Highlighting the Diversity of Food Practices in the First Mediterranean Farming Societies

Abstract

As new discoveries are made, the diet of the earliest agro-pastoral communities of the Mediterranean, which was initially seen as homogeneous, is revealed to be increasingly varied. However, diversity in the Neolithic food practices remains difficult to grasp because of the scarcity of large-scale diachronic and synchronic syntheses published on food remains (faunal and botanical remains), human bones (teeth lesions), kitchen utensils (ceramic and stone vessels, grinding stones, knapped flint tools), storage and cooking installations (silos, ovens, hearths). This special issue aims to shed light on the great diversity of food resources exploited and the ways of procuring, storing and preparing them among the first Mediterranean farmers by bringing together contributions from scholars who are specialized in various ‘‘areas’’ (eastern vs western Mediterranean) and disciplinary fields (archaeology, archaeozoology, archaeobotany, physical anthropology, lithic usewear analysis). Together these contributions open up new ways of understanding the Neolithization processes in the Mediterranean area from the perspective of food traditions.