Interacting with Cooking Tools: A Methodological Overview and Case Study from Late Bronze Age Anatolia

Food archaeology and history are interdisciplinary fields of research that aim to elucidate the role of food practices (storing, processing, cooking, and consuming) in ancient civilizations, intending them as pivotal factors in forming cultural, economic, and social identities. This paper provides an overview of the principal methodologies employed in the study of food archaeology, in particular cooking activities, including the analysis of cooking utensils (kitchenware and fire installations), botanical and faunal remains, use-ware analysis, archaeological chemistry to identify organic residues on the tools, and written sources. The case study of Hittite plates in Late Bronze Age Central Anatolia and their recent investigation at Uşaklı Höyük Archaeological Project will illustrate how integrating these diverse methodologies can facilitate a more comprehensive understanding of ancient foodways and their implications for the societies and cultures of the time.