An ethnoarchaeological study of feasting in Sulawesi, Indonesia

Recent literature suggests that feasting played a major role in such developments as the emergence of socioeconomic inequalities, the creation and utilization of political power, and the evolution of prestige technologies in prehistoric societies. Ethnoarchaeological studies of feasting in traditional societies have the potential to shed light on how feasting is related to these and other sociopolitical issues and how it can be identified archaeologically. This article presents the results of an ethnoarchaeological case study of traditional feasting in Kanan, Indonesia. An analysis of feasting-related material culture in Kanan demonstrates that the material manifestations of feasting can be attributed to a number of factors: the types of feasts held (solidarity or promotional), the scale of the feast, the materials used to prepare and serve food, and the types of foods consumed (e.g., domesticated animals vs. wild game). Additionally, this study shows that ecological conditions have a significant effect on the types of feasts that are held in a society and on the feasting behavior of individual households. 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.