storage and preservation: introduction our mother, but our going is only for a while The messengers of the lord have come to take us ‘They must come,’ they said, according to the messengers.” “We shall leave our ball here in pledge,” they added They went immediately to hang it in the space under the rooftree “We will return to play,” they said FURTHER READING Carlin A Barton, The Sorrows of the Ancient Romans: The Gladiator and the Monster (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1992) Alan Cameron, Circus Factions: Blues and Greens at Rome and Byzantium (Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 1976) Stewart Culin, Games of the North American Indian (New York: Dover Publications, 1975) Wolfgang Decker, Sports and Games of Ancient Egypt, trans Allen Guttmann (New Haven Conn.: Yale University Press, 1992) Irving Finkel, ed., Ancient Board Games in Perspective (London: British Museum Press, 2007) Alison Futrell, A Sourcebook on the Roman Games (Oxford, U.K.: Blackwell, 2006) H A Harris, Greek Athletes and Athletics (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1964) “History of Weiqi.” Available online URL: http://www.yutopian com/go/misc/gohistory.html Downloaded January 30, 2007 Ulrich Hubner, “Games.” In The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East, vol 2, ed Eric M Meyers (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997) George Jennison, Animals for Show and Pleasure in Ancient Rome, 2nd ed (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005) Anne Mahoney, Roman Sports and Spectacles: A Sourcebook (Newburyport, Mass.: Focus, 2001) “Mancala.” Available online URL: http://www.search.com/reference/Mancala Downloaded on November 29, 2006 Stephen G Miller, Ancient Greek Athletics (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004) Peter Nabokov, Indian Running: Native American History and Tradition (Santa Fe, N.M.: Ancient City Press, 1987) Věra Olivová, Sports and Games in the Ancient World, trans D Orpington (London: Orbis, 1984) Joseph B Oxendine, American Indian Sports Heritage, 2nd ed (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1995) Michael B Poliakoff, Combat Sports in the Ancient World: Competition, Violence, and Culture (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1987) D S Potter and D J Mattingly, eds., Life, Death, and Entertainment in the Roman Empire (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1999) Larry Russ, The Complete Mancala Games Book: How to Play the World’s Oldest Board Games (New York: Marlowe, 2000) David Sansone, Greek Athletics and the Genesis of Sport (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988) 1061 And going to Hunbatz and Hunchouén they said to them: “Keep on playing the flute and singing, painting, and carving; warm our house and warm the heart of your grandmother.” From: Delia Goetz and Sylvanus Griswold Morley, trans., Popol Vuh (Los Angeles: Plantin Press, 1954) Judith Swaddling, The Ancient Olympic Games, 2nd ed (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1999) Malcolm Todd, Everyday Life of the Barbarians, Goths, Franks, and Vandals (London: Batsford, 1972) E Michael Whittington, ed., The Sport of Life and Death: The Mesoamerican Ballgame (New York: Thames and Hudson, 2001) ▶ storage and preservation introduction Hunter-gatherers in prehistoric times paid minimal attention to long-term food storage and preservation Their way of life dictated that they move about in search of food supplies and then consume what they found as they found it Food typically would not have been preserved for more than a few days or perhaps weeks, depending on how long it would keep Meat and fish, of course, had to be consumed within days, while plant foods could be kept on hand for a period of weeks It was with the advent of agriculture that ancient peoples turned more attention to longer-term food storage and preservation Agriculture offered the possibility of making a community’s food supply more consistent and predictable over time By storing and preserving food, people could measure out their food consumption over the year and eliminate the need to pick up and move when food supplies ran out Accordingly, they developed a number of techniques for storing and preserving food At the household level, food was stored primarily in such containers as woven baskets and clay pots; pots were also used for storing beverages Grains (often ground into meal and flour), beans, and rice could be stored in this way for long periods of time Foods more susceptible to spoilage were preserved principally by drying The food was spread out on the ground or on racks and placed in the sun or over a fire When its moisture content was low enough, it would be suitable for storage because microorganisms would not grow in it In this way ancient peoples preserved fruits, berries, corn, vegetables, and especially meat and fish Smoking was another common method for preserving meats and fish The smoke coated the food’s cells with substances that inhibit the growth of microorganisms Similarly,