Two Oxen Ahead

Beschreibung

This revealing study of farming practices in societies clustered around the Mediterranean draws out the valuable contribution that knowledge of recent farming practices can make to our understanding of husbandry in prehistoric and Greco-Roman times. It reflects increased academic interest in the formative influence of farming regimes on the societies they were designed to feed. The author's intensive research took him to farming communities around the Mediterranean, where he recorded observational and interview data on differing farming practices, many of which can be traced back to classical antiquity or earlier. The book explores these variables, detailing the divergent traditions of the annual chaîne opératoire (from ploughing and sowing to harvest and threshing), as well as the generational cycle of household development. It traces the interdependence of these successive stages and provides a detailed comparative analysis attributing interregional variations to localized ecologies and cultures. Each chapter isolates what can be inferred about ancient practice from the data on recent agronomy and animal husbandry, while emphasizing the inevitably heuristic nature of such linkages.
This revealing study shows how careful analysis of recent farming practices, and related cultural traditions, in communities around the Mediterranean can enhance our understanding of prehistoric and Greco-Roman societies. * Includes a wealth of original interview material and data from field observation * Provides original approaches to understanding past farming practices and their social contexts * Offers a revealing comparative perspective on Mediterranean societies' agronomy * Identifies a number of previously unrecorded climate-related contrasts in farming practices, which have important socio-economic significance * Explores annual tasks, such as tillage and harvest; inter-annual land management techniques, such as rotation; and intergenerational issues, including capital accumulation

Autor*in

Paul Halstead

Themen in »Two Oxen Ahead«

Altertum Ancient & Classical History Antike u. klassische Geschichte Classical Studies Economic History Economics Humanistische Studien Mittelmeerländer /Alte Geschichte Mittelmeerländer /Landwirtschaft Volkswirtschaftslehre Wirtschaftsgeschichte

Stimmen zu »Two Oxen Ahead«

Review copy sent on 06.10.14 to Historia Agraria Review copy sent on 07.08.14 to Environmental Archaeology Review copy sent on 30.04.14 to Near Eastern Archaeology Review copy sent on 26.03.14 to Tijdschrift voor Mediterrane Archeologie B = Standard Review List NA review list: (COPIES SENT 23.10.14) 1. American Journal of Archaeology 2. Bryn Mawr Classical Review 3. Classical Journal 4. Classical Bulletin 5. Classical World UK review list: (COPIES SENT 23.10.14) 1. Antiquity 2. Journal of Hellenic Studies 3. Journal of Roman Studies 4. Environmental Archaeology 5. Rural History 6. Agricultural History Review (NOT SENT, no unsolicted reviews) Journal of Anthropological Archaeology Reference Reviews
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