My Ph.D. research examines foodways — the production, preparation and consumption of food and drink — in ancient Italy to illuminate the nature of the cultural interchange between Romans, native Italians and Greeks during the Republican period. Descriptions of Roman cultural contact have employed terms like ‘Romanization’, ‘acculturation’, ‘creolization’, ‘hybridization’ and ‘bilingualism’ to emphasize its heterogeneity. The study of foodways can give nuance to our understanding of these interactions by focusing on the domestic sphere; diet and dining are integral to the expression of identity and the negotiation of social relationships. While the study of Roman foodways from a philological and iconographical perspective has been extensive, the archaeological study of the abundant and complex material remains of food in the Roman world has lagged significantly. The material aspect of my work is focused particularly on examining Roman ceramics from a functional perspective; I consider how vessel forms and traces of wear (abrasion and fire damage) testify to their use for cooking and serving. I combine this with evidence from faunal remains and information gleaned from archaeobotanical studies.
During my time at the British School at Rome, I completed my examination of ceramics from deposits from three sites. Paestum was a highly urbanized Greek colony taken over by the Lucanians around 400 bce and then the Romans a century later. My examination of dining and diet in this settlement tests previous assertions that the Roman conquest of Paestum resulted in a ‘complete break with the past’ (Pedley, Reference Pedley1990). I studied material from the sanctuary at Santa Venera at Paestum, for which I have to thank the staff of the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Paestum who have been most accommodating since I first visited them some eighteen months ago. I would especially like to thank the Assistant Director, Giovanni Avagliano, and Enzo Passarella.
I also consider Populonia, an Etruscan coastal settlement that came under Roman control in the third century bce and, according to the restructuring of public monuments and local cult practices, subsequently underwent a period of ‘Romanization’ (Camilli and Gualandi, Reference Camilli and Gualandi2005). My examination of ceramic and faunal assemblages from two Republican houses on the acropolis is the first foodways-based analysis of an Etrusco-Roman urban site. This has meant collaborating with the Università degli Studi di Pisa and the Università degli Studi Roma Tre. Thank you to Professors Daniele Manacorda and Letizia Gualandi, and to their many students in Pisa, all of whom helped me access materials in storage and shared their knowledge of the site.
Finally, the inland site of Musarna has gained an important place in my study due to the ceramic and faunal material's abundance and the unusual state of its preservation. Situated 90 km north of Rome and founded as a Tarquinian colony in the late fourth century, Musarna came under Roman political control in the early third century bce. I have examined the ceramics and bones from cisterns in several of the insulae of the town. Thank you to Martine Dewailly in the archaeology laboratory at the École Française de Rome. My utmost gratitude goes especially to Vincent Jolivet, who has been a constant source of encouragement and graciously has given me days of his time driving between Viterbo and Rome.
The facilities at the BSR have been essential to my work. Thank you to the archaeology staff in the Camerone for their camaraderie and to the library staff for their cheerful helpfulness. I wrote several sections of my dissertation thanks to the resources in the library. I also benefited greatly from discussions with the fellows and the many visitors to the school — especially on the several occasions when I could present my work formally to them. My time at the BSR was very productive and I am set to continue with the final phases of my project.
