Food technologies/technologies of the body: The social context of wine and oil production and consumption in Bronze Age Crete

Abstract

Abstract This paper argues that conventional archaeological approaches to food need a new and sophisticated theoretical framework which acknowledges that food is culturally defined and acquires immense significance in all societies because it involves the human body. It is (through consumption) an act of incorporation involving senses, feelings and emotions. Away from the nutritionist paradigm and the subsistence discourse, this study re‐examines the issue of wine and olive oil production and consumption in Bronze Age Crete and suggests that they are related to broader social and political developments rather than to environmental conditions or micro‐economic concerns on the part of Bronze Age Cretan farmers.