Ancient Indigenous Cuisines
Archaeological Explorations of the Midcontinent
This collection of original essays is the first to cover recent trends in foodways archaeology in the Midwest using the concept of cuisine: the selection of food ingredients and methods of food preparation, cooking, and serving/consumption in relation to their social, cultural, and environmental contexts. This work span the Early Archaic (9000 BC) to Late Precontact (up to around AD 1500) in ecological zones of present-day Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Manitoba. Chapters trace development from hunter-gathering to horticultural practices to the more robust farming/fishing/hunting model centered on maize, squash, and other domesticates.
As Susan M. Kooiman, Jodie A. O’Gorman, and Autumn M. Painter note, identification of past cooking habits and evolving methods for foodstuffs identification can help archaeologists to reconstruct foodways and connect food behaviors with identity and associated fundamental societal beliefs. Contributors to this collection use cutting-edge methods and perspectives and consider a range of questions and outcomes that demonstrate the versatility and strength of culinary studies. To move the field forward, contributors also note areas for further analysis and improvement.
This volume targets archaeologists and students, archaeobotanists and zooarchaeologists, and those curious about Indigenous food culture. Engaging content includes chapters on the construction of earth ovens, the use-alteration of pottery and residue, a discussion of cuisine combining plant and animal data with ceramic trends, and the various contexts of plates to understand cooking methods and the social role of cuisine. Others examine faunal remains, the plant remains of feasting, the introduction of maize, the use of limestone nixtamalization, and archaeobotanical assemblages that reveal shifts in cuisine. A conclusion addresses the question, Why cuisine?
CONTRIBUTORS
Rebecca K. Albert / Alleen Betzenhauser / Jennifer R. Haas / Mary M. King / Susan M. Kooiman / Mary E. Malainey / Terrance J. Martin / Fernanda Neubauer / Kelsey Nordine / Jodie A. O’Gorman / Autumn M. Painter / Jeffrey M. Painter / Kimberly Schaefer / Mary Simon
‘Demonstrates how much progress archaeologists have made studying food, dishes, and meals in their broader social and geographical contexts. The editors showcase research in the North American Midcontinent while demonstrating examples of globally relevant theoretical approaches and advances in techniques.’ —Gayle Fritz, author of Feeding Cahokia: Early Agriculture in the North American Heartland
Jodie A. O’Gorman is associate professor emerita of anthropology at Michigan State University, specializing in the archaeology of the Midwest with a long-term interest in the intersection of food, gender, and community.
Autumn M. Painter is an archaeologist with a regional focus of the eastern woodlands of North America and broad interests in zooarchaeology, foodways, social interaction, and coalescent communities.
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Cuisine in the Ancient Midcontinent by Susan M. Kooiman, Jodie A. O'Gorman, and Autumn M. Painter
Chapter 1 Earth Oven Cuisine via Fire-Cracked Rock Cooking in the Midcontinent by Fernanda Neubauer
Chapter 2 Indigenous Cuisine in the Northern Great Lakes by Susan M. Kooiman and Rebecca K. Albert
Chapter 3 Woodland Tradition Cuisines in Southeastern Wisconsin by Jennifer R. Haas
Chapter 4 Plates, Cuisine, and Community at the Morton Site by Jeffrey M. Painter and Jodie A. O'Gorman
Chapter 5 Ceremonial Feasting and Culinary Practices in the Central Illinois River Valley: A Zooarchaeological Perspective by Terrance J. Martin
Chapter 6 Exploring Identity through Cuisine and Ritual at the Morton Village Site, West-Central Illinois by Kelsey Nordine
Chapter 7 Bison Hoes and Bird Tails: Reconsidering the Introduction of Maize Farming into Manitoba by Mary E. Malainey
Chapter 8 Nixtamalization and Cahokian Cuisine by Alleen Betzenhauser
Chapter 9 The Archaeobotany of the East St. Louis Precinct of Greater Cahokia by Kimberly Schaefer, Mary Simon, and Mary M. King
Conclusion: Why Cuisine? by Jodie A. O'Gorman and Susan M. Kooiman
References
List of Contributors
Index
Baking, Bourbon, and Black Drink
Foodways Archaeology in the American Southeast
Edited by Tanya M. Peres Lemons and Aaron Deter-Wolf
