Food Preparation & Cooking

Culture strongly influences how food is prepared and cooked so researchers look to food to study the cultural identities of people in the past. From oral history, archaeology, and accounts of European explorers we can begin to understand how the Wampanoag prepared their foods and what their meals were like. Cooking techniques changed over time as a result of what foods were available and what tools were available for cooking. For example, the Wampanoag people who lived directly after the Ice Age typically roasted their foods over a fire, but later in time they tended to cook more stews in vessels like stone bowls or ceramic or metal pots. Oral history and historical accounts can help us learn more about how food may have been seasoned, prepared, or served. This selection of artifacts demonstrates variability in Wampanoag cooking techniques.

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