This assignment is going to be about the topic of cooking. In recent years, many archaeologists working with artifacts have developed a broad perspective on technology which involves all aspects of the skillful engagement of humans with the world around them. In this assignment, we will look at cooking as a technology that is deeply embedded in a web of engagements that include diet and nutrition, learning and kinship, tools and access to materials, and that can stretch to include aspects of cosmology (religion) and complex supply chains.
The paper is about choosing one of your favorite dishes to eat or to make and figure out the process of making it, especially if there are any special/main cooking processes (such as frying, boiling, baking…etc). In the essay, consider your cooking process from ONE of the following perspectives:
Choice1: What is involved in learning to carry out this process. Be careful, there may be tacit knowledge that is easily overlooked (i.e., how to properly hold a knife). If you are learning from somebody you can include the social interactions involved.
Choice 2: How is your home cooking enmeshed within a larger framework of procurement and production? What can you learn about where your ingredients and tools come from?
Choice 3: To what extent can your cooking be described as simply fulfilling a nutritional need and to what extent are there engagements with tradition, ideas about entertainment, or any broader aspect of society.
That’s about it, if there are any questions, please let me know, and thank you for the work in advance :). And also, could you let me know the dish and the cooking process that you will be writing about? Thank you!
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