In this book, Catherine E. Pratt explores how oil and wine became increasingly entangled in Greek culture, from the Late Bronze Age to the Archaic period. Using ceramic, architectural, and archaeobotanical data, she argues that Bronze Age exchange practices initiated a strong network of dependency between oil and wine production, and the people who produced, exchanged, and used them. After the palatial collapse, these prehistoric connections intensified during the Iron Age and evolved into the large-scale industries of the Classical period. Pratt argues that oil and wine in pre-Classical Greece should be considered 'cultural commodities', products that become indispensable for proper social and economic exchanges well beyond economic advantage. Offering a detailed diachronic account of the changing roles of surplus oil and wine in the economies of pre-classical Greek societies, her book contributes to a broader understanding of the complex interconnections between agriculture, commerce, and culture in the ancient Mediterranean.

‘The individual chapters provide useful studies of the social and economic history of each period, as mediated by the evidence for oil and wine production, consumption, and exchange … The book as a whole is valuable reading for all interested in the transition from the Bronze Age to the early polis.’

Evan Vance Source: Rhea Classical Reviews

‘Recommended.’

S. Brown Source: Choice Magazine

‘Pratt ably demonstrates her expertise at assembling a truly interdisciplinary and contextualized approach to how, when and why, exactly, ancient Greek identity became so intertwined with oil and wine.’

Ulrike Krotscheck Source: Food & History

‘The book as a whole is valuable reading for all interested in the transition from the Bronze Age to the early polis - it is particularly refreshing to see a book that joins the Archaic period to the Bronze Age, rather than including it as a poorly-attested prequel to the Classical period. Those interested in food production and its cultural value will also find much to contemplate in Pratt’s writing.’

Evan Vance Source: Rhea Classical Review