TY - BOOK ID - 720876 TI - The power of feasts : from prehistory to the present PY - 2014 SN - 9781107042995 9781107617643 9781107337688 1107042992 1107337682 1107617642 131605425X 1316056619 PB - Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, DB - UniCat KW - parties [events] KW - History of civilization KW - Ethnology. Cultural anthropology KW - social anthropology KW - Festivals KW - Fasts and feasts KW - Food supply KW - Agriculture and politics KW - Social aspects KW - Political aspects KW - Food supply - Social aspects KW - Food supply - Political aspects KW - Festivals. KW - Fasts and feasts. KW - Agriculture and politics. KW - Social aspects. KW - Political aspects. UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:720876 AB - In this book, Brian Hayden provides the first comprehensive, theoretical work on the history of feasting in pre-industrial societies. As an important barometer of cultural change, feasting is at the forefront of theoretical developments in archaeology. The Power of Feasts chronicles the evolution of the practice from its first perceptible prehistoric presence to modern industrial times. This study explores recurring patterns in the dynamics of feasts as well as linkages to other aspects of culture such as food, personhood, cognition, power, politics, and economics. Analyzing detailed ethnographic and archaeological observations from a wide variety of cultures, including Oceania and Southeast Asia, the Americas, and Eurasia, Hayden illuminates the role of feasts as an invaluable insight into the social and political structures of past societies. ER -