FURTHER READING
Carlin A. Barton, Th e Sorrows of the Ancient Romans: Th e Gladiator
and the Monster (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press,
1992).
Alan Cameron, Circus Factions: Blues and Greens at Rome and Byz-
antium (Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 1976).
Stewart Culin, Games of the North American Indian (New York: Do-
ver Publications, 1975).
Wol fga ng Decker, Sports and Games of Ancient Egypt, trans. Allen
Guttmann (New Haven. Conn.: Yale University Press, 1992).
Irving Finkel, ed., Ancient Board Games in Perspective (London:
British Museum Press, 2007).
Alison Futrell, A Sourcebook on the Roman Games (Ox ford, U.K.:
Blackwell, 2006).
H. A. Harris, Greek Athletes and Athletics (Westport, Conn.: Green-
wood Press, 1964).
“History of Weiqi.” Available online. URL: http://www.yutopian.
com/go/misc/gohistory.html. Downloaded January 30, 2007.
Ulrich Hubner, “Games.” In Th e Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeol-
ogy in the Near East, vol. 2, ed. Eric M. Meyers (New York:
Oxford University Press, 1997).
George Jennison, Animals for Show and Pleasure in Ancient Rome,
2nd ed. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press,
2005).
Anne Mahoney, Roman Sports and Spectacles: A Sourcebook (New-
buryport, Mass.: Focus, 2001).
“Mancala.” Available online. URL: http://www.search.com/refer-
ence/Mancala. Downloaded on November 29, 2006.
Stephen G. Miller, Ancient Greek Athletics (New Haven: Yale Uni-
versity Press, 2004).
Peter Nabokov, Indian Running: Native American History and Tra-
dition (Santa Fe, N.M.: Ancient City Press, 1987).
Věra Olivová, Sports and Games in the Ancient World, trans. D. Or-
pington (London: Orbis, 1984).
Joseph B. Oxendine, American Indian Sports Heritage, 2nd ed. (Lin-
coln: University of Nebraska Press, 1995).
Michael B. Poliakoff , Combat Sports in the Ancient World: Competi-
tion, Violence, and Culture (New Haven, Conn.: Yale Univer-
sity Press, 1987).
D. S. Potter and D. J. Mattingly, eds., Life, Death, and Entertain-
ment in the Roman Empire (Ann Arbor: University of Michi-
gan Press, 1999).
Larry Russ, Th e Complete Mancala Games Book: How to Play the
World’s Oldest Board Games (New York: Marlowe, 2000).
David Sansone, Greek Athletics and the Genesis of Sport (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1988).Judith Swaddling, Th e Ancient Olympic Games, 2nd ed. (Austin:
University of Texas Press, 1999).
Malcolm Todd, Everyday Life of the Barbarians, Goths, Franks, and
Va n d a l s (London: Batsford, 1972).
E. Michael Whittington, ed., Th e Sport of Life and Death: Th e Meso-
american Ballgame (New York: Th ames and Hudson, 2001).▶ storage and preservation
introduction
Hunter-gatherers in prehistoric times paid minimal attention
to long-term food storage and preservation. Th eir way of life
dictated that they move about in search of food supplies and
then consume what they found as they found it. Food typi-
cally would not have been preserved for more than a few days
or perhaps weeks, depending on how long it would keep. Meat
and fi sh, of course, had to be consumed within days, while
plant foods could be kept on hand for a period of weeks.
It was with the advent of agriculture that ancient peo-
ples turned more attention to longer-term food storage and
preservation. Agriculture off ered the possibility of making
a community’s food supply more consistent and predictable
over time. By storing and preserving food, people could mea-
sure out their food consumption over the year and eliminate
the need to pick up and move when food supplies ran out. Ac-
cordingly, they developed a number of techniques for storing
and preserving food.
At the household level, food was stored primarily in such
containers as woven baskets and clay pots; pots were also
used for storing beverages. Grains (oft en ground into meal
and fl our), beans, and rice could be stored in this way for
long periods of time. Foods more susceptible to spoilage were
preserved principally by drying. Th e food was spread out on
the ground or on racks and placed in the sun or over a fi re.
When its moisture content was low enough, it would be suit-
able for storage because microorganisms would not grow in
it. In this way ancient peoples preserved fruits, berries, corn,
vegetables, and especially meat and fi sh.
Smoking was another common method for preserving
meats and fi sh. Th e smoke coated the food’s cells with sub-
stances that inhibit the growth of microorganisms. Similarly,our mother, but our going is only for a while. Th e
messengers of the lord have come to take us. ‘Th ey
must come,’ they said, according to the messengers.”“We shall leave our ball here in pledge,” they added.
Th ey went immediately to hang it in the space under the
rooftree. “We will return to play,” they said.And going to Hunbatz and Hunchouén they said to
them: “Keep on playing the fl ute and singing, painting,
and carving; warm our house and warm the heart of
your grandmother.”
From: Delia Goetz and Sylvanus Griswold
Morley, trans., Popol Vuh (Los Angeles:
Plantin Press, 1954).storage and preservation: introduction 10610895-1194_Soc&Culturev4(s-z).i1061 1061 10/10/07 2:30:56 PM