The Story of Food in the Human Past

This work uses case studies from recent archaeological research to tell the story of food in human prehistory. Beginning with the earliest members of our genus, Robyn E. Cutright investigates the role of food in shaping who we are as humans during the emergence of modern Homo sapiens and through major transitions in human prehistory such as the domestication of plants and animals and the emergence of complex societies. Part I of this volume discusses how food shaped humans in evolutionary terms. Chapters consider chimpanzees as our closest living relatives to understand what makes human eating unique, the use of fire to cook, and the origins of cuisine as culture and adaptation through the example of Neanderthals. Part II describes how cuisine was reshaped when humans domesticated plants and animals and examines how food expressed ancient social structures and identities such as gender, class, and ethnicity. It shows how food took on special meaning in feasts and religious rituals and also pays attention to the daily preparation and consumption of food as central to human society in the past. The engaging chapters synthesize recent paleoanthropological and archaeological research on ancient diet and cuisine. Cutright complements her research on daily diet, culinary practice, and special-purpose mortuary and celebratory meals in the Andes with comparative case studies from around the world to offer readers a holistic view of what we ate in the past and what that reveals about who we are--