Volume 167, 5 June 2015, Pages 54–63
Potent Substances: On the Boundaries of Food and Medicine
The Roman and Islamic spice trade: New archaeological evidence
Abstract
Ethnopharmacological relevance
Tropical
spices have long been utilized in traditional medicine and cuisine. New
archaeological evidence highlights temporal changes in the nature and
scale of the ancient spice trade and in the ancient usage of these
plants. Furthermore, a study of their ‘materiality’ highlights that the
impact of spices extends beyond their material properties. Here the
botanical remains of spices recovered from archaeological excavations at
a port active in the Roman and medieval Islamic spice trade are
evaluated.
Materials and methods
Recent
excavations at Quseir al-Qadim, an ancient port located on the Red Sea
coast of Egypt, have provided new evidence for the spice trade. Due to
the arid conditions ancient botanical remains were preserved in
abundance and these included spices, as well as a wide range of other
food plants. Quseir al-Qadim was active as a transport hub during both
the Roman and Islamic periods (ca. AD 1–250, known as Myos Hormos, and
again during ca. AD 1050–1500, known as Kusayr), and the remains thus
facilitate a study of temporal change in the trade and usage of these
spices. Standard archaeobotanical methods were used to recover, identify
and analyze these remains.
Results
At
least seven tropical spices were recovered from the excavations, as
well as several other tropical imports, including black pepper (Piper nigrum), ginger (Zingiber officinale), cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum), turmeric (Curcuma sp.), fagara (cf. Tetradium ruticarpum), myrobalan (Terminalia bellirica and Terminalia chebula) and betelnut (Areca catechu).
A marked contrast between the two chronological periods in the range of
spices recovered points to changes in the nature and scale of the trade
between the Roman and medieval Islamic periods, while differences in
the contexts from which they were recovered help to identify temporal
changes in the way in which the spices were utilized during those
periods.
Conclusion
Archaeological
and textual evidence suggest that in antiquity spices were used in
ritual (funeral rites, offerings), in perfumery, and in medicinal
remedies, with black pepper the only tropical spice regularly employed
in cuisine. By the medieval period the culinary role of spices had grown
significantly, both in the Middle East and in Europe, while retaining
their importance in medicinal applications. In both time periods they
were luxuries available only to the upper strata of society, but the
material properties of spices and their elite status made them desirable
to a wider section of society. In their pursuit of spices people became
entangled in a meshwork of relationships, altered social realities and
political power struggles. Globalization is one such entanglement,
highlighting that the potency of spices goes far beyond their ability to
stimulate our taste buds, delight our sense of smell and cure our
ailments.
Graphical abstract
Keywords
- Archaeology;
- Spices;
- Trade;
- Quseir al-Qadim;
- Globalization;
- Materiality
- Corresponding author. Tel.:
+44 1162522611.
- 1
- Present address: Departamento de Geografía, Prehistoria y Arqueología, Universidad del País Vasco, Spain.
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