Abstract
PlantCult Project aims to explore the role of culinary traditions and innovations through their impact on shaping the social landscape in ancient Europe over long time periods (from the Neolithic period to the Iron Age) and large territories. The experimental program is part of an integrated study of food products and associated equipment focusing on whether the introduction of new species or changes in social and economic organisation brought about changes in the food grinding technologies of the area.
 The experiments include tools operated by back and forth reciprocal motion and circular motion, and manufactured from different raw materials, with different morphologies and sizes. The tools design and the list of plant ingredients (cereals, legumes, acorns and oil-seeds) ground in the experiments are all based on the archaeological record of the studied area. In this paper we present the experimental protocol, the multi-scale methodology applied to the use-wear analysis of grinding stone tools, and the results of the experimental processing of the main plant ingredients detected in prehistoric European cuisine.
Highlights
The PlantCult Project aims to achieve a new understanding of culinary practices in prehistoric Europe, through the integration of plant products, Journal of Lithic Studies (2020) vol 7, nr. 3, 26 p
In this paper we present the experimental protocol, the multi-scale methodology applied to the surface characterization of grinding stone tools, and the results of the experimental processing of the main plant ingredients detected in prehistoric European cuisine
The controlled experimental sequences established that the concave querns operated in circular motion reached the highest quantity of ground product compared with querns with back and forth motion
Summary
The PlantCult Project aims to achieve a new understanding of culinary practices in prehistoric Europe, through the integration of plant products (plant and food remains), Journal of Lithic Studies (2020) vol 7, nr. Associated equipment, such as grinding tools, written ancient sources and ethnography. Our interest in the role of culinary traditions and innovations refers to their impact on shaping the social landscape over long time periods (from the Neolithic period to the Iron Age) and large territories (e.g., between eastern and western Europe). Culinary practices convert raw materials into edible food products and constitute a complex system of technical and cultural decisions that must be extensively analysed. From the pre-treatments of plant ingredients (drying, roasting, soaking, boiling, etc.) to the final cooking of the meal (baking, etc.), stone tools are the basic instruments used in the various stages to transform such ingredients
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