Who Ate All the Thrushes? Roman Urban Street Food Consumers as well as Elites

The hard parts of animals that commonly preserve on archaeological sites can inform on the diets of past human communities (Egeland 2018). Beyond understanding of general sustenance, food can be a symbol of cultural identity and expression, and can reveal diverse ways in which communities interact with their environment and each other (Messer 1984). Zooarchaeological studies of taxonomic abundance, skeletal part representation, taphonomy, demography and context can provide detailed insights on food production, preparation and consumption, as well as sometimes associations of status and social access to a resource (Twiss 2012). In this issue, Valenzuala (2025) critically analyses a unique assemblage that brings fresh light to the diversity of social contexts for the consumption of thrushes in Roman Europe.