The longue durée in the north Aegean

Abstract

This chapter looks at the long-term changes in the various ecological zones of the north Aegean that provide the framework within which we can begin to understand the specific, medium-term changes that occurred in the second half of the first millennium bc. The transformation of landscapes as a result of agricultural, pastoral, and mineralogical regimes is both a symptom and a product of conscious economic strategies. Animal husbandry provided traction and transport as well as dietary supplements, while textile manufacture, metallurgy, and ceramic technologies track the complex pattern of intra-regional exchange that made the region a distinctive one in the period under consideration. Thorstein Veblen's conviction that ‘the instinct of workmanship’has been a key driver of cultural and economic production is applied here in the context of east Balkan fashions and material preferences.