Feast or famine? Epipalaeolithic subsistence in the northern Adriatic basin

Abstract

In this paper I use a late glacial-early postglacial archaeological case study from Istria, Croatia, to develop methods for inferring the social contexts of food consumption from animal remains. A number of lines of evidence are suggestive of an increase over time in the diversity and scale of food consumption at Pupi≤ina Cave. At the scale of the region, these data are consistent with subsistence intensification in response to shortfalls in food resources. At the scale of the site, however, these data can be interpreted as remains from “celebratory” feasts. This paper addresses the gap between theory and method in the identification of prehistoric feasts.