Database of foodstuffs and food systems in Africa, 1497-1840.

This dataset catalogues observations of foodstuffs and food systems in eastern Africa over a period of three centuries (1497-1840 CE). It compiles 2,699 reports of the presence/absence of foodstuffs, domesticates, and non-food crops across 278 sites. These observations were supplemented by information on foodstuff quantity in >650 instances, with >250 unique detailed extracts on methods of production and relative dietary, social-cultural and economic importance. Importantly, this combination of the breadth and depth of ‘big qualitative data’ within the historical record enables data on the materiality of foodstuffs to be investigated alongside social-cultural perspectives (e.g. gender, belief systems, the effects of colonial ways of knowing on indigenous knowledges), and the possible drivers of transitions and transformations in African food systems.

本数据集收录了公元1497年至1840年（共三个世纪）间东非地区的食品与食物系统观测资料。数据集共汇编了278处遗址中涉及食品、驯化物种与非粮食作物存在与否的2699条记录。在此基础上，本数据集补充了超过650例的食品数量信息，以及250余条关于生产方式、相对饮食价值、社会文化意义与经济重要性的专属详细摘录。尤为关键的是，历史记录中“大规模质性数据”的广度与深度得以结合，使得研究人员能够在探究食品物质性数据的同时，结合社会文化视角（例如性别、信仰体系、殖民认知模式对本土知识的影响），并对非洲食物系统转型与变革的潜在驱动因素展开相关研究。