posted March 31, 2023
BCST - What's cooking in the North? 14,000+ years of diet and food processing in central Alaska
Beringia Centre Science Talks (#BCST) are back for a fourth season! Join us as we explore fascinating topics in archaeology, natural science, and palaeontology.
This week, we're joined by Dr. Briana (Bree) Doering from University of Wyoming to discuss cooking traditions in in central Alaska.
Cooking traditions are a fundamental part of human culture, serving both functional and symbolic roles in daily life. Central Alaskan archaeologists have previously reconstructed human-environment dynamics spanning millennia by studying hunting practices, but recent research has shown that cooking techniques may be another powerful indicator of broader cultural changes in the past.
In this presentation, you'll learn all about the results of an on-going analysis of hearth cooking features through traditional and molecular methods to show how a focus on cooking can improve our understanding of Arctic history and human culture change more generally.