DAIS : Abstracts

Lisa M. BENDALL
Dining in style: does time and place matter in Aegean Bronze Age banqueting?

Ceremonial banqueting has been the subject of much discussion in Aegean Bronze Age studies in recent years, as it has in archaeological and anthropological circles more widely. The importance of banqueting for the construction and negotiation of social identities, ordering of hierarchies and e.g. labour mobilisation is now well appreciated. There can be a tendency, however, to treat banqueting as an uniform phenomenon and to draw on cross-cultural parallels as if they applied in all situations. Yet surely part of the real interest of banqueting lies in the idea that approaches and practices can reveal unique, deeply rooted aspects of social, political and religious life and elaborate axes along which a particular society is oriented. If that is so, we need to enquire also about differences.

This paper is part of research in progress attempting to identify differences in ‘Minoan' and ‘Mycenaean' banqueting practices drawing on both the archaeological and, where available, the Linear A and Linear B textual evidence. Areas for initial investigation include the composition of ‘drinking sets', resources and methods of collection and distribution of banqueting foodstuffs and wine, and architectural settings for festivals and feasts.

Philip P. BETANCOURT and David S. REESE
Feasts for the Dead: the Evidence from Hagios Charalambos

The Hagios Charalambos Cave is a natural cavern in the Lasithi plain in east-central Crete. It was used as an ossuary for the secondary deposition of human bones and their associated artifacts from Minoan burials from Final Neolithic to MM IIB. The grave goods were moved to the ossuary along with the human bones, but considerable mixing of the original objects at the time of re-burial in MM IIB resulted in a lack of chronological stratigraphy within the cave. Instead of keeping the original burials separate, those who placed the objects in the ossuary selectively sorted some of the bones and finished the deposit with piles of skulls at the top of disarticulated bones mixed with artifacts. Over 15,000 ceramic sherds come from the ossuary (all of them Minoan). They show that individuals were buried with food and drink as well as with solid food, including a large amount of meat. Among the animals represented are sheep or goat, pig, cattle, and hares, along with smaller numbers of a few other animals. After the burials were moved to the cave, a great feast was held just outside the entrance.

The iconography of the Aegean Bronze Age includes a large amount of festive processions depicted on wall-paintings, seals and signet-rings as well as in the minor relief arts of Minoan Crete and the Mycenaean mainland. The main aim of this paper is to highlight the need for a closer definition of the participants in Aegean procession scenes. Is it possible to define the social character and the ritual functions of female and male participants in processions as represented in the iconographical sources? And, if this is not possible, what can be the implications? To what extent concretism was a major aspect of Aegean Bronze Age arts?

The second part of this paper is dedicated to the ‘Harvester Vase' from Ayia Triada. The procession scene on this stone relief vessel stands out for its narrative character as it shows individuals and groups of figures which are, however, by no means unique in Minoan art. A new reconstruction of the lower part of the frieze suggests that this image is the liveliest depiction amongst all Aegean procession scenes and probably allows differentiating of the participants. Furthermore, the question of whether the iconography of the ‘Harvester Vase' had a prototype in some other artistic medium is put forward.

Thomas M. BROGAN and Andrew J. KOH
Feasting at Mochlos? Organic residue analyis and new evidence for the production, storage and consumption of wine in the Minoan town

One of the new components of the 2004 and 2005 Greek American excavations of the Bronze Age town at Mochlos was the introduction of an intensive program to collect organic residue samples from pottery. With the help of Dr. Andrew Koh, then at the University of Pennsylvania, the excavators developed a plan to apply non-destructive collection techniques to more than 600 sherds from the Early, Middle, and Late Minoan levels of the town. The results have been interesting, including the discovery of an assemblage of LM I equipment from Building C.7 that appears to be connected with the production of perfumed oils.

In connection with the conference topic of feasting, the authors will examine a larger number of Middle Minoan II and Late Minoan I samples for traces of wine. The paper will focus on two sets of data to test the potential limits of our analysis. In the first section we examine three archaeological contexts from Building C.7 that appear to be connected with the production, storage, and consumption of wine in the Bronze Age town. In the second section we examine the possibility of screening a large number of shapes (e.g., amphora, jars, jugs, cups and bowls) that might have served as storage, serving, or drinking vessels for wine, but whose contexts did not immediately suggest such a specific function.

In the conclusion to the paper we discuss how this new evidence for the production, storage and consumption of wine fills in the emerging picture of both household and ceremonial dining within the Late Bronze Age town.

Despina CATAPOTI
The complexity of feasting: An insight into the diversity of collective consumption events in prepalatial Crete

Over the past few years, the study of feasting has been awarded a central role in the archaeology of Early Bronze Age Crete. The present paper critically assesses this new trend by focusing on the detailed exploration of the following interrelated themes/questions: [a] How has the term “feasting” been employed so far in prepalatial studies? How safe is it to assume, as several scholars currently claim, that there is evidence for feasting in various prepalatial contexts (i.e. cemeteries, settlements, “palace-to-be” sites such as Knossos )? [b] If we accept that there is indeed empirical evidence in support of feasting events in Early Bronze Age Crete, is it possible to identify any differences and/or similarities between those events (i.e. nature and character of each occasion, types of equipment used, types of substances consumed, number of participants etc.)? [d] Finally, how can the study of feasting contribute to our understanding of broader analytical issues such as the creation and negotiation of identity, power and structure in third millennium Crete?

In this paper I aim to offer a simple tour d'horizon raising some of the many questions which surround the question of feasting in the Neolithic period in Greece and some of the views which have been advanced. As a device for ordering the talk I propose to select some of the occasions on which feasting, on a broad definition, occur and illustrate with examples where available. Given the immense length of the Neolithic period (some 4,000 years, twice as long as the Bronze Age) and the broad geographical range, the approach will inevitably be sporadic. The following occasions for feasting will be distinguished: 1. Quotidian 2. Hunting and Fishing 3. Seasonal/cult. 4. Rites of passage. 5. Corvée feasting.

David COLLARD
Possible Alternatives to Alcohol: a Contextual Analysis of Poppy-shaped Juglets from Cyprus and the Aegean

Nearly 50 years ago Robert Merrillees suggested that the distinctively shaped Cypriote Base-ring juglet, found in numerous Late Bronze Age sites throughout the east Mediterranean, was a container specifically designed for the transport of a liquid form of opium. Merrillees' suggestion was based upon the remarkable likeness of these juglets to the head of an opium poppy, incised to retrieve the psychoactive latex. More recently, organic residue analysis conducted on these vessels has seemingly confirmed this hypothesis. In spite of this increasing body of evidence, with the exception of studies considering the use of alcohol during feasting, the role of psychoactive substances (and the wider subject of altered states of consciousness) as a component of social behaviour within the Bronze Age east Mediterranean has largely been ignored.

This paper seeks to correct this omission by considering in detail certain Late Bronze Age Cypriote and Aegean contexts in which Base-ring juglets and other poppy-shaped vessels have been discovered. These sites will be considered together with evidence relevant to interpreting the way in which a substance such as opium may have been incorporated into certain aspects of social practice. In particular, the recovery of such vessels from mortuary and ‘cult' contexts will be examined to investigate the possibility that opium may have been consumed as a component of certain ritual practices.

Dora CONSTANTINIDIS
From fields to feasts: interpreting Aegean architecture and iconography in relation to feast preparations

Assumably extra effort and extra or perhaps even “special” spaces would have been required in preparing for an “out of the ordinary event” such as a Feast. Preparation would not be limited to food and drink alone but to festive clothing, music and seating arrangements as well. So is there any iconographic evidence, particularly from the wall paintings, that could be interpreted as narrative for feast preparations? Can certain architectural spaces be interpreted within the context of festive preparations? For example are there any spaces, domestic or otherwise, that can be considered for their use on occasion as preparation areas for these special events? Establishing criteria for interpreting the place and possible depiction of such “festive” preparation activities will focus on the site of Akrotiri on Thera and a selection of Minoan sites as well.

At Feasts in the Aegean the Gods may well have been honoured - but which Gods? This paper asks the question, “Can we identify Deities in Aegean art?”, answers “Yes,” and then proposes a named Aegean Pantheon.

The particular problem with Aegean iconography, as opposed to most other artistic traditions, is the lack of supporting texts. Thus the identification of Deities, or anything else for that matter, must come from the images themselves and the question is how to proceed. Though many of the images have been known since the early days of Aegean archaeology, it has only been in the last few years that an extended investigation of the iconography of high Minoan art has become possible with the publication of the LMI sealings completed in 2002 with the Knossos archive in CMS II.8. The argument for identifying Deities begins with these sealings, supplemented by the gold signets, so as to anchor the Pantheon securely in LMI. Only the full figure representations of humans will be considered here.

A survey of the full human figures establishes that some are depicted at a level of importance clearly discernible in the images themselves and, keeping to a descriptive terminology, these may be called Very Important Persons (VIPs). A 5-point check-list is established to define the VIPs, with a female VIP being a Lady and a male VIP being a Lord. Once the VIPs are identified then the next step can be taken to see if any can securely be elevated to deity status. The primary criterion for such elevation is association with the Fantastic and/or the Supra-Normal. Subsequent deduction by iconographic formulae and iconographic parallels elevates additional figures from Lady to Goddess and Lord to God.

When these Deities are assembled each is given a descriptive name so as to identify her or him and you are asked to meet the Ladies and Lords of the Aegean Pantheon under such descriptive names as Epiphany Lady and Griffin Lord.

The paper concludes with comments and questions on such matters as the number of Deities so named, the iconography of the Deities in the Linear B texts, and, finally, on the significance of the beautiful and memorable images that the Aegean artists have created.

Minoan “libation tables” have been discovered in the context of sacrificial feasting debris at several sites in Crete, suggesting that the ritual pouring of liquids played some part in Minoan ritual feasts. Next to nothing is known about the specific purpose or use of these vessels, or about the specific nature of the rituals in which they were used; but this does not mean that the vessels must remain mute. Libation has a finite range of meanings amongst the cultures of the eastern Mediterranean and the Near East: liquids were poured out as gifts to worship or sustain a deity, honour and sustain an ancestor, request a favour, placate divine anger, guard against evil, purify an object, dedicate a place, confirm an oath, or show gratitude for an answered prayer or sudden bessing. Within community rituals such as feasts, libations tend to occur at special junctures, where they draw the focus of everyone present. Some of the Greek libation practises of the historical period are probably direct descendants of earlier Minoan ones, while some aspects of libation rituals are common to most cultures and so might be inferred for the Minoans on these grounds. This paper draws on archaeological and ethnographic evidence to suggest some possible meanings of libation in the context of the Minoan feast, and some of the roles that Minoan libation vessels — and the people who used them — may have played in these rituals.

Kathryn ERIKSSON
Feasting as part of the multiculturalism of Late Bronze Age Cyprus

Firstly that the visibly dramatic changes in Cyprus , from the beginning to the end of the Late Bronze Age indicate the evolving perspectives of the islanders at this time – a development which, I believe, is evidence for an early form of multiculturalism. The evidence in relation to Cyprus in the Late Bronze Age implies substantial penetration of other cultures into the island, even though it retained its independence. To that extent, we can say that there was a multicultural community in Cyprus .

A major factor here was the role of shipping, not just of copper, but of other goods – to and from Cyprus . Great interest must have accompanied the arrival of a foreign ship or even fleet to Enkomi, Toumba tou Skourou or Hala Sultan Tekke. With the arrival of these vessels, Cyprus , its people and resources became known to a greater sphere of contemporary Mediterranean cultures. The archaeological record documents the development of an indigenous Cypriot culture that drew from a widening horizon of available technology, religious ideas and cultural expression that such contact and exchange brought with it. The Cypriots themselves also carried their goods to many lands on their own ships.

Secondly, I shall argue that feasting [especially as defined by Louise Hitchcock] was an important part of this multicultural exchange between the indigenous Cypriots and the other civilizations with which they were in the dynamic interaction as outlined above. Some evidence for this is presented in the work of Louise Hitchcock, Louise Steele and Alison South. Detailed analysis of Mycenaean feasting in other contexts have been analysed by archaeologists. This analysis clearly implies that these practices must have been shared with the Cypriots by visiting Mycenaeans. There is some additional ceramic evidence, which supports this general hypothesis and further strengthens our view of Late Bronze Age Cyprus as an independent, multicultural society.

Ioannis FAPPAS
The use of perfumed oils during feasting activities: a comparison of Mycenaean and Near Eastern written sources

Some Mycenaean Linear B documents (PY Un 6, 718, 853) record the provision of different kinds of foodstuff supplied for feasting activities in a ritual context. In these documents perfumed oils are also recorded in the form of the ligature AREPA, probably a kind of an aromatic unguent based on oil. Unfortunately, no mention exists about the ways in which this aromatic substance was used and the archaeological record of the Late Bronze Age in the Aegean remains mute on this issue. However, the provision of perfumed oils for feasting activities was not confined to the Mycenaean palaces, but was practiced throughout the contemporary ancient Near East, where it is recorded in several cuneiform texts. These texts reveal that perfumed oils were supplied by the palaces in order to be used in a ceremonial way during feasting activities that followed the performance of rituals. These ceremonies included the anointment of the participants and especially of the kings and were connected with the idea of purification. The same idea accompanied the use of perfumed oils in funerary banquets according to the Near Eastern texts. Is it possible to envisage similar uses for the perfumed oils in a Mycenaean context?

Several Minoan sites have yielded animal bones, ashes, pottery, and constructed installations that possibly indicate sacrifice and ritual meals. These sites include caves and tholos tombs, among other types of settlements, which can date to various phases between the Prepalatial and Neopalatial periods. Additionally, animal hunting and sacrificial scenes are depicted in Minoan iconography, especially on seals and sealings.

The question is, however, can this physical evidence assist in defining the Minoan feast? What are the steps involved in creating a Minoan feast? They may include hunting wild animals by killing them with spears or capturing them alive. Can different types of feasts and reasons for hunting be defined? Perhaps a ritual feast follows the hunting and sacrifice of an animal. Hunting, however, could also occur to provide sustenance for a family or village over the course of a long winter. These issues will be explored in an attempt to elucidate the meaning of the Minoan feast.

This paper explores the Minoan concept of the exotic as a visual metaphor for feast and seeks to define its characteristics, especially through a comparative Egyptian and Mesopotamian lens. What exotic elements are shown, particularly flora and fauna, and in what pictorial contexts? How were ideas of their abundance/proliferation or scarcity/rarity conveyed? How important was the authentic depiction or preservation of exotic features? What kind of attention was paid to the exotic source in terms of its physical setting and demographic details? How did presentation and display of exotica further royal ideology? Finally, why does the Minoan taste for the exotic seem so fundamentally different from that of Egypt and Mesopotamia?

Rachel FOX
Tastes, Smells and Spaces: Sensory Perceptions and Mycenaean Palatial Feasting

Feasts in the Mycenaean palaces have rarely been considered as holistic occasions and there has been a lack of emphasis on how large-scale commensal events would have been experienced by those who were guests. However, the deployment of sensory perceptions is an effective method of negotiating social positions and ensuring that one’s place in the social matrix is made explicit. I here concentrate upon the three “lower” senses of smell, touch (or haptic impressions) and taste, as these have been least considered up till now, employing the palace at Pylos as a case study.

Smell can act as an effective exclusionary device, especially if – as I suggest – certain groups of guests were invited purely for liquid refreshment and were not allowed to consume the meat on offer. This would emphasise to them their inferiority in relation to the palatial host.

Similarly, examination of access and boundary points can highlight the path that a guest would have taken to enter the palace, with different routes taken depending on one's relative status and proximity to the host. Exclusionary methods again work to construct host-guest relationships.

In the context of taste, I examine the different species of meat that a guest might have consumed, depending on whether they were of elite status or not, before exploring the issue of haute cuisine in greater depth. As a relatively new area of study in Aegean archaeology, the statements made regarding it are tentative, but it is possible to trace various categories of evidence for differentiated cuisine. The employment of imported spices in food in particular is one way that could have distinguished between guests. I argue that the food one consumed helped to construct guest-guest relationships so that those attending a palatial feast would understand where they stood in the social framework in relation to those around them.

Luca GIRELLA
Feasts in ‘transition'? An overview of feasting practices during MM III at Crete

Drinking and feasting are well known practices in Crete from the Early Bronze Age, but they become more intensive in the Protopalatial period, reaching their peak in the Neopalatial era. In the paper archaeological data are reviewed in order to elucidate aspects feasting practices during the first stage of Neopalatial period (i.e. MM III). MM III is the transitional period that led the First Palaces of Crete, after a general destruction, to a new era. Although its ‘transitional' nature, remarkable changes in feasting practices from MM IIIA onwards are investigated. The use of communal feasts, that was already part of the Pre and Protopalatial tradition, is analyzed as a marked political dimension from manipulating the banquet ideology through a common and codified language and a structured system of ceremonies, that involve both the palatial elites and the large community.

The paper will focus on the implication of food and drink preparation within a wide topographical and cultural framework which comprises the role of MM III feastings inside and outside the palaces and settlements, as well as in funerary and cultic places.

Particularly, the break of political institutions is assumed as the thread of the present analysis: the variety of feasting practices among different regions of the island, as well as those noticed also in single cultural areas, are the main clue of the transitional stage of this period that saw regional shifts after the destruction of the first Palaces and before the reconstruction of new centres of power. The archaeological evidence suggests that from MM III onwards a communal system of feasting etiquettes was promoted by palatial elites in order to strengthen the cohesion and solidarity between the community and the centres of power. Nevertheless, as it will be clarified, the analysis of single contexts displays a variety of feasting occasions.

Settlements : Phaistos, Ayia Triadha, Knossos, Galatas
Cemeteries : Mavro Spileo, Ailias, Poros, Kamilari, Pachyammos, Sphoungaras
Cult places : Kato Syme, Kastelli Pediadas

Girella, L., Forms of commensal politics in Neopalatial Crete, Creta Antica 8 (2007), 135-167.

Girella, L., Aspetti formali e funzioni del banchetto rituale a Creta e nell'Egeo meridionale in età Neopalaziale (MM IIIA-TM IB), in D. Palermo, M. Cultraro, A. Pautasso (eds), Cibo per gli uomini cibo per gli dei. Archeologia del pasto rituale, Piazza Armerina 4-8 maggio 2005 (forthcoming).

Hamilakis, Y., Food Technologies/Technologies of the Body: The Social Context of Wine and Oil Production and Consumption in Bronze Age Crete, WorldArch 31:1 (1999) 38-54.

La Rosa, V., Liturgie domestiche e/o depositi di fondazione? Vecchi e nuovi dati da Festòs e Haghia Triada, Creta Antica 2 (2002) 13-50.

Yannis HAMILAKIS
From feasting to the social archaeology of eating and drinking

In the last few years, archaeological research in the prehistoric Aegean has turned its attention to feasting, as witnessed by the number of conferences, theses, and publications on the topic. This echoes developments in archaeology overall, but it also signifies a dramatic change from the situation until the middle nineties, when most research on food was either simply data-gathering or fell within the paradigms of "subsistence," and "survival" the discourse of animal and plant husbandry, and the logic of formalist economics.

In this paper I will review the developments in the field in the last 15 years, and I will propose some interpretative avenues for its future.

Some of the themes that I will address are:
-What are the main questions that Aegean prehistorians have posed in the archaeological study of feasting?
-What is the interpretative framework within which such research is currently taking place and what are the main methodologies deployed?
- Has the focus and emphasis on feasting meant that the phenomena of eating and drinking in non-feasting contexts are treated as mundane, uninteresting, of a purely biological nature rather than of social significance in their own right?
-Is the current emphasis on feasting another intellectual fad, which is destined to fade sooner or later?
-How can we move from the focus purely on feasting to a social archaeology of eating and drinking and of consumption of substances in general?

This paper is inspired by Maurice Merleau-Ponty's concept of embodiment, and Georges Bataille's concepts of heterology (the world of otherness and the sacred), purposeful formlessness (architectural excessiveness manifested in complexity), and the accursed share (that which is made sacred through sacrifice, excessive consumption, and perceived as wasteful in a modern world driven by use-value). The concepts of both of these philosophers can serve to illuminate the role of architecture and sacrifice in Bronze Age feasting activities.

My long-time interest in and focus on architecture, stems from an interest in the role architecturally defined spaces played in how people in the past carried out their daily routines and lived their lives. Then as now, buildings and other architectural features created the context in which people organized their lives, and thereby formulated their identities, thus architecture frequently defines the context of feasting, an embodied and sensuous experience. This paper will highlight the architectural contexts of feasting in the Aegean, but will ultimately focus on the site of Myrtou-Pighades in Cyprus. Myrtou Pighades contains features associated with ritual sacrifice: tethering blocks, a sump, drainage, and an altar. These features find a modern counterpart in the feasting area of the Samaritans at Mt. Gerizim, a site where the traditional practice of ritual sacrifice illuminates the role of the excessive and intangible in feasting rituals: heat, fire, sound, large-scale consumption, pollution and purity, and overwhelming aromas.

While the ritual, sociopolitical, and dietary aspects of food and feasting in the Mycenaean world have received broad scholarly attention, the culinary aspects (the style of food, in addition to its content) remain comparatively unexplored. Because foodways may be used to form and maintain class and group identity, cuisine provides a useful lens through which to address class relations.

The Mycenaeans in general and the inhabitants of Pylos in particular developed a highly class-differentiated cuisine. On a pragmatic level, cuisine requires a variety of ingredients, a variety of preparation techniques, and trained personnel. Archaeological and paleobotanical evidence suggest that the Mycenaeans had a long list of available foodstuffs, and that they actively sought increased variety by introducing new plant species and importing food items over considerable distances. Their culinary equipment tells us that the Pylians had elaborate food preparation techniques, and the Linear B tablets reveal that the palace supported hundreds of specialized culinary personnel.

On a cultural level, haute cuisine requires that high quality food be valued; this is demonstrated by the contents of the tombs near the palace, which reveal that food and its preparation had strong symbolic value. The elites of Pylos used food and drink as a means of conspicuous consumption, thereby maintaining their own status while restricting that of others.

Bernice R. JONES
Anthropomorphic Vessels at the Feast: Evidence for Dress or Pottery Decoration?

Anthropomorphic terracotta vessels with female attributes, dated from Early Minoan I to III, are decorated with designs that scholars including Warren, Antichità Cretesi (1973), and Gesell, Minoan Society (1983), believe represent clothes and garment patterns. Although such interpretations are tempting, especially given the lack of evidence for dress in this period, there is little evidence to support them.

Since it is identical in shape and decoration to Pyrgos ware, there is little to sustain Warren's identification of an EM I clay kernos from Pyrgos as a dressed figure of the "Great Goddess of Nature." Even the banded decoration on the EM III vessel from Mallia, identified by Warren as a woven jacket like modern Greek ones, and by Branigan, Foundations of Palatial Crete (1970), as a cloak worn over shoulders and body, finds identical parallels on Vasilike ware, and is thus, unrelated to dress. My research further reveals that all of the designs thought to represent garments that decorate the anthropomorphic vessels from Koumasa and Myrtos of EM II, and Mochlos and Archanes of EM III are standard motifs on contemporary pottery. As on pottery, so on the anthropomorphic vessels, the arrangement of the motifs emphasizes the shape of the vessel rather than the portrayal of clothing. Finally, the blocky shapes of the anthropomorphic vessels also relate more closely to those of pottery than to dress.

Ann E. KILLEBREW and Justin LEV-TOV
Early Iron Age Feasting and Cuisine: An Indicator of Philistine-Aegean Connectivity?

Excavations in Field I at Tel Miqne-Ekron revealed no discrete deposits attributable to punctuated events such as the term feasting is normally applied to. Nonetheless, we argue that the present data is as relevant to the conference's theme as more ‘traditional' feasting assemblages are. We understand the ceramic and faunal data, here combined, to show the population's habitus in the particular realm of feasting, using the term in its broadest sense to mean daily – rather than occasional ceremonial – dining on carefully prepared meals, whether there were public aspects to them or not. The large faunal assemblage excavated from Tel Miqne-Ekron reveals much about the inhabitants' dietary habits. Data derived from the relative abundance of various species, the differential frequency of body parts, and the placement of cut and chop marks demonstrate a flourishing culinary tradition. Much has been made in literature concerning Philistine identity about these peoples' embrace of pork. Yet, this fact has been viewed in isolation from other faunal evidence; we flesh out these gaps here. Our paper focuses on the transitional Late Bronze – Iron I phases (pre-Philistine) and the early Philistine levels in Field INE that span the late 13th – 11th century BCE. Archaeological contexts under consideration include domestic, cultic and industrial settings. The animal bones discussed here tell us which animals were culled from city herds most frequently, and how the carcasses were divided into distributed and, ultimately, served portions. On the other hand, ceramic data help us to understand how the flesh, once brought to the home, was cooked, and how, to whom, how many and in what sequence they were served. Our conclusion is that the culinary perspective adopted here is useful on several levels: methodologically, it combines two of the largest and most closely related datasets, animal bone and ceramic, present on any excavation into one explanatory database describing dietary tradition. On another level, it demonstrates the utility of studying everyday tasks, in this case meals, as a means of exploring ancient culture and in particular identity, as opposed to our all too frequent focus on the fancy, the glamorous, but unusual and perhaps unrepresentative – the realm of ritual.

The practice of feasting - arguably one of the most important factors for social cohesion in the history of the island of Crete - can be followed from Early Minoan times onwards into the postpalatial phase. Here it is suggested that during the Final palatial period (LM II-IIIA1), feasting was used as a political instrument, and as such attested at Knossos and a few other primary centres. With the disappearance of the Knossos palace, the practice was progressively re-introduced in a series of minor settlements to reinforce local and regional cohesion. We illustrate this with Quartier Nu at Malia dating to the mature Late Minoan IIIA phase. Here a large architectural complex with an elaborate court (including one of the earliest pebble mosaics), seems at least partly to have been used for communal activities. Around the building several pits were found containing a material which suggests that some of it derived from feasting activities that took place in the immediate surroundings. The nature and importance of this material is discussed and compared with other possible cases identified elsewhere on the island. We discuss examples such as the North Rubbish Area at Kastelli Khania, interpreted by the excavators as the debris of activities originally taking place in a not yet uncovered LM IIIB1 sanctuary, or the particular assemblages found in pits and wells at Palaikastro during the LM III period as well as the presence of so-called LM III rubbish pits near other architectural structures, such as on the Kakavella hill at Khamalevri.

Archaeological evidence illustrating different activities that can be described as ‘feasts,’ be it iconography, ritual ceramic and stone vase deposits or specially prepared areas, are easily identifiable on Minoan Crete. We concentrate on what may be called ‘feasting areas’, spaces of convergence where people could interact. As main theater of co-presence and interaction, such areas constituted the main arena of practices contributing to social (re)production. This paper argues to recognize an evolution within these spaces of convergence. During Early Minoan times, these almost exclusively take the shape of outside gathering places, playing a decisive role in the social dynamics of Bronze Age Crete. Afterwards, they increasingly develop towards a stronger heterogeneity with, during the Neopalatial period, a variety of levels, ranging from, one the one hand, external areas such as the clearly circumscribed Central Court of the ‘palaces' over the Plateia of some settlements, to some rather shapeless, non distinct area. And, on the other hand, internal areas creating a spatial solidarity in various buildings. How can we explain this variety of gathering places? Do they imply different levels of practices, allowing different (and selected?) audiences to take part in a variety of actions? And if so, are they part of the same cultural dramaturgy or theaters of different plays? By approaching some of these arenas through an archaeological and spatial analysis, this paper tries to underline some peculiarities of social space and communal activities in the Neopalatial period. At the same time we explore the possibility whether or not Minoan ‘palaces’ were communal constructions rather than elite buildings, hierarchically imposed on society. Federico Halbherr, when visiting the remains found by Kalokairinos in the winter of 1878 at Knossos, remarked: ‘The largeness of the building makes me think that it must have been one of the chief public edifices of the city, and the large jars for storing grain, wine or oil remind us of the Andreion in which the citizens of Crete used to come together for their public meals or syssitia, to which also were invited any distinguished persons who happened to be visiting their city.’*

* F. Halbherr, ‘Researches in Crete. VIII. Cnossos,’ The Antiquary (28 sept 1893) 111.

Bartek LIS
Cooked food in the Mycenaean feast – evidence of the cooking pots

Three major sources of information on food and its role in the Mycenaean feast can be enumerated. These include Linear B records, archaeozoological remains and pottery, especially the vessels intended for food preparation. First two sources have been widely discussed in connection with the possible feasting activities in Mycenaean culture. The cooking pots, however, seem to have received much less attention, although they were undoubtedly closely connected with consumed food. The aim of this paper is to discuss available feasting pottery assemblages both diachronically and in comparison with contemporary household equipment. The diachronic analysis of assemblages interpreted as possible feasting remains will illuminate the changes of cooking sets used for such occasions over 600 years. This may disclose interesting patterns as far as the changing form and role of feasting in the Mycenaean society is concerned. Possible common ‘conservative’ features, unchanged over centuries, might also be expected. The comparison of such assemblages with contemporary household cooking equipment may show how the Mycenaean feast differentiated itself from daily nutrition in aspect of food preparation. Therefore, this part of analysis may provide us with additional criteria for identifying feasting assemblages in the future.

Aren MAEIR
Aegean feasting and other Indo-European elements in the Philistine household?

The non-Levantine origins of the predominant parts of the Philistine culture has been known from many years. Aspects relating to such as pottery, architecture, diet, cult and language have been repeatedly related to cultures known from the Aegean, Anatolian, Cypriote and SE European cultures. In this paper I will attempt to compile and discuss elements of Aegean and/or other Indo-European cultures that seem to evident in the Philistine material culture and other auxiliary evidence.

Examples of this evidence can be found in the following realms:
Cult: Names of deities and attributes, temple architecture, coroplastic art, cultic paraphernalia.
Architecture: hearths, bathtubs, megara (?).
Pottery: morphological and decorative influences.
Daily life: weaving, burial, jewelry, weapons.
Diet: Cooking methods (hearths, cooking jugs, etc.), diet (pig, dog, vetch), feasting, wine consumption.
Language: writing systems (?), names and terms

These and other possible Indo-European elements will be discussed and evaluated and I will attempt to understand their relevance for understanding the origin(s), influences, development and change of the Philistine culture in relationship to various Indo-European cultural elements. In particular we will stress that this evidence argues strongly for a multi-ethnic origin of the Philistines, deriving both from various SE European and Anatolian cultures, as well as a range of Levantine entities.

Sarah P. MORRIS
Wine Consumption in the Early Bronze Age: Fermenting, Mixing and Drinking Vessels?

Since the Neolithic era, the cultivation and domestication of the wild grape is attested in the Aegean, particularly in northern Greece where recent evidence from Dikili Tash suggests that wild grapes were pressed and fermented by the end of the fifth millennium BC (Antiquity 81: 2007, 54-61). In Aegean archaeology, studies of both paleoethnobotanical remains (J. Renfrew, S. Valamoti), vessel forms (Kotsakis, Wright, Steel) and texts (Palmer) have focused on the Neolithic or Late Bronze, given the preponderance of evidence, including iconography, for the consumption of wine in formal contexts in Minoan and Mycenaean Greece, and the close attention to residues found in the excavation of earlier prehistory.

In focusing on the third millennium BC in my paper, I hope to draw attention to the possible role of wine consumption and feasting in the emergence of inequality and of elite identities in the interval between these two eras, during the period when scholars have considered the rise of more highly urbanized, integrated complex societies (C. Renfrew, Pullen). In other complex societies, the preparation and consumption of beverages (cacao in Mesoamerica, maize beer in the Andes ) has been connected to similar rituals of royalty or elite bonding.

One particular aspect of the preparation of wine for such occasions should pre-occupy us as archaeologists: when did the inhabitants of ancient Greece begin mixing their wine (diluting it with water), a practice eventually guaranteed by the co-presence of kraters with oinochoes and cups (or mixing, pouring and drinking cups) in classical sympotic contexts or even Mycenaean assemblies. Through a close analysis of the vessel forms characteristic of the Early Bronze Age Aegean, in particular the sauceboat, depas, and echinus bowl but also several coarse-ware vessels, I propose to consider their functions as they relate to the fermentation, mixing or preparation, and consumption of wine.

Textual and iconographic evidence has long established the bull as a prime status symbol in Mycenaean society (e.g., Palaima 1995). The deposit of burnt animal bones, representing at least ten cattle, on the floor of Archives Room 7 of the Palace of Pylos (Halstead and Isaakidou 2004; Stocker and Davis 2004) may offer archaeological support for the ostentatious display, sacrifice and consumption often associated with feasting among elites. A sacrificial feast may have been the ultimate destination of the five bulls recorded on Linear B tablet Cn 3 from Pylos. However, the status of the men associated with the animals on this text is unclear. The same five groups of men appear in the o-ka texts as members of a coastal defence operation. It is argued in this paper that these men represent non-elite ‘outsiders' and that their provisioning of bulls, as outlined on PY Cn 3, served in part to negotiate their identity by securing a sense of belonging in the wider community via the unifying power of the feast. At the same time, their prestigious contributions may hint at sociopolitical and economic tensions between the established leaders (palace and da-mo) and ‘other,’ less privileged members of the community. The contribution of bulls on PY Cn 3 and the likely ensuing distribution of meat in the context of a feast raise interesting questions about identity and power relations within the Mycenaean polity of Pylos.

In this paper I aim at discussing feasting during the Bronze Age as an arena, where those who take part perform in various capacities in shaping group cohesion, negotiating diplomatic relations and establishing social boundaries and relations.

Feasting as a performance is known from many societies, e.g. the public eating of the 18th century monarchs, with privileged court officials as an audience. Even today the phenomenon is known, not the least through the media, where “events” in the form of publicized feasting engaging celebrities are commonly reported and discussed. The “pecking order” at festive occasions is often of importance in establishing social hierarchies. Similar ideas may have played a role also in the feasting during the Greek Bronze Age.

Feasting as a medium of social interactions has been much discussed. The feasting may incorporate few persons and vary large groups at various religious ceremonies, as evidenced by e.g. the many finds of conical cups. It may be feasting between equals on a private/personal level; it may be part of a strategy of social negotiation and at the same time demonstrating a means of status and ideals such as philoxenia, generosity etc., ideals that must be given substance and shown both to other persons and groups and to the supernatural forces.

Marcia NUGENT
Picturing the feast – recipes as art. Botanic motifs of the Late Bronze Age Cycladic Islands

This paper will seek to recognise recipes portrayed on Late Bronze Age wall paintings, vessels and other artefacts from a number of Cycladic sites through the analysis of botanic motifs and their relationship with the feast. Focusing on food plant motifs, the paper explores the notions of ritual, recipe, representation, communication and function. Crocus, pea, vetch, sedge, olive, grape and barley will be among the motifs briefly examined as ingredients and as part of the broader recipe of the feast.

Into the modern day, recipes provide a sense of tradition, belonging and identity. Described as a statement of ingredients and procedure for preparation, the term ‘recipe' may be broadly applied to the food and the feast itself. Recipes may be passed down through a family from generation to generation and the learning of family or group recipes may formally or informally be part of the rite of passage into adulthood. Occasions of significance call for recipes to be taken from instruction to reality. The recipe, as an abstract notion and as a set of ingredients and instructions, is therefore an important aspect of the feast.

The Corridor Houses of Early Helladic II Greece have provoked much attention and speculation. This is partly due to their architectural innovation and partly due to the brevity of the period of their popularity. First identified in the 1950s, with the excavation of the House of Tiles at Lerna, they are now known or presumed at a number of sites. The chance find of a considerable deposit of seal-impressed clay sealings in Room XI of the House of Tiles has tended to concentrate attention on a possible administrative function for the buildings. But the first requirement of any building must be its utility: its capacity to fulfil the functions intended for it. The sealings may be misleading. The layout of the House of Tiles suggests an important duality of function: a building designed to serve a public, ceremonial function and to provide an appropriate setting for diplomatic, political, judicial or religious ritual and activities. But it is also a building designed for the private and family activities which support such a public role. The artefacts found within Room XI tend to support the interpretation of a major activity of the House being the reception and entertainment of formal visitors: it contained a variety of vessels designed for pouring liquids, items required for formal feasting, 'toasting' and libation activities. Thus the 'feasting' implied by the design and layout of the building and supported by the ceramic vessels found within the small Room XI adjacent to the formal hall would seem to have been ceremonial. So the design of the House of Tiles meets the dual requirements of utility - to support the needs of residence and diplomatic headquarters - and metaphor - to pronounce, advance and embody the power of its occupier.

The importance of feasts and other forms of social rituals surrounding meals is well known to participants in the DAIS conference. Given the attention that the Linear B tablets give to the production, management, distribution, offering and comsumption of foodstuffs, and the documentation of agents for the procurement and preparation of food, it is surprising that the vocabulary for meals per se is so meager in comparison with later Greek vocabulary: dorpon, ariston, eranos, deipnon (d??p?? ???st?? ??a??? de?p???). Even dais (da??) is missing from the banqueting and other food distribution texts, despite the importance of the root from which it derives in other Mycenaean Greek vocabulary connected with the social distribution of resources, e.g., da-mo (damos) and verbal forms e-pi-de-da-to, e-pi-da-to, o-da-sa-to.

In this paper we shall examine the Linear B and historical Greek terminology for ‘meals' in order to arrive at a clearer view of what the data actually are and what factors might explain why the Linear B tablets offer such peculiar documentation.

Vassilis P. PETRAKIS
E-ke-ra2-wo wa-na-ka ? Implications of a probable non-identification for Pylian feasting and politics

The identification of a noteworthy Pylian figure named Ekera2wo with the Pylian wanaks has been the subject of a scholarly debate ever since the early days of Mycenology, as well as one of the key issues in Pylian prosopography. This identification, initially proposed on the basis of the prominent status of Ekera2wo in the texts and largely supported through a parallelism between Pylos tablets Un 718 and Er 312 has been widely used to enhance our knowledge on the Pylian ruler. While it must be acknowledged that the status of Ekera2wo presents an intriguing problem per se, it will be argued that his identification as the Pylian wanaka is both unnecessary and possibly contradicting textual evidence.

The aim of this paper is to consider the presence of an individual that appears to be as prominent as Ekera2wo without identifying him with the polity’s paramount figure, and then explore the possible implications such a probable non-identification could have on the ways we perceive the role of the ruler and competition in conspicuous elite display (plausibly particularised in recorded contributions to feasting provision) at the last days of the Pylian administration (probably close of the LH IIIB period).

The discussion of the topic starts with a few questions: What are the reasons for a feast? What is our evidence for feasting in the Aegean Bronze Age? Since no complex representations of feasting seem to exist, we have to look at partial aspects. Selected examples of the various aspects, predominantly from wall painting, but occasionally also from other media, will be discussed, including some which have already been treated by Jim Wright in The Mycenaean Feast (2004). Bull games are excluded, since we have no clear indication that they were performed in front of spectators, although this is quite likely. And procession scenes, which are the subject of another paper by Fritz Blackolmer, will only be touched on briefly.

Susan Sherratt considers that the word da?? in Homeric epic, and its possible equivalent in Linear B, has the double meaning of feast and share. The focus of current thinking is on feasting as an expression of the elite’s desire to establish and maintain political dominance, rather than on the more mundane social and cultural implications of shared meals. My interest is more in the everyday or celebratory gathering of people sharing food around a common table.

The LMI town of Kato Zakro on the eastern coast of Crete was at the centre of a region which had the capacity to produce surplus wool. Ships sailing from its harbour could trade with Egypt and the near east. The wealth which created the LMI town's buildings and artefacts most likely came from its shepherds, who traditionally do not own the pastures and cannot accumulate the economic security which sustains a hereditary elite. Pastoralists tend towards egalitarian political structures.

The archaeological evidence from the countryside around Kato Zakro, with its roads between winter and summer grazing, farmhouses and shepherds' shelters, supports the pastoral hypothesis. The architecture of the town has been interpreted as palace, hall of ceremonies and shrine, but the large rooms adjoining the court, with their stone pouring vessels, multiplicity of conical cups and nearby kitchen, are equally consistent with communal dining. The local Linear A record can be matched to a tithing system for common meals. The facilities are seemingly too large for an elite (a small proportion of the estimated 1800 residents), but in the summer sailors and merchants would need to be fed, and in the winter the shepherds would be down from their high pastures. The political system which may have supported this way of living would be better described as heterarchical management rather than hierarchical exploitation – city hall rather than palace.

The view of human nature which sees us as aggrandizers in conscious pursuit of individual power (and which Marshall Sahlins attributes to Thucydides and his first translator Hobbes) is at the centre of the exploitative elite model. But current developments in evolutionary theory are moving towards “groupish” rather than selfish explanations of human behaviour; and belief in free will, conscious choice and individual agency are increasingly described as “illusions.” At the same time we may be gaining permission to be romantic, reductionist, ethnocentric and naïve, as the constancy over time of many aspects of human nature becomes apparent. This also gives us a realistic chance of finding out how Bronze Age people experienced the feel, smells and tastes of hunting, killing, butchering, gathering, cooking and eating their food. The tyranny of the belly must be acknowledged: at the high feast prepared in his honour by Alcinous, Odysseus obeys this “shameless dog,” rather than the protocols of elite behaviour.

In the Aegean Bronze Age, feasting is depicted in the frescoes of Mycenaean Palaces as an activity associated with power. These frescoes include depictions of lions, griffins, hunting, animal sacrifice, and the playing of music. Earlier Minoan practices also appear to have connected feasting with decorated rooms with fresco programs that included griffins in Nilotic landscapes and naturalistic depictions of animals. The aim of this paper is to show how the iconography of Minoan and Mycenaean frescoes in rooms used for feasting (among other activities) was used by the powerful a means of further legitimizing the authority of those involved in the feasting activities in these rooms.

Much information has now been recognized in the Linear B tablets about the material components of a Mycenaean feast: food, drink, furnishings. Archaeological evidence includes feasting assemblages and depictions of ceremonial eating and drinking. It is more difficult to draw conclusions about the participants at such events, but that topic should be central to discussions of reciprocity, inclusion and exclusion, hierarchy and competition—all important aspects of ceremonial banqueting.

The documentary evidence includes mention of both groups and individuals who contributed to a feast, and presumably participated in it. This paper considers the social range of those who took part: not all were necessarily high élites. It also discusses the identity of host versus guests, and the distinction between contributors and organizers, hosted and communal feasts. Some banquets may have been sponsored by the state, or hosted by the wanax, but not all; some feasts took place at the palatial center, others elsewhere. There is also some Mycenaean evidence to suggest that the wanax sometimes played the role of guest rather than host, just as in Homer kings could be honored with banquets (e.g. Iliad 8.161-163, 12.310-321). This paper brings together the available evidence bearing on feasting participants for a critical look at the problem.

Kim S. SHELTON
Drinking, toasting, consumption and libation: Late Helladic IIIA pottery and a cup for every occasion

Among Mycenaean fine ware ceramics, the Late Helladic IIIA period represents a time of prolific vessel production; a time of innovative functional styling amid an increasing standardization of types. In this period we see a tremendous boom especially in drinking vessels; a dazzling variety of shapes within the context of an increasingly centralized administration and control. As our recognition of the importance of the feast and ritual to the palatial/social hierarchy and relationship increases, we can also make a more informed evaluation of the use of these implements and utensils; the physical articles of feasting and ritual. An examination of vessel function from several contexts, production and consumption based, will lead to possible reconstructions of the variety of uses needed by the Mycenaean consumer on an individual and communal level and the reciprocal necessity for a large and varied corpus of drinking vessels: cups, bowls and kylikes. The proliferation of shape types and their prescribed functionality can give further insight into the changing relationship among strata of society at that time and the increasing importance of celebration and feast.

Studies of Minoan feasts and feasting have to date focused predominantly on food and drink, while rather less emphasis has been placed on the role of the body within these events. In this paper, I will address the Minoan body not only as a component of feasts and feasting, but also as a literal and metaphorical feast itself.

The Minoan body was not merely the consumer of food and drink. It consumed matter in the wider sense by ‘feasting' on foodstuffs, implements and furnishings. It consumed space and place by participating in feasts that were situated in specific buildings, surroundings, geographies and (in)accessible loci. It consumed time by aligning its temporal complexities to those of the other participants and to the time of the feasts. It consumed gender and society by choosing specific participants and foodstuffs to make up the feast. Moreover, a feast held during burial rituals required the living to display their ability to consume, juxtaposed with the inability of the dead to do so.

However, the body also participated in feasts in order to be consumed by others, in terms of visibility (“a feast for the eyes”), conduct or even corporality. In extreme cases of alleged cannibalism, the human body was physically feasted upon. As the simultaneous subject and object of sensorial satisfaction, a person of specific gender, age, appearance or behaviour therefore became a feast him/herself. By conceptualising in this way the physical and social transfiguration of the Minoan body, we may gain further valuable insights into the social, ritual and perhaps cosmological significance of feasts and feasting.

Alison SOUTH
Feasting in Cyprus: a View from Kalavasos

A group of material from Kalavasos-Ayios Dhimitrios provides some of the best evidence for possible feasting in Bronze Age Cyprus. It was found in a built shaft ( a well, latrine or sump) within a large ashlar building (Building X) which was probably an administrative centre for the Late Cypriot IIC (13th cent. BC) settlement. A large amount of broken pottery, much of it restorable, was found together with quantities of animal bones and botanical remains.

Among the 103 catalogued finds from this context the great majority are pots, consisting almost entirely of tableware of shallow bowls, cups and jugs. Mycenaean and its local imitations predominate over the local wares, contrasting with the situation in all other settlement contexts at the site, where the reverse is true. The state of preservation varies, but the pots do not seem to have been deposited as complete vessels, as almost none were intact and most were missing a few sherds. The largest collection of animal bones from the site was found together with the pottery, and included meat-bearing joints of caprines, with large and small edible birds, and fish. Numerous well-preserved seeds represent a variety of fruits and pulses. Together this evidence suggests that lavish meals were consumed somewhere nearby, with most of the rubbish dumped in this shaft. Although most of the surrounding buildings were devoted to storage, industry and administration, there are some spaces which are possible locations for the feasts, especially the nearby central courtyard of Building X. The location within an important and architecturally impressive building and the unusual concentration of imported pottery suggest that these meals were special or elite occasions. Comparative evidence from elsewhere in Cyprus will be discussed.

Loeta TYREE, Athanasia KANTA, Harriet LEWIS ROBINSON
Evidence for ritual eating and drinking: A view from Skoteino Cave

A two-pronged approach analyzing pottery from the Skoteino Cave (ca. 1700-1200 B.C.) and the cave setting presents evidence for Late Bronze Age rituals involving food and liquids. The first approach focuses on the non-secular nature of the pottery assemblage excavated by Costis Davaras in 1962. Several pottery forms are considered, including chalices and cooking vessels. Some suggestions are made about their possible function and content based on their form, size, relative proportions, and quality of manufacture.

The second approach presents preliminary conclusions from macroscopic fabric analyses of some of the Skoteino pottery, including cooking vessels. This evidence, substantiated by comparanda from the surrounding Pediada region, indicates that most of the people who visited Skoteino Cave came from the local vicinity.

Salvatore VITALE
Ritual Drinking and Eating at LH IIIA2 Early Mitrou, East Lokris. Evidence for Mycenaean Feasting Activities?

Mitrou is one of the few sites on the Mycenaean mainland where LH IIIA2 Early pottery can be meaningfully identified both from a stylistic and a stratigraphic point of view. In fact, several deposits belonging to this ceramic phase have been recovered in the central excavation area, probably marking a destruction horizon affecting the settlement in the first half of the 14th century B.C.

Especially noteworthy is a group of intact or highly restorable vessels that was found within the east wing of Building F. This pottery demonstrates a number of particular features, including a restricted amount of elaborate decoration, a certain emphasis on open shapes for serving food and drink, and the presence of specialized shapes, such as miniature pouring and mixing vessels, a small kylix and some cups with high-swung handles, and a large three-handled kylix. These features have good parallels in other Mycenaean contexts where there is evidence for feasting or similar kinds of ritualized eating and drinking activities.

An interesting deposit of shells, largely representing food debris, was found together with the LH IIIA2 Early pottery. These shells also show special features, comprising a relatively high percentage of uncommon edible species and some specimens with possible symbolic meanings. When taken together, the evidence from ceramic and food remains suggests that the performance of ritual eating and drinking took place, during LH IIIA2 Early, within the east wing of Building F.

The formal characteristics of the whole assemblage are distinctively Mycenaean, showing that, already in the early 14th century B.C., people from Mitrou were beginning to adopt some of the distinctive elements of the material culture typifying the Argolid and other central regions of the Greek mainland.

Hundreds of animal bones were found during the 1985-1994 and the 1994-1997 excavations on the Lower Terraces at Midea. The bones were found in early Mycenaean, LH IIIB and LH IIIC strata. Many of them could be identified by David S. Reese as large animal bones, and many showed traces of butchering, cutting and burning. The bones from Midea represent the largest collection of animal bones from any large Mycenaean site or citadel, and the representation of different species in this collection offers important insights into Mycenaean meat consumption.

We will consider the stratigraphy in order to determine if it is possible to draw any conclusions about shifts in the preference of animals for butchering and cooking during Late Helladic different phases and whether feasting took place in the same areas of the Lower Terraces before and after destructions and rebuilding.

The concentration of the bones indicates that they were not buried in special pits or other types of deposits. At the same time, it is obvious that they were not spread out with filling material in connection with building activities at the site.

A survey of the find-contexts, architectural installations and the various objects, which appeared together with the bones, will show our evidence for feasting and possible sacrificial ritual.

Jennifer M. WEBB and David FRANKEL
Fine ware ceramics, consumption and commensality: mechanisms of horizontal integration
in Early Bronze Age Cyprus

The earliest phase of the Early Bronze Age in Cyprus (the Philia period) appears to have been one of relatively low social competition among households and lineage groups and a relatively loose delineation of settlement and household space. Within this system the circulation of a limited set of valuables, including almost identical complements of fine ware vessels, and associated non-competitive consumption practices may have been an important means of diffusing differences and building alliances through a celebration of common values and heritage. While operating effectively as a mechanism of horizontal integration, such practices are likely, however, to have both masked and maintained real asymmetries between a dominant settlement at Vasilia on the north coast and widely dispersed Philia communities located at key points within resource networks probably largely based on copper.

This paper will investigate the role of commensality as a mechanism of social stability within a common cultural system during the Philia period and the emergence of more individualized prestige competition during subsequent phases of the Early Bronze Age.

Jörg WEILHARTNER
Some observations on the commodities in the Linear B tablets relating to sacrificial banquets

During the past fifteen years an increasing number of Linear B sealings and tablets from Thebes, Pylos, and Knossos has been interpreted as records of provisions of animals and mixed foodstuffs for state-organised sacrificial banqueting. Now it seems clear, that these documents monitor preparations for the feasting activities held at palatial centres and regional sites organised by the palatial administration and assembling a large number of participants. Much has been written about the nature of such events and their important role within Late Mycenaean society. However, so far the types, quantities, and selection of the animals and commodities recorded on these tablets have rarely been considered in greater detail. Thus, the aim of this paper is an examination of these comestibles intended for consumption at sacrificial feasts as well as an analysis of the more durable items such as textiles and unguents, the use of which is still open to discussion. In addition, the Linear B documentation relating to Mycenaean feasting will be compared with the livestock and foodstuffs mentioned in the context of feasting scenes in Homeric epic which are among the most important formulaic scenes. Evidence of organic residues of edible commodities as well as analyses of human bones will also be taken into consideration.

Helène WHITTAKER
The role of drinking in religious ritual in the Mycenaean period

Discussions of feasting in the Mycenaean period have tended to focus more on social than on ritual aspects. Feasting, which is generally assumed to include the consumption of alcohol, has been commonly associated with the establishment and reinforcement of various kinds of social relationships. However, finds of pottery associated with eating and drinking in ritual contexts in the Mycenaean period indicate that feasting also played a perhaps crucial role in maintaining relations with the gods. In this paper I will look particularly at the evidence for ritual drinking and discuss possible links between the consumption of alcohol and religious beliefs. In modern Western societies drunkenness is generally regarded in purely negative terms, and it is possible that this distorts our views concerning the ritual significance of drinking in prehistory. Cross-cultural evidence indicates that excessive drinking can have important social and symbolic meanings and is therefore encouraged on appropriate occasions.With regard to the specifically religious meanings associated with drinking, the loss of control and dislocation of the mind that the intake of large amounts of alcohol induces can, for instance, be associated with direct experience of the supernatural.

Jennifer WILSON
What were the women doing while the men were eating and drinking?

On the few wall paintings from the Greek Mainland of the Late Bronze Age that depict aspects relating to feasting, that is, hunting, preparation for cooking, the sacrifice and offering of animals and of food, and drinking, men predominate. Women are either absent or shown in small numbers as spectators or priestesses overseeing rather than actively participating in the activities. On the other hand, women are shown in wall painting as the participants in processions at all the major sites. These women are depicted carrying objects such as flowers, pyxides, figurines, cloth, necklaces and vessels. Only the vessels have direct associations with feasting and in this context they are more convincingly linked to libations or cleansing rituals toward the goal of the procession. Some processions headed toward a deity interpreted as a goddess of fecundity, fertility and nature. Women can therefore be read as feeding, clothing, and pleasing the goddess responsible for ensuring the growth of crops and pastures. Indirectly, women were contributing to the abundant supply of food needed for feasting.

I argue that many of these paintings also contain elements that suggest a second goal for processions, and another area of concern for women's ceremonies. These goals are shrines or deities with iconographic links to death, regeneration and perhaps commemoration of (male) ancestors. Wall paintings can be taken as evidence for the separation by gender for ritual ceremonies: with men concerned with feasts, physical prowess and power, and women with rituals that celebrated the beginning and the end, and the renewal, of life.

Assaf YASUR-LANDAU
Hard to handle: aspects of organization in Aegean and Near Eastern feasts

In ancient Near Eastern and Aegean societies, feasts are often grand scale events. There, the act of giving and receiving is organized by means of sophisticated redistribution mechanisms that are run by the royal or religious institutes, that is, the palace and the temple. These direct their material resources to specific events of feasting with the aid of administrative system that determines the expenditures and the personnel participating in the event, as required by the locality and the occasion itself.

The objective of this work is to offer directions towards a systematic comparative study of feasting practices in the Aegean and Canaanite societies in the 14th-12th centuries BCE. It is aimed to reconstruct the socio-political meaning of feasts that enjoyed the support of institutional redistribution in the Aegean and the Canaanite cultures, as well as the degree in which Aegean and Canaanite feasts influenced one another.

John YOUNGER
Food Collections, Rations and Portions in Cretan Hieroglyphic Documents

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