On Mon, 18 Nov 2002 16:04:18 -0600, Francesca Cerrato <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >This is total speculation but I recall that in many of the old stories >and fabels there is a large container of stew or soup simmering away - >the water heated over fire with vegetables, herbs and pieces of meat >added to it. It warms you up when you're cold, the meat is loosened from >the bones and comes off easily, the nutrients, especially in the bone >marrow, are released and become part of the broth. Finally, it's a way >of incorporating much of what has been gathered and hunted into one big >pot that everyone can share ("scoop" from). > >If you have a fire that you tend and keep going 24/7, it seems only >natural that out of curiousity you would experiment with heating up food >(and water), grinding up stuff with mortar and pestal, mixing different >things together... > >Would this have been possible before there were clay pots? Would an >animal skin work? > >- Francesca In a recent article I posted, one paleo group used large turtle shells as "pots": http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe ?A2=ind0210&L=paleofood&P=R13140&D=0&O=D so they were quite improvising. I think stone pit cooking was done in animal skins. Philip Thrift http://geocities.com/paleofitness