Shaping Social Dynamics in Early 3rd Millennium BC Mesopotamia: Solid-Footed Goblets and the Politics of Drinking

It has long been recognized that access to food and beverages has strong political as well as cultural implications in past and modern societies. Commensal events are a “powerful form of ritual activity” that can be detected in the archaeological record in part by studying the containers used for feasting. Feasting is also an ideal setting for investigating social change through time. This paper attempts to scrutinize the “proxemics” of drinking at the onset of the 3rd millennium BC in Mesopotamia via examining a particular type of drinking vessel, the so-called solid-footed goblet. The first part of the paper deals with chrono-stratigraphic and contextual distribution of drinking vessels, while the second part links material culture and feasting behaviors in early 3rd millennium BC Mesopotamia by using comparative and ethnoarchaeological analyses. Frances Pinnock’s research focused on the visual and material culture of Syria and Mesopotamia. Given her interest for the phenomenon of “banqueting” in early Mesopotamian and Syrian imagery, it seems appropriate to dedicate this essay to her.