A Revolution in Food Preparation? Grinding and Pounding Plants in the First Farming Communities of Western Europe and the Mediterranean Region

Abstract

The spread of the Neolithic way of life to Western Europe is characterized by two parallel strands of colonization that spread through the continental (LBK) and Mediterranean (Impressa-Cardial) regions during the sixth millennium BC. Together with the introduction of novel agricultural systems, new food preparation practices were developed. Combined interdisciplinary (technology, anthropology, archeobotany) and archaeometrical approaches (use-wear and residue analyses) have made it possible to characterize the way in which plants, especially cereals and legumes, were processed for daily consumption. By looking at examples from both strands of European Neolithization, it has also been possible to highlight the economic, cultural and social significance of the various grinding systems.