Experimental cooking

Mr. Yannis Staggidis, an experienced traditional potter based at Paliambela (Central Macedonia, Greece), has produced modern replica vessels imitating the technological and morphological traits of northern Greek Neolithic cooking vessels. These replica vessels will be used to carry out a series of cooking experiments to study:

a) the preservation of microbotanical remains when cooked with different vessels and cooking conditions (technique, temperature, time, etc.), following earlier experiments but focusing also on taxa beyond cereals and pulses, including meat and dairy products;

b) the spatial distribution of microbotanical remains in pottery vessels, following work carried out within lipid residue studies; and

c) the relative occurrence of microbotanical remains from different taxa after successive cooking experiments.

Samples from past cooking experiments conducted by Prof. Dushka Urem-Kotsou with cereals and pulses consumed in the prehistoric Aegean are currently being analysed as a pilot study to inform the design of future cooking experiments.

Modern replica cooking vessel produced by Mr. Yannis Staggidis.