Details
The act of sitting down to share a meal is, this book argues, one of the defining features of human behaviour and of great importance in the evolution of what we might call civilization. In animal cultures food is a source of conflict and tension, and even for great apes, the act of sitting face to face while eating, or sharing food from a common bowl would be seen as a deeply threatening situation. Using a vast range of archaeological techniques, Martin Jones looks at the evolution of feasting, and its links with conversation and communication, its impact on the ways that humans organise space, and indeed on the wider ecology of the planet.