‘Appels met peren vergelijken’: een beerputvulling uit Tiel (Gld.) energetisch geschaald

Samenvatting

‘Comparing apples and oranges’: the energetic value of a cesspit fill from Tiel (province of Gelderland). The archaeobotanical remains of an 18th-century cesspit from Tiel have been analyzed on the level of their energetic value by combining the number of sub-fossil seeds per species, the weight of the fruit and the energetic value per 100 g weight of the fruit. Food items that represent the highest energy intake are grape (or raisin or currant), fig, plum and cherry. Depending on the method of food preparation, seeds usually end up in the cesspit as kitchen waste or as night soil. The data is biased, however, since kitchen waste may also be dumped elsewhere. Since 18th-century meals are known to have mainly consisted of bread, dairy products, potatoes, bacon, legumes and soups, it is assumed that most of the recovered species served to flavour or garnish dishes.