Storage, Society, and the Archaeology of Diet

The ability to store surplus grain safely over long periods was one of the fundamental technological achievements underlying the rise of complex ancient societies. Egyptian granaries, frequently attached to temple complexes and royal palaces and vividly depicted in miniature wooden tomb models meant to provision the deceased in the afterlife, held reserves of wheat and barley that could be drawn upon in years of poor Nile flooding, a function credited in biblical tradition to the patriarch Joseph's grain-storage policy in Egypt. In Rome, large public warehouses known as horrea, some specialized for grain and others for oil, wine, or other goods, were built in the capital and throughout the empire to supply cities and armies. In the Andes, the Inca state maintained an extensive network of qollqa storehouses, strategically positioned along mountain roads and near administrative centers, capable of holding enough preserved food to support state building projects, military campaigns, and famine relief across a vast and ecologically varied empire. In China, the concept of the "ever-normal granary," a state-managed reserve system designed to buy grain when cheap and release it when scarce in order to stabilize prices and prevent famine, was formalized under the Han dynasty and influenced Chinese food-security policy for centuries afterward.