Seeds and plants excavated at Neolithic- through Bronze-Age settlements in the
Italian peninsula permit reconstruction of the food patterns of earliest settlers. Exca-
vations at Monte Covolo and Monte Leoni have revealed numerous probable foods,
among them acorn, barley, millet, and wheat; fava bean; wild apple, blackberry, wild
cherry, elderberry, wild grape, and sloe.92
Virgil of Andes stated that before the harvest deity Ceres brought the gift of
domesticated food to humans and taught them how to plow, the Mediterranean diet
was based on acorns and wild berries.93 Mythology notwithstanding, archaeological
evidence suggests that early foods present in the Italian peninsula included almond,
apple, fig, grape, olive, pear, plum, and quince.94
The pre-Roman Etruscans practiced a sophisticated irrigation agriculture that
focused on wheat as well as millet, oats, and rye. Grapes were cultivated and animal
husbandry included cattle/oxen, horses, lamb, pigs, and sheep. Wild game included
numerous varieties of birds, deer, hare, and wild boar.95 While little is known about
specific fruits and vegetables grown by the Etruscans, information gleaned from
their tomb art has revealed probable use of artichoke, palm, poppy, and pomegran-
ate.96 Etruscan cheese, specifically, was lauded and produced in quantities for export.
Martial of Bilbis wrote that a single caseus from the Etruscan settlement of Luni
could provide a thousand meals for the slaves of a single family.
No comments:
Post a Comment