Product Description

Is sharing food such an everyday, unremarkable occurrence? In fact, the human tendency to sit together peacefully over food is actually rather an extraordinary phenomenon, and one which many species find impossible. It is also a pheonomenon with far-reaching consequences for the global environment and human social evolution. So how did this strange and powerful behaviour come about? In Feast, Martin Jones uses the latest archaeological methods to illuminate how humans came to share food in the first place and how the human meal has developed since then. From the earliest evidence of human consumption around half a million years ago to the era of the TV dinner and the drive-through diner, this fascinating account unfolds the history of the human meal and its huge impact both on human society and the ecology of the planet.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #606420 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-15
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .2 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 384 pages

Review

"The conclusions are perceptive, discerning, and intricate, delving deeply into the understanding of human behavior and nature. Jones imparts his deductions with skill and intelligence, producing an important contribution to the studies of human societal behavior, coupled with significant implications for the future study of social interaction. Essential."--S. Kowtko, CHOICE

"In presenting his thoughtful argument for the development of social and ritual meals, Martin skillfully lays a middle path between those who would explain everything by natural selection and those interested in the grammar of meaning systems."--Library Journal

From the Publisher
40 black and white halftones

About the Author
Martin Jones is George Pitt-Rivers Professor of Archaeological Science at the University of Cambridge, and specializes in the study of the fragmentary archaeological remains of early food. In the 1990s he was Chairman of the Ancient Biomolecule Initiative that pioneered some of the most important new methods of archaeological science used in such research. His previous books include The Molecule Hunt: archaeology and the search for ancient DNA, published by Penguin.