The Etruscan World (Routledge Worlds)

• chapter 43: Food and drink in the Etruscan world –

CONCLUSIONS

The ongoing excavations of Etruscan habitation sites will certainly amplify our
understanding of fi xed hearths, portable braziers and cooking stands – pottery shapes
that changed precious little over time. Because of the combined archaeological work and
scientifi c analysis of vessels, we are now beginning to learn more about the foods consumed
by the Etruscans. This fi eld promises to expand our knowledge of the Etruscan diet and
enhance our understanding of the social implications of food. Likewise, careful analysis of
sanctuaries and tombs can better supply us with evidence for ritual – remembering that
the ritual use of food is often linked to transformation.^51 In the same way, the humbler
inland sites, like Cetamura, have left us with remains of food in addition to food utensils
from the Hellenistic period, providing evidence of cooking practices, votive offerings
and the use of special utensils (graters). As studies regarding food increase, we may begin
to see how food and drink played a notable role in conveying rank and that certain food
items such as cheese, meat and eggs and beverages like wine, communicated a wide range
of status and symbolic meaning.^52

NOTES

1 L’alimentazione 1987 offers a wide variety of articles on agriculture, meat, fi sh, grain and
grapes. For cooking stands see Scheffer 1981: 97; 1987: 102–103. It must be remembered
that much of the cooking was done outside of the home.
2 Barker and Rasmussen 1998: 179–215; Bonamici 2000: 73.
3 Barker and Rasmussen 1998: 179–215, Fig. 67 depicts carbonized grains of barley. Giulierini
2005: 66.
4 Zifferero 2004. This paper explores methodological problems concerning pre-Roman coarse-
ware and the transformation in ceramic forms due to a change from spelt to wheat.
5 Giulierini 2005: 66.
6 Ibid.
7 L’alimentazione (1987); Barker and Rasmussen 1998, 183ff. For chickpeas see de Grummond
2009: 189–190.
8 Barker and Rasmussen 1998: 185ff; Barbieri 1987.
9 Gianfrotta 1987; Barker and Rasmussen 1998: 199ff; Giulierini 2005: 70–77.
10 Steingräber 1986: no. 50.
11 Steingräber 1986: no. 32. We may not know what slaves were eating, but can infer that those
who served and cooked for such events were introduced to the concept of the “banquet” and
therefore had knowledge of “aristocratic” food items.
12 Scheffer 1981; 1982; Östenberg 1975: for “focolari, camini, comignoli, e forni” see p. 40. For
hearths see p. 72, Zone B and p. 70, Zone E. For a fi xed oven or hearth, see p. 106.
13 Karlsson 2006: 42. House III shows traces of more than one fi xed hearth. For House II, see
73ff., Figs. 102–103. Even Caeretan cylinder-stamped braziers and pithoi were found in this
house (77, no. 83, pl. 15). For a general assessment of the kitchen-ware and cooking stands
see pp. 132–133.
14 Scheffer 1981: 9.
15 Scheffer 1981; 1982.
16 Scheffer 1981; Pieraccini 2003: 168f.
17 Scheffer 1981: 28–63.
18 Pieraccini 2003.
19 For braziers see Pieraccini 2003; for pithoi see Ridgway 2010.