Origins of Agriculture

Subsistence economy in Central Anatolia during the Neolithic: the archaeobotanical evidence

by Eleni Asouti

In Thissen, L., and Gerard, F. (eds) The Neolithic of Central Anatolia. Internal developments and external relations during the 9th - 6th millennia cal. BC, pp. 181-192. Istanbul, Ege Yayinlari (2002).

Group identity and the politics of dwelling at Neolithic Çatalhöyük

by Eleni Asouti

In Hodder, I. (ed.) Çatalhöyük Perspectives: Themes from the 1995-9 Seasons, pp. 75-91. McDonald Institute Monographs/BIAA Monograph 40. McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research and British Institute at Ankara, Cambridge & London (2006)

Farmers, gatherers or horticulturalists? Reconstructing landscapes of practice in the Early Neolithic

by Eleni Asouti

In Finlayson, B. and Warren, G. (eds) Landscapes in Transition. CBRL Monographs (2010)

Beyond the Pre-pottery Neolithic B interaction sphere

by Eleni Asouti

published in the Journal of World Prehistory (2006) vol. 20, pp. 87–126

This article aims to provide a critical evaluation of the influence of the culture historical paradigm in the... more This article aims to provide a critical evaluation of the influence of the culture historical paradigm in the Neolithic archaeology of Western Asia through the re-assessment of currently established theoretical concepts, notably the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) interaction sphere, demic diffusion and acculturation. It is argued that these concepts are too abstractly defined to enable meaningful insights into the dynamics of Early Neolithic societies. A different theoretical framework is needed in order to achieve an historical understanding of the spatial and temporal variability of regional socio-cultural interactions and population displacement. This framework begins with the detailed analysis of local patterns of social organization and exchange. Exchange itself is seen as a socially situated process that was integrally related to the negotiation and reproduction of collective identities during the Neolithic.

From foraging to farming in the southern Levant: the development of Epipalaeolithic and Pre-pottery Neolithic plant management strategies

by Eleni Asouti

Published in Vegetation History and Archaeobotany (2012) vol 21, pp.149–162

This paper reviews the archaeobotanical record of the transition from foraging to farming in the southern Levant. The... more This paper reviews the archaeobotanical record of the transition from foraging to farming in the southern Levant. The concise presentation of the published botanical evidence follows a critical assessment of: (a) the nature of Epipalaeolithic plant management strategies, (b) the place of the southern Levant in the polycentric development of Near Eastern plant cultivation and domestication, and (c) region-specific pathways for the emergence of domesticated crop ‘‘packages’’. Some inferences are drawn and suggestions are made concerning the potential contribution of archaeobotanical research to questions of broader archaeological significance about socio-economic change in the southern Levant during the Pre-pottery Neolithic.

Community Identities, Interactions and ‘Cultures’ in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of Western Asia: A Commentary on the Production of Historical Knowledge

by Eleni Asouti

In Duistermaat K, Regulski L ed(s) Intercultural Contacts in the Ancient Mediterranean. Peeters, Leuven pp 53-66 (2011)

Small game indicators of human foraging efficiency and early herd management at the transition to agriculture in Southwest Asia

by Natalie Munro

Munro, N.D. 2004. Small game indicators of human foraging efficiency and early herd management at the transition to agriculture in Southwest Asia. In Petits Animaux et Sociétés Humaines, du Complément Alimentaire aux Ressources Utilitaires, edited by J-P. Brugal & J. Desse.  CÉPAM, CNRS, Sophia Antipolis, France, pp. 515-531..

The Potential of Bulk δ13C on Encrusted Cooking Residues as Independent Evidence for Regional Maize Histories

by John P. Hart

Co-authored with William A. Lovis, Robert J. Jeske, and John D. Richards. 2012. American Antiquity 77(2):315-325.

The histories of maize utilization in eastern North America have been substantially revised recently, primarily... more The histories of maize utilization in eastern North America have been substantially revised recently, primarily because of the analysis of charred cooking residues encrusted on pottery. A multifaceted research strategy of bulk δ13C assays coupled with accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon data and microbotanical evidence can yield coherent regional maize use histories. Bulk δ13C assay interpretation complications include (1) variations among vessels by site, (2) a potential for false negatives, and (3) a wide range of variation potentially present for any given time period. Regional histories using this approach can be quite variable without appropriate use of multiple lines of evidence.

Mapping and Dating Incipient Irrigation in Wadi Sana Hadramawt (Yemen)

by Michael Harrower

Hydrology, Ideology, and the Origins of Irrigation in Ancient Southwest Arabia

by Michael Harrower

Pre-Aksumite and Aksumite Settlement of Eastern Tigrai, Ethiopia

by Michael Harrower

New archaeobotanical information on plant domestication from macro-remains: tracking the evolution of domestication syndrome traits

by Dorian Fuller

In Biodiversity in Agriculture. Domestication, Evolution, and Sustainability (eds. P. Gepts, T.R. Famula, R. L. Bettinger, S. B. Brush, A. B. Damania, P. E. McGuire, C. O. Qualset). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp. 110-135. (2012)

Reconciling Nature and Culture after "Naissance des divinités, naissance de l'agriculture"

by Naomi Miller

2011 Paléorient 37.1: 61-74.

In "Naissance des divinités, naissance d'agriculture," Jacques Cauvin proposes that agriculture could not... more In "Naissance des divinités, naissance d'agriculture," Jacques Cauvin proposes that agriculture could not have begun without a prior sudden mental transformation, and that the Near East case is exceptional. His emphasis on the primacy of ideas leads him to devalue the influence that foragers have on their environment, and to erroneously assume that agriculture represented a "control" over nature that was qualitatively new. It is clear that ancient people had a deep understanding of their physical, biotic, and sociocultural environments, and societies that succeeded worked within the constraints imposed by all those domains.

A late-Holocene palaeoecological record from Ambra Crater in the highlands of Papua New Guinea and implications for agricultural history

by Kale Sniderman

Contiguous multi‐proxy analyses (X‐radiography, diatom, pollen, and microcharcoal) of Holocene archaeological features at Kuk Swamp, Upper Wahgi Valley, Papua …

by Kale Sniderman

Seed eaters of the ancient Near East: human or herbivore?

by Naomi Miller

1996. Current Anthropology 37: 521-528. (1997: reply to critique by G.C. Hillman, A. J. Legge, and P. Rowley-Conwy, Current Anthropology 38: 655-659 (http://www.jstor.org/stable/2744373)

If the diverse seed assemblages of the Epipaleolithic come from gazelle dung burned as fuel, one would be hard-pressed... more If the diverse seed assemblages of the Epipaleolithic come from gazelle dung burned as fuel, one would be hard-pressed to use the material to support the "Broad Spectrum Revolution" hypothesis for the origins of agriculture.

Sweeter than Wine? The Use of the Grape in Early Western Asia

by Naomi Miller

Antiquity 82:937-946 (2008 )

The cultivation, domestication and selective breeding of the grape following in the Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age... more The cultivation, domestication and selective breeding of the grape following in the Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age was aimed primarily at the enjoyment of its sweetness, as the fermented wild grapes had long provided Near Easterners with wine.

The origins of plant cultivation in the Near East

by Naomi Miller

1992. In The Origins of Agriculture, an International Perspective, eds. C.W. Cowan and P.J. Watson, pp. 39-58. Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.

Agricultura neolítica en Andalucía: semillas y frutos (2011).

by Leonor Peña-Chocarro

Co-authored with G. Pérez-Jordà & J. Morales. Menga 2, 59-72

There is an English version

This paper focuses on the archaeobotanical data related to agriculture existing for the Easrly Neolithic(6th-5th... more This paper focuses on the archaeobotanical data related to agriculture existing for the Easrly Neolithic(6th-5th millennium BC) in Andalucía. First, the archaeobotanical record is described showing a predominance of free-threshing wheats, a variable importance of hulled wheats and a varied assemblage of legumes. Flax and poppy are also documented in some of the sites analyzed. The pattern observed is, then, compared to that observed in other regions of the Iberian Peninsula and eventually to that available from central Europe. Particular emphases is placed on to the considerable crop diversity found in Andalucía.

Reaction to" cereal cultivation at Swifterbant? Neolithic wetland farming on the North European Plain"

by Welmoed Out

2009, Current Anthropology 50 (2), 253-254

Reaction to ‘Cereal cultivation at Swifterbant? Neolithic wetland farming on the North European Plain’, R.T.J. Cappers... more Reaction to ‘Cereal cultivation at Swifterbant? Neolithic wetland farming on the North European Plain’, R.T.J. Cappers and D.C.M. Raemaekers, Current Anthropology 49 (3), 385-402