Old wine in new vessels: Intercultural contact, innovation and aegean, canaanite and philistine foodways

This article explores two case studies of innovation that occurred within the context of interregional interaction: the use of Mycenaean drinking ware in the southern Levant during the 14th–13th centuries BCE and the use of Aegean cooking vessels and cooking facilities in Philistia during the 12th century. These cases demonstrate how intercultural differences function as a potent obstacle to the processes of the cultural transmission of innovations. Variability in the interaction range, trade versus migration, creates different mechanisms of social transmission. The long-term situation of intercultural close contact characteristic of migration greatly facilitates the processes of invention, intended to amplify the relative advantages, as well as the compatibility values of the product in a way that may be sufficient to overcome cultural boundaries.