Leading on from Cooking a pig, Bronze Age Style Part 1, which set out the theory of cooking a pit using Bronze Age technology, Rubicon’s intrepid MD Colm Moloney undertook Part 2 of the experiment; all that was needed was a shoulder of a lamb, a hole in his garden, and enforced child labour. He describes the results in this photo essay…
I spent last Saturday in my garden doing some experimental archaeology in order to get some idea of the types of heat generated and consequently the length of time required to cook a joint of meat. This varied slightly from the theory and I cheated by using tinfoil to wrap the meat (as I still haven’t decided what material to wrap the meat in). We used the front quarter of a lamb instead of pork as this is less likely to end in a case of food poisoning. The meat was donated by Toby and Penny Allen and the ‘pit team’ comprised myself, Louise Baker and Reuben Moloney.
Brilliant stuff! And it looks delicious. Ever tried the method used by Fionn and the Fianna when out hunting.? Apparently you kill the deer, skin him and hang up the skin like a bag, suspended from a tripod of spears. Then you heat stones in your campfire as you sit round telling stories about your magic thumb, or your battle with the King of The World on Ventry Strand. Meanwhile, you keep throwing the hot stones into the skin bag, which you’ve filled with water. And, eventually, the water boils. Then you boil up handy collops of meat, and, presumably, plenty of them; because by this stage you’re hungry as hunters.
Back in the feasting hall, water would be boiled in huge bronze, or wooden, cauldrons. In his book, In Ireland Long Ago, Kevin Danaher, the wonderful Irish folklorist, says the Brehon Laws, which go into great detail about many everyday things, lay down very clearly that the cook’s not responsible for splashing hot broth on people round the fire – as long as he gives warning in a loud voice, saying ‘Look out! Here goes the fork into the cauldron!’
Have a look at my blog http://www.felicityhayesmccoy.co.uk for a shot of Ventry Strand. Site of the Battle of Ventry, one of the high points of the cycle of stories about Fionn and the Fianna. (More peaceful now, though.) It’s a glorious place.
Several years ago, I excavated a burnt mound site with some deeper pit features I felt represented ‘ground ovens’, as used by the indigenous peoples of Polynesia and Australasia. Just a theory, of course, as I couldn’t prove it at the time, and naturally, my theory was looked upon with some raised eyebrows.
If that was lumber you used for your fuel I would be much worried about the possible chemicals used to treat it than any possible toxicity from limestone. My crew and I cook directly on stones all the time when we are on remote area projects. Just make sure the stones are dry and the pourous the better. Any wet and pourous stone (such as limestone) can become super-heated and explode when the water in the stone vaporizes to explosive steam. We do that for fun as well when not cooking. Igneous stones such as granite or hearth stones from previous fires that are already sufficiently dried and cleaned from firing make good cooking stones. Also be careful of what you wrap the meat in as many plants can leave nasty tasting flavors on the meat. Usually edible plants are going to be your best bet and soaking the plants in water will help steam your food and keep them from burning and smoking up the flavor. Bon appetit.
Brilliant stuff! And it looks delicious. Ever tried the method used by Fionn and the Fianna when out hunting.? Apparently you kill the deer, skin him and hang up the skin like a bag, suspended from a tripod of spears. Then you heat stones in your campfire as you sit round telling stories about your magic thumb, or your battle with the King of The World on Ventry Strand. Meanwhile, you keep throwing the hot stones into the skin bag, which you’ve filled with water. And, eventually, the water boils. Then you boil up handy collops of meat, and, presumably, plenty of them; because by this stage you’re hungry as hunters.
Back in the feasting hall, water would be boiled in huge bronze, or wooden, cauldrons. In his book, In Ireland Long Ago, Kevin Danaher, the wonderful Irish folklorist, says the Brehon Laws, which go into great detail about many everyday things, lay down very clearly that the cook’s not responsible for splashing hot broth on people round the fire – as long as he gives warning in a loud voice, saying ‘Look out! Here goes the fork into the cauldron!’
Hi Felicity,
We haven’t tried that one out yet but it sounds like fun! Especially the feasting hall bit… :-)!
Have a look at my blog http://www.felicityhayesmccoy.co.uk for a shot of Ventry Strand. Site of the Battle of Ventry, one of the high points of the cycle of stories about Fionn and the Fianna. (More peaceful now, though.) It’s a glorious place.
Several years ago, I excavated a burnt mound site with some deeper pit features I felt represented ‘ground ovens’, as used by the indigenous peoples of Polynesia and Australasia. Just a theory, of course, as I couldn’t prove it at the time, and naturally, my theory was looked upon with some raised eyebrows.
http://www.m3motorway.ie/Archaeology/Section1/Knocks1/file,16705,en.pdf
So thanks guys, for proving that the cooking pit is both feasible and viable. I feel somewhat vindicated!
No problem Stuart, good to see we are on the same page!
If that was lumber you used for your fuel I would be much worried about the possible chemicals used to treat it than any possible toxicity from limestone. My crew and I cook directly on stones all the time when we are on remote area projects. Just make sure the stones are dry and the pourous the better. Any wet and pourous stone (such as limestone) can become super-heated and explode when the water in the stone vaporizes to explosive steam. We do that for fun as well when not cooking. Igneous stones such as granite or hearth stones from previous fires that are already sufficiently dried and cleaned from firing make good cooking stones. Also be careful of what you wrap the meat in as many plants can leave nasty tasting flavors on the meat. Usually edible plants are going to be your best bet and soaking the plants in water will help steam your food and keep them from burning and smoking up the flavor. Bon appetit.