The Importance of Feasting in Iron Age Europe

The cauldron from Hochdorf could hold 500 liters. Cauldrons were almost definitely used mostly for cooking food, usually meat-based soups and stews but sometimes alcoholic beverages as well. Joy argues that feasting was this incredibly important tradition in the cultures of Iron Age Europe. By hosting a feast, debts or obligations are passed on to guests, thus making feasts arenas for negotiations of social influence.