Episode 80 - Eat Locally: The Archaeology of Indigenous American Food

This week, Anna and Amber take a look at foodways in the archaeological record of North America. What does archaeological evidence say about what was cooked, who was cooking, and what vessels were used to prepare and store food? What evidence is there for recreating ancient and pre-contact diets? How does this fit in with contemporary food sovereignty movements among Indigenous people? How great are potatoes? All this and more!

To learn more, check out:

Archaeological Studies of Cooking and Food Preparation (Journal of Archaeological Research)

Reconstructing sexual divisions of labor from fingerprints on Ancestral Puebloan pottery (PNAS)

Traditional Foods in Native America (CDC)

Countryman: Foraging California's Wild Side

What is mak-’amham? (Cafe Ohlone)

Investigating the function of prehistoric stone bowls and griddle stones in the Aleutian Islands by lipid residue analysis (Quaternary Research)

One of the Oldest Spuds In the World Is Poised For a Comeback (Heated by Medium)

North American Indian Recipes – Acorn Recipes & Facts! (The People’s Paths)

Native American Food (Arkansas Archaeological Survey)

The Mitsitam Cafe Cookbook: Recipes from the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian (via WorldCat)

Photo credit: Mano, metate and bowl of corn. Museum display of Ancestral Pueblo artifacts at Mesa Verde National Park, U.S. National Parks Service, Public Domain.