Ensuring food for tomorrow - Iberian Society

Iberian women took care both of food processing and the nutritional contribution to the group, as of the transmission of knowledge to other women around, since these practices require a long learning process that is passed from generation to generation. Cooking practices also were essential for the maintenance of the group and for the creation and transformation of social networks.

In the Iberian world we do not find a specialized space for food processing because under the same roof many independent activities might be carried on by women and men of different ages (spinning and weaving, milling, storage or pantry, etc.). Thus, the cutting or seasoning of food was not necessarily performed inside the houses and mill grinding was normally allocated at the entrances or in the yards.

Instead, the cooking of raw materials for processing them into edible food was carried on inside the houses, as evidenced by the remains of hearths and archaeological features associated to culinary technology (mills, cooking pots, food hooks, etc.).