ANTHROPOLOGY AND FOOD. What distinguishes the anthropological study of food from that of other disciplines is its focus on food within a cultural and often cross-cultural context. Anthropologists study humans and human culture across space and evolutionary time; this includes the study of their own culture and social institutions. Subfields of the anthropological study of food include cultural, linguistic, biological, and archaeological anthropology. Research in nutritional anthropology cuts across these subfields. Food requires hunting, gathering, growing, storage, distribution, preparation, display, serving, and disposal, all of which are social activities. Topics for the anthropological study of food within a cultural system include economy, inequality, gender, status, hunter-gatherers, and food as a symbol.

Of basic interest to archaeologists is the diet or subsistence pattern of the peoples they study. Since seasonal...