Description
This revealing study of farming practices in societies around the Mediterranean draws out the valuable contribution that knowledge of recent 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 strategies and practices, many of which can be traced back to classical antiquity or earlier.
The book documents these variables, through the annual chaine operatoire (from ploughing and sowing to harvesting and threshing), interannual schemes of crop rotation and husbandry, and the generational cycle of household development. It traces the interdependence of these successive stages and explores how cultural tradition, ecological conditions, and access to resources shape variability in husbandry practice. Each chapter identifies ways in which heuristic use of data on recent farming can shed light on ancient practices and societies.
About the Author
Paul Halstead is Professor of Archaeology at the University of Sheffield, UK. He has edited and contributed to numerous publications, including Food, Cuisine and Society in Prehistoric Greece (with John Barrett, 2004), Neolithic Society in Greece (1999), and Bad Year Economics (with John O'Shea, 1989).
Reviews
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
Book Information
ISBN 9781405192835
Author Paul Halstead
Format Hardback
Page Count 384
Imprint Wiley-Blackwell
Publisher John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Weight(grams) 635g
Dimensions(mm) 226mm * 160mm * 25mm
