5.656 81. For Ps-Gargilius Martialis, see Valentin Rose, "Aringus, d e r H e r ing," Hermes 8 (1874): '224-27. O n l y a single m a n u s c r i p t of the Breviarium rerum gestarum populi liomani preserves a recipe for garum [RuJi Festi Breviarium Rerum Gestarum P. R. W endell Foerster, e d . [ V i e n n a : Alfred H o e l d e r , 1874), p. 23). T h e recipe, entitled Confeclio gari, a p p e a r s at the h e a d of the t e n t h - c e n t u r y A. I), m a n u s c i p t Codex Parisinus Ρ a n d was written in the s a m e h a n d as the text itself. 24 Fhe exact m e a n i n g of this term is unclear. It was by the third century A. D . the generic t e r m for fish sauce, often replacing the word garum. T h e evidence of a m p h o r a inscriptions a n d a mosaic decoration f r o m Pompeii, however, indicate that, at least in the early e m p i r e , it was seen as a fish sauce distinct f r o m g a r u m . H o w it differed r e m a i n s u n k n o w n . It m a y have been the liquid d r a w n off f r o m a second or subsequent washing with b r i n e of the residue of garum. It p r o b a b l y was less salty a n d had a lower keeping quality t h a n garum. See Curtis, Gamm and Salsamenta, pp. 7, 9 1 - 9 2 , 177, a n d R o b e r t I. Curtis, " À Personalized Floor Mosaic f r o m Pompeii," AJA 88 (1984): 557-66. 25 Allex, the residue f r o m garum p r o d u c t i o n , was variously spelled allée, hallec, a n d liallex. See Curtis, Garum and Salsamenta, p. 7, note 7.
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which they are accustomed to knead meal. Tossing into the modius of fish two Italian sextarii of salt, mix up thoroughly in order to strengthen it with salt. After leaving it alone for one night throw it into a vessel and place it without a lid in the sun for two or three months, agitating it with a shaft at intervals. Next take it, cover it, and store it away. 4. Some add to one sextarius of fish two sextarii of old wine. 5. Next, if you wish to use the garum immediately, that is to say not ferment it in the sun, but to boil it, you do it this way. When the brine has been tested, so that an egg having been thrown in lloats (if it sinks, it is not sufficiently salty), and throwing the fish into the brine in a newly-made earthenware pot and adding in some oregano, you place it on a sufficient fire until it is boiled, that is until it begins to reduce a little. Some throw in boiled-down must. Next, throwing the cooled liquid into a filter you toss it a second and third time through the filter until it turns out clear. After having covered it, store it away. 6. The best garum, the socalled haimation ["blood-sauce"] is made in this way: the intestines of tunny along with the gills, juice, and blood are taken and sufficient salt is sprinkled on. After having left it alone in the vessel for two months at most, pierce the vessel and the garum, called haimation, is withdrawn. T h e ancient literary sources, therefore, indicate that the basic preparation process of fish sauce r e m a i n e d u n c h a n g e d t h r o u g h o u t antiquity, although some variations in detail d o appear. T h e fish used were usually pelagic a n d could vary from small species such as sprats to large ones such as mackerel and tunny. 2 6 T h e process could take as long as two or three m o n t h s heating in the sun or a m u c h shorter period of time by heating over a lire. T h e size of vessel used to m a k e the sauce was u n i m p o r t a n t as long as the proportion o f f i s h to salt was sufAncient methods of fìcient. T h e a u t h o r of the Geoponica suggests a mixture of one modius of fish for salting parallel two sextarii of salt, that is, a fish-to-salt ratio of 8:1. W h e n brine replaced dry modem methods salt, the ratio was u n i m p o r t a n t so long as the liquid was salty enough to float an egg. A n d finally, the sauce could be plain with no additives, or it might also contain wine, herbs, and spices. 27 It also seems clear that the production of garum a n d that of salsamentum were closely related, a n d constituted different steps in the same process. T h e procedures followed have direct parallels with m o d e r n production m e t h o d s for salt-fish a n d fish sauce, especially as practiced on the Black Sea a n d in the countries of southeast Asia, such as V i e t n a m , T h a i l a n d , and the Philippines. 26
Pliny (HN 31.94—95) says that garum could be m a d e f r o m an infinite variety o f f i s h , but that the mackerel (scomber) was the most p o p u l a r . H e also lists oysters, sea urchins, a n d various shellfish as ingredients as well. 27 Both G r e e k a n d R o m a n writers m e n t i o n various mixed garums, as d o a few papyri. These a p p e a r , however, to refer to additions of wine (oenogarum), oil (oleogarum), water (hydrogarum), a n d vinegar (όξύγαρον) following p r o d u c t i o n r a t h e r t h a n d u r i n g processing. See Curtis, Garum and Salsamenta, pp. 8 9 ־, note 12.
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Salting is the most important method of preservation practiced in those areas where climatic conditions, lack of storage facilities, and poor transportation resources militate against the accumulation of large quantities of fresh fish. 28 Salt retards or, at least, controls the decomposition of fish, which commences soon after removal from water and death. In general, the term used to describe the process whereby organic substances break down into simpler compounds in the presence of salt and enzymes is fermentation. T h e term "fermented fish product" is, however, misleading, since all fish processed with salt ferment after a period of time. Some biochemists prefer more precision and so speak of two distinct processes: bacterially fermented products and products created by enzyme hydrolysis. T h e latter term, reserved for non-microbial action, further subdivides into processes using added enzymes or naturally occurring enzymes. W h e r e only indigenous enzymes play a role, the process is called autolysis. T h e term autolysis, therefore, best corresponds to the ancient salting process and to m a n y modern ones as well. 29 T h e principal ingredients necessary for fermentation arc salt and fish. T o speed up the process a very salty water can be used; this is called "brining." Since fish tissue deteriorates rapidly following death, the length of time elapsing between catch and initiation of processing can strongly influence the taste and keeping quality of the final product. O t h e r variables include the species of fish, where it was caught, its age, fat content, size, and whether it is processed whole or eviscerated. T h e purity and quantity of salt or the salinity of the brine play a m a j o r role, as does the process itself. For example, the length of time given to salting and subsequent ripening, the ambient temperature of the fish-salt mass, and the use of additives, such as sugar or pineapple, to speed up the process, to inculcate a desired taste, or to create a certain appearance, all alfect the end product. T h e decision to dry a n d / o r smoke following fermentation also determines the ultimate outcome. 3 0 Salt exerts a strong osmotic effect on fish tissue, producing a pickle. If the fish remains in contact with the pickle for only a short time and the a m o u n t of salt 28
Frequently, to insure longer keeping quality salting ])recedes smoking a n d drying. T h e c o m hination of salting then drying is p r o b a b l y the most widespread m e t h o d of fish preservation today. T h i s is particularly true of Malaysia, w h e r e in 1977 salted then dried fish m a d e u p seventyseven p e r cent of all of its processed fish. See S. Y. Yu, C . L. Siaw, a n d A. Z. Idrus, " T h e Application of T e c h n o l o g y to the Processing of Dry-salted Fish in Peninsular Malaysia: C o m p a r i s o n of S u n - d r i e d a n d O v e n - d r i e d Fish," Journal of Food Technology 17, no. 2 (April 1982): 211. 29 J . 1). O w e n s a n d L. S. M e n d o z a , "Enzymically Hydrolyscd a n d Bacterially F e r m e n t e d Fishery P r o d u c t s , " Journal of Food Technology 20, no. 3 (June 1985): 2 7 3 - 7 4 . 30 H . L. W a n g a n d C . W . Hesseltine (Indigenous Fermented Food of Non-western Origin. Mycologia M e m o i r s , No. 11 [Berlin 1986|, pp. 3 5 - 4 0 ) have identified sixty-eight different p r o d u c t s of Southeast Asia, K o r e a , a n d J a p a n . See also Curtis, Garum and Salsamenta, pp. 16-17.
Modem Jìs/ι salting technology
408
Modem salt-fish
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used is small, a relatively soft salt-fish results. If the a m o u n t of salt and the periocl of contact time is increased and the pickle is occasionally drained off, the result is fish paste. O v e r a long period of time and if the a m o u n t of salt used is great, the proteolytic enzymes (from the muscle and gastro-intestinal tract if retained) produce almost complete degradation of fish material, creating fish sauce. Some a m o u n t of residue, however, remains. All of these products, saltfish, fish sauce, and fish paste, therefore, form integral parts of the same process. T h r e e general methods are employed to salt fish meat today: dry salting, which forms its own brine, brining with a prepared salt solution, and a combination of the first two. T h e production of salt-fish normally requires removal of the gastro-intestinal tract from the fish before mixing with salt or brine. This eliminates the most active enzymes leading to autolysis. Mildly cured fish are those treated with only a little salt or with high concentrations of salt but for only a short period of time, followed perhaps by drying a n d / o r smoking. T h e y keep littie better than fresh fish. Hard cures have as their goal long-term preservation and involve increased concentrations of salt for extended periods of time. A m i n i m u m of ten per cent salt concentration is needed to inhibit the growth of bacteria and molds. As osmosis draws water out offish tissue and replaces it with salt, the overall weight of the fish decreases. As time goes on, the salt concentration in the outer layers offish tissue equalizes with that in the surrounding brine. T h e whole process slows down, salt passing from the brine into the outer fish tissues to the same degree as the inner tissues absorb salt from the outer layers. Finally, as the fish continues to absorb salt, its weight increases slightly. T h e fish meat is now dense a n d contracted. A strong flavor of salt replaces both the odor and taste of raw fish. 31 Processing of herring in m o d e r n Black Sea salteries provides a good example with which to compare the ancient literary accounts and to assist in interpreting the ancient archaeological evidence. 3 2 T h e bottom of the vat receives a layer of salt. A layer of fish, sometimes washed, at least partially eviscerated, a n d occasionally rubbed with salt, is then laid clown. This is topped by a layer of salt, then more fish is laid down at right angles to the previous fish layer, and so on. W h e n the top of the vat has been reached, a final layer of salt is added and the whole covered in some fashion. Stone or concrete weights press down the fish so that they are submerged in the picklc that begins to form within twenty-four hours. T h e weights expel air bubbles and the brine covering the mass prevents the oxidation of unsaturated fatty acids that accelerates spoilage. T h e pressure 31
N . A. Voskresensky, "Salting of H e r r i n g , " in Fish as Food. G e o r g Borgström, ed. 4 Vols. (New Y o r k 1965), 3: 11 1 16; Curtis, Carum and Salsamenta, p. 18. 32 Voskresensky, "Salting of H e r r i n g , " p p . 121 28.
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of weights also increases the penetration of salt into the fish tissue. T h e period of ripening d e p e n d s u p o n the degree of salt penetration desired and can range from only a few days to several months. V a t salting is the best way to a c c o m m o date catches of migratory fish where large quantities arc involved, ' f l i c m a j o r p r o b l e m encountered is an unevenness of the p r o d u c t because the depth of the vat and pressure exerted by weights can create different degrees of salinity at different levels in the same vat. T o allow for this, oftentimes the top layers receive almost double the a m o u n t of salt as the bottom layers. " T h e fish sauces of southeast Asia, such as nuoc-mam of Vietnam, are clear, filtered liquids m a d e in salt concentrations of twenty per cent or greater with whole, uneviscerated, usually pelagic fish, which undergo a slow process of enzyme hydrolysis extending over long periods of time. Any a m o u n t of sauce can be produced, but commercial processing involves huge quantities of fish, both large and small, processed in wooden 01 ־concrete vats housed in sheds to protect the product from sun and rain. T h e fish-to-salt ratio rarely exceeds 5:1. Uneviscerated fish are placed in vats in alternating layer with salt; sometimes concentrated brine is used. W h e n the top of the vat has been reached, the whole is pressed down by weights. After a few days the first bloody liquid (nuoc-boi) is drawn off. With more salt added and the vat sealed, ripening begins, during which the mass is occasionally stirred with paddles. T h e ripening period, at ambient temperatures of about 30° C, varies according to type and size of fish, and can extend up to eighteen months. Elevated temperatures, but only u p to about 45° C, a n d the use of p u r e salt can hasten autolysis. W h e n fully matured, the sauce is transferred to settling tanks where a clear first-quality sauce (mwc-nhut) is filtered and separated from the thick residue of undigested fish material (nuoc-xat). T h e liquid sauce is then either bottled for shipment or else aged, sometimes u p to four years. T h e residue can be leached or lixiviated with a boiling salty brine to produce sauce of lower quality. A poorer quality sauce arises from each successive leaching. T h e residue is a thick paste, which, as a by-product in making fish sauce, can itself serve as an important food item. Producers can also intentionally produce a fish paste (mam) by not permitting complete autolysis of the fish and salt mass. C o n s u m p t i o n of f e r m e n t e d fish products can contribute to a healthful diet. 34
33
Beatriz E. Filsinger, "Effect of Pressure on the Salting a n d R i p e n i n g Process of Anchovies (Engraulis anchoita ),"Journal of Food Science 52, no. 4 (July-Aug. 1987): 9 1 9 - 2 7 ; Curtis, Garum and Salsamenta, pp. 18-19. 34 C o n s u m p t i o n of too m u c h salt-fish has its downside as well. Studies of the diet of J a p a n e s e in J a p a n a n d ofJ a p a n e s e immigrants to Hawaii suggest that a diet rich in processed fish, even though not eaten with great frequency, m a y cause significant chemical changes in the stomach w h e n the secondary amines of the fish react with nitrites naturally occurring there. T h e s e chemical changes p r o d u c e nitrosamincs, known cancer-causing agents. See Curtis, Garum and Salsamenta, pp. 2 4 - 2 6 .
Modem fish sauce
410 Nutritional value of modem preserved fish products
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T h e nutritional importance of modern fermented fish products, as also for their ancient counterparts, derives from the biochemical and microbiological processes occurring during the salting and ripening stages. Salt-fish provides a more concentrated source by weight of protein than fresh fish, since processing removes most of the moisture from fish tissue and replaces it with salt. In salting, however, unless the liquid formed during the process is retained, some watersoluble nutrients, such as minerals and B-vitamins, are lost. For this reason, saltfish per se is an excellent source of concentrated protein, but not a particularly good source of B-vitamins. T h e fish sauces are likewise a healthy food. The production o f f i s h sauce involves entirely enzymic proteolysis, primarily from enzymes of the digestive tract (pyloric caeca). In the best products there is little or no bacteria involvement, except in so far as what appears between catch and the initial stages of processing. T h e quality of the final product depends upon the extent to which the growth of microorganisms are controlled. T h e better quality sauces do not constitute a health hazard, since a fish-to-salt ratio of 5:1 or less and a relatively low p H of 5.0 to 6.5, c o m m o n in fish sauces, are not conducive to the growth of aerobic bacteria. This prevents putrefaction and reduces the chances of botulism poisoning. Enzymes, such as trypsin of the pyloric caeca and to a lesser extent pepsin found in the stomach, attack fish tissues at the same time as salt by osmosis removes moisture. Since the proteolytic activity of these enzymes varies with fish species, and in some species varies with the season of the year, but generally is low, the process can take a considerable length of time. Eventually the fish loses its shape and begins to liquefy as protein dissolves in the liquid formed. T h e proteins slowly decompose into amino-nitrogen compounds, especially peptides, amino acids, and nitrogenous bases, such as a m m o n i a , trimethylamine, urea, and creatin. Since enzymic hydrolysis is not total, an insoluble residue remains. This fish material is also high in protein and is used as a condiment or as an additive for highly seasoned food. Progressively greater bacterial spoilage of the product lowers the ratio of amino acids to amines and creates a stronger smelling sauce of poorer quality. Fish sauce of lower quality produced by leaching likewise results in a smaller amount of amino acid nitrogen and so a product of less nutritional value. 35 T h e Romans, of course, did not know the mechanisms of enzyme hydrolysis or of autolysis, nor were they aware of the nutritional aspects of eating fermented fish products. Nevertheless, by observation and experiment they did recognizc the changes that fish undergo in the presence of salt and how that permitted them to extend the shelf life of a food item popular at the table and prone to 35
For the bibliography associated with the biochemical a n d microbiological aspects of f e r m e n t ed fish p r o d u c t s a n d their relation to nutrition, see Curtis, Garum and Salsamenta, pp. 2224'־.
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spoil quickly. Like their modern counterparts they knew how to substitute ingredients and to manipulate the salting process to create différent products. T h e y employed both dry salting and brining to produce salt fish, and varied the fishto-salt ratio to create safe products of varying keeping ability. T h e y recognized the advantage of using artificial heat to accelerate the fermentation process and of including certain additives to vary the taste. Not only was the ancient process similar to that used today, but the facilities were comparable as well. Archaeological excavations have uncovered numerous R o m a n fish salting installations. For various reasons, chiefly associated with the intensity of archaeological excavations, most have come to light in the western provinces of Spain, Gaul, North Africa, and Sicily. T h e m a j o r exception are the R o m a n salteries that operated in the Black Sea along the Strait of Kerch at Tyritake and Myrmekion and in the Crimea (Tauric Chersonese) at Chersonesos. 3 6 T h e most concentrated finds are in Spain, extending from Punta de Γ Arenal on the Mediterranean coast of Hispania Tarraconensis along the coast of Baetica and up the Atlantic coast of Lusitania to Olisipo (modern Lisbon). In addition to numerous small installations, m a j o r sites include Baelo in Baetica and Troia in Lusitania. Extensive remains have also been found in Mauretania Tingitana at Lixus and Cotta, in Africa Proconsularis at Sullecthum, and in Gallia Lugduncnsis in the Bay of Douarnenez. 3 7 Archaeological evidence shows that Italy, especially in Pompeii, and the western part of Sicily at Porta Palo, Isola delle Femmine, and T o n a r a del Cofano, produced salted fish products as well. Exclusive of the fifth-century B. C. Punic salteries at Gades, however no salting instal-
Ancient salting installations
3ß
For a detailed discussion of R o m a n salting installations in these provinces, see Curtis, Garum and Salsamenta, pp. 4 6 - 1 0 1 , I 18-47. Since that book a p p e a r e d , additional finds have c o m e f r o m Spain, especially in Hispania T a r r a c o n e n s i s . See Lowe, " T r a d e a n d Production of G a r u m , " pp. 106-22; Michel Ponsich, Aceite de olivay salazones de pescado. Factores geo-economicos de Betkay Tingitania (Madrid: Universidad C o m p l u t e n s e , 1988); R o b e r t Etienne, Yasmine M a k a r o u n , a n d Françoise M a y e t , Un grand complexe industriel a Trôia (Portugal) (Paris: E. de Boccard, 1994); R o b e r t Etienne a n d Françoise Mayet, " C a r t o g r a p h i e critique des établissements de salaisons de poisson d a n s la péninsule ibérique," in Méditerranée antique. Pêche, navigation, commerce. Eric Rieth, ed. (Paris: Éditions du C T H S , 1998), pp. 3 3 - 5 7 ; C a r m e n F e r n á n d e z O c h o a a n d J u l i o M a r t i n e z M a g a n t o , "Las industrias de salazôn en el norte de la peninsula ibérica en época r o m a n a . N u e v a s a p o r t a ciones," A FA 67 (1994): 115-46; M a r i a J o s é H e r n á n d e z , Miguel Angel C a u , M a r g a r i t a Orfila, " N u e v o s datos sobre cl p o b l a m i e n t o antiguo de la isla de C a b r e r a (Baléares). U n a posible factoria salazones," Saguntum. Papeles del Laboratorio de Arqueologia de Valencia 25 (1992): 2 1 3 - 2 2 ; Patrick André, " U n atelier de salaisons chez les Vénètes d ' A r m o r i q u e , " RF/Ì 94, nos. 1 . 4 1 - 4 7 37 T o give some idea of the size of the largest installations, the p r o d u c t i o n capacity of three different salteries at T r o i a has been estimated at over 700,000 m 3 , live factories at Baelo h a d a capacity of almost 270,000 m 3 , a n d the ten factories at Lixus could p r o d u c e ca. 1,013,000 m 3 . It should be noted that excavations at T r o i a arc still u n d e r w a y . See Étiennc a n d M a y e t , " C a r t o g r a phie critique des établissements de salaisons de poisson," 48
.
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lation can be securely d a t e d before the first c e n t u r y B. C . M o s t
operated
between the first a n d t h i r d centuries A . D . , a l t h o u g h evidence is a c c u m u l a t i n g to indicate that some R o m a n salteries, such as at R h o d e a n d Santa Pola i n Spain (PI. 39), A r m o r i q u e i n western G a u l , a n d T y r i t a k e i n the Strait o f K e r c h , c o n t i n ued to f u n c t i o n , t h o u g h usually o n a reduced scale, t h r o u g h the sixth c e n t u r y A . D . 3 8 I n all o f these places the R o m a n salting facilities show a r e m a r k a b l e degree o f u n i f o r m i t y i n location, c o n s t r u c t i o n , a n d o p e r a t i o n . C o n s e q u e n t l y , discussion needs o n l y to focus o n a few well-preserved sites to discern h o w the R o m a n s p r o d u c e d salted fish products. T h e size a n d c o m p l e x i t y o f a saltcry d e p e n d e d u p o n the size o f the p o p u l a t i o n available for w o r k , the a b u n d a n c e a n d type o f f i s h o b t a i n a b l e , the accessib i l i t y o f salt, the a v a i l a b i l i t y o f fresh w a t e r , a n d the purpose o f the installation to p r o v i d e salt-fish f o r local c o n s u m p t i o n o n l y o r for e x p o r t as well. T h e city o f Baelo i n Baetica h a d t w o locations d e v o t e d to p r o d u c i n g salt-fish, an area o n the beach outside the city walls a n d , u n c o m m o n l y , one inside the city i n the c o m m e r c i a l q u a r t e r . T h e city h a d perhaps five separate factories, a l t h o u g h at present there exists n o accepted c r i t e r i a to distinguish separate factories f r o m a m o n g the g r o u p i n g s o f vats. S a l t i n g t o o k place i n vats sunk i n t o the g r o u n d a n d covered w i t h a r o o f to p r o t e c t the p r o d u c t s f r o m the sun a n d rain. W h e r e the vats were located i n b u i l d i n g s w i n d o w s p r o v i d e d v e n t i l a t i o n . T h e vats themselves w e r e a r r a n g e d i n t w o o r three ranks, g r o u p e d either parallel o r i n a square f o r m a t i o n . T h e r e was n o access between vats, b u t one c o u l d a p p r o a c h any o f the basins by w a l k i n g a r o u n d o n top o f the p a r t i t i o n s that separated them. Salting vats
T h e distinctive element o f any saltcry was the salting vat, o r cetaria. Construet i o n f o l l o w e d a general plan, the size a n d shape varied. T h e vats were usually square o r rectangular i n shape a n d v a r i e d i n size, b u t usually corresponded to large a n d small ones. T h e large vats served to salt fish meat, w h i l e the small ones, f r e q u e n t l y r o u n d i n shape to assist i n s t i r r i n g the fish mass, were used to process fish sauce. V a t s i n Lusitania, for example at V a o a n d C a e t o b r i g a , measured between 1.50 m . χ 1.03 m . χ 1.85 m . a n d 4 . 0 0 m . χ 3 . 7 0 m . χ 2 . 0 0 m .
Most were square or rectangular, but some, such as at Baelo, were cylindrical. While most vats of Baetica and Lusitania were usually grouped by twos in a series or in a square formation, those emplaced on rocky areas, such as at Punta
3!!
Literary sources refer to o t h e r provinces, east a n d west, that o p e r a t e d fish salteries d u r i n g the R o m a n period, including Corsica, Sardinia, Egypt, a n d Palestine. See Curtis, Garum and Salsamenta, passim; M a r i a J . S á n c h e z , Ε. Blasco, a n d A. G u a r d i o l a , " D e s c u b r i m i e n t o de u n a factoria b a j o i m p e r i a l de sala/.όη de p e s c a d o en S a n t a Pola (Alicante),'" Saguntum. Papeles del laboratorio de Arqueologia de Valencia 22 (1989): 4 1 3 - 3 8 .
3׳
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de Γ Arenal, were r a n d o m l y scattered. 5 9 Vats normally lay on the beach with a roof structure of some sort covering t h e m , near the beach, on a rocky p r o m o n tory above the b e a c h a n d its tides, or, less often, inside a city within a building specially built or converted for their use. Vats in sandy areas, such as at Baelo, were usually sunk into the g r o u n d a n d constructed of m o r t a r and rubble composed of broken tiles, bricks, or small rocks. T h e interior was faced with a m o r tar of lime a n d finely-broken tiles (opus signinum), but the exterior usually r e m a i n e d rough. Vats on rocky areas had to be cut into the rock or sat like a tub on the rocky ground. Vats possessed r o u n d e d lips at the top, a n d at the interior angles an ovolo served to reinforce the side a n d to aid in periodically cleaning the vats. Since there existed n o way to drain the basins, m a n y , but by n o m e a n s all, contained a small depression in the b o t t o m , similar to those found in collection basins used in conjunction with oil presses in Palestine, to collect the remains and to help in the cleaning process. 4 0 Using ancient literary sources, archaeological remains, a n d m o d e r n parallels Ancient fish we can with reasonable certainty reconstruct the procedures followed in a preservation R o m a n saltery. Fishermen conveyed their catch as quickly as possible to the procedures p r e p a r a t i o n room where they or other saltery workers cut the fish into pieces. S o m e parts went into large vats to be m a d e into salsamentum, while small whole fish, the innards and other parts considered refuse of large fish, a n d perhaps other sea creatures, were placed into small basins to be m a d e into fish sauce. If dry salting were the process to be followed, salt would be obtained from supplies received from a nearby salt marsh or salt mine. 4 1 T h e worker first laid down a 39
For Baelo see Curtis, Garum and Salsamenta, p p . 51 52־, a n d bibliography cited therein. F o r use of the w o r d cetaria to designate salting vats, see Pliny HN 9.49, 92; 31.94; H o r a c e Sat. 2.5.44. Sec also Curtis, Garum and Salsamenta, p p . 53 54, a n d note 43. For P u n t a dc l'Arenal, sec G a b r i e l a M a r t i n a n d M a r i a Dolores Serres, Lafactoria pesquera de Punta de l'Arenal y 0tr0s restos romanos de'jâvea (Alicante). Serie de t r a b a j o s varios, no. 38 (Valencia: Servicio de Investigacion Prehistorica, 1970). 40 For collecting vats for olive oil, sec above pp. 229 3 1 , 3 1 0 . At R h o d e (Rosas), on the Méditera n e a n coast of Hispania Tarraconensis, in a building devoted to fish processing one r o o m contained five roughly square vats coated on the interior with opus signinum a n d a r r a n g e d on two sides a b o u t a central space. T h e floors of the vats were higher t h a n that of the room itself and sloped slightly in the direction of the center of the r o o m . At the b o t t o m of at least three of t h e m (and possibly a fourth) a conduit extended through the front wall that faced the interior of the room. T h i s conduit was capable of being plugged a n d , w h e n opened, emptied the contents of the vat into a small r o u n d catch-basin cut into the floor of the central space. T h e vats themselves lacked both the quarterr o u n d in the angles a n d the depression in the floor. See J . M . Nolla a n d F . J . Nicto, " U n a factoria de salaô de peix a Roses." FonamenLs 3 (1981): 187 2 0 0 ; J . M . Nolla-Brufau, "Excavaciones recientes en la ciudadela dc Roses. El edificio Bajo-imperial," in Papers in Iberian Archaeology. T . F. C. Blagg, R. F . J . J o n e s , a n d S . J . Kay, eds. BAR International Series, 193 (ii) (Oxford: BAR, 1984), pp. 4 3 0 - 5 9 . 41 O n the close association between fish salting installations a n d sources of salt, see R o b e r t El ie n n e , "A p r o p o s du ' g a r u m s o c i o r u n r , " Latomus 29 (1970): 2 9 7 - 3 1 3 , Ponsich, Aceite de olivay salazones de pescado, pp. 4 4 - 4 8 ; a n d Lowe, " T r a d e a n d P r o d u c t i o n of G a r u m , " pp. 2 9 2 - 3 2 1 .
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layer of salt, then a layer of fish meat, a n o t h e r layer of salt, a n d so on until the top h a d been reached. H e then spread on a final layer of salt a n d placed on top of that some heavy weights. 42 W h e n properly ripened over a period of days or weeks, they removed the salt-fish from the vat a n d , along with the salty solution (;muna) that had formed, placed t h e m into a m p h o r a e for storage or transport. 4 3 After each batch, the worker cleaned the vat of any liquid and fish material remaining. Fish material designated for fish sauce needed a sufficient a m o u n t of salt to achieve a p r o p e r fish-to-salt ratio in accordance with the type of sauce being m a d e . Additives, such as wine, herbs, a n d spices, could be included to create various products. 4 4 T h e worker occasionally stirred the material while it ripened in the sun for p e r h a p s three months. H e had the option of speeding u p the process by constructing the basins in a r o o m capable of being heated, or else by transfering the material f r o m fixed basins into portable containers of some sort that could be heated over a fire on a hearth. 4 5 W h e n ripened the worker removed the fish sauce f r o m the basin with a strainer, which allowed the clear sauce (garum) to stream into an a m p h o r a while catching any undissolved fish material (allée).46 T h i s residue could then be leached with hot water to p r o d u c e a second quality sauce (liquamen) that would likewise be placed into a m p h o r a e separate from the garum. Physical appearance Archaeological evidence f r o m which to conclude anything about the a p p e a r of ancient fish ance of R o m a n salt-fish products is meager, being basically restricted to finds of preserves fish bones or, m o r e rarely, a caramel-colored residue in salting vats, a m p h o r a e , 42
R o o f tiles have been f o u n d in salting vats in the Bay of D o u a r n e n e z in G a u l a n d in the Black Sea installations at Tyritake. See Curtis, Garum and Salsamenta, p p . 75 (Douarnenez), 122 (Tyritake). 43 O n the close association b e t w e e n salting installations a n d a m p h o r a kilns, see Lowe, " T r a d e a n d P r o d u c t i o n of G a r u m , י יpp. 159-94; Ponsich, Aceite de olivay salazones de pescado, p p . 5 5 - 7 7 ; Curtis, Garum and Salsamenta, pp. 40 44. 44 T h e r e was always d a n g e r of botulism poisoning unless the fish-to-salt ratio r e a c h e d at least 10:1 a n d preferably 5:1 or less. It is interesting to note that the Bithynian fish sauce m a d e according to the directions given by the a u t h o r of the Geoponica (20.46.3) h a d a fish-to-salt ratio of 8:1. 45 Ponsich has suggested that a typical type of pot f o u n d at m a n y salteries in N o r t h Africa m a y have been used for h e a t i n g fish sauce. Additionally, several salteries were built into buildings that h a d o n c e b e e n baths. T h e s e structures, therefore, m a y have still possessed operable furnaces capable of h e a t i n g r o o m s into w h i c h vessels filled with fish sauce could be placed. See Ponsich, Aceite de olivay salazones de pescado, pp. 5 5 - 7 7 , esp. Figs. 21 a n d 27; Curtis, Garum and Salsamenta, pp. 67-69. 46 A first-century A. D . o n e - h a n d l e d vessel (urceus) f r o m Pompeii bore a h a n d - p a i n t e d inscription (titulus pictus) that indicated that the c o n t a i n e r h a d o n c e held liquamen that had been strained. See CIL IV.7110: liquamen/ optimum/ saccatum. Cf. also Apicius De re coq. 7.6.14: allée collatus. A strainer m a y have been f o u n d at M y r m e k i o n inside a pithos used to process fish sauce. See Curtis, Garum and Salsamenta, p. 123.
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a n d other containers. Generally speaking, they n o d o u b t resembled the pieces of salsamentum adhering to a m p h o r a fragments found in fourth-century B. C. Corinth (PI. 25) a n d products p r o d u c e d today in salteries in the Black Sea a n d in southeast Asia. Literary descriptions a n d deductions f r o m o u r knowledge of the production process itself, however, can provide a good basis for picturing their physical qualities. T h o s e salted with scales were probably coarse looking a n d rougher to the touch than those salted without scales. Fish heavily salted for an extended period of time were probably dry with a hard consistency, a n d a p p e a r e d rather tight and stretched. T h o s e only lightly processed yielded a soft a n d moist product. Pliny says that melandrya were shaped like oak-wood, a n d his c o n t e m p o r a r y Xenocrates asserts that they had the form of d a r k e n e d roots. 47 Garum, liquamen, a n d muria, being liquids, have left few traces beyond a dark carmelized residue found in a salting vat at P l o m a r c ' h in western Gaul, while finds of dried fish bones at Pompeii a n d in Britain probably identify allec, the residue of garum. T h e liquid sauces n o doubt resembled the m o d e r n fish sauces. T h e color of southeast-Asian sauces, for instance, varies from the clear, straw yellow to a m b e r of Philippine patis to the b r o w n color of Vietnamese nuoc-mam a n d the T h a i nam-pla.48 Salt-fish was a c o m m o n item in the gustatio of a R o m a n meal, and might serve Uses of /)reserved fish as part of a casserole or stew. T h e basic taste of salsamentum was salt, which products sometimes required that before use it had to be soaked in water to reduce its sharpness. Fish sauce, on the other h a n d , being a strong saline liquid, was used primarily to flavor other foods, in this capacity substituting for salt. Indeed, Pliny says that the taste of salt was the desirable result in eating g a r u m . Its use as a c o n d i m e n t can be easily d o c u m e n t e d in b o t h Greek a n d Latin literature into late antiquity. Apicius, the noted chef of the mid-first century B. C., in his De re coquinaria, as extant in its late fourth or early fifth-century A. I), form, for exampie, records thirty-one recipes that use salt, but nearly 350 that contain a fish sauce. Ancient authors readily acknowledge that fish sauce aided digestion and p r o m o t e d the appetite, but ironically almost uniformly deride its salty taste and o d o r by alluding to its production process. So, for example, Pliny describes g a r u m as "that secrction of putrefying m a t t e r , " while Seneca, in alluding to the
47
Pliny HJ\9.48 ; ־ X c n o c r a t e s ap. Oribasius 2.58.146. Melandrya was a kind of salted fish also callcd elacatena. See Paulus, in his c o m m e n t a r y on Festus De verboruin significatu, p. 671,. Salted sturgeon, called balyk, p r o d u c e d at the m o u t h of the D o n a n d Volga Rivers a n d at K e r c h in the early n i n e t e e n t h century had a similar a p p e a r a n c e . See (?) K ö h l e r , "Τάριχος, ou recherches sur Fhistoire et les antiquités des pêcheries de la Russie méridionale," in Mémoires de VAcademie Impériale de Sciences de St. Petersburg. 6 lh sér., t o m e 1, 1832 [extract], p. 32. 48 Curtis, Garum and Salsamenta, p. 10, a n d esp. p. 21 a n d note 62. T h e colors result p e r h a p s f r o m the interaction of a m i n e s with carbonyl c o m p o u n d s .
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Taste and odor of salt-fish products
Commerce in preserved fish products
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esteemed p r o d u c t of Spain, garum sociorum, asks " D o you not realize that garum sociorum, that expensive bloody mass of decayed fish, consumes the stomach with its salted putrefaction?" Apicius' suggestion on how to improve g a r u m "if it should have a b a d o d o r , " shows that it could have a strong smell, but there is not reason to think that it was any worse t h a n that of limberger cheese. 4 9 T h e taste and odor of R o m a n salt-fish products n o d o u b t also resembled their m o d ern counterparts. T h e taste of the fish sauces, for example, is rather distinctive, unlike fish altogether. It can best be described as ranging from the salty, almost cheese-like flavor of patis, to the salty, strong cheese-like taste of nuoc-mam, to the " m e a t y " odor and flavor of nam-pla. Recent studies have attributed the taste of fish sauces to u m a m i , a taste distinct f r o m the four basic tastes of sweet, salty, sour, a n d bitter a n d i m p a r t e d by two substances, the a m i n o acid m o n o s o d i u m L-glutamate (MSG) a n d 5'־ribonucleotides, such as disodium 5'-inosinate (IMP) a n d disodium 5'-guanylate (GMP). U m a m i can also be found naturally in different meats, cheese, a n d certain vegetables, such as tomatoes a n d asparagus. T h e o d o r of fish sauce, particularly of lesser quality types, can be quite strong. T h e best ones, however, actually exude a n appetite-stimulating aroma. 5 0 Salt preservation permitted fish to be stored for considerable periods of time and so allowed for long-distance transportation. For this reason a n d because of the popularity of these items as food and medicine, a large a n d active trade in processed fish arose in certain areas. T h e degree of archaeological exploration has shown that this industry concentrated in specific areas w h e r e fish and salt were plentiful, such as in the Black Sea, Spain, North Africa, a n d northwest Gaul; future excavations m a y reveal other areas as well. Salt-fish a m p h o r a e traveled in a m p h o r a e , frequently of uniform a n d identifiable shapes. Plotting finds of these containers can identify important trade routes and so reveal m u c h about R o m a n long distance trade. So, for example, Spanish products, the best studied type, particularly those dated between the first a n d third centuries Α. I)., traveled by ship to southern Gaul w h e r e they were off-loaded onto river craft and conveyed u p the R h o n e River to northern Gaul, G e r m a n y , a n d across the
49
Pliny HN31.87, 90; Apicius De re coq. 1.7. For soaking sall-iish, see Plautus Poen. 240 44. For salt-fish a n d fish sauce as a food a n d c o n d i m e n t , see A n d r é , L'Alimentation, p p . 109-13. For the smell a n d taste of garum, see R o b e r t I. Curtis, "In Defense of G a r u m , " CJ 78, no. 3 (Feb-Mar. 1983): 2 3 2 - 4 0 . י° Curtis, Carum and Salsamenta, p. 21, a n d esp. note 62. For u m a m i , sec Yojiro K a w a m u r a a n d M o r e l y R. K a r e , eds., Umami: A Basic Taste (New York: M a r c e l Dekker, Inc., 1987), a n d Food Review International. Special Issue on U m a m i . 14, nos. 2 & 3 (1998). Amines, such as pyridine, putrescine, a n d c a d a v a r i n e , account for the full r a n g e o f f i s h odors. If c o n c e n t r a t i o n s of a m i n e s arc high in c o m p a r i s o n to those of a m i n o acids, the o d o r can be quite strong indicating a spoiled product.
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channel to Britain. O t h e r ships carried Spanish products to Italy a n d points east, including the N e a r East. C o n s u m e r s included all R o m a n s with a taste for fish, particularly soldiers stationed in forts a n d along the limes of n o r t h e r n E u r o p e a n d Britain, a n d n o n - R o m a n s w h o for m a n y reasons enjoyed the R o m a n diet. Salt-fish a n d fish sauce continue to be p r o d u c e d today in only a few places formerly u n d e r R o m a n influence, such as ])arts of France, Greece, Egypt, a n d the Black Sea. T h e s e products, however, f o r m a significant part of the diet of several countries in southeast Asia, w h o p r o d u c e t h e m in almost exactly the same way as did the R o m a n s two thousand years ago. 5 1
E. Sweeteners Pliny briefly mentions that cane sugar (.saccharon) f r o m Arabia and, especially, Sugar India was a "honey collected in canes, white in the m a n n e r of g u m , brittle to the teeth." H e goes on to say that its only use was medicinal. T h e a u t h o r of the firstcentury A. D. "Periplus of the Erythrean S e a " indicates that sugar m a d e its way f r o m India to the cast African coast. H o w m u c h of it continued on f r o m there to R o m e by way of Alexandria is questionable, though Pliny's knowledge of it implies that some did. It seems, then, that R o m a n knowledge of sugar was only in its infancy by the first century A. D. 5 2 T h e p r i m a r y R o m a n sweetener, therefore, r e m a i n e d the same as that for the Greeks, honey. H o n e y h a d a myriad of uses in the R o m a n world. It served as a sweetener in Honey drinks, such as wine, and in n u m e r o u s sweet cakes a n d confections, as a condim e n t , as a preservative of fruits, vegetables, a n d meats, as an ingredient in perf u m e a n d cosmetics, a n d as a base for medicines. It also f o u n d value in various 51
For R o m a n trade in preserved fish products, sec Curtis, 6'arum and Salsamenta, pp. 46 175; R o b e r t I. Curtis, "Spanish T r a d e in Salted Fish Products in the l sl a n d 2 m l Centuries A. I).," IJNA 17, no. 3 (1988): 205 10; a n d m o r e recently, Lowe, " T r a d e a n d Production of G a r u m , " pp. 131-258; Evan W . Haley, " T h e Fish Sauce T r a d e r L. Iunius Puteolanus," Z.PE 80 (1990): 72 78; H a n n a h C o t t o n , O m r i L e r n a u , a n d Yuval G o r e n , "Fish Sauces f r o m H e r o d i a n M a s a d a , " J RA 9 (1996): 2 2 3 - 3 8 ; Hans-Joachim D r e x h a g e , " G a r u m u n d G a r u m h a n d e l im römischen u n d spätantiken Ägypten," M B A H 12 (1993): 27 55; J a c q u e l i n e S t u d e r " R o m a n Fish Sauce in Petra, J o r d a n , " in Fish Exploitation in the Past. Preceedings of the 7 ,h M e e t i n g of the I C A Z Fish R e m a i n s W o r k i n g G r o u p . W . V a n N e e r , ed. Annales du M u s c e Royal de l'Afrique Centrale, Sciences Zoologiques no. 2 7 4 (Tervuren, 1994), pp. 191 96. 52 Periplus Maris Erythraei 14. See also Lionel Casson, The Periplus Maris Erythraei (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1989), csp. 133,5958 ,13-21 .נןנץ. Pliny //jV 12.32: Saccharon et Arabia fert, sed lauclatius India. Est autem mel in harundinibus collectum, cummium modo candidum, dentibus fragile, amplissimum nucis abellanae magnitudine, ad medicinae tantum usum. See also Dioscorides 2.104; S t r a b o 15.1.20 (C694). Later writers, also doctors, such as G a l e n , note the importation of sugar f r o m India a n d A r a b i a Felix. Forbes, Studies, 5: 100-02.
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religious observances. As part of the villa economy, for those who had large apiaries, honey was a lucrative commodity. 5 3 T h e agricultural writers discuss in detail the care and feeding of bees and how to construct hives, identifying as many as nine different types, including those made from tree trunks, cork bark, wooden boards, woven wicker, terra-cotta, brick, fennel, and even dung, and, perhaps, mica, a transparent stone. Unfortunately, no hives dating to the R o m a n period have survived, except a few isolated examples in northern Europe outside the boundaries of the empire. These tend to be upright rather than horizontal and were made of tree logs or wicker. 54 Processing honey Only Columella (RR 9.15.12-13) a m o n g R o m a n agricultural writers discusses in any detail how to process honey. After discussing the best way to harvest the combs from the hives, he admonishes that the honey should be processed immediately while it is still warm. He advises taking a wicker basket or a loosely constructed sack, similar, he says, to that used to strain wine, shaped like an inverted cone. H a n g this up in a dark enclosure and, after removing dirt and young bees, place the honeycombs in it. T h e honey by gravity flow strains through the basket or sack and falls of its own accord into a container placed beneath it. W h e n all the honey has drained out, it is transferred to a terra-cotta vessel (vasa fictilia) where it remains open to the air for a few days. During this time it ferments and requires occasional skimming with a ladle. Fermentation arises from the fact that the honey absorbs water from the air, creating an optimum environment for the growth of yeasts. These convert the sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide. 55 T h e ladle is necessary to skim off crystals which also form when honey is exposed to air. This part of Columella's directions is studiously avoided today, when the honey is kept away from air. T h e honey that oozes from the honeycombs naturally was considered first quality. The honeycombs remaining in the basket are then removed and pressed to extract the second quality honey.
53
O n uses of honey, see Claire Balandier, "Production et usages du miel dans l'antiquité gréco-romaine," in Des Hommes et des plantes. Plantes méditenanéennes vocabulaire et usages anciens. M.-Cl. Amouretti a n d G. Cornet, eds. (Aix-en-Provence: Université de Provence, 1993), pp. 9 3 - 1 2 5 . O n apiaries as a source of income, cf. V a r r o RR 3.16.10-1 1. 54 C r a n e , "Bee Hives of the Ancient W o r l d , 1," pp. 3 4 3 9 ; ־C r a n e and G r a h a m , "Bee Hives of the Ancient World. 2," pp. 153-54. T h e knowledge of the agricultural writers on the relationship between bees a n d honey was vague at best. Pliny (HN 11.30-31), for example, says that bees collected in their stomachs honey that h a d fallen from the air and settled on leaves a n d flowers. T h e y then regurgitate this liquid into the cells of the hive. Cf. also Vergil G. 4.1, who calls honey a heavenly gift from the air. For a discussion of the chemical processes involved in creating honey f r o m nectar, see M c G e e , On Food and Cooking, pp. 3 7 2 - 7 7 . O n bees a n d hives, see esp. Pliny HN 21.70-82; V a r r o RR 3.16. 55 M c G e e , On Food and Cooking, pp. 3 7 8 - 8 0 . O n harvesting hives, see esp. V a r r o R R 3.16.32-34; Columella / ^ 9 . 1 5 . 4 - 1 1 .
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Unfortunately, Columella does not describe how they were pressed. T h e combs a n d the pots which held the honey could then be washed with water, which was then boiled d o w n to create a type of vinegar. 5 6
F. Refrigeration O f the little we know about ancient refrigeration, most of the information comes Ice from R o m a n sources. T o cool wine R o m a n s , like the Greeks, placed snow directly into the wine or else cooled water with snow a n d a d d e d that to the wine. Apparently, Falernian a n d Sedan wines were so sharp that R o m a n s often a d d e d cold snow or water to dilute or cool them. T h e difficulty of obtaining a n d storing snow a n d ice m a d e it a luxury. Seneca indicates that snow, presumably after having been brought by pack-animals from a m o u n t a i n or stored after a rare snowfall in the vicinity of R o m e , was compactly pressed into some sort of container so that it would last throughout the s u m m e r . H e complains that the snow was sometimes discolored and had a bad taste because in transit in carts the snow was covered with straw. H e does not say how it was stored once it reached its destination other than that it was deposited in a cold place (loci frigore). X e n o p h o n says that Alexander the Great preserved snow by placing it in deep pits a n d covering it with oak branches. W h e t h e r the R o m a n s followed the same technique is u n k n o w n . According to Seneca they h a d shops reserved specifically for storing snow (reponendae nivis officinas). Ice also f o u n d a use similar to that of snow a m o n g R o m a n s . T h e y apparently did not cut it from frozen ponds. Instead they d u g down into c o m p a c t e d snow to the level at which the weight of the snow on top h a d pressed so hard that the snow solidified. T h i s layer had been f u r t h e r h a r d e n e d by water from melting snow in the u p p e r layers trickling down toward the bottom where it refroze. T h e r e is no evidence that snow or ice was used for any purpose other t h a n for eating or for cooling liquids before drinking. 5 7
56 F o r the suggestion that a lever-and-weight press of the type used in olive processing was used, a conjecture based on a similar use in the pre-industrial period, see B r u n , " L a discrimination," pp. 5 1 3 - 1 4 . See Pliny HN21.82 for vinegar f r o m honey. 57
M a r t i a l 5.62.4, 9.2.5, 9.22.8; 14.103.1; H o r a c e Cam. 2.11.19; S e n e c a Ep. 78.23; QNat. 4 . 1 3 . 1 - 9 ; Pliny HN 19.55; A t h e n a e u s 3.124c (Alexander the Great). See also G e e r , " O n the Use of Ice a n d S n o w , " p. 62; Forbes, Studies, 6: 103, 108-14.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS T O PART THREE
D u r i n g the G r a e c o - R o m a n period food items requiring processing fell into a few specific but very i m p o r t a n t categories. Plant foods included the M e d i t e r r a n e a n triad of cereals, grapes, a n d olives. Particular animals, such as cattle a n d fish, were butchered for their meat, which was preserved in various ways, while others were raised for their by-products, especially milk that was processed into butter a n d cheese. Increased production, storage, availability, a n d long-distance transportation of processed foods b e c a m e i m p o r t a n t concerns for governments a n d offered economic opportunities for n u m e r o u s private individuals. Processed foods provided m a n y of the n e e d e d proteins, vitamins, and other dietary supplements necessary for a healthful diet, at least for those to w h o m they were readily available. 1 Food technology d u r i n g this period experienced significant advances in some technology during Ihe areas, but n e a r stagnation in others. In the f o r m e r category are most p r o m i n e n t Graeco-Roman ly the milling of cereals a n d the pressing of grapes a n d olives. So, for example, the first mechanical application to be applied to grinding grain was the invcnperiod tion in Greece of the h o p p e r mill, which permitted the automatic feeding of grain between the millstones. T h e hopper, in one form or another, characterized all subsequent grain mills. T h e most i m p o r t a n t development d u r i n g this period, however, was the application of rotary motion to food technology. O n c e established, it led directly to the harnessing of a n i m a l a n d water power to mill grain. Knowledge of this principle b r o u g h t new inventions, such as the rotary h a n d mill, animal-driven mill, a n d , p e r h a p s most impressive, the water mill. This last invention m a r k e d the first use of a motive power that, theoretically at least, could function continuously to process food. Additionally, knowledge of rotary motion led to the invention of two additional tools of food processing, the mechanical kneading m a c h i n e a n d the trapetum to crush olives before pressing. Advances in food
I m p o r t a n t a d v a n c e m e n t s in pressing technology a p p e a r e d d u r i n g the G r a e c o R o m a n period as well. T h e lever-and-weight press, in c o m m o n use in the N e a r East by the tenth century B. C., was in Greece by the sixth century B. C. at latest. T h e Hellenistic period saw the development of a press, p e r h a p s in use in the Greek East by the third century B. C,. that capitalized on the earlier knowledge of the pulley a n d rotary motion. T h i s n e w innovation a d d e d a winch, or d r u m ,
1
P e t e r G a r n s e y , Food and S o c i e t y , 2 1
12 . ; קנןCurtis, Garum and Salsamenta,26—24
.קנן.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS TO PARI' THREE
421
to the lever-and-weight press to assist in lifting the weights. Next, in an innovation of the second century B. C., but this time in the western Mediterranean, the drum became the sole method of pulling the beam down to press the basket of grapes or olives. And finally camc the application of the principle of the screw to press technology, perhaps arising in the Greek East by the mid-first century B. C. A screw was first added to the lever-and-drum press to apply additional prèssure on the olives. The following century brought the direct screw press, which utilized only a screw to press down on the baskets. This apparatus was only just catching on by late antiquity. These improvements in pressing permitted greater efficiency in processing grapes and olives than was possible by treading with the feet, crushing with a stone roller, or twisting in a cloth bag. 111 addition to increased ease of use, which both mills and presses gave to processing cereals, grapes, and olives, came also heightened efficiency. And along with this came significant growth in production potential. Developments in milling and pressing affected ancient social and economic life in two important areas. T h e first area where change is detectable is organization of labor. T h e cellular Organization of approach to organizing for production, earlier practiced in Pharaonic Egypt and labor Mesopotamia and still to be seen in Bronze Age Aegean palaces, responded to the need for increased output merely by increasing the number of people using the same technology, though perhaps centralizing their work in a single location. Certain areas of the Graeco-Roman world responded to this need by developing more efficient, larger, labor saving machines requiring fewer people to operate per unit of output, while achieving greater results. Examples include the development in Greece of two labor saving devices, the hopper mill and mechanical olive crusher, the efficient and easy to operate rotary hand mill in Spain, the convenience of substitution of animal for h u m a n power in Sicily and Italy, and the harnessing of water to increase significantly the output of grain mills in Italy, Gaul, and North Africa. These developments did not, of course, occur everywhere nor did they all spread uniformly throughout the Mediterranean area. Several factors can be adduced for this. T h e first factor influencing the adoption of technological innovations in food Technology transfer technology was the nature of technology transfer, which could be rapid, slow, or intermittent Some innovations spread quickly, such as the principle of rotary motion, which may have arisen simultaneously in at least two different places, Greece and Spain. Use of rotary hand mills by soldiers greatly assisted the spread of this technology in the western R o m a n Empire. Beginning in Spain in the fifth century B. C., it could be found in most areas of northern Europe by the third century B. C., and in Italy by the following century. Its spread to Greece took considerably longer, not reaching there before the first century B. C. at the earliest. O n the other hand, although the olive crusher, or trapetum,
422
Local variation in technology
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS TO FART TIIRF.E
spread fairly rapidly, though in a slightly altered form, from Greece to the west, the hopper mill did not. It apparently got to Sicily by the fourth century B. C., but no farther. T h e simple lever-and-drum press was popular in the western Mediterranean by the second century B. C., but was apparently unknown in Greece before the following century. This was so even though the Greeks were using the lever-and-weight press by the sixth century B. C., and areas of the N e a r East had added a winch to it by the third century B. C. T h e water mill, on the other hand, perhaps invented in the Greek East in the first century B. C., spread quickly to the west where it was in practical use by the first century A. D. and in fairly widespread use by the late third and fourth centuries. T h e screw, perhaps also invented in Greece, however, spread slowly. It was known in Italy by the first century A. 1)., but was used primarily as an addition to the levera n d - d r u m press. T h e direct screw press, for pressing grapes or clothes, apparently was still not in widespread use before the Byzantine period. T h e wedge press never caught on generally, its use remaining restricted to the perfume industry. T h e reasons for inconsistent transfer arc difficult to ascertain, but a m o n g them should be included restrictions to the growth of a particular plant, such as olives, which do not fare well much beyond northern Italy and Spain. T h e pace at which technical knowledge did spread during this period has been attributed to the degree to which the agricultural manuals of Cato, Varro, and Columella, and the encyclopedia of Pliny the Elder, were known, and the persistence of long-distance contacts by way of the movements of government personnel, soldiers, skilled workers, and merchants a n d their products. 2 Closely associated with the problem of technology transfer is the existence of local variation in apparatus, particularly between the eastern and western parts of the Mediterranean but also between regions of the same area and sometimes, such as in Israel, between parts of the same region. O n e element influencing the appearance of variation was the degree to which knowledge of a particular principlc or apparatus spread. In instances where technology transfer was rapid and uninterrupted, a particular area might show examples of each stage in the developmcnt of a specific machine, for instance, in the evolution of the olive press. Another area, where transfer was slow or intermittent, on the other hand, might omit one or more stages. T h e third-century B. C. rotary Delian mill provides a unique example of an innovation that, for the most part, remained local. T h e millstones were constructed in standardized segments that allowed them to be fairly easily erected and disassembled. If it were used to grind grain using rotary
2
Kevin G r e e n e , " H o w was T e c h n o l o g y T r a n s f e r r e d in the W e s t e r n Provinces," in Current Research on the Romanization of the Western Provinces. M a r k W o o d and Francisco Q u c i r o g a , eds. (Oxford: T e m p u s R e p a r a t u m , 1992), pp. 101-05.
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motion, for unknown reasons it did not catch on in the eastern M e d i t e r r a n e a n . Greece had to wait almost two centuries for the spread of rotary h a n d mills from the West. Additionally, variation could derive from contrasting responses of two distinct areas to the same needs, based u p o n differences of climate, natural resources, or perhaps personal preference. So, for example, the trapetum with flat grinding surface, typical in the N e a r East, m o r e often showed a concave grinding surface in the western M e d i t e r r a n e a n . In wine making, fermentation tended to be carried out in vats in N o r t h Africa, Egypt, the Black Sea, and the N e a r East, but in dolia in n o r t h e r n M e d i t e r r a n e a n areas. T h e third factor explaining inconsistency in technology usage is the natural conservatism that prevailed in the area of technology. Earlier, simpler methods of food processing, for instance, grinding on a quern, continued in use alongside new, m o r e efficient apparatus. For example, the Price Edict of Diocletian (15.52-55), promulgated in A. D. 301, lists together h a n d mills, animal mills, and water mills, indicating the c o n t e m p o r a n e o u s use of all of them. T h e reasons for this persistence are two. First, some grains, such as e m m e r wheat and barley, required roasting and p o u n d i n g before grinding. It seems that in antiquity no better tool was f o u n d than the m o r t a r a n d pestle to process glume cereals a n d hulled barley, which required extra effort to separate the grain from the spikclets. This milling problem also accounts for the rapid replacement of these cereals by the naked wheats in the G r a e c o - R o m a n diet. Since these grains require only threshing to separate the kernels f r o m the spikclets, they are ready for milling immediately after threshing a n d winnowing. And second, most new inventions and innovations were directed toward commercial production. T h e y tended to be larger a n d more expensive than earlier apparatus. T h e small farmer, like the peasant in the Ps-Vergilian Moretum, for example, simply could not afford to possess a donkey mill, but he could p e r h a p s afford a saddle quern or rotary h a n d quern. This brings up the second m a j o r area of change attributable to the GraecoR o m a n period, a substantial increase in commercial development of food technology. Certain apparatus, such as the lever-and-drum press and particularly the water mill, constituted a significant capital investment that must have presupposed a reasonable expectation of a profit from the sale of surplus produce. T h i s was, of course, dictated primarily by the resources available and so benefited only certain areas, for instance, production and trade in olive oil by Spain and N o r t h Africa, and the operation of water mills at Barbegal in southern Gaul a n d C h c m t o u in North Africa. Particularly wealthy landowners a n d some states in these regions benefited greatly from advances in food technology. Certain other individuals benefited as well. So, for example, it may not be entirely coincidcntal that professional bakers arose in R o m e at the about same time (ca. sec-
Conservative technology
Commercial development in food technology
424
Areas of technological stagnation
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS TO FART TIIRF.E
ond century B. C.) as the appearance of large ovens to bake bread in quantity and the invention of the donkey mill. And finally, new technology spawned fresh opportunities for making a living. Certain areas where natural resources permitted, for example the islands of Nisyros and Aegina in the eastern Mediterranean and Mulargia on Sardinia in the west, specialized in producing and trading millstones. Additionally, increased production of wine, olive oil, and preserved fish in places like Italy, Spain, and North Africa spawned new subsidiary industries, such as the manufacture of a m p h o r a to transport processed foods. This provided occupations to m a n y people, to say nothing of those who worked in the production centers themselves, who transported the products from one place to another, and who sold them in urban shops and markets. 3 Invention and innovation did not characterize all aspects of Graeco-Roman food technology, however. Different tastes and varying requirements rendered some areas stagnant. So, for example, butchery methods remained almost totally unchanged. Finds of knives and scenes of butchery shops shown in sculpted reliefs show little difference from knives and butchery scenes in Pharaonic tomb paintings or wooden models. Perhaps this can be attributed to some extent to the fact that, although meat, especially pork, was available to those who could afford it, it never reached the status of a staple food. Since the alcoholic drink of preference for most Mediterranean populations was wine, beer-making technology, so intensely practiced in Egypt and Mesopotamia, was neglected. Although Greeks and R o m a n s knew of beer, both showed a strong distaste for the brew and attributed its production and consumption to barbarians. Despite the fact that Greeks from the fourth century B. C. apparently knew the principle of distillation, neither they nor the Romans applied the technology to produce a distilled alcoholic beverage. Both Greeks and Romans liked cold drinks and knew how to cool wine and water with snow and ice either by placing them directly into the liquid or by using specially constructed vessels to cool them indirectly. Yet neither applied this knowledge to preserving foods, such as meat, by refrigeration. And, finally, honey and reduced grape must remained the only sweeteners, even though the Romans were aware of cane sugar from India and may have imported it to Rome.
:i
It is these same factors that provide m o d e r n historians with i m p o r t a n t evidence for studying ancient e c o n o m i c history. So, for example, archaeologists, using petrological analysis, can determ i n e w h e r e artifacts associated with food technology, such as millstones a n d a m p h o r a e , originated, a n d f r o m that d e t e r m i n e not only places of production a n d c o n s u m p t i o n but also the routes used for G r a e c o - R o m a n long-distance trade. Finds of similar artifacts, such as treading or décantation vats a n d donkey mills, can be used to d e t e r m i n e the function of a particular a r c h a e o logical site. A n d , finally, detailed study of changes in f o r m of certain artifacts, such as millstones a n d a m p h o r a e , can be used to establish chronologies that can assist in dating o t h e r artifacts f o u n d in the same context.
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By the late R o m a n E m p i r e inhabitants of the ancient world were applying m a n y of the principles of food technology in use today, a n d had developed n u m e r o u s tools a n d machines by which to apply them. T h e period between the sixth century B. C. a n d fourth century A. D. proved to be a fruitful era in the development of food technology. Although significant a d v a n c e m e n t did not a p p e a r in every area, this single millennium saw m o r e advances in the invention or i m p r o v e m e n t of machines to apply the principles of food technology than for any other c o m p a r a b l e period before. T h e y were little improved u p o n until the Industrial Revolution. Mechanical Technology: T h e G r a e c o - R o m a n period saw the application of new Mechanical mechanical principles, rotary motion a n d the screw, a n d the invention of or technology innovations to several food-processing machines arising f r o m them. T h i s period brought forth four distinct types of mill to process cereals (hopper mill, rotary h a n d mill, donkey mill, and water mill), f r o m f o u r to six new presses to process grapes a n d olives (wedge press, lever-and-drum press, lever-and-screw press, a n d direct screw press, in addition to intermediary versions), and two other machines operating on the rotary principle, one for crushing olives a n d the other for kneading dough. T h r e e additional machines m a y have existed as well, a mechanical m o r t a r a n d pestle a r r a n g e m e n t a n d both a kneading m a c h i n e and m o r t a r and pestle a r r a n g e m e n t powered by water. These last three a p p a r a t u s are not otherwise attested t h a n by one casual a n d disputed literary reference each. Storage: Palaces of the Bronze Age Aegean stored wine and oil in large terra-cotta Storage containers in special rooms. T h i s m e t h o d continued in use well into the G r a e c o R o m a n period. Bronze Age palaces often placed grain either in koulouras, large stone-lined circular pits, or in partially a b o v e - g r o u n d granaries not unlike the d o m e - s h a p e d silos of Egypt. T h e i r f o r m can be seen in the c o n t e m p o r a r y Melos vase, and is probably reflected in the terra-cotta circular granaries f r o m Athens dating to the G e o m e t r i c II period. The A t h e n i a n model granaries are nearly identical to those of the Melos vase. T h e y differ primarily in their a r r a n g e m e n t in a row instead of in a square and in the presence of two holes at their base. T h e s e holes m a y represent some sort of archaic sub-floor ventilation system designed to keep grain cool a n d dry. T h i s suggestion derives some confirmation f r o m the subsoil excavation of c o n t e m p o r a r y a b o v e g r o u n d grain silos at Lefkandi. T h e grain itself, particularly the hulled grains, such as e m m e r and barley, was stored in partially threshed form, that is in the spikelet, to give a d d e d protection to the kernels while in storage. Although the Athenian g o v e r n m e n t of the Classical period took great interest in providing grain for the city's population, it
426
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does not seem to have created a centralized storage as was c o m m o n in the N e a r East. T h i s conclusion is based primarily u p o n an a r g u m e n t from silence, both of literary a n d archaeological sources, a n d future excavations may yet yield evidence for large granaries. There is some evidence that multi-storied farm buildings were used to store grain on their u p p e r doors to keep it dry and to provide ventilation. Advances in food storage d u r i n g the R o m a n period differed primarily in quantity a n d scale rather than in principles applied. Most of the steps in granary construction were already known or can be assumed to have been known at least by the Hellenistic period, if not before. For the R o m a n period alone, however, d o we have a substantial body of literary a n d archaeological evidence. Although other storage m e t h o d s were used, R o m a n storage facilities were primarily situated a b o v e g r o u n d , either sitting directly on p r e p a r e d g r o u n d or elevated on supports to provide sub-floor ventilation. W h i c h type storage was used, Columella informs us, d e p e n d e d primarily on the climate. Aboveground storage was better suited to the form of grain used most often by R o m a n s . T h e y preferred the free-threshing wheats, such as bread wheat, which releases the kernels from the spikclets when threshed. T h e "clean" grain, therefore, was ready for milling a n d stored most conveniently in sacks or in bins. Consequently, they strove to provide a cool, dry, dark place. Additionally, to keep out pests they coatcd the packed floors a n d walls, as well as the grain itself, with the liquid dregs of olive processing (amurca). Military granaries (honed), w h e t h e r of wood or stone, were an integral part of m a n y R o m a n a r m y forts a n d tended to conform to the type of granary raised on supports. T h e second m a j o r type of R o m a n granary, the large u r b a n civil horreum, contained grain a n d other export and import items for short or m e d i u m term storage. These granaries also stored g o v e r n m e n t grain collected f r o m Sicily, Egypt, a n d N o r t h Africa, for distribution as part of the dole or, f r o m the third century A. D. on, for supplying state-run grain mills a n d bakeries, which processed it into flour to p r o d u c e b r e a d . Civil granaries, excavated in R o m e , Ostia, a n d Egypt, usually took the form of large buildings having multiple rows of deep n a r r o w rooms, sometimes facing onto a courtyard. It should be noted that, although discussion has focused on grain, R o m a n granaries probably stored other processed foods needing a cool a n d dry place, as well as non-food items. Milling
Milling. Although some areas r e m a i n e d essentially stagnant, the M e d i t e r r a n e a n civilizations m a d e significant advances in milling of grain. Additionally, several key inventions and i m p o r t a n t innovations to existing machines moved milling from the time-consuming laborious efforts of individuals to the m o r e efficient, labor-saving mechanical a p p a r a t u s that permitted large-scale production that
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427
helped to transform ancient society in numerous ways. Little can be said of Bronze Age Aegean grain processing equipment, except that it continued to be based on the mortar and pestle for pounding and saddle querns for grinding. I hese show little change over their Neolithic predecessors, except that they tended to be larger. In the Graeco-Roman period, pounding technology using mortar and pestle, frequently made of wood, remained essentially unchanged from what had been common earlier. T h e suggestion that pounding technology became mechanized has only the slightest basis in the evidence. T h e reason for the lack of innovation should be attributed to the continued but substantially reduced reliance on the hulled grains by G r a e c o - R o m a n populations. Their taste inclined to the cultivated d u r u m and bread wheats, which were easier to process and yielded flour that looked and tasted better. In a departure from Near Eastern patterns grain processing a m o n g Greeks seems to have been a domestic activity. T h o u g h the state controlled the supply of grain to the market, its processing was a duty of each family. 4 Nevertheless, important progress is discernible. T h e Greeks, for instance, made some changes in the saddle quern. T h e upper stone became heavier and more elliptical than was typical of Neolithic querns, and developed pointed ends to assist in grasping. By the fifth century B. C. it had become flatter, and the movement of the rubber in grinding had shifted from rather random circular motions to a back and forth pattern. The grinding surface of both upper and lower stones also received a herringbone grooving, which aided in cutting rather than crushing the kernels. This also helped in moving the meal to the periphery of the grinding surfaces, where it could be easily collected and any large pieces of bran sifted out. This innovation laid the groundwork for the next two significant contributions to food technology. In places like Athens and Olynthus by the late fifth century B. C. the upper stone, or rubber, had received a hopper, a cavity in the top of the stone. At the bottom of this depression was a slit that allowed the grain to drop continuously through into the space between the upper and lower stones where it could be ground. A further innovation quickly followed this one. A handle was attached to the hopper-rubber and the whole assembly raised onto a Hat surface, such as a table. T h e miller, by pushing the handle sideways in a back and forth motion, moved the upper stone over the stationary lower stone. Although the action was still reciprocal as before, the handle gave the miller greater leverage, permitting a more finely ground meal processed more quickly and yielding increased output. In combination with the hopper, this raised hopper, or "push," mill was less
1
Amourctti, " T r a n s f o r m a t i o n des céréales," p p . 137 38.
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SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS TO FART TIIRF.E
labor-intensive, easier to use, m o r e efficient, and m o r e productive t h a n the simpie saddle quern. T h e h o p p e r mill replaced the saddle quern in commercial establishments, while the latter no d o u b t continued in use in domestic settings. R o m a n s apparently knew of the Olynthian h o p p e r mill (mola trusatilis) for processing cereals, but m a d e little use of it. Perhaps the most important innovation of the R o m a n period was the application of the principle of rotary motion to cereal processing. T h e use of rotary motion to grind grain on a h a n d mill apparently arose in Spain at a b o u t the same time as the Greeks were applying the same principle to crush olives in the trapetum. T h e form of the mill varied somew h a t according to geography a n d over time, but the principle was the same. A round u p p e r stone (catillus) with a slightly concave grinding surface fitted over the slightly convex grinding surface of the lower, stationary stone (meta). T h e worker turned the u p p e r stone by m e a n s of a vertically seated wooden handle. Later a wooden or metal spindle, affixed in the center of the top surface of the meta, penetrated the u p p e r stone. T h e upright spindle plus the convex shape of the lower stone a n d concave shape of the u p p e r stone kept the millstones centercd. O v e r time the millstones b e c a m e flatter, a n d a m o r e efficient rynd a n d spindle a r r a n g e m e n t was developed to keep the two stones centered a n d slightly separated to aid in grinding. Striations 011 the grinding surfaces of both millstones and the centrifugal force of the rotary motion itself discharged the meal to the periphery. Still later, a longer spindle seated onto a horizontal bridge-tree penetrated both millstones f r o m below. T h i s allowed the miller to raise or lower the u p p e r stone m o r e efficiently to change the separation of the two stones and so to adjust the fineness of meal p r o d u c e d . A second type of mill arose in the central M e d i t e r r a n e a n , perhaps a m o n g Sicilian Greeks or Punic inhabitants of Sardinia or N o r t h Africa. K n o w n f r o m an early fourth-century B. C. shipwreck oil" the coast of Spain, the animal driven grain mill b e c a m e the p r i m a r y m a c h i n e for large-scale grain production until the a p p e a r a n c e of the water mill. T h e same principle for the h a n d mill guided the operation of the mill driven by an animal, usually a donkey. A development from the h u m a n - p o w e r e d M o r g a n t i n a mill, the Pompeian donkey mill had a reversible catillus to give extra life to the u p p e r stone. T h e advantage to this mill over the h a n d mill, which probably was more efficient in grinding, was its greater output per unit of time expended. Since it was animal driven, it also freed other workers to do other things. Even with all of these innovations in grinding, except for the development of varying mesh size, sifting of meal to produce flour changed not at all. The last a d v a n c e m e n t in milling, the water mill, probably developed in the Greek East in the first century B. C., but is best known from examples discovercd in Italy, North Africa, Gaul, a n d Britain. T h e largest of these so far
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429
revealed operated at Barbegal, near Arelate (modern Aries) as early as the second century A. D. W a t e r f r o m an a q u e d u c t p o w e r e d sixteen grain mills built on the slope of a ridge. T h e m e t h o d of applying water p o w e r to drive the millstones operated on two basic principles, a direct application of force and an indirect one. In the f o r m e r m e t h o d a horizontal water wheel h a d attached to it a vertical shaft on top of which was placed a spindle that passed through both millstones from below. T h i s spindle was secured into the catillus in such a way that it turned the millstone w h e n water, moving over the wheel, rotated the vertical shaft to which it was attached. Since the application of force passed directly f r o m the wheel to the shaft a n d so to the spindle attached to the catillus, the speed of the water determined the speed of the millstone. In the indirect m e t h o d , used in vertical overshot a n d undershot water wheels, the wheel t u r n e d a horizontal shaft on which was affixed a vertical cogwheel. T h e teeth of this cogwheel drove a smaller horizontal cogwheel resting on a bridge-tree. T h i s cogwheel drove a shaft at the top of which was affixed a spindle that penetrated both millstones f r o m below and was secured to the catillus. T h i s " g e a r e d - u p " a r r a n g e m e n t allowed the u p p e r millstone to rotate at a speed faster t h a n the water wheel. Baking and Fire Technology. For the Aegean Bronze Age, although portable hearths Fire a n d braziers were c o m m o n l y found, fixed ovens were not. W h e r e employed, with few exceptions, they were usually located outside the house. Palace records indicate that there were professional bakers, a n d finds at K o m m o s of small d o m e d ovens imply that they m a d e leavened bread. Evidence for the classical Greek period is little better. Literary sources provide the n a m e s of m a n y types of bread, m a n y of which were apparently also baked in a d o m e d oven. T h e a p p e a r a n c e of these ovens can best be seen in some terra-cotta figurines, such as those from T a n a g r a , a n d in the few portable examples that have survived f r o m antiquity. T h e Greek oven (ίπνός) h a d a vaulted roof a n d a full width opening in front. T h e firebox was situated b e n e a t h the oven door, a n d holes in the lloor drew the heat f r o m the firebox into the baking c h a m b e r . W e arc m u c h better informed a b o u t R o m a n ovens not only f r o m archaeological finds but also f r o m art historical representations of the a p p a r a t u s at work. Excavations at Ostia a n d Pompeii, in particular, have yielded m a n y examples of bakeries, complete with milling a p p a r a t u s a n d ovens. T h e R o m a n oven (fumus) c a m e in two forms, the beehive shape, which was similar to Greek ovens, a n d the beehive oven completely encased in brickwork. The latter type h a d a small o p e n i n g for inserting dough into the baking c h a m b e r , which had been heated by coals that were then removed. A Hue drew smoke and heat up a n d out of the roof. O n e sculpted relief, f o u n d on a first-century B. C. t o m b in R o m e , shows the operation of a commercial bakery owned by Eurysaces who, as a baker (pis-
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tor) a n d contractor (redemptor), supplied b r e a d to the state. T o j u d g e from Eurysaces' relief the operation of a bakery differed little from that of P h a r a o n i c Egyptians, except in one of degree. T h e R o m a n s g r o u n d their grain, sifted the meal, a d d e d leaven and water to the flour, kneaded the dough, f o r m e d the loaves, a n d baked the bread in an enclosed oven. T h e r e was, however, one important innovation in this period, the significant increase in size of ovens. C o m m e r c i a l bakeries, utilizing animal driven grain mills, mechanical kneading machines, a n d large ovens supplied most of the bread to u r b a n populations. For rural areas and for the p o o r e r levels of society for w h o m h o m e baking was a necessity, cooking on hot ashes or u n d e r small pans, such as the testu and clibanus, was the n o r m . Wealthy households might use elaborate forms of these as well as various other utensils, such as the milianum, for w a r m i n g drinks. 3 Although both Greek and R o m a n literary sources mention the necessity to p a r c h certain grains before milling, the process is n o w h e r e described nor can it be d o c u m e n t e d in the art historical record. Archaeologists have identified the Greek "barley-1Όaster ,( יφρύγετρον) with a thumb-held shallow dish. T h e R o m a n beehive oven may have derived from the rural grain drying oven (fornax) and so probably resembled it in form. Treading
Treading: Processing of wine followed w h a t h a d been done in the Bronze a n d Iron Ages, that is, treading in a tank followed by pressing. In Bronze Age Crete treading of grapes took place in a stone or terra-cotta basin, or λήνος, having a spout n e a r the b o t t o m . T h e must flowed from the basin into a receptacle placed b e n e a t h the spout where it was allowed to ferment into wine. Recent studies have revealed several variations of this treating basin, the most c o m m o n being the one just described. Classical Greek treading vats known primarily f r o m paintings on pottery, differ little f r o m those of the Bronze Age. T h e s e paintings show individual treaders standing in small treading tubs. T h e fact that they sometimes stand in sacks placed inside the tub implies a desire to separate the must f r o m the m a r c a n d so, presumably, to create a white wine. This type of evidence a n d literary references to various colors of wine indicate that the Greeks recognized the effect of the grape skins on the juice, even if they did not understand the chemistry that led to a distinction between red a n d white wines.
3
For G r e e k cooking a p p a r a t u s , including ovens, see Sparkes, " G r e e k K i t c h e n , י יpp. 121-37; for Italic cooking stands d a t i n g between 1400 a n d 4 0 0 B. C., see C h a r l o t t e Scheffer, Acquarossa. 2 Vols. (Stockholm: Svenska Institutet i R o m a , 1981). For a brief review of the various types of cooking utensils f o u n d in first-century A. 1). Pompeii, see M a r i a A n n e c c h i n o , "Suppellettile futile da cucina di P o m p e i , " in L'instrumentum domesticum di Ercolano e Pompei nella prima eta imperiale (Rome: " L ' E r m a " di Bretschneider, 1977), p p . 105-20.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS TO PARI' THREE
431
The d e m a n d for wine not only in areas where the wine was p r o d u c e d but also in those places lacking the ability to p r o d u c e it themselves or desiring a foreign p r o d u c t led to large-scale production of Greek wine. N u m e r o u s finds of wine transport a m p h o r a e in m a n y places in the M e d i t e r r a n e a n imply that wine was big business in Classical a n d Hellenistic Greece. Little evidence, however, can be found for large wineries in Greece, though some material remains have c o m e to light on Delos a n d Crete. Excavations of fifth a n d fourth century B. C. wine p r o d u c i n g installations in the Black Sea, however, show that large-scale wineries possessed a treading platform, which could a c c o m m o d a t e several treaders at a time, a n d a collection tank. W i n e was being p r o d u c e d in Spain as early as the sixth century B. C., no doubt through Phoenician influence. T h e R o m a n s p r o b ably learned of it f r o m Greeks in Italy not long afterward. T o j u d g e f r o m comments by the agricultural writers and archaeological and art historical evidence, treading during the R o m a n period differed little f r o m that of the Greeks. Fermentation of must into wine took place most often in dolia in n o r t h e r n areas of the M e d i t e r r a n e a n ; vats served most often in southern a n d eastern regions. T he R o m a n s also d r a n k the non-alcoholic mustum, or they could reduce it by one-half to p r o d u c e defrutum or by one-third to create sapa. T h e sweetness of b o t h products m a d e them suitable substitutes for honey. Crushing: T h e need to m a k e olive processing easier a n d m o r e p r o d u c t i v e Crushing b r o u g h t the application of a new principle to food processing, rotary m o t i o n . A l t h o u g h some controversy remains, it a p p e a r s that the Greeks first applied the principle to food technology by developing the m e c h a n i c a l olive crusher, certainly by the fourth century B. C. a n d p r o b a b l y a little earlier. Little is k n o w n of the G r e e k version, but it n o d o u b t resembled in most particulars that of the later R o m a n crusher, o r trapetum. Its Hellenistic N e a r Eastern form can best be seen at oileries in Israel, such as at M a r e s h a , w h e r e c o m b i n e d with developing pressing technologies, oil p r o d u c t i o n , like wine m a k i n g , was b e c o m i n g a large-scale enterprise. T h e R o m a n s m a d e no substantial changes to the G r e e k crusher, t h o u g h the orbes of the R o m a n a p p a r a t u s t e n d e d to be a bit smaller in d i a m e t e r a n d to be lens-shaped on the side facing out. It is significant that crushing technology r e m a i n e d essentially u n c h a n g e d after the fourth century B. C., even while great strides were being m a d e in pressing technology. Pressing. T h e principle of pressing grapes a n d olives to extract the juice same as that practiced in the Hellenistic period. T h e mechanics of how accomplished, however, u n d e r w e n t significant innovation. C h a n g e in technology centered principally a r o u n d methods of lowering the b e a m
was the Pressing this was pressing to press
432
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS TO FART TIIRF.E
the baskets of grapes or olives. T h e lever-and-weight press was known in Greece by the sixth century B. C., as a representation of one a p p e a r s on an Attic black figure skyphos of that date, a n d Hellenistic remains of this type press have been found at O l y n t h u s in n o r t h e r n Greece a n d at Praesos on Crete. At M a r e s h a in Israel this type press u n d e r w e n t some innovation when a winch was incorporâted to allow for larger press weights to add m o r e force to the basket of olive pulp u n d e r the b e a m . Although there is no physical evidence for the winch, its use seems likely in order to lift the huge b e a m weights that were found there. The description of just such an a p p a r a t u s in a treatise on mechanics by H e r o of Alexandria strengthens this supposition. T h o u g h writing in the first century A. D., he apparently wrote in terms that imply that this type press was a m u c h older invention. By the time technology for the lever-and-weight press reached Italy a n d the west it h a d been " i m p r o v e d " ; a winch or d r u m replaced the weights. T h e winch, w h e n rotated with handspikes, d r e w d o w n the b e a m by m e a n s of an attached rope. T h e simple l e v e r - a n d - d r u m press a p p a r e n t l y developed in the west by the second century B. C. a n d spread back to Greece, w h e r e it was furt h e r i m p r o v e d in the following c e n t u r y by the addition of a screw. The direct screw press, which arose in the east d u r i n g the first century A. D., discarded the long b e a m altogether a n d o p e r a t e d within a w o o d e n f r a m e to press directly d o w n on the frail. Archaeological evidence for it dates mainly to the Byzantine period. Screw technology was the last significant a d v a n c e in ancient pressing technology. Butchery
Butchery) In the area of animal processing little progress can be seen in butchery. M e a t , particularly pork, was a p o p u l a r item a m o n g those w h o could afford it. For most u r b a n dwellers it was p r o b a b l y a scarce item on the table unless one was lucky e n o u g h to be present for a m e a t distribution. W h e r e the butchery activity took place is difficult to pinpoint, but it p r o b a b l y occurred in a b u t c h e r shop (laniena) n e a r or outside the city gates. Several sculpted reliefs incorporate scenes f r o m a b u t c h e r shop displaying large knives a n d cleavers suitable for cutting t h r o u g h bone a n d smaller, s h a r p e r knives for slicing flesh. Butchery tools show little or n o change from earlier periods.
Preservation
Preservation: Preservation of fish b e c a m e big business by the Classical period, especially in the Black Sea area. Salt-fish a n d fish sauce were p o p u l a r items a m o n g Greeks, to j u d g e from their frequent mention in literature, a n d an elem e n t in the e c o n o m y of m a n y cities. Archaeological evidence for Greek fish processing, however, is almost non-existent. T h e finds of a m p h o r a e of preserved fish in a fifth-century B. C. h o m e in Corinth is all, and this was the house of a J
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS TO PARI' THREE
433
m e r c h a n t , not a producer. The only Classical a n d Hellenistic fish processing installation that has c o m e to light is in Punic Spain, near G a d e s (modern Cadiz). I n d e e d , it seems m o r e likely that the spread of fish salting into the western M e d i t e r r a n e a n was by way of Phoenician a n d Punic colonists, but even here archaeological evidence is slender. Certain areas of the western M e d i t e r r a n e a n in the R o m a n period were large-scale p r o d u c e r s a n d exporters of preserved fish. Fish preservation showed the greatest i m p r o v e m e n t over earlier cultures, at least the evidence for it, both literary a n d archaeological, is far better in quality a n d quantity. T h e R o m a n s probably learned the technology needed to process fish f r o m Phoenician a n d Punic colonists of Spain or f r o m Greek colonists of M a g n a Graecia, in southern Italy. T h e facilities probably derived from early Punic or Greek facilities. T h i s must remain only conjecture at this point because outside of a few Punic sites of the fifth century B. G., only R o m a n sites dating at the earliest to the first century B. C. are presently known. O n e can assume that the R o m a n contribution to fish salting most likely was limited to increasing the scale of operations to p r o d u c e large a m o u n t s available for export. Fish m e a t could be dried, smoked, or salted; some fish a n d the innards of large ones went into m a k i n g fish sauces. Both products, p r o d u c e d where the natural resources o f f i s h , salt, a n d water were readily available, found a ready place in the R o m a n diet to which they supplied i m p o r t a n t levels of protein a n d some B-vitamins. Areas particularly associated with preserved fish include Spain, N o r t h Africa, a n d the Black Sea. T h e y were apparently p r o d u c e d 111 such large quantities a n d f o r m e d such a significant part of long-distance trade that in most areas those w h o h a d a desire for fish had access to it. A study of fish sauce in Pompeii, for example, concluded that, although some varieties could be expensive, generally speaking most R o m a n s of all social classes could afford preserved fish products. Salt fish could be part of the R o m a n meal, especially the gustatio. Fish sauce was apparently the R o m a n equivalent of table salt, m u c h as it is today in m a n y parts of Southeast Asia, where the m o d e r n counterparts, such as nuoc-mam of V i e t n a m a n d nam-pla of T h a i l a n d , are p r o d u c e d a n d consumed in almost the exact same way as did the Greeks a n d R o m a n s . A m o n g daiiy products cheese was by far the most p o p u l a r with Greeks a n d R o m a n s . T h e description of cheese production described by the agricultural writers indicate little change over prior methods. T h e use of rennet to curdle the milk a n d molds to express the whey from the curds show n o real a d v a n c e m e n t over earlier periods. T h e R o m a n s m a d e both soft a n d hard cheeses a n d varied its taste with n u m e r o u s additives. T h e s e inventions a n d innovations m a y not constitute an industrial revolution, but the technology necessary to create machines operated first by h u m a n power,
434
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS TO FART TIIRF.E
then by animal, and finally by water power to achieve greater output, more cfiiciently, with fewer workers cannot be called stagnant. 6 And, finally, we should not overlook the benefit to most Greeks and R o m a n s of the expanding availability and variety of foods made possible by the application of technology to their processing, storage, and transportation over long distances. Not only did it add to the quantity of foods available in their diet, it also increased the quality. And finally, particularly in the case of alcoholic beverages, ancient food technology increased their enjoyment of life.
6
T h e question of the role of technology in general in the ancient world has been the subject of scholarly d e b a t e for m a n y years. Interestingly, food technology has not played a m a j o r role in the discussions. T h i s will, I hope, no longer be the case. For various views presented in the debate, see especially Moses I. Finely, " T e c h n i c a l Innovation a n d E c o n o m i c Progress in the Ancient W o r l d , " Economic History Review 18 (1965): 2 9 - 4 5 ; H . W . Pleket, " T e c h n o l o g y in the G r e c o - R o m a n W o r l d : a G e n e r a l Report,' 5 Talanta 5 (1973): 6 - 4 7 ; H o u s t o n , "State of the A r t , " pp. 6 3 - 8 0 ; Kevin G r e e n e , "Pespectives on R o m a n T e c h n o l o g y , " OJA 9, no. 2 (July 1990): 2 0 9 - 1 9 ; G r e e n e , " S t u d y of R o m a n T e c h n o l o g y , " pp. 3 9 - 4 7 ; Kevin G r e e n e , " T e c h n o l o g y a n d Innovation in Context: the R o m a n B a c k g r o u n d to M e d i a e v a l a n d L a t e r D e v e l o p m e n t s , " JRA 7 (1994): 2 2 - 3 3 .
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Historica. Essays in Memory of Stuart Rigold. Alec Dctsicas, c־d. Maidstone: K e n t Archaeological Society, 1981, p p . 3 2 - 4 0 . Y o u n g , J o h n H. "Studies in South Attica. C o u n t r y Estates at S o u n i o n . " Hesperia 25 (1956): 122-46. Young, R o d n e y S. Ijile Geometric Graves and A Seventh Century Well in the Agora. Hesperia Suppl. II. Athens: A m e r i c a n School of Classical Studies at Athens, 1939. Y o u n g , T . Cuyler, J r . , Philip E. L. Smith, a n d P e d e r M o r t e n s e n , eds. The Hilly Flanks and Beyond. Essays on the Prehistory of Southwestern Asia. Studies in Ancient O r i e n t a l Civilization N o . 36. Chicago: T h e Oriental Institute, 1983. Zaky, A h m e d , a n d Zaky Iskander. "Ancient Egyptian C h e e s e . " Annales du Service des Antiquités de 1'Egypte 41 (1942): 2 9 5 - 313. Zeist, W . van, a n d j . A. H. Bakker-Heeres. "Archaeobotanical Studies in the Levant. 3. LatePalaeolithic M u r e y b i t . " Palaeohistoria 26 (1984): 171-99. Z i m m e r , G e r h a r d . Römische Berufsdarstellungen. Archäologische Forschungen Bd. 12. Berlin: G e b r . M a n n Verlag, 1982. Z o h a r y , Daniel, a n d M a r i a Hopf, Domestication of Plants in the Old World.
I. G E O G R A P H I C A L I N D E X (Numbers in bold refer to m a p pages) Bahrain Ras al Qala'a: 179. 242 Britain Boxgrove: 17, 37 C a e r h u n : 331 Chestcrs: 324. 337, 340 Dover: 331 Glastonbury: 340 Hadrian's Wall: 330, 337, 340, 350, 371 Housesteads: 324. 331 Hoxne: 17, 37 Ickham, Kent: 324. 350 Inchtuthil: 330 Scolc: 371 South Shields: 324, 330 Vindolanda: 371 China Zhoukoudian: 14, 29, 87 Crete Epano Zakros: 261. 270-71 Gournia: 261. 270 K ״t 9 Zakros: 261, 270 -71 Knossos: 74, 260, 261. 2 6 2 , 2 6 9 - 7 1.265,63־ 303 ,301 ,273-74 Kommos: 261, 265-67 Mallia: 261. 262-63, 265 66, 270, 272, 278 Myrtos: 261, 264. 267, 269-70, 313 Palaikastro: 261, 270, 313 Phaistos: 260, 262-63, 265, 274, 276 Phorni: 261, 270 Praesos: 261. 307 Tholos: 261, 335 Vathypetro: 261, 270 Zakro: 266 Crimea Chersonese: 411 Mirmekion: 37, 301, 303, 411 N y m p h a e u m : 37, 301 Starosel'e: 27, 37 Tyritake: 37, 301, 4 1 1 - 1 2 Volgograd: 27 Cvprus Kopetra: 308, n. 99; 311 Kyrenia: 37, 287 Maroni: 37, 228, 271 Czech Republic Dolni Vestonice: 37, 43, 46, 51, 88 Democratic Republic of Congo Katanda: 5, 36, 42 Egypt (incl. Nubia)
Abu Ghurab: 176 Abusir: 9 6 , 168 Abydos: 96. 97, 101, 107, 142, 160, 169, 172 Alexandria: 321. 324, 335, 417 Amarna: 96. 104, !19, 124, 129-31, 140, 162, 164, 169-71, 202 Badari: 95 Bcni Hasan: 9 6 , 149, 158 Buto: 9 6 , 162 Cairo: 93, 96 Deir El Gebrawi: 9 6 , 99, n. 18 Deir cl-Bahri: 9 6 , 166 Deir el-Ballas: Ballas: 96. 107, 129 Deir el-Medina: 9 6 , 137-38, 164, 166, 170, 174 Delta: 143 44, 150 Dendera: 96, 111 Edfu: 77 El Kab: 77, 9 6 Elephantine: 53, 94. 96 Fayum: 77, 79, 93, 321 Giza: 96, 122, 137 Hcliopolis: 96. 145 Helwan: 9 6 , 100-01 Hemamieh: 96, 97 Hermopolis: 130 Hierakonpolis: 97, 100, 106 08; 143, 11. 4 Isna: 56, 77. 9 6 K a h u n : 96, 104, 121, 251 Karanis: 324. 335 Kom K: 79, 99 K o m O m b o : 53, 56, 77, 96 Kom W: 79 Letopolis: 143 Maadi: 96, 99, 186 Mahasna: 107 Malkata: 9 6 , 171 Medinet H a b u : 96, I I I Medum: 9 6 , 148 Memphis: 9 6 , 145 Merimda: 78, 9 6 , 123 Mirgissa: 9 6 , 104 Nabta: 77. 96 Naqada: 9 6 , 97 98 Niuserre: 176 Pelsuium: 96, 175, 321 Rifch: 136 Saqqara: xxiii. 96, 100, 115, 117, 120, 134, 146, 148, 151, 174 Tebtunis: 321 Tell cl-Dab׳a: 9 6 , 153 Thebes: 9 6 , 101, 145, 162, 169 Uronarti: 104, 112 Wadi Kubbaniya: 53 56, 62, 67, 82, 8 8 9 6 Ethiopia Aramis: 5 , 6
.89״
468
GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX
Fejej: 5, 6 H a d a r : 4, 5, 9 Kada Gona: 9 Maka: 6 West Gona: 5, 9 Fertile Crescent: 178 France Abri Pataud: 3 7 , 42, 88 Aventicum: 324, 355; 357, 11. 64 Barbcgal: 324, 350-51, 423, 429 Bay of Douarnenez: 411 C o m b e Grenal: 27, 30, 37 Grotte du Lazaret: 30 31. 37 Kerobestin: 397 Lugdunum: 324, 403 Nemausus: 324. 400 Pech de l'Azé: 31-32, 37 Plomarc'h: 415 Roc dc C o m b : 46 Solvieux: 42 Telgruc: 397 T e r r a Amata: 30 31, 37 Georgia Dmanisi: 15, n. 28, 37 Germany Augusta T r e v e r o r u m (Trier): 371 Haltern: 330, 340 Lehringen: 27; 49, η. 39 Mauer: 17. 37 Rögden: 324. 330 Saalburg: 357, 11. 63 Vindonissa: 324, 330 Greece (incl. Cyclades islands) Aegina: 76, 264, 286 87, 424 Aghios Kosmas: 261. 267, 273 Andros: 261, 276, 279 Argolid: 286 87 AsÌne: 261, 264 Athens find. Attica): 261, 276-79, 282, 290-91, 293, 301, 313, 350, 427 Corinth: 261, 286, 290, 313-14, 318 19 Delos: 261. 282, 288 89, 301 Dimini: 261, 266 Franchthi Cavc: 74, 261. 267 Iolkos: 276 Keos: 261, 279 Lefkandi: 261, 277, 315, 425 Lei na: 261, 264 Megara: 261. 279, 282 Melos: 197, 261, 277 Mt. Hymettus: 322 Mycenae: 260. 261. 264, 266, 272, 301 Naxos: 279 Olynthus: 261, 280 84, 288, 301, 305, 307, 381, 427 Orchomenos: 261, 263 Peparcthos: 321 Pylos: 261, 272, 274 Siphnos: 279 Syros: 261, 264
Tanagra: 261, 291, 429 Thasos: 301, 313, 321 Therasia: 261, 274 Tiryns: 261. 2 6 3 - 6 4 Tromileia: 315 Hungary Vertesszöllös: 17. 37 Iran Choga Mis: 209 Godin Tepc: 106. 179, 184-85. 209 10, 249 Hajji Firuz Tepe: 73, 179. 184 Iraq Abu Salabikh: 179, 195, 207 Arpachiyah: 179. 180 82 Babylon: 179, 221 Drehern: 233 Eridu: 179. 181, 209, 241 Gcbcl Sinjar: 201 Girsu (= Tcllo): 179. 212-14, 217, 239 40, 253 Jemdet Nasr: 179. 190, 192 Lagash: 179. 202-03, 210, 213, 233, 252 Nimrud: 179, 192 93 Nineveh: 179. 193, 203 Nippur: 179. 193, 203, 212, 240 Nuzi: 179. 234 Sagdana: 202 Shanidar Cave: 37. 179. 27 Shuruppak: 179. 196, 251 Tell Abada: 179. 182 Tell el-'Oueili: 179. 181 T e p e Gawra: 105, 179. 181-82, 254 Ubaid: 179, 180 81 U m m a : 179. 212 Ur: 140. 179. 181, 192-93, 202-03, 209, 2 1 1 , 2 1 8 , 233-34, 239 Uruk: 179. 181 82, 185, 190, 192, 195, 208 09, 240 Yarim Tepe: 179. 180 83, 207 Zawi Chemi Shanidar: 6 7 - 6 8 Italy Boscorale: 394 Cosa: 368 Hcrculaneum: 3 2 4 . 343-44, 365, 370, 385 Ostia: 3 2 4 , 333-34, 344 -45, 398, 429 Pithecusae: 315 Pompeii: 324, 341, 344, 347, 365 66, 368, 379, 385, 390, 398, 402-03, 411, 415, 429 Rome: 324. 3 3 3 , 5 8 357,51350 367-68, 395, 398 99, 419, 423-24, 429 Russi: 328 San Giovanni di Ruoti: 324. 349-51 Settefinestre: 324, 372, 395 Stabiae: 374 Venafrum: 350 Vicovaro: 324. 328 Kenya Chemeron: 5 , 7, 9 Chesowanja: 28 Kanapoi: 6, 5
469 GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX Koobi Fora: 5, 7, 20, 22 23, 25, 27 28 Lake Turkana: 5, 6, 7, 14 Olorgesaillc: 5, 25 Kuwait Failaka: 179, 241 42 Macedonia Assiros T o u m b a : 261, 262 Sitagroi: 261, 267 Mallorca: 287, 324. 335, 341 Malta: 305 Noil 11 Africa Carthage: 287. 3 2 4 Chcmtou: 324. 350, 423 Chcrchcl: 377 Cotta: 324. 411 El Djcm: 377 Kouass: 318 Lixus: 324, 411 Madaurc: 394 Sullecthum: 411 Tcstour: 50 Palestine (incl. Lebanon, Israel, Jordan) Abu Noshra: 37, 47. 88 Achzib: 179, 205 Ain Mallaha: 37, 60 Aphek-Antipatris: 179, 223 Arad: 142, 179, 186, 197 Beth Shemcsh: 179, 198, 203 Beth Yerah: 179, 197 Bir el-1 Abel: 179, 197, 251 Caesarea Marittima: 379 Dothan: 179, 198 99, 201 Ein Aqev: 37, 53, 59, 86 'En Besor: 96. 107, 11. 36; 186 Gibeon: 179, 185, 225 Gilgal: 37. 67 Golan Heights: 179, 187 Hayonim Cave: 37. 40 Hazor: 179, 198, 228, 231 Jericho: 37. 65, 67 68, 142, 183, 186, 198, 201, 250 Jerusalem: 179, 240 Jisr Banal Yakub: 30 Khirbet Iskandcr: 179, 207 Lachish: 142, 179, 186 87, 198 Maresha: 37, 308 09, 381. 384 85 Mushabi: 60 Nahal Oren: 37, 67 Nahal T a n n i n i m : 350 Netiv Hagdud: 37, 65, 67, 86 ( )halo: 37, 59 Rosh Zait: 240 Shechem: 179, 199. 201 Shiqmim: 179, 180 81 Shiqmona: 228, 231 Ta׳annck: 179, 198, 223 Tel Batash: 179, '228 Tel esh-Shuna: 142, 179. 186 87 Tel Megiddo: 179, 187 89, 198
Tel Michal: 179, 224 Tel Miqnc-Ekron: 179, 228 32. 247 Telcilat el-Ghassul: 179, 180-81, 187 Tell Beil Mirsim: 179, 198, 228 Tell Dan: 179, 198, 228, 231 Tell el Ifshar: 198 Tirai Yehuda: 228 Ubeidiya: 15, 37 Ugarit (Ras Shamra): 37, 179. 180 81, 223, 227 28 YVadi H a m m e h : 37. 60 Pantelleria: 287, 335 Russia Avdeevo: 37, 44 Koslenki: 37. 44 46 Mczin: 63 Sardinia Mullargia: 324. 336, 424 Sicily incl. nearby islands Agrigento: 394 I.ipari Islands: 314 Morgantina: 280, 287, 289, 324. 336, 341 Syracuse: 321 T o n a r a del Cofano: 41 I South Africa Florisbad: 53 Swartkrans: 5. 28 Spain incl. nearby islands) Ambrona: 24, 37 Atapuerca: 17. 19. 37 B״el ù : 324. 41 1, 413 Gades: 319, 411 L'Ali de Bc11in1aquía: 373 74 l » s Redes: 319 New Carthage: 324, 403 Numantia: 324. 337 Punta de l'Arenal: 41 I, 413 Rhode: 324, 412; 413, 11. 40 Santa Pola: 412 Torralba: 24. 37 Troia (incl. Caetobriga): 324. 411; 411, 11. 37; 412 Syria Abu Hureyra: 37. 202, 245 Bouqras: 66 Carcheinish: 179, 182 Damascus: 221 Ebla: 201 02, 212, 226, 250 Mari: 179, 192. 195; 197. η. 33; 207 08, 210, 212. 221, 223, 226, 233, 240, 272 Mureybit: 37. 63, 88, 191 Sclcnkahiyc: 214, 11. 66 Tel Brak: 179, 209 Tell al-Raqa'i: 179, 196 Tell Hadidi: 179, 214, 217 1VII Halaf: 179, 180, 201, 286 Tell Mcfesh: 182 Tanzania Lacioli: 5. 6 Olduvai Gorge: 5, 7, I I , 15, 20 21, 23, 27, 85
470 Thera Akrotiri: 261. 265 Turkey (Asia Minor; incl. nearby islands) Bogazköy (Hattuša): 179, 1 9 2 , 2 2 0 Byzantium: 37. 17 18 Cabira: 324, 348 Çayônii: 179. 186 Chios: 261. 297, 305, 376 Gordion: 37, 218, 286 Halicarnassus: 318 Kos: 261. 297, 318 Kültepe: 179, 220 K u r b a n Höyük: 179, 219 Lesbos: 261, 294, 297, 318, 376 Nisyros: 287, 424 Parion: 318 Phaselis: 37. 318
GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX Rhodes: 297, 301 Samos: 318 Sinope: 297 Smyrna: 261, 278 Tell Turin: 181 Thasos: 297, 376 Titris Höyük: 219 Ukraine Dobranichevka: 3 7 , 44 45, 63 Mezhirich: 3 7 , 44 45; 50, n. 44; 88 M w lodova: 31, 3 7 , 44, 50, 53, 86 Pushkari: 3 7 , 44 Zambia Kalambo Falls: 5, 30
II. G E N E R A L I N D E X alcohol: 88 drunkenness: 139, 294, 376 animals cattle: 70, 7 4 - 7 5 , 79; 79, n. 132; 97, 165, 180 81, 233, 274, 313, 395 domestication: 68 70, 75, 79 fish: 50, 56, 59, 62, 64, 77 79, 83, 89, 97, 173 74, 2 3 8 - 3 9 , 2 7 4 - 7 5 , 316, 402 gazelle: 68, 78 goats: 7 4 - 7 5 , 97, 180- 81, 233, 274, 313 m a m m o t h : 44- 45, 47, 82 pigs: 70, 74, 97, 166, 181, 2 3 3 - 3 4 , 274; 275, 11. 33; '314, 395, 397; 397, 11. 5 sheep: 70, 7 4 - 7 5 , 97, 180 81, 233, 274, 313 abattoir: see butchery A m r a t i a n culture: 97 amurca: 307, 3 2 7 - 2 9 , 381, 393, 426 Annius Octavianus Valerianus, L.: 358 Antipater of Thessalonica: 348 Ashurbanipal: 203 Ashurnasirpal II: 193, 203, 208, 222 Atimetus: 399 autolysis: 407
KAŠ (Akk. Šikaru): 186, 211; 211, 11. 58; 212, η. 62; 2 1 5 - 1 6 , η. 68; 242 šeššar (Hittite beer): 219 unfiltered: 2 1 7 - 1 9 ; 217, η. 73 beer siphon: 139-40, 218 ζύθος (ζϋτος, βρΰτον, πΐνον): 294 T h r a c i a n beer: 294 Gallic beer (cervesià): 370 Spanish beer (caelia a n d cerea): 370 brewers: 105, 2 1 2 - 1 3 , 371 breweries (Sum. E-BAPPIR): 2 1 3 - 1 4 , 217 brewery model: see models characteristics of beer: color: 219 potency: 139, 294 taste: 219 b e e r in society: beer a n d morality: 213 b e e r drinking: 140, 191 beer in Egyptian hieroglyphs: 108 10 beer in p y r a m i d texts: I 10 deities associated with: 111 ( H a t h o r a n d Menqet) economy: 111 12; 112, 11. 48; 370 71 taverns: 213 biltong, see butchery boiling: see fire bouza: see b e e r making
B a d a r i a n culture: 9 5 - 9 6 bag press: see mechanical technology baker: see bread making bakery: see bread m a k i n g b r e a d making: Egypt: 117 31, 134 35; ancient N e a r beer-bread: see b r e a d making East: 2 0 5 - 1 0 ; Greece: 266 -67, 2 8 9 - 9 4 ; R o m e : b e e r making: Prehistory: 88, 105; Egypt: 131-41; 358-70 ancient N e a r East: 2 1 0 1 9 ; ־Greece: 294; R o m e : priority of b r e a d or beer: 105-06 370-71 processes: priority of bread or beer: 105 06 grinding grain: see mechanical technology earliest evidence: 105, 210; 217, 11. 72 sieving: see milling processes: kneading: m a n u a l : 118, 127, 136, 205, 362 65 b e e r making with bread: animal power: 3 6 2 - 6 4 malt (MUNU; Akk. buqlu) a n d malting: 106, 132, water power: 363, n. 75 138, 2 1 5 - 1 6 , 249 making dough: 106, 117 19, 205, 358, 365 diastase: 215 leaven: 118, 363, 365 maltose: 215 flour: 117, 200, 203, 265, 286, 3 6 0 - 6 2 beer-bread (BAPPIR; Akk. bappiru): 135, 137 38, bread molds: 214; 215, n. 68; 216 bedja molds: 118-19, 121 23, 209 sieving: 106, 132 conical molds: 123 24 mashing: 135-36, 2 1 6 - 1 7 ; 217, n. 71 trough-shaped: 123 m a s h tun: 107, 136, 214 (Akk. namzitu), 216 bevelled-rim bowl: 209 wort: 132, 136, 249 baking: fermentation: see fermentation storage: 137 h o m e baking: 290 91, 3 6 7 - 6 9 beer making without bread: 137 -38 ashes: 106, 367 types: 139, 184, 192, 2 1 0 - 1 2 , 214 clibanus: 3 6 8 - 6 9 ; 369, n. 88 (dapjì(1nu (beer of mari): 219 eschara290 .״ b o u z a 2 4 9,140,38137,132-34sub . ׳testa: 368 d a r k beer (ΤΙΤΛΒ; Akk. titapu): 219 bakeries (Grk. άρτοπώλιον; L a t. pistrinum)·. 105, date beer (billatu or biltu): 241- 42 122, 209 10, 293, 344, 347 48; 347, n. 46 filtered: 217 large-scale baking: 129-31, 3 5 8 - 6 0 , 4 3 0
472
GENERAI. INDEX bakers: 105, 117, 130, 209 10; 210. 11. 55; 266, 293 (female), 358 61, 423 άρτοκόπος: 266, 293 a-t0-j)0-q0·. 266 crustularius: 370 duláarius: 370 libarius: 370 fiisior. 358, 360, 370 pistrix: 361
C a n n i b a l H y m n : see pyramid texts cereals domestication: 66 barley: 56, 59, 66, 71, 74, 77. 99, 107, 131, 138, 186 81, 183, 193, 199, 200, 205, 262, 360 wheat: bread: 74, 199, 360 club: 74 d u r u m : 74, 199 einkorn: 62, 66, 71, 74, 183 e m m e r : 66, 74, 99, 107. 114, 138, 180, 183, 199, 200, 205, 215, 262, 360 cervesarius: 371 cheddaring: see dairy products cheese: see dairy products crushing: see mechanical technology curd: see dairy products
ovens: 125 27, 129 30, 195, 208; 208, 11. 51; 215. 248, 266 67, 289 90, 366 69 box ovens: 125, 127, 129 d o m e d ovens: 266 67, 208: 208, 11. 51; 215, 429 Junius: 366 69, 429 ίπνίτης: 290 ίπνός: '293, 429 πνιγεύς: '290 uduii: 216 dairy products: butter: Prehistory: 69; Egypt: 173; ancient Near r o u n d ovens: 125, 127. 130 East: 2 3 5 - 3 7 ; R o m e : 3 9 9 - 4 0 0 laburr. 184, η. 9; 207 butyrum: 399 400 laimur. 205, 207 08; 368, 11. 87 ghee: 237 bread: (Sum. NINDA; Grk. άρχος; Lat. panis) types: 119, 2 0 5 - 0 7 ; 205, n. 48; 209, ,289-90 ־cheese: Prehistory: 6 9 , 76; Egypt: 173; ancient 369 70 ' N e a r East: 2 3 7 38: Greece: 2 7 4 , 3 1 5 16; beer-bread: see beer making Rome: 399 402 flat bread: 207 ceramic sieve: 76 leavened bread: 208 cheddaring: 2 3 8 mamphula: 368, n. 87 cottage cheese: 4 0 1 0 2 pants quadralus: 365 curd: 238, 315, 4 0 0 - 0 2 in Egyptian economy: 111 12; 111, 11. 48 GA-AR ( A k k . eqidum)·. 2 3 7 - 3 8 in Egyptian hieroglyph: 108 10 mold: 2 3 8 , 11. 119 (ancient N e a r East), 4 0 1 - 0 2 brining: see preservation (Rome) bulgur (burghul): 196, '203 rennet: 238, 315, 400 01 butchery: Prehistory: 15, 47, 81, 8 5 8 7 ; ־Egypt: tu-ro,: 274 165 73, 2 5 2 - 5 3 ; ancient N e a r East: 2 3 3 34, type's: 238 252 53; Greece: 274; 275, n. 33; 313 14; Rome: whey: 76, 315 395 99, 432 milk: Prehistory: 69, 76; Egypt: 173; ancient birds (Egypt): 167, 171 72 spatchcocking: 171 cattle: blood: 69, 167 68, 172 73 b u t c h e r (Rome): 398 (macellaritis, lanius) butcher shop a n d abattoir: Egypt: 167 69; ancient Near East: 233; R o m e : 398 (laniena) butchery tools: Prehistory: 15, 47, 81. 85 87; Egypt: 169-70; Greece: 313 14; R o m e : 399 carnarium: 397 (smoke house), 398 (meat rack) fat rendering: 172 73 meat markets (Rome) Jorum boarium: 395 forum suarium: 395 macellum: 396, 398. 402 processed meat: 171-72, 3 9 8 - 9 9 fish: Prehistory: 56; Egypt: 171; ancient N e a r East: 2 3 8 - 4 0 ; (;recce: 2 7 4 - 7 5 , 314 gutting: 240 scaling: 240 splitting: 240 washing: 240 butter: see dairy products
N e a r East: 69, 234; Greece: 274. 315: R o m e : 399-400 buttermilk: 235, 237 milk boiler: 76, 401 Delian mill: see milling dental-wear pattern: '21'22, 51, 7 0 - 7 1 . 117 detoxification: 52, 88 dispu (Akk.): 240 , Disputation Between the Millstone and the gul.gulstone': 201 distillation: see refrigeration donkey mill: see milling drying: see preservation Enkidu: ' 2 1 1 , 2 1 3 enzyme hydrolysis: 407 Eurysaces: 358, 3 6 3 - 6 3 , 365 66, 429 evaporation: see refrigeration
Jar. 360 fermentation: see preservation Fertile Crescent: 178 fire: 28 34, 54, 81, 87 88, 121, 248, 429 30
GENERAL INDEX processes: baking: see bread making boiling: 82, 88, 170 71, 248 cooking: 2 9 - 3 1 (earliest use), 65, 73, 77, 82, 88, 195,' 2 6 5 - 6 6 , 429 heating: 374 (miliarium) parching; see milling roasting: 47, 88, 170, 195 apparatus: boiling pits: 47 fire drill: 121, 248 griddles: 120, 248 hearths: 30 32, 43 47, 60, 65, 75, 77, 79, 87, 97, 195, 2 6 5 - 6 6 ; 266, 11. 14 kilns: 182 ovens: see bread making pot boilers: 46, 88 spits: 47 fish sauce: see preservation Fomacalia: 369 forum boarium: see butchery forum piscatorium: 402 Jorum suarium: see butchery garum (Grk. γάρον): see preservation 'gat: 225 26 gearing: 357. 11. 63 Geoponica: 297, n. 75; 298, n. 77; 4 0 5 - 0 6 G e r z e a n culture: 97 GEŠTIN (Akk. karanu): 186, 220 ghee: see dairy products Gilgamcsh: 193, 2 1 1 , 2 1 3 , 239 granary: see storage grinding: see milling Halaf culture: 180 81 h a n d a x e : 15 H e r o of Alexandria: 3 1 1 1 2 hominids: Australopithecus afarensis: 4, 67, 10, 22 Australopithecus ajricanus: 6, n. 4; 7; 7, n. 10; 22 Australopithecus anamensis: 6 Australopithecus «ahn: 7, 9 - 1 0 ; 24, 11. 51; 27, 11. 62; 81
Australopithecus ramidus: 6; 6, 11. 6; 7 diet: 2 1 - 2 3 , 25, 8 3 84 Paranthropus boisei: 7; 7, 11. 10 Paranthropus aethiopicus: 7 Paranthropus robustus: 7; 7, 11. 10; 8, 10, 22, 28 Homo: archaic Homo sapiens: 18 19 diet: 23, 25 Homo antecessor. 17 Homo heidelbergensis: 17 18 Homo sapiens neanderthalensis: 17 19, 30; 35, 11. I; 40, 51, 70 Homo sapiens sapiens: 8, 11. 12; 18 20, 40, 44, 50, 57, 63, 70, 73, 81, 82, 87 Homo erectus: 8; 8, nos. 12-13; 10, 14-15, 17; 17, 11. 30; 18 19. 26 27, 29; 29. 11. 71; 33־34, 40, 81, 85 86 Homo habilis: 7, n. 1 1 : 8 1 0 , 14, 18, 32, 34, 81
473
honey: see sweeteners h o p p e r mill: see milling Iwrrea: see storage House of the Vettii Pompeii): 388 ' H y m n to Ninkasi': 213 16; 215, n. 68; 217, n. 72 ice: see refrigeration 'iceman': 77 intelligence: and brain size: 8; 8, n. 14; 10, 40 cognitive fluidity: 34, 63 communication: 33 34, 40, 44 planning: 33, 42, 45 Isis Gitniniana: 333 lulus Vitalis: 398 kanou (or kamou): 143, 165 KAS (Akk. šikaru): see beer making K e b a r a n culture: 59, 68 koulouras: 263 KU.SIM: 192
kvass: 218 'Lamentation O v e r the Destruction of Suiner a n d U r ' : 211 laniena: see butchery λήνος: see wine making
madbasa: 241 m a n n a : 207, 11. 49 μ ά ζ α : 289 markets (Roman): see butchery mastaba of K a e m r e h u : 114, 11. 54; 134 meat-eating: see hominids a n d Homo mechanical technology: 246 48, 425 crushing: non-rotary methods: feet: 188; 188, n. 19 (κρουπέζαι); 304, 381 (canalis et soled) pestle: 187, 304 tudicula: 381 rotary motion: rollers: 304, 372 73 moin olearia: 381 trapelum: Greek: 288 89, 305 09; 309, 11. 99; 431 R o m a n : 3 0 5 - 0 7 , 309, 372, 381 82, 420, 423, 428, 431 terminology: columella (iron pivot): 306, 309, 382 cupa (wooden handle): 306 miliarium (central post): 306, 382 modiolus (socket:: 306, 382 mortarium (container): 306, 309 orbis (crushing stone): 306, 309, 382 grinding: see milling kneading: see bread making pounding: see milling pressing: ancient Near East: 185, 187 88, 225 32, 247 48; Greece: 2 7 1 - 7 2 , 307 1 2 , 4 3 1 32; R o m e : 378, 3 8 2 - 9 3 , 432 earliest evidence for the oil press: 227
474
GENERAI. INDEX
pressing without a press: 227 press weights: 231 32 types: direct screw press: 393, 421 lever-and-drum press: 385-90, 4 2 1 - 2 2 lever-and-drum press with a screw: 390 91 lever-and-screw press: 391 92 lever-and-weight press: 228 31; 229, 11. 102; 231, n. 103; 247, 271-72, 302, 307-11; 308, n. 99; 384, 420 lever-and-weight press with a winch: 309-11 wedge press: 3 8 4 - 8 5 terminology for R o m a n oil press (torcularium): 385-93 ara (press bed): 385 arbores (piers): 385, 388, 390 coclea (screw): 390 ligula (tongue): 385 orbis (circular wooden piece): 385 prelum (wooden beam): 385 stipites (uprights): 385, 390 sucula (winch): 388 vectis (handspike): 388 squeezing: see also wine making bag (sack) press: origin: 148-50 simple bag press: 148-50; 150, n. 26; 154-58, 247 with wooden frame: 148-50; 150, n. 26; 158-60, 247 as a hieroglyph: 143, 146 Megarian ('Homeric') bowl: 282 84, 291 milk: see dairy products milling: Prehistory: 84-86; Egypt: 1 1 4 1 7 , 2 5 0 - 5 1 ; ancient Near East: 199-204, 250-51; Greece: 279-89, 427 29; Rome: 335-58, 427 29 bureaucratic oversight: 111- 12, 358-60, 366-67 millers: 360, n. 69 י millhouses: 201-03, 250-51 mill song: 281, 338, 348 -49 processes: grinding: 51, 53, 5 5 - 5 6 , 60, 62, 75, 85 86, 115-16, 124, 182 84, 200 01, 280-81, 335-58, 361 reciprocal motion: grinding slab: 55 'basined' grinding slab: 53, 86 quern: 60, 64, 67 68, 71, 75, 79, 8 5 - 8 6 , 115-16, 124, 129, 180, 293, 427 bifacial: 67 flat: 67, 86 saddle: 76, 80, 82; I 15, n. 57; 116, 183-84, 199, 201-03, 264 65, 280 82, 284, 427 trough: 67, 82, 86, 183 mill: slab: 281 Olynthian hopper mill (mola trusatilis): 282-87, 335 36, 340, 4 2 7 - 2 8 rotary motion: 280, 287;89287׳,n. 53; 288, 11. '54; 336; 336, n. 26; 341 hand mill: '288. 336 40 origin: 33637־
terminology: bridge-tree: 340-41 - catillus (upper stone): 339 - handle: 339 40 - hopper: 3 3 9 - 4 0 - meta (lower stone): 339 modern experiments with: 340 rynd: 339 spindle: 339 - man 01 ־animal-driven mill: 341 Delian mill: 288 89, 422 Morgantina mill: 341-45, 428 - donkev mill (mola asirtaria): 287, 336, 343 48, 428' origin: 343 size: 344; 344, n. 41 terminology: - catillus (upper stone): 341, 343, 345, 347; 347, n. 46; 358 - hopper: 341, 345; 347, n. 46 meta (lower stone): 341, 344-45, 347; 347, 11. 46; 358 - rynd: 347 - spindle: 341, 345 water mill: 348-58, 429 earliest evidence: 3 4 8 - 5 0 types: - drop tower: 353, n. 58 horizontal: 3 5 0 - 5 2 - vertical overshot: 350-52; 352, n. 56; 355 - vertical undershot: 349, 351 52; 352, 11. 56; 355 terminology: - axis: 356 - bridge-tree: 3 5 6 - 5 8 - catillus: 356-57 hopper (Jimdibulum): 35556־ latern pinion: 3 5 6 - 5 8 - meta: 356-57 rynd: 356 - spindle: 357 - tympanum dentatum (flywheel): 356 57 gearing: - 'geared up 1 : 357, n. 63 'geared down': 357, n. 63 major installations: - Athens: 350; 357, n. 63 - Barbegal: 350, 353-58, 423 - Chemtou: 350, 352-53, 423 Rome: Janiculum: 350-51; 355, n. 61; 367 Baths of Caracalla: 350-51, 357, 367 San Giovanni di Ruoti: 349 51 parching: 80, 88, 107, 115, 199-200, 250, 279; 279, n. 43; 369, 371 barley roaster (Grk. φρύγετρον): 279; '279, η. 43; 430 parching oven (Lat. fomax): 200, 369 pounding: 51-53, 55, '59-62, 75, 84-86, 114-15, 199, 250, 280, 293, 360 61 mortar (Grk. ολμος) and pestle (Grk. ύπερος): hand operated: 52, 54-56, 60, 64, 75,
GENERAL INDEX 84 85, 108; 114, n. 54; 124, 180-81, 199, 201, 250, 280, 293, 360 61 composite mechanical: '280, n. 44 - water powered: 360. 11. 44 sieving: 116 1 7 , 2 0 0 , 2 9 1 , 3 3 8 , 3 6 1 62 sieves: - cribrum: 363 - κόσκινον: 291, 293 models: Aeropagus granary model: 276-77 Egyptian tomb models: É1 Kab: 100, 11. 21 Helwan: 100 Saqqara: 100 T h e b e s (Meket-re): bakery-brewery: 116, 125 27, 134-37, 202 slaughterhouse: 167, 11. 77; 168 69, 171, 173 granary: 103, kitchen boat: 127 29; 136, 11. 127 Melos vase: 263, 425 Moretum: 338, 362, 368, 423 Morgantina mill: see milling mortar: see milling multiregional evolution: 19 Mycoderma aceli: see wine making namzitu: see beer making N a q a d a culture: see Gerzean Natufian culture: 60 62, 68, 71, 82 negotiator allecarius: 403 negotiator cervesarius: 37 1 Nile River: 9 3 - 9 5 Nonius Zethus, P.: 345, 347, 362 nuoc-mam: 409 oil processing: Egypt: 164 65; ancient Near East: 187-89, 226-33; Greece: 267 74, 303 13; Rome: 380-94 Difficulty in distinguishing oil from wine processing installations: 164 65, 269-70; 270, 11. 24; 301, 372-73 crushing: see mechanical technology pressing: see mechanical technology separation: 188, '232 33, 311-12, 3 9 3 - 9 4 décantation: 394 hot water: 311 12 rendering: 227 skimming: 394 spouted tubs: 269-7'2, 312 storage: 198, 11. 35; 269, 272 olive oil: uses: 164 65, 187 89, '269, 303-04, 380 base for perfumes and medicines: 227, 269, 304, 380 cooking: 227, 304 illumination: 227, 304 religion: '227, 380 ' O u t of Africa': 19 oven: see bread making overflow décantation: 394 Papyrus Ebers: 177
475
Papyrus Harris: 145; 175, n. 107 parching: see milling Patulcus Felix, Sexlus: 347, n. 46; 370 pestle: see milling pistrinum: 360; see also bread making pounding: see milling pottery: 66, 72-73, 82, 88 preservation: drying: beef: 171 (Egypt), 3 9 6 - 9 8 (Rome) fish: 89 (Prehistory), 175 (Egypt), 2 3 9 - 4 0 (ancient Near East) fowl: 172 (Egypt) fermentation: 147 4 8 , 2 1 6 17 beer making: 106- 08, 131 32, 136 3 9 , 2 1 6 - 1 7 , 249 additives: 106 07, 132 (hops), 139, 242, 250 barm: 106 yeast: Saccharomyces winlocki: 1 18 Saceharomyces cerevisiae: 131, 363 grain: 88 89,' 118, 205 honey: 418 wine making: 117 48 (modern method), 160 61. 248, 2 7 3 ' 7 4 , 300 (in wine skins), 378 79 yeast (Saccharomyces ellipsoideus): 147 salting: beef: 396 98 (Rome) fish: Prehistory: 88; Egypt: 175, 321 ; ancient Near East: 239-40;'Punie: 319 20: Greece: 316 21; Rome: 402-17, 432 33 similar to salting pork: 397, 404 fish eggs (bolargo): 175 salt-fish (Grk. τάριχος; Eat. salsamentum) types: 317, 403 08, 413, 415; 415, 11. 47 physical appearance: 4 1 4 - 1 6 fish sauce (Grk. γάρον; Eat. garum similar to modern sauces of Southeast Asia: 406 07 types: '239, 317, 403 06; 405. 11. 24; 406, 11. ' 27; 414 15 salting installations (Grk. ταριχεία): 175 (Egypt), 240 (ancient N e a r East), 321 (Greece), 4 1 1 1 3 (Rome) salting vats (cetariaé): 412 13 uses of salted fish products: 415 16 commerce: ancient Near East: '240; Rome: 403 04, 416 17 modern fish salting technology: 407 09 dry sailing: 408 brining: 408 fish-to-salt ratio: 409 botulism: 414, 11. 44 fowl: 172 (Egypt) pork: 397 (Rome) smoking: 56, 89 pressing: see mechanical technology Primus Secundianus, M.: 403 Puabi (Queen): 203, 218 puis: 361 pûrâ: 2 2 5 - 2 6 pyramid texts: 144, 148, 149 (Cannibal Hymn)
476
GENERAI. INDEX
quern: see milling ration lists: 203 refrigeration: distillation: 254 55, 424 evaporation: 253 54 ice: 253, 296, 374, 419 rennet: see dairy products roasting: see fire rotary motion: see milling SABITL213
:־
salsamentum׳. see preservation salting: see preservation Sec wreck: 287, 341 sedentism: 46, 64 servant statues: 115 16; 117, 11. 66; 123 Shalmaneser III: 203, 222 Shamash-resh-usur: 240 41 sieving: see milling siligo: 360 Sinuhe: 129 Siris: 213 smoking: see preservation soldiers: 203, 337 38 soul house: 124, 11. 95 squeezing: see mechanical technology 'Standard of Ur': 221 222 stelae: Count Indi: 110 W a h a n k h Intel ־II: 110, n. 44 storage: Prehistory: 45, 65, 75, 78 79, 87; Egypt: 97' 104, 251 52; ancient Near East: 180 82. 190, 195-99, 251 52; Greece: 260-63, 265, 276-79, 425-26; Rome: 325 35, 426 underground storage: Prehistory: 45, 65, 75, 78 79, 87: Egypt: 79. 97, 99; ancient Near East: 180, 182 83; Greece: 262-63, 424; Rome: 325-27 aboveground storage: ancient Near East: 196 99 (beehive granaries) Greece: 262, 276 79 Sub-floor ventilation: 277, 279 Rome: 327 35 precedents: 328; 328, 11. 10; 334 raised floor: 327 29 military granary (horreum): 329 33, 426 timber: 330 stone: 3 3 1 - 3 3 civil granary: 333 35 sub-floor ventilation: 328 29, 4 2 5 - 2 6 granary models: see models grain preservation: grain storage in spikelet form: 262 pests: 103, 327; 327, 11. 7 amurca·. 327 29 large granaries: centralized in Egypt: 99 101, 104 05 centralized in ancient Near East: 192, 195 97 lacking in Attica: 278 Rome: 333 [Horrea Galbana, Horrea Agrippiana) Ostia: 333 llorrea Epagathiana, Grandi Horrea Karanis (Egypt): 335
subsistence strategies (prehistory) broad-spectrum diet: 53, 61; 61, 11. 79; 83 food sharing (= central-place-foraging): 25 hunting: 24 hunting-fishing-foraging: 27 multiple foraging: 27 refuging: 25 resource defense: 26 resource transport: 26 routed foraging: 25 scavenging: 24 25, 27, 81, 83 summarized: 83 84 sugar: see sweeteners sweeteners: dates: 241 42 honey and hives: Prehistory: 88; Egypt: 176 77 (honeycomb); ancient Near East: 240 42; Greece: 322; Rome: 417 19 sugar: 417 symposium: 222 (ancient Near East), 2 9 5 - 9 6 (Greece) tabun: see bread making tannur. see bread making τ α ρ ι χ ε ΐ α : see preservation τάριχος: see preservation technology: ancient, general: xxv-xxvi food technology: and bureaucracy: 249-50, 360, 362, 366-67 and development of writing: 108 10, 191-92 and efficiency: 245 46, 421 and nutrition: Prehistory: 70-73, 84; Egypt: 117, 140 41; 141, n. 144;'245; Rome: 409' 10 and rise of the state: 243 defined: xxv-xxviii distinguished from agriculture: xxvii distinguished from husbandry: xxvii in Greek 'Dark Ages': 275 stagnation: 424 unintended consequences: 71 73 technology transfer: Egypt: 142 43; Graeco-Roman: 263, 268, 271 72.'286 87, 289, 305-06, 315-16, 320-21, 336 37, 349 50, 384, 404, 4 2 1 - 2 2 temples: Seti I: 160 Sun Temple, at Xiuscrre, Abu Ghurab: 176-177, n. I l l tools and tool use: bow and arow: 64, 77, 97 digging sticks: 36, 64 Levallois technique: 18 microwear analysis: 52, 61 sickles: 61, 66, 80, 181 tool kits: Acheulian: 15, 85 86 blades: 35 36, 87 Mousterian: 18 Oldowan: 9, I I ; 14, 11. 23; 52, 85 86 ι ϋ ΰ | use: 9 10; 10. 11. 19; 49; 49, n. 39; 82, 85 tombs (Egypt : Akhethetep: 99, 11. 18 Amenemhct: 99, 11. 18; 101
GENERAL INDEX Amcnhotep II: 172 Antefoker: 99, n. 18; 101, 117, 120, 123, 136, 196 Asa: 99, n. 18; 121 Baqt III: 149, 153, 158, 160 Chnemhotep: 160 Hor-Aha: 173 Ipy: 173 Ken-amun: 117, 124, 127, 136, 145, 171 Kha: 172 Khacmwasct: 151 Khentika: 162 Khenty: 116, 120, 136 Khety: 101, 103 Meket-re: 103, 116, 125, 127, 134, 136, 168 69, 171, 173, 335 Mereruka: 151 Nakht (Deir cl-Bahri): 166 Nakht (Thebes): 151 Nefer and Ka-hay: 151, 157 58 Nefermat and Atet: 148 Nianchchnum and C h n u m h o t e p : 99, 11. 18; 120-21, 154, 157. 171 Pabesa: 176 Paheri: 99, n. 18; 101, 150 Petosiris: 153 Ptah-hotep: 100, 146, 154, 157, 175 Puyemrc: 157, n. 43; 169 Rameses III: 106, 120, 127, 171 Re'-em-kuy: 99, 11. 18; 115, 117, 121, 136, 175 Rckh-mi-re* : 151, 176 Scorpion I: 142 Tchuti-hetcp: 154. 11. 37 T e d : 110 Thutmoses III: 172 Ti: 100, 116, 118, 121, 175 T o m b 2105 (Saqqara): 100, n. 21 T o m b 3477 (Saqqara): xxiii; 172, n. 98; 174 T u t a n k h a m u n : 115, n. 57; 162 Unas-Ankh: 101, 196 Userhet: 151, 11. 31 torcularium: see mechanical technology Irapetum: see mechanical technology treading: see wine making trichinosis (in Egypt): 166; 166, 11. 73 Ubaid culture: 181 82 Ubaid Mosaic: 235 37 ΰπολήνιον: see wine making umami: 416 Umbricius Scaurus, Α.: 403 underflow décantation: 394 Villa of the Mysteries (Pompeii): 388; 391, n. 131 vinegar: see wine water mill: see milling whey: see dairy products wine making: Prehistory: 73; Egypt: 142 64; ancient Near East: 184 87, 219 26; Greece: 267 74, 294-301; Rome: 3 7 2 - 8 0 earliest evidence: 73, 184, 267 68 (on Crete), 3 7 3 - 7 4 (in western Mediterranean)
477
difficulty in distinguishing wine and oil processing installations: 164 65, 269 70; 270, 11. 24; 301, 372 73 processes (ancient : drying grapes: 297 treading: 149 54, 223-26, 246 47, 279 99, 302 03, 376 78, 430 31 vats: 150-54 ληνός: 270. 273, 299, 430 tacus vinarius: 376 receiving vessels: 270, 299 ιύπολήνιον singing: 151; 225, n. 92 pressing: see mechanical technology fermentation: see preservation tartaric acid: 73, 147, 184 aging: 300 01 blending: 162; 162, 11. 54 storage: 161 62; 162, n. 55; 184, 222, 273 74, 379 vinegar: 161. 273, 380 Mycoderma aceti: 161 transport containers: amphorae: 300 01, 379-80; 380, η. I 15 barrels (cupae): 377, 379 inside lining: 380; 380, 11. 115 j a r seals: 142, 161, 184, 380 Levantine wine jars: 142-44 processes (Biblical): '225 26 processes (modern): 146 48 types of wine: 144, 162 64, 220, 273, 295, ' 299 300, 378 Hittite wine: 219 21 color of wines: 147 48, 153. 163 64. 2 2 0 : 2 2 1 . II. 81; 299 300, 378 protropum: 376 77 vina operaria: 37(5 non-alcoholic grape drinks: defiutum: 376, 378 lorn: 378 mustum: 37678 de-re-u-ko: 273 possum: 376 sapa: 376 wine in daily life: beverage of the elite: 145 4 6 , 2 2 0 2 3 , 2 9 4 97, 374 commerce: 186 87, 221, 296-97, 379 80 psykter. 296 religion: 144 45, 220 23 Dionysus: 296 Ssm.w (Shcsmu): 143, 148-49, 165; 165, n. 66 wine in hieroglyphs: Crete: 268' Egypt: 146 women: Prehistory: 31, 65, 72, 83; ancient Near East: 194, 202-03, 213, 244; Egypt: 115, 124, 127, 129, 140; Greece: 265; 265, 11. 13; 281, 291, 293; 293, 11. 68; Rome: 349, 361 wort: see beer making Yale Culinary Texts: 193 94, 234
478 yeqeb: 225 26 Zenon: 321
GENERAI. INDEX Zimri-lim: 253 Zosimos: 133, 371
Plate 1. Limestone mortars and pestle from Site E-78-4, Wadi Kubbaniya, Egypt, dating ea. 18,500 16,500 B. P. Courtesy of Fred Wendorf and the Combined Prehistoric Expedition.
Plate 2. Milling stone with slab-shaped surface and disc-shaped handstone from Site E78-3 at Wadi Kubbaniya, Egypt, dating ca. 18,500 16,500 B. P. Courtesy of Fred Wendorf and the Combined Prehistoric Expedition.
Plate 3. Basalt mortar and pestle from the city m o u n d at Jericho. T h e pestle, dating to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic Period (8500-6000 B. C.), measures 11.3 cm. in height χ 7.3 cm. in diameter. Inv. No. 1955.123. T h e tripod-footed mortar, dating to the Early or Middle Bronze Age (3300-1550 B. C.), measures 7.3 cm. in height χ 18.3 cm. in width Inv. No. 1955.134. Both from the collection of the Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University, Jericho Excavations, 1952 1958.
Plate 4. Limestone model granaries from the Fifth-Dynasty T o m b of Ny-Kau-Inpu, at Giza. Average measurements of granaries are 12.4 cm. high, 6.4 cm. wide, 6.6 cm. long. T h e base measures 4.5 cm. high, 40.1 cm. wide, 18.0 cm. long. Courtesy of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. Inv. No. O l M 10643.
Plate 5. Reed and rush sieve from Lisht, North Pyramid. Between the Twentieth and Twenty-second Dynasty. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1914. Inv. No. 15.3.1124.
Plate 6. Limestone servant statue of a w o m a n grinding grain on a saddle quern. From the Fifth-Dynasty T o m b of Ny-Kau-Inpu, Giza. Note the cloth covering her hair and the attempt to rest the left foot on top of the right one. Height, 27 cm.; width, 11.5 cm.; length, 38.7 cm. Courtesy of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. Inv. No. O I M 10638.
Plate 7. Wooden model of bakery-brewery shop (with roof removed), from the TwelfthDynasty T o m b of Meket-re, at Thebes. Note the two women grinding grain on raised quern in background, and different shaped loaves of bread at lower right. Courtesy of T h e Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum Excavations, 1919-20; Rogers Fund supplemented by contribution of Edward S. Harkness. Inv. No. 20.3.12.
Plate 8. Triangular-shaped loaves of bread from an Eleventh-dynasty tomb at Thebes. Courtesy of T h e Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1925. Inv. No. 25.3.230-35.
Plate 9. Limestone statuette of the son of Ny-Kau-Inpu stoking fire to bake bread. From the Fifth-Dynasty T o m b of KyKau-Inpu at Giza. Figure measures 19.3 cm. high, 9.3 cm. wide, 9.4 cm. long; stack of bread molds: 10.0 cm. high, 7.7 cm. wide, 9.5 cm. long. Courtesy of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. Inv. No. O I M 10634.
Plate 10. Limestone relief from Amarna, but found at Hermopolis M a g n a , showing scenes from the royal kitchens. Lower left, baking bread; upper left, brewing beer. Doorways separate the two activities. Late Eighteenth Dynasty, ca. 1350 B. C. It measures 21.5 cm. in height χ 54.0 cm. in width χ 3.7 cm. in depth. Courtesy of the Brooklyn M u s e u m of Art, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund. Accession No. 62.149.
Plate 11. Limestone servant statue of a brewer, from the mastaba tomb of Zasha at Giza. Dated to the Sixth Dynasty, ca. 2250 B. C. It measures 36.0 cm. in height, 12.4 cm. in width, and 20.8 cm. in depth. Courtesy of the Roemer and Pelizaeus Museum, Hildesheim.
Plate 12. Eleventh-Dynasty servant statues from Deir el-Bersheh showing five men brewing beer. Courtesy of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Inv. No. 1933.1446.
Plate 13. Sixth-Dynast) ׳spouted beer vat of polished red clay, from Giza. Height: 31.5 in; Diameter: 38.0 in. Courtesy of T h e Metropolitan Museum of Art; received from T h e Boston Museum of Fine Arts in Exchange for Duplicate Material, 1937. Inv. No. 37.6.6.
Plate 14. Limestone stela of a Syrian soldier drinking beer through a sieve. Eighteenth Dynasty, Tell el-Amarna (?), ea. 1350 B. C. It measures 29.5 cm. in height χ 24.0 cm. in width. Courtesy of the Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung, SMB, Berlin. Inv. Ν ϋ . 14122.
Plate 15. Terra-cotta wine jars from the Tomb of T u t a n k h a m u n . Courtesy of the Griffith Institute, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
Plate 16. Wooden model of butcher shop (with roof removed), from the Twelfth-Dynasty T o m b of Meket-re, at Thebes. Note meat drying on the rack in the upper story at rear. Length: 76.0 cm.; Width: 58.0 cm.; Height at back: 45.5 cm; Height at front: 51.5 cm. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund and Edward S. Harkness Gift, 1920. Inv. No. 20.3.10.
Plate. 17. Saddle quern and rubber, probably granite and smooth limestone, respectively, from Jericho. Dated to ca. 7lh millennium B. C. Courtesy of Lawrence Keppie and the Hunterian Museum, University of Glasgow. Inv. No. 99-35-171-GA.
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Plate 18. Reverse side of Neo-Babylonian (sixth-fifth cent. B. C.) clay cuneiform tablet, recording terminology and ingredients of beer and steps in its brewing. Height: 5 1/8 111. width: 4 1/2 111. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Purchase 1886. Inv. No. 86.11.368.
Plate 19. Impression of a Sumerian quartz cylinder seal with banquet scene. Early Dynastic III (ca. 2600-2300 B. C.). Inv. No. LI 993.006.017. Courtesy of J o n a t h a n P. Rosen Collection, New York, New York. Item presently on loan to the Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
Plate 20. Terra-cotta chest with lid decorated with five granaries. Found in tomb of wealthy woman on Areopagus in Athens. Dated to Geometric II, ca. 850 B. C. Note the holes at the base of each granary. Average height, 0.107 m.; depth, 0.077 m. Inv. No. P.27646 A+B. Courtesy of the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, Agora Excavations.
Plate 21. Hopper-rubbers found in excavations at Olynthus. C o m p a r e the rectangular hoppers of Nos. 1-4, and 7 with the oval ones of Nos. 5 and 6. From Robinson and G r a h a m , The Hellenic House. Part VIII of Excavations at Olynthus Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1938), PI. 80.
Plate 22. Satyrs treading grapes to make wine. Side Β of an Attic black-figure amphora, ca. 5 4 0 - 5 3 0 B. C. It measures 0.43 m. in height χ 0.284 m. in diameter. Courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Henry Lillie Pierce Fund. Inv. No. 01.8052.
Plate 23. T w o men processing olives on a lever-and-weight press. Attic black-figure skyphos, ca. 5 2 0 - 5 1 0 B. C. It measures 0.102 in. in height χ 0.153 m. in diameter. Courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Henry Lillie Pierce Fund. Inv. No. 99525.
Plate 24. Circular stone oil press bed with spout, from Olynthus. From Robinson and G r a h a m , 7he Hellenic House. Part VIII of Excavations at Olynthus (Baltimore: J o h n s Hopkins University Press, 1938), PI. 83, 1.
Plate 25. Piece of salt-fish (salsamentum) found in the Punic Amphora Building at Corinth. Courtesy of American School of Classical Studies in Athens, Corinth Excavations.
Cil UONUM
Plate 26. Rotary handmill from the Roman fort at Chesters (not Corbridge as indicated), on Hadrian's Wall. Courtesy of English Heritage Photo Library. Inv. No. 530.
Plate 27. Pompeian bakery at Reg. VII.ii.22 (Casa dei Fornai), showing the oven (left) and four donkey-driven rotary grain mills made of basalt. Note the ancient repairs on the catillus of the first mill.
Plate 28. Funerary Relief of P. Nonius Zethus, from Ostia, showing left) a donkey mill of Pompeian type and (right) tools of the miller, such as fine and coarse sieves, modius, and measuring rod. Courtesy of the Direzione Generale Musei Vatican!.
Plate 29. Barbegal Water Mill. W a t e r from aqueduct entered from left, divided into two channels, and powered two series of eight mills erected on different levels descending the slope of the hill. Photograph by Antoine Chéné. Courtesy of C.N.R.S., Centre Camille Jullian.
Plate 30. Sarcophagus of L. Annius Octavius Valerianus. T o p register shows scenes (left to right) of ploughing the field and harvesting grain. Bottom register depicts (right to left) grain transported to the bakery in a cart drawn by two oxen. T w o men turn a rotary mill to grind the grain or else operate a kneading machine, in either case the sculptor has misrepresented the apparatus. A baker places dough into a domed oven (fiirnus) to bake into bread. Courtesy of Direzione Generale Musei Vatican!.
Plate 31. Kneading Machine from the bakery at Reg. VII.ii.22, in Pompeii. Note holes in the sides for the insertion of wooden rods, which served as "teeth" to assist in kneading the dough, and remnants of the metal piece used to secure the wooden vertical shaft. Photo courtesy of J o a n and Kevin fucker.
Plate 32. Fragment of a sculpted relief showing workers, nude below the waist, treading grapes in a long tub supported by legs on each end. A worker with a basket of grapes approaches from the right; on lower left a basket of grapes sits waiting to be emptied into the treading vat. Must pours through two lion-headed spouts into dolia, where it will ferment into wine. Inv. No. 10432. Courtesy of Direzione Generale Musei Vaticani.
Plate 33. Third-century A. D. R o m a n sculpted relief showing the reduction by boiling of mustum to make defrutum. Figure at right pours wine from an amphora into a dolium. Second figure goes to fill up his pitcher to transfer the mustum to a kettle, at left, placed over a fire and tended by a third figure. T h e fourth figure (background) carries firewood. Inv. No. 2212. Townley Collection. Courtesy of the British Museum.
Plate 34. R o m a n basalt rotary crushing basin, or trapetum, used to crush olives. Found in a villa at Boscoreale, now in Pompeii. T h e wooden cupae are modern. Author's photo.
Plate 35. Reconstructed wine/oil lever-and-drum press from the Villa of the Mysteries at Pompeii. Note the large posthole just below the ram's head that may have accommodated a screw mechanism. Author's photo.
Plate 36. Relief of butcher shop, from Ostia. Courtesy of the Archivio Fotografico della Soprintendenza Archeologica di Ostia. Inv. No. 133. Museo Ostiense.
Plate 37. Altar of Atimetus, side view. T w o men stand beside a cabinet tilled with variously shaped knives and cleavers being offered for sale. Courtesy of the Direzione Generale Musei Vaticani.
Plate 38. Cheesepress from Balmuildy Fort on the Antonine Wall in Scotland. Dated ca. A. 1). 142 165. It measures ca. 150 mm. in diameter. Courtesy of Lawrence Keppie and the H untenan Museum, University of Glasgow. Inv. No. 99-35-1 71-5A.
Plate 39. Late fourth-century A. I), fish-salting vats at Santa Pola, in Hispania Tarraconensis. Courtesy of Benedict Lowe.
