For Santorini’s Bronze-Age residents, one fateful day around the year 1650BCE began like any other, with the sights, sounds, and smells of the bakery filling the air. But by day’s end, this Mediterranean coastal town and many of its occupants were buried by volcanic ash—an entire culture lost. For this project, I attempt to reconstruct a crucial element of ancient culture in Akrotiri, Greece – food. Using experimental archaeology, I aim to recreate barley paximadia – a traditional flat bread thought to be a local staple. To date, Akrotiri has not been fully excavated, but preliminary archaeological evidence provides insight into the ingredients likely used to make this flat bread. With age-appropriate baking techniques – a wood-fire oven, a clay pot, and (as a control) a cast-iron Dutch oven – I do my best to get a taste of ancient culture.
