Mead of the Bell Beaker Culture (c. 2800–1800 BCE). The earliest surviving description of mead is in the hymns of the "Rigveda", one of the sacred books of the historical Vedic religion and (later) Hinduism dated around 1700–1100 BC. During the Golden Age of ancient Greece, mead was said to be the preferred drink. Aristotle (384–322 BCE) discussed mead in his "Meteorologica" and elsewhere, while Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE) called mead "militites" in his "Naturalis Historia" and differentiated wine sweetened with honey or "honey-wine" from mead. The Hispanic-Roman naturalist Columella gave a recipe for mead in "De re rustica", about
Margaret Mead with the pluralization of the term "semiotics." In later life, Mead was a mentor to many young anthropologists and sociologists, including Jean Houston. In 1976, Mead was a key participant at UN Habitat I, the first UN forum on human settlements. Mead died of pancreatic cancer on November 15, 1978 and is buried at Trinity Episcopal Church Cemetery, Buckingham, Pennsylvania. In the foreword to "Coming of Age in Samoa", Mead's advisor, Franz Boas, wrote of its significance: Courtesy, modesty, good manners, conformity to definite ethical standards are universal, but what constitutes courtesy, modesty, very good manners, and definite ethical standards