Afterword: Understanding the Neolithization Processes in the Mediterranean based on Food Traditions

The diversity of food practices among the first Mediterranean farmers is expressed in the range of food resources exploited, which includes a wide range of domesticated and wild animals and plants from the marine and terrestrial worlds. However, it can also be observed in the ways of producing, procuring, storing, preparing and consuming foodstuffs, which are made according to a wide range of gestures. Far from being static and homogeneous, the food practices of the first Mediterranean farmers underwent clear chronological evolutions that were relatively rapid (over a few centuries) or gradual (over one or even two millennia). They are also subject to discernible geographical variations on macro- and micro-regional scales. Such spatio-temporal variations in the diet of the first Mediterranean farmers seem to be explained by both environmental (such as climate, flora and fauna, soils) and sociocultural factors (such as the age and sex of the individuals)