Title:
Sweet waste : medieval sugar production in the Mediterranean viewed from the 2002 excavations at Tawahin es-Sukkar, Safi, Jordan / Richard Jones ; with contributions by Caroline Cartwright [and eleven others].
Early materials and practices series
Early materials and practices series.
Author:
Jones, Richard, 1947 September 12- author.
Cartwright, Caroline, author.
General Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 208-228) and index.
The case for the archaeological exploration of the early sugar industry in western Asia and the Mediterranean -- Sugar : origins and general processes -- The archaeology of sugar production from western Asia to Iberia : sites and vessels -- The geoarchaeology and archaeology of the Ghor as-Safi, Jordan -- The excavations at Tawahin es-Sukkar and Khirbet Shaykh 'Isa -- The ceramics from Tawahin es-Sukkar and Khirbet Shaykh 'Isa -- Other material finds from Tawahin es-Sukkar and Khirbet Shaykh 'Isa -- Organic finds from Tawahin es-Sukkar and Khirbet Shaykh 'Isa.
"The history of cane sugar from its origins in the east to its status as a luxury foodstuff and even medicine in the medieval period to a commodity produced and consumed globally in today's world is well known. Yet archaeologically, sugar is an invisible commodity, its presence usually being inferred from the humble sugar pots used in the last stages of its sophisticated production process. Despite its considerable importance as a food stuff in medieval Near East and Europe, sugar has received much less archaeological attention than has been devoted to oil and wine. This book attempts to redress the imbalance between history and archaeology by reporting on the excavation of a medieval sugar refinery, Tawahin es-Sukkar near Safi, situated south of the Dead Sea in Jordan. There it was possible to explore many of the steps in the process from milling/crushing of the cane to the purifying of the crude juice. The book's title refers to the industrial waste whose study has shed light on those steps. To place this refinery in chronological and economic context, excavation was extended to the adjacent 'support town' of Khirbet Shaykh 'Isa. The available archaeological evidence for production across the Mediterranean up to the time that the industry's focus moved increasingly west to the New World is reviewed. There is particular emphasis on the sugar vessels and the light they can shed on the poorly understood relationship between primary production centres, refining, storage and consumption centres. the book, which is fully illustrated, can be profitably read by archaeologists, archaeological scientists, historians and vistors to Jordan alike"--Back cover.
Publisher:
Potingair Press,
Publication Place:
Glasgow :
ISBN:
9780956824035
095682403X
Subject:
Excavations (Archaeology) -- Jordan.
Sugarcane industry -- Jordan -- History.
Sugarcane industry -- Mediterranean Region -- History.
Excavations (Archaeology)
Sugarcane industry.
Jordan.
Mediterranean Region.
History.
Series:
Early materials and practices series
Early materials and practices series.
Contents:
The case for the archaeological exploration of the early sugar industry in western Asia and the Mediterranean -- Sugar : origins and general processes -- The archaeology of sugar production from western Asia to Iberia : sites and vessels -- The geoarchaeology and archaeology of the Ghor as-Safi, Jordan -- The excavations at Tawahin es-Sukkar and Khirbet Shaykh 'Isa -- The ceramics from Tawahin es-Sukkar and Khirbet Shaykh 'Isa -- Other material finds from Tawahin es-Sukkar and Khirbet Shaykh 'Isa -- Organic finds from Tawahin es-Sukkar and Khirbet Shaykh 'Isa.
Physical Description:
243 pages : illustrations (some color), color maps ;
Publication Date:
2017.
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