Mesolithic consumption practices. Food for thought

Abstract

The subsistence economy has always been one of the key areas of investigation in Mesolithic research and is considered to be important because it can shed light on the way people interacted with their environment. Grahame Clark championed the study of the Mesolithic economy and his work at Star Carr influenced the ways in which subsistence has been studied since. This paper will oudine the development of Mesolithic subsistence studies in Britain and Ireland. It will show that on reflection our understanding ofMesolithic subsistence has not changed, in some senses, since Clark's book on Prehistoric Ettrope: the economic basis (1952). However, it is argued rhat there are many new lines of enquiry which can be addressed concerning social relations and the consumption of food. These may include the study offoodstuffs which have often been ignored or seen as being of "minor" importance, aspects of proscription and symbolic disposal, day-to-day meals and large communal gatherings.