Judging a loaf by its appearance : A protocol to study bread and bread-like fragments based on the study cases of Gamla Uppsala, Valsgärde, and Gnista

Abstract: Bread is an important cultural and social marker, and it occurs in many contexts, often preserved as carbonised. However, as bread fragments are typically small and anonymous, their total value of them is not appreciated. Often bread material is grouped simply as organic and not considered. Material from Late Iron Age and the early Medieval times Gamla Uppsala, Valsgärde, and Gnista (Uppland County, Sweden) is analysed here. In this text, both settlement and ritual contexts were taken into consideration in the trends concerning bread production and/or consumption. This thesis aims to establish a protocol for distinguishing bread from other carbonised materials, including a macroscopic description that can be used in the field. Micro morphological and lipids analyses are relevant resources to study charred bread-like fragments recovered in archaeological contexts. Other laboratory methods, including FTIR, GC–MS, and GCIMS, were used alongside these methods. Experimental archaeology allowed for the build-up of a list of references to compare the material collected in the field. Developing a method to study these remains sheds light on the cultural value of bread, one of the most spread foodstuffs, and its connections with conviviality.