Berbers, Barley and Bsisa

Abstract

The article underlines the importance of barley in the ancient North African diet, looking at a specific contemporary food, bsisa. This is made from green barley, toasted, ground, and mixed with spices and water and oil into a sort of porridge. It constituted an important resource for a time of year when stocks of other grains might be running low. The porridge is made by rubbing the ground grain against the side of the bowl while water is added in a thin stream. It is suggested that the ARS form 91, which had a long series of predecessors in North African ceramics, was an ideal form for the making and consumption of bsisa. Wear analysis of some specimens seems to support this conclusion.

Keywords

• Berbers
• barley bsisa
• North Africa
• ceramics
• ARS