{"id":44881,"date":"2020-01-21T16:01:14","date_gmt":"2020-01-21T15:01:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.icac.cat\/en\/?p=44881"},"modified":"2020-01-21T23:13:03","modified_gmt":"2020-01-21T22:13:03","slug":"exploring-food-and-taste-in-the-past-we-welcome-dr-alex-livarda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/icac.cat\/en\/actualitat\/noticies\/2020\/exploring-food-and-taste-in-the-past-we-welcome-dr-alex-livarda\/","title":{"rendered":"“Exploring food and taste in the past”. We welcome Dr Alex Livarda"},"content":{"rendered":"

ICAC has welcomed a new researcher through the Ramon y Cajal call (RYC, Spanish state programme).<\/p>\n

Dr Alexandra Livarda<\/strong><\/a> is an archaeobotanist<\/strong>, focusing on the study of ancient plants, and particularly on food plants to reconstruct not only diet but also trade, social, economic and political relationships and networks in the past.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m studying food in the past, and I am particularly interested in exploring the idea of taste. Because taste is not just about flavour, it involves all other senses and, importantly, it is intrinsically cultural<\/strong>: it is about memory, belonging, ambition and so on; when you eat something you remember places, moments, experiences while at the same time you consciously or unconsciously make a statement about who you are.<\/p>\n

So, while exploring the idea of taste, we go beyond subsistence. Food has the advantage that is an everyday need. Whatever you do, you have to choose something to eat. You buy clothes and other items now and then but eating is an everyday choice. And it is this choice that can really tell a lot about who you are<\/strong>. You may choose to buy, for instance, fruits because you want to have a healthier diet according to the current perceptions of what a healthy diet is, and not a chocolate cake, you may prefer honey over sugar. In some places in the world certain foods are \u2018prohibited\u2019. It\u2019s always about choices. And these choices have always ramifications.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Universities of Nottingham, Sheffield, Oxford and Leicester in the UK have been some of this prominent researcher\u2019s milestones. Now she is bringing her background, expertise and skills to ICAC to create a new research line on bioarchaeology<\/strong>. Dr Livarda has currently joined the Landscape Archaeology (GIAP)<\/a> research team, headed by Dr Josep Maria Palet<\/a>, current director of the ICAC, and Dr Hector A. Orengo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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In her work, Livarda has used plants as proxies to chart social, cultural and economic changes in the past, contributing to significant new and novel interpretations<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Dr Livarda<\/a>\u2019s work centres on two main areas: prehistoric Aegean and Roman and medieval northwestern and western Europe<\/strong>. In regards to the latter, Dr Livarda and her collaborators used exotic food plants as proxies to define the changing social relations from the expansion of the Roman Empire to its downfall, and through to the medieval world. A key study conducted together with Dr Hector A. Orengo<\/a>, within this framework, was the development of new theories on the Roman food trade in Britain<\/strong> and how this impacted the urbanisation process and the \u2018centralisation\u2019 of London.<\/p>\n

\"Archaeological<\/a>
Dr Livarda (right) conducting flotation with her team for the recovery of plant and other organic remains (@ A. Livarda)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Multidisciplinary work<\/strong> is a common approach in bioarchaeology since analysis-related tasks combine a lot of different objects and methods. Texts are usually selective and other lines of evidence, such as seeds, animal bones and ceramics, are necessary to be able to<\/strong> reconstruct not only specific events but everyday life in the past<\/strong>, opening thus new windows into our cultural heritage.<\/p>\n

In one of my latest projects, at Palaikastro<\/strong> in eastern Crete, I directed a bioarchaeology and palaeoenvironmental team of numerous specialists. We are currently working together in publishing our results that challenge what we know about Minoan Crete to date.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Next February, 19<\/strong>\u00a0Dr Alex Livarda will give a public talk<\/strong> about the new evidence and insights provided through her research project PALAP – Palaikastro<\/a> on the discussion of agriculture, resource management and the development of social complexity in the Minoan society.<\/p>\n

The talk will take place in Barcelona in the series of Tribuna d\u2019Arqueologia<\/strong> (full information in ICAC\u2019s Agenda<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The PALAP project<\/a> combined systematic bioarchaeological sampling with paleoenvironmental and geo-archeological analyses, and landscape survey specifically designed to investigate plant and animal resource management, for the first time in Crete. This holistic approach has provided unique insights into the Minoan socioeconomic organisation<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Last December Dr Alex Livarda was re-elected as a Committee member of the Association of Environmental Archaeology, AEA<\/a> for the period 2019-2023. She is also a member of the Lefkandi Subcommittee of the British School at Athens.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Dr Livarda<\/a> co-directed the PALAP Bronze Age excavation project<\/a> at Palaikastro, Crete (Greece) with Prof. Carl Knappett (University of Toronto, Canada) and Dr Nicoletta Momigliano (University of Bristol, UK) under the auspices of the British School at Athens between 2012 and 2016.<\/p>\n

Dr Livarda is currently involved in several projects, including:<\/h6>\n