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A paper on pre-Caesarian Roman-Celtic wine trade
#1
Hello fellow RAT'ers,

At this moment I am following a course in food and drink in the Ancient World at Leiden University. We have to write a paper to complete the course and I have chosen the wine trade between the Romans and Celts as my subject. The next hurdle is finding enough sources. Does anyone have any thoughts toward well-researched general literature on Celtic food and drink and Celtic society in Gallia as a whole?
As for Roman sources I already have an eye on Caesar's Bello Gallico, Pliny's Natural history and Diodorus of sicily. Tacitus will probably also feature.
It is the archeological evidence though where my greatest weakness lies. Are there any good works on archeological finds of amphorae or other traces of wine trade in Gallia?

Thank you very much!
I will keep you posted with all progress.

with regards,

Hans Nielsen
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#2
Quote:Celtic society in Gallia as a whole
Heh.

Anyway, I did a similar paper for my MA some years back, There's a couple of sources I found especially useful for archaeology discussion in general, and although I focused on Pre-Roman Britain (how to annoy any prehistorians in your presence...) there might be useful arguments in these sources for you to follow, as well as references to data. For that specifically, you're better focusing on site reports, if you can find them.

Bear in mind there is generally a vast gulf between how Roman historians describe foreign diets and what can be archaeologically attested; however the theme of the feast and communal drinking does tend to dominate. Archaeologists in general attribute expensive imports of wine and tableware to elite displays in feasting contexts, which was the angle I took in my essay. The Dietler papers I found especially interesting at the time in this context. Also, his name is funny.

Carver, E. 2001. The Visibility of Imported Wine and its Associated Accoutrements in Later Iron Age Britain. BAR British Series 325. Oxford

Dietler, M. 1996. 'Feasts and Commensal Politics in the Political Economy: Food, Power and Status in Prehistoric Europe' in W. Schiefenhövel and Weissner, P. (eds), Food and the Status Quest: An Interdisciplinary Perspective. Providence, Oxford: Berghahn Books, 87-126

Dietler, M and Hayden, B. 2001. 'Digesting the Feast: Good to Eat, Good to Drink, Good to Think' in M. Dietler and B. Hayden (eds) Feasts: Archaeological and Ethnographic Perspectives on Food, Politics and Power. Washington; London: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1-20

Hayden, B. 1996. 'Feasting in Prehistoric and Traditional Societies'. In P. Wiessner and W. Schiefenhövel (eds) Food and the Status Quest: An Interdisciplinary Perspective. Providence and Oxford: Berghahn Books, 127-148

Pitts, M. 2005. 'Pots and Pits: Drinking and Deposition in Late Iron Age South East Britain'. Oxford Journal of Archaeology, 24(2): 143-161
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#3
An interesting dichotomy on which you can dwell a bit is the Roman use of amphorae compared to the Celtic use of wooden barrels as wine containers. There are a lot of technological and economic implications involved. In the end, the Celtic barrel prevailed, while the amphorae was delegated to the museum.
Stefan (Literary references to the discussed topics are always appreciated.)
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#4
Quote:An interesting dichotomy on which you can dwell a bit is the Roman use of amphorae compared to the Celtic use of wooden barrels as wine containers. There are a lot of technological and economic implications involved. In the end, the Celtic barrel prevailed, while the amphorae was delegated to the museum.
It should be worth emphasising that wine traded in barrels is going to be essentially invisible archaeologically speaking, which is why archaeologists have often looked for/focused upon the vessels used for drinking instead with regards to Celtic/Roman trade connections.
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