Event Details

AIA Lecture: Clay Pans + Pita Bread in Early Midieval Europe

Time: 12:00 pm til 1:00 pm

Location: UNF Archaeology Lab

Description: A number of 6th- to 7th-century sites recently excavated in southern and central Spain have produced evidence of an intriguing ceramic category—hand-made, circular clay pans. They are also known from sites in southern and southwestern England, as well as Central and especially Eastern Europe. A great number of them were associated with stone ovens, inside which the pans served for baking most probably pita (unleavened bread), as suggested by ethnographic analogies. Other sites suggest that clay pans were associated with communal ceremonies that may have involved the consumption of special foods, such as pita bread. The clay pan phenomenon coincided with, or immediately followed, a number of culinary changes, the most important of which is reflected in the adoption of closed ceramic forms most appropriate for the cooking of beef or pork. In both Spain and East Central Europe, clay pans became an important component of ceramic assemblages shortly before or after AD 600. The paper offers some possible answers to the questions raised by that parallel.

Presented by Dr. Florin Curta, Professor of Medieval History and Archaeology at the University of Florida

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