Ancient Agriculture Research Articles

Modelling the ancient maize agriculture potential of landforms in Tikal National Park, Guatemala

The ancient polity of Tikal has been extensively studied by archaeologists and soil scientists, but more information is needed to determine the specific subsistence and ancient farming techniques that sustained its inhabitants for more than eight centuries. Recent settlement, soil resource, and vegetation surveys were completed during a re-evaluation of the earthworks of Tikal. The objective of this research was to combine non-parametric multiplicative regression, stable carbon isotopes, soil properties, and remote-sensing data for cost-effective, predictive modelling of ancient maize (Zea mays L.) agricultural areas. The study area is positioned within a 300 km2 region surrounding the Tikal site centre (17° 13′ 19.0″ N, 89° 27′ 25.2″ W). In the study area, ancient maize agriculture was determined using carbon (C) isotopic signatures of C4 vegetation that were incorporated into the soil humin fraction. Probability models predicting C isotopic enrichment were used to outline areas of potential long-term maize agriculture. A binomial model predicted areas mainly along the bajo margins, indicating that these areas may have been used for sustained ancient maize agriculture. Upland areas with shallow Rendolls soil were found to lack strong C4 isotopic signatures. They showed a long-term C3 vegetation signature that could have supported native forest, silvicultural activities, or C3 cropping practices (i.e. forest gardens). The mosaic of C3 and C4 signatures within the study site soils suggests that the Tikal area supported a variety of food production systems.

Archaeology in Jordan, 2010 and 2011 Seasons

Claudia Buhrig, Lisa Berger, and Georg Pasewald, Orient Department, German Archaeological Institute, Berlin, report: Recent research on the ancient city of Gadara (present-day Umm Qeis), with its focus on settlement development in Hellenistic to Roman times, is currently being expanded to include a multiperiod survey in the hinterland (online fig. 1). The first two campaigns provided knowledge about the urban hinterland’s settlement, traffic, supply and fortification systems, agricultural and economic use of the region, and the first traces of prehistoric settlements in the area. In the course of reconstructing the environmental and economic conditions in the region, numerous remnants of ancient agriculture and water supply systems, as well as extensive limestone quarries and mining regions for flint, were documented. The survey results also detail various construction activities: defensive watch towers, agricultural installations, homesteads, a Roman villa(?), smaller settlements, and numerous tombs and cemeteries. Preliminary examination of the pottery, lithics, and stone artifacts confirms the theory that there was continuous settlement activity in the region from prehistoric until early modern times. This is supported by favorable topographic and natural conditions, such as springs, fertile soils, available building materials, and flint deposits. Two extra-urban hilltop sanctuaries were located and documented: the sanctuary on al-Qabu and the cult place ‘Arqub Rumi. In 2010, a rough plan of the monumental structure on al-Qabu was drawn, and a test trench in the western area verified the presence of a podium temple; in the eastern part of the site, building structures of unknown use were documented. Pottery, marble fragments, and architectural elements (Corinthian capitals, cornices, bases) were found in abundance throughout the entire site. It is currently presumed that a Late Augustan monumental sanctuary complex was located atop al-Qabu. The sanctuary is visible and easily accessible from the main temple complex in Gadara, the so-called theater-temple area, and it had a direct connection to a main east–west supraregional transit route. There may also have been a functional connection with ‘Arqub Rumi, the cult complex for which a topographic map was made in 2011 (online fig. 2). The ceramic material found in both campaigns illustrates the great chronological depth of occupation in the region. For instance, the hilltop with ‘Arqub Rumi shows clear signs of occupation from Late Hellenistic to Roman times, but there is no evidence of use during the following periods. In contrast, the pottery from al-Qabu has revealed the continuous use of this hilltop from at least Late Hellenistic times through the Early Islamic period.

Modern pollen assemblages from cultivated rice fields and rice pollen morphology: Application to a study of ancient land use and agriculture in the Pearl River Delta, China

Pollen from a series of surface soil samples collected along a transect spanning southeast China was investigated to better understand palynological signals of ancient agriculture and other human activity. The transect surface samples consist of pairs taken inside and outside rice paddy fields. Pollen assemblages from these samples are valuable as modern analogs of human-altered environments and rice agriculture. Our measurements of Poaceae pollen grains from inside the modern rice fields discovered that 34–40 µm is the statistically significant size range for identifying domesticated rice in fossil pollen samples. This conclusion is also based on a size comparison of raw and chemically treated modern pollen grains from the plants. Pollen measurements for local wild grasses show that most native weeds have pollen grains less than 30 µm in size. The modern analogs and our study of the influence of chemical treatment on pollen grain size made it possible to examine a sediment core from the Pearl River delta for evidence of anthropogenic influence, including rice farming. Pollen assemblages from around 2200 cal. yr BP are highly similar to those of our modern analogs representing disturbed landscapes outside modern rice fields. The pollen spectra reveal abrupt increases in Poaceae, Dicranopteris, Artemisia and Pinus indicative of rice farming and forest clearance, at around 2200 cal. yr BP. Major factors associated with this abrupt transition were the rapid formation of the deltaic flood plain and massive increases in the Pearl River delta area population during the Qin Dynasty.

Agricultural Strategies and Political Economy in Ancient Anatolia

Archaeological study of ancient agriculture in the eastern Mediterranean has traditionally focused on what crops were farmed, at what sites, during which periods. Questions about why farmers adopted specific agricultural strategies, however, have been left to historical analysis. Such an approach divorces the study of the actual residues of farming from the cultural and social environments that contextualize the decision-making processes of farmers. Rich new archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological data sets from the Mediterranean, however, offer an opportunity to reconstruct agricultural and land-use strategies and to study diachronic changes in those practices in relation to contemporary changes in political economy. This article uses the case study of the urban site of Gordion in central Anatolia to illustrate new techniques for reconstructing agricultural decision making from archaeological data and to contextualize diachronic changes in agriculture within their social and economic framework. I argue that several aspects of political economy—namely, taxation, long-distance trade, and settlement patterns—are primary factors in the adoption of specific agricultural strategies at Gordion and beyond. I conclude that states with direct control of agricultural production are more likely to adopt environmentally unsustainable land-use practices than those in which farmers have considerable autonomy. The methods and broader implications developed here have great relevance for the study of agriculture and rural economy at other sites in the Mediterranean and Near East and in other areas of the ancient world.

Introduction to Special Issue on “Ancient Agriculture in the Middle East” dedicated to Daniel Zohary

Introduction to Special Issue on “Ancient Agriculture in the Middle East” dedicated to Daniel Zohary

Dating the agricultural terraces in the southern Levantine deserts—The spatial-contextual argument

Despite the arid desert condition of the southern periphery of Israel, the entire area has an abundance of remnants from ancient agriculture of which a massive system of terraced wadis constitutes the main component. The goal of this paper is to date the agriculture terraces based on the high-resolution data collected during the 1980’s in the frame of the Negev emergency survey (conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority) and later studies.Analysis of the distribution areas of the terraced wadis shows a constant correlation only with farmhouses of the Byzantine and Early Islamic periods. Excavations conducted in hundreds of sites yielded finds of the 6–8th centuries CE only. It was found that the distribution areas of the desert agriculture spanned both the Northern Negev, located within the range of dry farming of the sedentary land, and the extreme desert of the Sinai Peninsula. The correlation of the terraces and settlements with the boundaries of the Byzantine desert province Palestina Tertia, raises the possibility that the enormous effort needed to pave the desert with water management facilities reflects an imperial initiative. It is assumed that the agriculture practiced in all other periods was a simple, spontaneous agriculture of the kind that is practiced in the desert by present-day Bedouin, and constitutes only a secondary element of their economy.

Pre-farming environment and OSL chronology in the Negev Highlands, Israel

The ancient agriculture in the southern Levant is very much dependant on the interaction between the geological and geomorphological characteristics of the desert environment and the arid climatic conditions. Field observations and luminescence dating in the Negev Highlands, southern Israel, indicate that deposition of fluvio-loess sediments occurred mainly during the late Pleistocene glacial period. These sediments, which were transformed into loessy soil, support a high natural biomass and have an agricultural potential. Major soil erosion started after 27 ka, exposing bedrock, increasing runoff and erosion. These feedback processes were intensified during the Holocene. Since the mid Holocene, the co-existence of soil and runoff created a unique setup which enabled the establishment of desert agriculture in the southern Levant, based on runoff-harvesting techniques. Extensive construction of stone terrace walls on top of diachronous middle–late Holocene alluvial units in the less degraded valleys led to the deposition of the anthropogenic unit, consisting of fine grained re-deposited loess as a by-product of the flood irrigation. This process contributed to soil conservation and counteracted the continuous natural soil erosion and desertification. The ability to practice desert agriculture is still preserved in the southern Levant, and historic climate changes are not required to explain the rise and fall of the great farming cultures.

ANCIENT AGRICULTURE IN WESTERN SIBERIA: PROBLEMS OF ARGUMENTATION, PALEOETHNOBOTANIC METHODS, AND ANALYSIS OF DATA

The problem relating to the emergence of ancient agriculture and the specifi c character of its development in Western Siberia is considered on the basis of paleobotanical data analysis. This article provides information on basic methods of searching and identifying phytoliths, grains (or grain prints), and pollen of domesticated cereals, as well as evaluates the feasibility for using these techniques in examining this problem. Currently known paleobotanical indicators of agriculture in Western Siberia, Kazakhstan, the Altai, and Zhetysu are summarized, and new indicators are presented. The attempt at reconstructing the centers for cultivating domesticated cereals starting in the Late Bronze Age is based on the analysis of spatial and temporal distribution of the cereals’ grains and pollen.

New Archaeobotanic Data for the Study of the Origins of Agriculture in China

In the past 10 years, flotation techniques have been introduced and implemented in Chinese archaeology. As a result, a tremendous quantity of plant remains have been recovered from archaeological sites located all over China. These plant remains include crops that might have been domesticated in China—such as rice, foxtail millet, broomcorn millet, and soybean—as well as crops that were introduced into China from other parts of world—such as wheat and barley. The new archaeobotanic data provide direct archaeological evidence for the study of the origins and development of agriculture in China. This paper attempts a synthesis of these new archaeobotanic data while presenting some new ideas about the origins and development of ancient agriculture in China, including the rice agriculture tradition that originated around the middle and lower Yangtze River areas; the dry-land agriculture tradition, with millets as major crops, centered in North China; and the ancient tropical agriculture tradition located in t...

The ancient agricultural landscape of the satellite settlement of Ramonal near Tikal, Guatemala

Soil science methodologies often enrich archaeological reconstructions. In the Maya Lowlands of Mesoamerica, stable carbon (C) isotope ratio (δ13C) analysis of soil organic matter (SOM) from profiles near ancient archaeological sites has been used to interpret the vegetative histories related to ancient maize agriculture. Due to distinct photosynthetic processes, the decomposed organic matter from the cultivation of maize can be distinguished from SOM derived from native forest detritus. The recalcitrant nature of humic substances allows for this distinction to be preserved through time. This study evaluates SOM δ13C from 98 soil profiles near Tikal, Guatemala to identify areas of ancient Maya agriculture and the staple crops used. Ancillary physical and chemical properties of the soil profiles were examined to facilitate and to supplement the interpretation of the isotope data. Most of the soils analyzed in this study are shallow Haprendolls with limited C isotopic evidence of prehistoric vegetation changes. The deeper, well-developed Argiudolls and Hapludolls contained strong evidence of vegetation changes associated with ancient maize agriculture. Areas with strong δ13C signatures of ancient C4 vegetation corresponded with foot- and toeslope locations, high clay content and low phosphorus (P) levels. The shallow backslope soils lacked significant evidence of ancient agriculture. The connections between profile location, settlement, isotope data, and P levels enable the identification of both agriculture production zones and enhanced understanding of stable C isotope dynamics in soils within the unique physiographic and archaeological surroundings of the Maya Lowlands.

Ancient agriculture and domestic activities: a contextual approach studying silica phytoliths and other microfossils in soils

Based on microfossil and soil data, we discuss a different methodological approach to agricultural and domestic archaeological studies, taking two Formative sites in the north-west Argentinian high valleys (province of Catamarca) as case studies, independently of traditional datasets and historical analogies. As a result of our investigations we not only recognised the vegetal species cultivated in ancient fields (dated to c. AD 800) but also distinguished some of the agricultural practices, such as crop rotation and alternation, use of animal fertilisers and irrigation resources, as well as the abandonment of the site. From this perspective, corral episodes could also be distinguished. In residential enclosures, we obtained results concerning activity areas, the definition of floors and the identification of reoccupations.

Irrigation as innovation in ancient Greek agriculture

Although the evidence suggests that ancient Greeks knew about irrigation from the widespread watering of the intensive garden, the kepos (‘small-scale irrigation’), irrigation projects designed for field cultivation (‘large-scale irrigation’) were few, and primarily confined to the Classical and Hellenistic periods. This paper asks why large-scale irrigation projects appeared when and where they did.

Fungal spores record Iroquoian and Canadian agriculture in 2nd millennium a.d. sediment of Crawford Lake, Ontario, Canada

Pollen analysis identified domestic Zea mays (corn, maize), Phaseolus vulgaris (kidney bean), Helianthus annuus (sunflower) and Cucurbita pepo (squash) accompanied by spores of fungi, many of which cause crop diseases, such as Ustilago maydis (=U. zeae, corn smut), Puccinia sorghi (corn rust), Uromyces appendiculatus (bean rust) and Puccinia graminis (wheat rust). Spores were most abundant in two intervals, ca. a.d. 1300 to ca. 1500 when prehistoric Iroquoian agriculture flourished near the lake and since 1830, when historic Triticum aestivum (wheat) agriculture began. In addition to dispersal by wind, Branta canadensis (Canada goose) also transported fungal spores to the lake via their dung. Spores of fungi that parasitize crop plants may be more abundant than pollen of their host plants and therefore spores may more readily indicate ancient agriculture.

A Holistic Approach to Examining Ancient Agriculture

Agriculture provided the foundation for the development and sustenance of Bronze and Iron Age civilizations in the Near East, yet remarkably little is known about how its practice varied across the region at this time. Archaeobotany and zooarchaeology have been used independently to study ancient agriculture, but there is a dire need for a more comprehensive and holistic approach, one that integrates the two data sets and better represents the reality of food production. Correspondence analysis can be an effective tool for quantitatively integrating regional Bronze and Iron Age plant and animal data spanning Syria and Jordan. Distinct regional patterns of food production and wild resource use are evident. The main variable driving this trend is available moisture. Theoretically, the method outlined here can be applied to any region and time period.

The Maya Footprint: Soil Resources of Chunchucmil, Yucatán, Mexico

This study explored and characterized soil physical and chemical properties to determine how the ancient Maya of Chunchucmil, Yucatán, Mexico, fed themselves. Our objectives were to examine the soil resources and the areas of agricultural importance surrounding Chunchucmil and to search for evidence of agricultural intensification of soils by night soil and charcoal amendments. The C isotopic signature of ancient C4 crops was not detected, suggesting that either maize (Zea mays L.) was not extensively produced or that the mix of native C3 and C4 plants in the savanna hid the signature. There were no soil chemical or biomarker evidences of ancient agricultural intensification, suggesting that ancient agriculture was mainly based on shifting cultivation and arboriculture at Chunchucmil. Concentrations of black carbon, Ca, P, K, Mg, and organic C within urban and rural settlements were enhanced, but probably by incidental human activities. We estimate that the land requirement to sustain the population of Chunchucmil at its height would have been greater than the available resources based on traditional agricultural methods. We cannot ignore the possibilities of intensification techniques, like intensive weeding, watering, and organic fertilizers that would have left no or only modestly elevated major elements. But it is probable that the ancient Maya of Chunchucmil traded marine and estuary products from the Gulf Coast and other high‐value trade items for imported agricultural products.

Soil properties and stable carbon isotope analysis of landscape features in the Petexbatún region of Guatemala

AbstractSoil properties and stable carbon isotope ratios contained in the soil organic matter (SOM) were used to investigate the change in vegetative history of land cleared anciently for maize (Zea mays L.) agriculture in the Petexbatún region of Guatemala. Maize and other C4 plants associated with land clearance leave a carbon isotopic signature in the SOM different from the C3 plants of native forest vegetation. Soil profiles were collected from various landscape features around the Classic Maya site of Aguateca: control locations (areas likely not used in ancient agriculture), defensible locations (areas near defensive walls), rejolladas (natural karst depressions), upland locations (well‐drained soils atop the Aguateca escarpment), and bajos (seasonal and perennial wetlands). The chemical and physical properties of the profiles were examined and the soils were taxonomically classified to the great group level. The changes in d13C with soil depth were determined and compared statistically. The 13C enrichment of the SOM in bajo and rejollada profiles were similar and were significantly (p < 0.05) greater than the control, defensible, and upland soils. This isotopic signature of sustained C4 vegetation was likely associated with forest clearance and ancient Maya agriculture. Both the bajo and rejollada landscape features appear to have been valuable agricultural resources for ancient Maya. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Forest seed banks along an intensity gradient of ancient agriculture

AbstractRecently, forest seed banks were proven to not only reflect former (decades-old) but also ancient (centuries-old) land use. Yet, as land-use intensity determines the magnitude of seed-bank changes in recent forests, this study aims to identify whether an ancient land-use gradient would also be reflected in the seed bank. On a forested 1600-year-old archaeological site, five different land-use intensities were mapped and sampled. Apart from seed density, species richness and composition, functional seed-bank types, defined by nine seed-bank-related plant traits, were related to the land-use intensity gradient. The land-use gradient from gardens to undisturbed sites was still clearly reflected in the soil seed bank. Six emergent functional seed-bank types, characterized by specific plant traits, changed significantly in abundance, parallel to the land-use gradient. In particular, dispersal agent (and related traits) proved an important explanatory trait of present (functional) seed-bank patterns. Poor dispersers (large and heavy seeds) were not found in the intensively used areas, contrary to animal-dispersed species. Wind-dispersers may have been inhibited in the extension of their distribution by recruitment bottlenecks (low seed production) and/or competitive exclusion. Additionally, the agricultural land-use probably introduced ruderal species into the seed bank of the most intensively used areas, yielding a simultaneous increase in vegetation–seed-bank dissimilarity with land-use intensity, eliminating present vegetation as a driver behind the differences over the seed-bank gradient. We conclude by arguing how coppice-with-standards management possibly maintained the seed-bank gradient.

The urgency of conserving soil and water to address 21st century issues including global warming

The importance of conserving soil and water resources has been recognized ever since the dawn of settled agriculture about 10 to 13 millennia ago, when agriculturalists became less mobile than hunters and gatherers. Soil management was important to the agrarian culture of the Harappan civilization of South Asia ~3200 BC (Kenoyer 2003). Subsequent to the fall of the Harappan civilization, the Vedic literature in Sanskrit, dating back to 1000-2500 BC, contains several references to methods of tilling soil, collecting water, predicting rainfall, and urging farmers to observe good land husbandry (Wasson 2006). The importance of soil conservation in the rise of the Mayan culture (the Mayans cultivated crops like corn, beans, and squash in Central America for millennia) cannot be overemphasized (Piperno and Pearsall 1998). Mayan agriculture recognized the usefulness of terracing to conserve soil and water (Beach et al. 2002) centuries prior to European settlement (Hard et al. 1999; Hard and Roney 1998). Terracing of sloping lands for conserving soil and managing water has also been a cultural tradition in Asia for millennia. In addition to agricultural terracing in uplands, ancient agriculture in Central America and the Caribbean also flourished by managing wetlands based on their knowledge of the …

Ancient Agriculture: Roots and Application of Sustainable Farming

Ancient Agriculture: Roots and Application of Sustainable Farming

A Phylogenetic Analysis Based on Nucleotide Sequence of a Marker Linked to the Brittle Rachis Locus Indicates a Diphyletic Origin of Barley

Background and AimsBarley (Hordeum vulgare ssp. vulgare) cultivation started between 9500 and 8400 years ago, and was a major part of ancient agriculture in the Near East. The brittle rachis is a critical trait in the domestication process.MethodsA DNA sequence closely linked to the brittle rachis complex was amplified and resequenced in a collection of cultivated barleys, wild barleys (H. vulgare ssp. spontaneum) and weedy brittle rachis varieties (H. vulgare ssp. vulgare var. agriocrithon). The sequence was used to construct a phylogenetic tree.Key ResultsThe phylogeny separated the W- (btr1-carrying) from the E- (btr2-carrying) cultivars. The wild barleys had a high sequence diversity and were distributed throughout the W- and E-clades. Some of the Tibetan var. agriocrithon lines were closely related to the E-type and others to the W-type cultivated barleys, but an Israeli var. agriocrithon line has a complex origin.ConclusionsThe results are consistent with a diphyletic origin of barley. The W- and E-type cultivars are assumed to have evolved from previously diverged wild barley via independent mutations at Btr1 and Btr2.