Abstract
ABSTRACT Little is known about food sweeteners of prehistoric Europe other than honey. In this study, archaeobotanical evidence of wild pears is combined with an ethnographic study of wild pear syrup preparation in Greece to better understand potential sources of natural plant-based sweeteners used in prehistoric times in southeastern Europe. Participant observation and interviews were conducted in Kosmati, a village in the western Macedonia region of northern Greece, to investigate how a wild plant food resource can be converted into a sweet syrup. This study documents the sequence of processing steps required to transform wild pear fruit (Pyrus amygdaliformis Vill.) into syrup and other sweet foods. The study also documents cultural perceptions of wild versus cultivated fruit, contributing to wider discussions of how social differentiation can be expressed in nuanced ways through the selection of different natural sweeteners.
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