Call for contribution "Dairy products in Medieval and post-medieval Mediterranean countries&quo

Call for papers - International workshop on Dairy products in Medieval and post-medieval Mediterranean countries: production, trade, consumption - April, 24th 2016 in Aix-en-Provence (France)

Introduction

This workshop is part of the annual cycle « Crafts in the Mediterranean » organized by the Laboratory of medieval and post-medieval archaeology in the Mediterranean (LA3M UMR 7298). This year the theme is "Dairy products in Medieval and post-medieval Mediterranean countries: production, trade, consumption". The meeting will be held in the Maison Méditerranéenne des Sciences de l’Homme (MMSH), in Aix-en-Provence (France) on April 4th, 2016.

Topic

Contrasting with the Prehistory for which the question of the beginning of the consumption of dairy products is of critical importance, few studies are devoted to the production and consumption of these products during medieval and post-medieval periods. However, dairy products, especially cheese, are key components of the Mediterranean diet. Sometimes disregarded, sometimes recommended by dieticians, the latter are traded both at local and international scale. This workshop aims at gathering researchers from different disciplines (history, archaeology, iconography, organic chemistry, zootechny) to provide a comprehensive overview of the topic. We propose three main lines of reflection:

• For a technical history of dairy products
- From grass to milk : herding of dairy sheep, goat and cow
- Diversity of dairy products (milk, butter, cream, cheese) and their operational chain
- Structures of production /conservation and material culture

• From local to international : the dairy products in the Mediterranean trade
- Dairy products from plains and mountains
- From local to International trade

• From food to health: diversity of dairy products consumption
- Milk consumption: from infancy to adulthood
- Butter and cheese at the table of the poor and the rich
- The role of dairy products in the therapeutics and dietetics

Since we wish to achieve synthesis and to stimulate research on the topic, the workshop contributions manuscripts shall be published.

Terms of Submission
Please send your proposal (title and short abstract) stating your institutional affiliation, before December 31 January, 2016 to: burri@mmsh.univ-aix.fr

Scientific organizer

Sylvain Burri , chargé de recherche, Laboratoire d’Archéologie Médiévale et Moderne en Méditerranée (LA3M UMR 7298/Université d’Aix-Marseille).

Mohamed Ouerfelli , maître de conférence, Laboratoire d’Archéologie médiévale et Moderne en Méditerranée (LA3M UMR 7298 CNRS/Université d’Aix-Marseille)