1068 storage and preservation: Greece Amphora, a ceramic vessel used for storing and carrying oil and wine and other commodities, from Athens (Alison Frantz Photographic Collection, American School of Classical Studies at Athens) the grain was stored loose in a granary or in one room of a larger storage building Some of the earliest buildings solely dedicated to storage of grain were round, with dome-shaped roofs These would have looked very similar to the images of granaries from Egyptian tombs from the same time period Granaries from the later Geometric Period in Greece have an almost identical shape Grain was poured into the granary through a window near the top of the dome and removed at the base through another gap Thus, the older grain at the bottom of the pile would always be used first During the fourth and fift h centuries b.c.e people actually made less use of large-scale and long-term storage fa- cilities During the Bronze Age goods had been taken to the palaces for redistribution, but in the Classical Period (480– 323 b.c.e.) the system of storage and distribution was based on individuals and their farmsteads However, even though the local farmers could not grow enough grain to feed the nearby cities, archaeologists have not been able to identify the storage places of the imported grain in urban centers or their ports This has led some scholars to suggest that the grain was stored in the countryside At Knossos a building called the Unexplored Mansion contained a number of storage jars of untouched food, including legumes, figs, and several kinds of grain Some of the grain in these jars was hulled, but a similar find of stored Bronze Age grain in Macedonia had spikelets of wheat Centuries later, ancient authors would recommend storing grain without threshing it (removing the chaff or straw) so that if weevils did get in, they would be confined to the outer layers of the grain In the eighth century b.c.e the Greek writer Hesiod (fl ca 800 b.c.e.) stated that threshed grain should be kept in storage jars within the house The available methods of storing food meant that food had to be preserved by other means before being put into storage Unfortunately, most of the ancient descriptions of food processing come from the Roman Period, and the archaeological evidence is often not of much help The evidence seems to point to the fact that meat, which was expensive and therefore rarely eaten, was consumed right away Fish, on the other hand, was eaten in larger quantities, both fresh and preserved Based on the information available, it seems likely that the Greeks usually salted or smoked both meat and fish There are, in fact, many terms for preserved fish, but all seem to describe the species of fish and the shape of the preserved pieces rather than the process Milk from goats, sheep, or cows was preserved for short-term use by being made into butter and for longer periods by being made into cheese Milk solids could be formed into small bricks, dried in the sun, and later rehydrated for use in cooking Lentils, peas, and beans of all kinds were dried for storage and were easily reconstituted with water in stews or ground up into flour Other vegetables could have been dried or pickled in brine or vinegar Olives and cucumbers were certainly pickled in these ways Greens such as lettuce and cresses were difficult to keep for long periods and probably were eaten only fresh However, it is known that the leaves of fig trees were pickled and were used by almost every cook Fruits that had an outer rind (such as pomegranates) or were hard (like quinces) could be kept fresh by careful storage If the fruits were placed in containers in such a way that they did not touch the sides of the container or especially each other, they would stay fresh for a longer time Juicier, softer fruits such as figs, plums, cherries, and grapes could be dried or preserved in honey Grapes, of course, were also preserved by being made into wine Most fruits, in fact, could be pressed for their juice and the juice allowed to ferment and become cider or wine or to sour and become vinegar Not only did