The art of communal drinking

Communal eating and drinking are universal human behaviours. They are culturally coded social practices involved in the formation of social identities through strategies of inclusion and exclusion – who is invited to a meal and who is not, who may or may not prepare and consume certain foods and drinks, what behaviours are expected of whom, and what material paraphernalia may be used by whom and in what context. Drinking vessels and their physical properties are often used strategically to either unify or diversify individuals and groups. The material culture of communal drinking is enmeshed in the formation, performance and negotiation of identities through the processes of social competition and cultural distinction. This paper examines the material aspects of late medieval drinking culture, focusing on the decorated ceramic drinking vessels that were used in the southern regions of Central Europe. Several distinct groups of medieval ceramic drinkware are presented, such as earthenware beakers and goblets with relief decoration and the Loštice semi-stoneware goblets. Their regional distribution, the social contexts in which they were used, and their relationship to drinking vessels made of other materials are discussed in terms of the role they played in the formation of late medieval social and cultural identities.