History & Archaeology

Before FDR helped hot dog become July 4thfavorite, it was an outcast - a gritty symbol of moonshine, drug dealers and adulterated food

By Daniel Fromson

The Atlantic 2011-07-02

Today's swine in China traced back 8,000 years to same region, revealing clues about animal husbandry, human migration

By Amina Khan

Los Angeles Times 2010-04-19

Two-masted schooner resting on Baltic Sea floor yields 172 bottles of premium 1820's French Champagnes - Veuve Clicquot, Juglar - among cargo of grapes, coffee, pepper, coriander

By John Tagliabue

The New York Times 2010-12-15

Former Whole Foods baker takes baking back to 18th century, working daily to perfect one recipe using organic grains and natural starter, shaping by hand, and baking with fire

By Ellen Albanese

The Boston Globe 2010-12-01

Ancient Roman, likely named MacGyvericus, beat Swiss Army by some 1,800 years with development of multi-tool made of iron and silver - designed for meals

By Charlie Sorrel

Wired magazine 2010-11-08

In pursuit of next big trend, Unilever assembles team of archaeologists, anthropologists, evolutionary geneticists, food scientists, botanists to probe diets from Palaeolithic era

By Jess Halliday

nutraingredients.com/ Decision News Media 2010-09-20

Roman industrial site, with evidence of flour mill used to grind grain and produce food for the garrison and other units, discovered in England during highway widening project

News Distribution Service (UK) 2010-08-25

Abundance of tortoise shells at Hilazon Tachtit, ancient burial cave in Galilee, shows link between funerals, feasting in first known people to give up nomadic life for farming

By Heather Pringle

National Geographic magazine 2010-08-30

Analysis: Agriculture's nitrogen addiction costly to kick, but researchers say that it, along with climate change, biodiversity loss threaten future habitability of Earth

By Fred Pearce

Yale Environment 360 2009-05-11

Jomon pots, oldest in the world, hold burnt deposits of food - and clues to what the ancients ate

By Rebecca Stacey

BBC News 2010-04-10

Lower Illinois valley site provides early window into dietary habits of region, and could help trace narrative of cultural evolution

By Brandon Keim

Wired Science 2009-04-06

Rural Mexico may harbor descendants of Aztec turkeys that were precursor to modern-day dinner fare

By Brandon Keim

Wired Science 2010-02-01

1,900-year-old aqueduct to Rome found behind secret door of ruined chapel

By Rossella Lorenzi

Discovery News 2010-01-29

Pyramid workers ate meat regularly, weren't slaves, archaeologists learn from new tombs nearby

By Paul Schemm

The Associated Press; The Boston Globe 2010-01-10

Amazon land clearing, satellites reveal ruins of lost civilization

By Rory Carroll

The Guardian (UK) 2010-01-05

790,000 year-old site seems to show separate cooking, tool-making areas

By John Noble Wilford

The New York Times 2009-12-21

Ancient granaries change ideas about early food storage

Excavations in Jordan reveal evidence of world's oldest known granaries, upending assumptions that people only started to store significant amounts of food when plants were domesticated. Structures preceded emergence of fully domesticated plants and large-scale sedentary communities by at least 1,000 years. And: In 'An Edible History of Humanity,' Tom Standage shows how changes in food production, technology, consumption dragged humanity from its hunter-gatherer days (click 'See also').

By William G. Gilroy

University of Notre Dame 2009-06-23

See also 

Guts, tongues map Pacific island migration

Archaeologists map migratory history of Pacific islanders by cross-analyzing spread of a stomach bug and core vocabulary of Pacific-region languages. The study of helicobacter pylori genetics, linguistic developments posits a 5,000-year eastward migration, starting in Taiwan, countering hypotheses of 30,000-year migration of peoples from Central Asia. And: H. pylori infections suppressed by broccoli consumption, study shows (click 'See also').

By Brandon Keim

Wired Science 2009-01-22

See also 

Opinion: Apple's birthplace, rebirth crucial to food security

On border of Kazakhstan and China, conservationist has spent 70 years in 'fatherland' and forest of apples, cataloging as hedge against memories of famine. As solution to urbanization and loss, he proposes pairing restoration and commerce. Author (click 'See also'): Foragers and traditional farmers are food's safe-keepers. North America lost more than 15,000 apple varieties in 400 years.

By Gary Paul Nabhan

Orion Magazine 2008-05-01

See also 

Urban living, composting and fish-farming in ancient Brazil

Signs of farming, wetland management, and possibly fish farms found in recently discovered ruins of walled urban centers in western Brazil. Communities, each with an identical road pointing northeast to southwest and connected to a central plaza, were clusters of 150-acre towns, with smaller villages spread out nearby.

BBC 2008-08-28

From ancient pit, new life and hope grow

From ancient pit, new life and hope grow

Guy Eisner/Science Magazine

The Judean date palm, which once flourished in vast forests across what is now Israel, was thought to be extinct.

In unassuming pot, a 2,000-year-old date palm seed from Masada germinates and grows. Scientists are hoping that the plant, likely the Judean date palm called the 'tree of life,' is a female and, when mature in 2010, will bear fruit so that plant can be reintroduced as food crop for harsh, dry climates.

By Amy Maxmen

Science magazine 2008-06-12

See also 

Apples scarce for many in Big Apple

Up to three million New Yorkers live in communities with high rates of diet-related disease and a dearth of supermarkets (click 'See also' for study). Many residents spend food budget at pharmacies, which sell processed foods and sodas, then medicines for diet-related ills. City could support another 100 grocers; planning director calls situation a health crisis.

By David Gonzalez

The New York Times 2008-05-05

See also 

Cooking pot secrets

After analyzing starch from charred food residues in ancient pottery fragments, archaeologists determine that corn was part of South American diet much earlier than previously thought. The grain was likely a vital food crop for villages in tropical Ecuador at least 5,000 years ago. The starch analysis technique previously was used to track chili peppers in ancient diets (click 'See also').

University of Calgary; Sciencedaily 2008-03-24

See also 

An Oxford palate

Ahead of the Oxford Literary Festival, a look at food served through the ages, with a peek into a 1524 kitchen, a reminder that Oxford was one of the first places outside London where the avant garde sipped chocolate, and in the way that only food can puncture time, the complaint of a schoolboy about fish during Lent. For food-related events, click on 'See also.'

By Kate Colquhoun

The Times (UK) 2008-03-14

See also 

Market days

Soil analysis at Chunchucmil, on Yucatan Peninsula, shows old food residue, pointing to market economy for Mayans around 500 A.D. Canal leads 15 miles in from sea; markers may have delineated outdoor market stalls and a central plaza. Findings challenge assumption that ruling class controlled food, goods.

By John Noble Wilford

The New York Times 2008-01-08

Harvest fetes

A short history of Thanksgiving, from offerings of cakes and pigs to the ancient Greek goddess of all grains, Demeter, to the 1941 Congressional decree that named the fourth Thursday in November as the proper day for celebrating.

Journal Express (IA) 2007-11-21

Cacao pow

Cacao pow

Our love with chocolate started 3,100 years ago, and foil-wrapped bars were not in the picture. The product was a beer-like drink, a status symbol, and likely served in celebration of weddings and births, scientists report after research conducted in the Honduras.

By Will Dunham

Reuters 2007-11-12

Looking back

As homage to residents and the past, Ohio museum assembles exhibition on local food and food traditions from the first half of the 20th century; objects include photos, old receipts, aprons, farm and kitchen equipment and documentary videos.

By Holly Richards

Coshocton Tribune (OH) 2007-11-04

Icebox treat:

Remembering the good old days before electricity, when a porch was used and often held the icebox, which kept foods cool with an actual blocks of ice; what we once called icebox pies we now might call terrines.

By Sylvia Carter

Newsday 0000-00-00

Cutting cane:

Gin Gin Cane Cutting Festival in Australia brings the old-time sugar industry experts and other contestants together, timing them to cut a section of sugarcane by hand, the way it was done before mechanical harvesters, while racing the clock and each other.

By Jodie van de Wetering

Australian Broadcasting Corporation 0000-00-00

BBQ rules:

Casting doubt on leisurely wining, dining image of ancient Rome, archaeologists unearth lack of tableware, lack of kitchens and lack of formal dining rooms in Pompeii, but they find miniature grills in abundance, author reports.

2007-06-18

Pastie power:

Some swear that Mr. Pastie's English beef-and-potato pies, now sold internationally, have magical powers; at the very least, they connect Gar Sleep, the 78-year-old company owner, to a large part of his family history.

By Sara Jerome

Pocono Record

A meal for Tut:

Kamut, a heirloom wheat with a sweet, nutty flavor and high in nutritional qualities, once the darling of the Birkenstock crowd, has captured Italy carbohydrate-wise, and Saskatchewan, as well as Montana and Alberta, are profiting.

By Beppi Crosariol

The Globe and Mail (Canada)

BBQ rules

Casting doubt on leisurely wining, dining image of ancient Rome, archaeologists unearth lack of tableware, lack of kitchens and lack of formal dining rooms in Pompeii, but they find miniature grills in abundance, author reports.

2007-06-18