Next time you go to a football game, consider how you’re part of an age-old tradition. So what did long-ago sports fans consume, before hot dogs and the like were invented? Molly Enking shows that Roman spectators probably ate more healthily than do moderns, and also why the Colosseum’s sewers are where to go for new discoveries. Bridget Alex tells us Why Prehistoric Herders Didn’t Spit Out Their Watermelon Seeds. It’s a remarkable story of archaeological genetic “sleuthing” with possible practical lessons for today’s farmers. And Matti Friedman completes this trilogy of fruitful Smithsonian Magazine articles by relating The Sweet and Sticky History of the Date. This remarkable piece combines history, genetics, a spy story, a common threat perhaps bringing people together, and many intriguing facts about this most interesting stone fruit. And speaking about sweets, past and future, the University of Reading announces How Chocolate Changed the World: An Upcoming Investigation. Another appealing project seeking to better the future by better understanding the human past. (WM)
— Delivered by Feed43 service