Editors’ Introduction

Author Biographies

• Erica Rowan, Royal Holloway, University of London

  Erica Rowan is a lecturer in Classical Archaeology at Royal Holloway, University of London. She is a founding co-editor of Archaeology of Food and Foodways. As an archaeologist with a specialization in archaeobotany, Erica works on the formation and evolution of ancient cultural practices, regional identities, and economic developments from the Iron Age to Late Antiquity through an examination of ancient foodways. She has published on ancient consumption practices, the evolution of food identities, the economies of production and alternative fuel sources. In conjunction with her current research, she serves as the environmental specialist on excavations in Turkey (Aphrodisias, Sardis) and Italy (Orvieto, Villa d’Orazio in Vacone, Libarna). She has held the post of Leventis Associate Research Fellow at the University of Exeter and currently teaches an undergraduate course on Food in the Ancient World. She is also completing a book titled Food and Diet in Republican and Imperial Roman Italy (Bloomsbury) that aims to provide a comprehensive and interdisciplinary cross-cultural and chronological analysis of diet in Italy.

• Shanti Morell-Hart, McMaster University

  Shanti Morell-Hart is Associate Professor at McMaster University. She is a founding co-editor of Archaeology of Food and Foodways. She has authored and co-authored a number of journal articles and book chapters addressing gastronomic heritage, the origins and impacts of agriculture in the development of societies, contributions of plants to ritualized activity, the range and diversity of botanical practices, and transformations in human-environment dynamics. She has previously held teaching positions at Colorado College, the College of William and Mary, and Stanford University. She is a specialist in paleoethnobotanical methods and is founder and director of the McMaster Paleoethnobotanical Research Facility (MPERF), funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation. Currently, she isengaged in research in Mexico (Chiapas, Oaxaca, and Quintana Roo), Honduras, and Guatemala. She is also completing a book titled Gastronomic Heritage: Stakes in Antiquity(McGill-Queen's University Press) that investigates the role of archaeogastronomy in narratives of food security, revitalization, and resilience.

• Shinya Shoda, Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties/University of York

  Shinya Shoda is Head of International Cooperation Section, Department of Planning and Coordination, Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Japan. He is a founding co-editor of Archaeology of Food and Foodways journal.