Mediterranean polyculture revisited: Olive, grape and subsistence strategies at Palaikastro, East Crete, between the Late Neolithic and Late Bronze Age

Autor: Alexandra Livarda, Ricard Marlasca Martín, Athanasia Krahtopoulou, Hector A. Orengo, Rena Veropoulidou, Vasiliki Tzevelekidi, Llorenç Picornell-Gelabert, Núria Cañellas-Boltà, Santiago Riera-Mora
Přispěvatelé: Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (España), Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Institute for Aegean Prehistory (US), Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences, Cañellas-Boltà, Núria, Cañellas-Boltà, Núria [0000-0003-2566-4885]
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: Dipòsit Digital de la UB
Universidad de Barcelona
RECERCAT (Dipòsit de la Recerca de Catalunya)
Recercat: Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
instname
Digital.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
Popis: This paper examines agriculture, farming and dietary resources in east Crete, and re-evaluates the role of grape and olive in its prehistoric economy, these being key in debates on the emergence of social complexity. To do so bioarchaeological, paleoenvironmental and landscape survey data from the Bronze Age town at Palaikastro and its territory are combined. The results indicate a highly compartmentalised landscape, including intensive crop cultivation and extensive animal herding with careful monitoring to maintain productivity. A heightened specialisation in ovicaprine management at Palaikastro and east Crete seems to be delineated. Marine resources were regularly exploited from easily accessible coastal areas. Other activities included viticulture since the Early Minoan period, with the possible involvement of several houses in wine-making. A final important activity in the area was large-scale olive tree management since the Final Neolithic period and through to the Late Bronze Age, that seems to be entangled with ovicaprine herding and grazing. Thus, the demand for olive oil production does not seem to have been the driving force behind the intensification of the tree management, at least initially, but a corollary of its use in other aspects of the local economy. © 2021 The Authors
The PALAP project was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight Grant on 'Urbanization in Bronze Age Crete: between palace and landscape at Palaikastro' (2014–16), The Institute for Aegean Prehistory (INSTAP), the Hal Jackman Foundation and the British School at Athens, while the Universities of Toronto (Canada), Bristol and Nottingham (UK) also fully supported and financed parts of the project. Drs Alexandra Livarda and Hector A. Orengo are Ramón y Cajal researchers funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (RyC-2017-22105 and RyC-2016-19637 respectively), while Dr Livarda was further supported during the writing up of this paper by an I + D + i grant (PID2019-107605GB-100). Dr Llorenç Picornell-Gelabert’ PALAP charcoal study was financed by a Juan de la Cierva-Incorporación fellowship (IJCI-2015_24550) awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Economy and Competitiveness. Dr. Veropoulidou’s PALAP malacological study and Dr. Cañellas-Boltà and Prof. Riera-Mora’ s palaeonevironmental study were also partly financed by a private donor, Mr Anuj Malhotra, to whom they are very grateful.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
Externí odkaz: