Potingair

The history of cane sugar from its origins in the east to its status as a luxury foodstuff and even a medicine in the early medieval period to a commodity produced and consumed globally in today’s world is well known. Yet archaeologically, sugar is an invisible commodity, its presence usually being inferred from the humble sugar pots used in the last stages of its sophisticated production process. This book attempts to redress the imbalance between history and archaeology by reporting on the excavation of a medieval sugar refinery south of the Dead Sea in Jordan. There it was possible to explore many of the steps in the process from milling/crushing of the cane to purifying the crude juice. To place this refinery in chronological and economic context, excavation was extended to the adjacent ‘support town’ of Khirbet Shaykh ‘Isa.

At the same time, this book reviews the available archaeological evidence for sugar production across the Mediterranean up to the time that the industry’s focus moved increasingly west to the New World. The book is fully illustrated; it can be profitably read by archaeologists, archaeological scientists and historians alike. 

Richard Jones has wide-ranging experience in archaeological science in the Mediterranean and especially in Greece.  The production and distribution of pottery is one of his main interests.  Until recently he was Senior Lecturer in archaeological science at the University of Glasgow.