PAST FOOD

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Special Exhibition in the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology

from 28 November 2023 to 3 November 2024

As the old adage goes, hunger is the best sauce. This rings as true today as it did 15,000 years ago. The special exhibition explores the menu of our ancestors, taking a closer look at the origin, preparation, and preservation of food as well as the equipment used for these purposes. There is a particular focus on local dietary habits and regional archaeological finds.

In addition to cultural and historical aspects, the multifaceted exhibition shows that our ancestors were extremely clever in finding ways to satisfy their hunger and making sure their food supplies would last.
Our ancestors were familiar with foodstuffs like meat and fish, wild grain, wild fruit, and honey from the very beginning. Other foods that we take for granted today, such as legumes, spice plants, and several types of grain, were brought to Europe by migration in the course of human history. Food traditions that are familiar now, like processing milk or winegrowing, were introduced from the Mediterranean in different eras.