The Transition Revisited: Exploring the Culinary Origins of Agriculture in Southwest Asia

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• Amaia Arranz-Otaegui, University of the Basque Country
• Thursday 27 November 2025, 16:00-17:30
• McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research Seminar Room.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Akshyeta Suryanarayan.

How did food shape one of the most transformative shifts in human history? This talk explores the transition to agriculture in Southwest Asia, the Fertile Crescent, through the lens of food and archaeobotanical research. We will journey from the last hunter-gatherers of the Epipalaeolithic period to the first farming communities of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic (c. 23,000–10,000 BP). Drawing on recent archaeobotanical evidence, including preserved remains of prepared meals, we will examine how early food practices influenced social, economic, and technological developments. Topics will include shifting diets, from the long-term importance of root foods to the increasing reliance on the so-called “Founder Crops,” as well as the origins of universal staples such as bread and their role in both hunter-gatherer and early farming societies. Ultimately, this talk highlights how food practices were embedded in daily life and shaped the transition to agriculture, transforming not only diets and economies, but humanity itself.

The link to join the lecture online is here: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/3693237776111?p=raZyEwVDtKHkBu2fP9

This talk is part of the Department of Archaeology - Garrod seminar series series.

This talk is included in these lists:

• Arch seminars
• Computational and Digital Archaeology Lab (CDAL)
• Department of Archaeology - Garrod seminar series
• McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research Seminar Room

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