Bread and surpluses: the Anglo-Saxon ‘bread wheat thesis’ reconsidered

This paper presents a fundamental new assessment of crop husbandry in the Mid Saxon period in England (c. AD 650–850), using data from charred plant remains. While recent archaeological studies have begun to emphasise the importance of agricultural development in this period – focusing especially upon field systems and livestock – crops have received comparatively little attention. This study challenges one popular model of Anglo-Saxon arable farming, here dubbed the ‘bread wheat thesis’, which posits a Mid Saxon shift whereby bread wheat supplanted hulled barley as the most important cereal crop in this period. The empirical basis for this model is here re-examined in the light of an updated archaeobotanical dataset from selected regions in southern Britain. No evidence for bread wheat supplanting hulled barley is discovered. It is argued instead that rye and oats became substantially more important in the 7th–9th centuries, regional patterns in cereal cultivation in this period correlate with differences in the natural environment and Anglo-Saxon farmers were able to produce greater arable surpluses from the 7th century onwards.     

明清时期畜养业结构的变化

本文主要根据历史文献资料的相关记载对明清时期畜养业结构的变化进行了初步探讨。总体而言 ,无论是在牧区还是在农区 ,牧马业的地位都呈下降趋势 ,而牛、羊、猪及各种家禽的饲养则逐渐走向繁荣 ,其中牛、羊的放牧在北方较为普遍 ,猪及各种家禽的饲养则以南方为盛。明清时期畜养业结构的这种变化与当时社会政治经济形势的变化有密切的关系 ,是各种因素综合作用的结果 ,其中明清王朝立国形势和养马政策的变化以及市场需求的变化和各地贸易联系的加强是最主要的影响因素     

Changes in crop cultivation during the last five centuries before the Roman conquest: archaeobotanical investigation in the Clermont-Ferrand basin,Massif Central,France

For several decades, a growing number of protohistoric sites in Auvergne (Massif Central, France)—mostly excavated through preventive archaeology—have been subject to the collection of archaeobotanical analysis. This study presents the archaeobotanical results from ten La Tène sites dating from the last five centuries before the Roman conquest. In addition to providing an inventory of taxa, this paper concerns crops and crop cultivation methods. These results are interpreted in a wider context, dealing with crop husbandry, arable farming, storage and consumption practices. The sites are located in the Limagne plain within a 50-km radius around the city of Clermont-Ferrand. A total of 23,579 carpological remains were identified from 163 sediment samples totalizing a volume of 1096 l. Comparable to other sites in Gaul, the spectrum of cereals and pulses is restricted. Spelt (Triticum spelta), einkorn (Triticum monococcum) and foxtail millet (Setaria italica) are disappearing or becoming rare. A better control of agricultural techniques and increased yields is supposed during the ca. five centuries of the La Tène period. Mixed cultivation is hereby replaced by the sowing of monocrops. At the beginning of this period, farming systems are dominated by a polyculture of cereals and pulses. They become more specialized during the last two centuries before the Roman conquest; diversity of cereals and pulses is decreased.     

Dairying in antiquity. I. Evidence from absorbed lipid residues dating to the British Iron Age

The evidence for dairying in antiquity has, until recently, primarily been restricted to the reconstruction of herd structures through the analysis of faunal remains. Using this method alone cannot provide definitive evidence for the presence of dairy herds, due to differences in the recovery of animal bones at sites and the many different farming strategies that can affect herd structures (e.g. dairying, meat production, traction etc.). Absorbed lipid residues have been extracted from 237 pottery vessels from the British Iron Age sites of Maiden Castle, Danebury Hillfort, Yarnton Cresswell Field and Stanwick. The compound-specific stable carbon isotope (δ¹³C values) of the principal fatty acids found in animal fats (C_16:0 and C_18:0) have allowed the direct detection of dairy fats, thus providing evidence that dairying was an important component of farming practices in the British Iron Age. The results are compared to assessments of the faunal remains at each of the sites, and correlations between morphological characteristics of the vessels (e.g. type, form, use wear and rim diameter) and lipid residue discussed.     

The archaeological and linguistic reconstruction of African history : and (Eds), (Berkeley and London: University of California Press, 1983. Pp. xi + 299. $22.50)

Land disposal by southern African administrations to European settlers between 1860 and 1960 was pursued on a more extensive scale than in the previous two centuries. This reflected the increased ability of local governments to seize land occupied by the indigenes. African land rights received scant attention as most of the sub-continent was taken by conquest, thereby offering governments the opportunity to settle Europeans upon the land. By 1860 the local European settler communities had achieved control over their own land policies, which were framed under political pressure from the rapidly growing rural European population. Land settlement policies were, however, severely constrained by existing practices, which emphasized extensive pastoral farming to the detriment of the development of crop farming and plantation agriculture.     

Official land disposal policies and European settlement in southern Africa 1860–1960

Land disposal by southern African administrations to European settlers between 1860 and 1960 was pursued on a more extensive scale than in the previous two centuries. This reflected the increased ability of local governments to seize land occupied by the indigenes. African land rights received scant attention as most of the sub-continent was taken by conquest, thereby offering governments the opportunity to settle Europeans upon the land. By 1860 the local European settler communities had achieved control over their own land policies, which were framed under political pressure from the rapidly growing rural European population. Land settlement policies were, however, severely constrained by existing practices, which emphasized extensive pastoral farming to the detriment of the development of crop farming and plantation agriculture.     

Infield-outfield farming on a seventeenth-century Scottish estate

Infield-outfield farming in pre-eighteenth-century Scotland has been dismissed as a uniformly extensive, low-yield system of cultivation forming an adjunct to a basically pastoral economy and incapable of improvement and evolution. There are, however, grounds for believing that this model is over-generalized and reflects a lack of detailed studies of the primary sources. A particularly well-documented example of a midseventeenth century field system is available for the Dundas estates near Edinburgh. The evidence for this estate indicates that infield-outfield farming had evolved into a relatively intensive system in which animal husbandry played a minor role and which concentrated on grain production. The ways in which this system evolved are then considered and the implications in terms of a re-evaluation of the traditional model of the development of Scottish field systems are explored.     

The Mechanical Farm of 2030

Abstract

After introducing influences which will affect mechanization of agriculture over the next 50 years, the review deals separately with three aspects of equipment on farms. These are machinery for arable farming, equipment used in livestock husbandry, and the hardware and software likely to assist farm management. The bulk of crop production is predicted to be carried out by a system of field gantries which will replace today's tractor and implements. The gantries will be fitted with automatic guidance but will still carry an operator who will be provided with extensive monitoring instrumentation. Second, monitoring of livestock growth or yield will be computer based. Health and breeding will also be automatically monitored and controlled, and farm staff will be aided by a robot, whose functions will include remote viewing and sensing, routine animal and feed handling operations, and assistance with animal herding. Computers will be used extensively in farm management with on-farm machines linked permanently to national information data banks, to suppliers and organizations who purchase from the farm and to consultant organizations. Computers will also be used for planning decisions based on operational research predictive methods and particularly for daily work planning.     

Bronze Age Field Systems in the Thames Valley

In the last two decades excavation along the River Thames has shown the remarkable survival of Bronze Age field systems. A managed farming landscape emerged in this lowland area during the Middle Bronze Age and continued to develop until the end of the Late Bronze Age. In the latter period the field systems were divided into several regional groups in each of which there was a high status settlement and a concentration of river metalwork. They provide evidence for a predominantly pastoral economy in the Thames Valley on a scale which may have supported an increasingly hierarchical society. Settlements and field systems were abandoned during the Late Bronze Age, and by the Bronze Age–Iron Age transition new sites were largely confined to the extreme upper reaches of the Thames, an area which had been peripheral to the alliance and exchange system that had operated downstream.     

Palaeoenvironments, the archaeological record and cereal pollen detection at Clickimin, Shetland, Scotland

The Loch of Clickimin, Shetland, is well known for its broch and associated monuments supposedly of the Bronze and Iron Ages, although the former date is disputed. Pollen, diatom and sedimentological investigations permit fresh insights into the landscape and economic impacts of those who constructed the monuments, reveal that the environs of the site experienced environmental change from Neolithic times onward and provide the first Holocene radiocarbon dates from the immediate locality. The broch-building period witnessed a continuation of pre-existing pastoral husbandry for which heather burning may have exacerbated the natural spread of blanket peat. Initially, no evidence was adduced for local arable activity in the present investigation, and this was thought to be consistent possibly with the low numbers of excavated querns and the absence of cereal macrofossil finds when compared with other Shetland broch sites. The application of ‘rapid scanning’ techniques, however, led to the discovery of a consistent cereal-type pollen representation from Bronze Age times onwards. The discrepancies between the palaeoenvironmental evidence and the environmental and palaeoeconomic inferences made by the excavator of the site are explored. Evidence is presented that both supports and contradicts previous assumptions surrounding an important archaeological site.     

Palynological interpretation of the Early Neolithic coastal open-air site at Sa Punta (central-western Sardinia,Italy)

The major goal of the present study has been to assess the ecological context of the Early Neolithic settlement under excavation in the coastal site of Sa Punta-Marceddì (Terralba, Sardinia, Italy) where a trench of Neolithic age has been brought to light. Based on the origins of the site's organic fossiliferous content, the purpose of this work is to achieve an understanding of: 1) the reasons why this location was chosen by EN man and 2) its functions. This research has enabled us to suggest a human paleoecological scenario over the course of the last three centuries of the 6th millennium BC in the inland area of the Oristano Gulf. On the basis of pollen spectra and the phytolith morphologies recognised, it is suggested that herbaceous vegetation covered the alluvial plain. Arable agriculture does not seem to have been practiced on the site, but the record of coprophilous fungi and endoparasites, along with clues that there were burning practices, suggest livestock farming activity. To date, a univocal interpretation of the function of this trench is still lacking. However, it is the oldest and the only evidence in Sardinia of a remarkable transformation of an open-air space due to settlement.     

Insect invaders,seasonality and transhumant pastoralism in the Icelandic shieling economy

Abstract

The seasonal movement of people and animals to summer farms, or shielings in outfield pastures was a key element of Iceland's farming practice for over a millennium. At these sites, cattle and sheep husbandry, dairying and the harvesting of outfield resources took place. Despite their central role in the Icelandic economy, evidence for shielings in the landscape is ambiguous and the identification of a site as a shieling, as opposed to a farm, has relied upon written and place name evidence. The Norse colonists introduced a range of insects in their fodder, stored food, dunnage and ballast. Many of these are unable to live under natural conditions in Iceland and are dependent on people for survival. In 1991 Buckland and Sadler suggested that these species might be expected to be absent at shielings, as the sweepstake of their introduction and the seasonal hiatus in occupation would preclude their successful colonisation. This paper presents new evidence from a sub-fossil insect assemblage, which indicates that some of these insects are present at an Icelandic shieling. The implications of this for discerning the materials imported to shielings and the usefulness of Coleoptera for the identification of seasonality in the North Atlantic is discussed.     

Animal Hair in Medieval Ship Caulking Throws Light on Livestock Types

Abstract

Diameter measurements of nearly 200 samples of hair caulking from medieval boat timbers excavated in London threw light on livestock type and husbandry practices. Cattle hair (440/0) with a primitive coat structure predominated in the earlier centuries, while those with a “modern” coat structure predominated later, and these were mostly black. The goat hair (38%) had only one type of coat and the overall mean fibre diameter of the underwool was 13.4 microns compared with 14.7 microns in surviving feral goats. About half the goat hair samples (again from the later centuries) were black and half grey, with only one white animal. There was evidence that death of the cattle and goats had occurred during autumn and/or winter. Sheeps' wool formed 18% of the samples and there were more hairy fleeces than found in medieval clothing. Most of the wool was grey; there were no black samples and only one white one.     

鄯善王国的畜牧业

作为汉晋时期西域主要的绿洲城郭国之一,鄯善王国的牧业经济也十分发达,不仅为丝路交通提供了充足的畜力资源,而且在王国的政治、社会和经济生活中占有重要地位。当地的牧业经济以畜牧业为主,大致可分为牧养和厩养两种方式。鄯善王国有王室专属的畜群,并对畜群造册登记,设置专门的官吏进行管理。鄯善王还常以敕谕的形式直接参与畜牧事务的管理。各类牲畜不仅是王国重要的税收来源,而且还在民间的商贸活动中充当着货币的角色。     

最初人为农牧分界线的确立

实地考察和对比研究中发现了阴山赵长城与秦汉长城之间的本质性区别。阴山赵长城的特殊地理位置和建造地形证明它不具备完整的军事防御功能。赵国的发展历史说明,阴山赵长城出现在中原农耕势力向北开拓疆战过程中,在力量对比悬殊的情况下修筑长城时,地理上更多考虑了可耕土地的括入问题。所以赵国北长城没有突破土地和农业意识,在天然农牧分界线上建造了人为农牧分界线。赵国北长城标志着中国古代农牧界线的一次大变动,它在中国古代历史上产生了极其深刻的影响。     

Raising Practices of Neolithic Livestock Evidenced by Stable Isotope Analysis in the Wei River Valley,North China

Although a patchwork of projects shows a process of agriculture intensification in North China during the Neolithic, the impact of cereal farming on animal husbandry and their mutual interaction remain cloudy. This study reports bone collagen δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N of humans and animals from Wayaogou (ca 6.5–6.0 kyrs bp ) and Dongying (ca 5.9–5.6 kyrs bp , 4.6–4.0 kyrs bp ) to explore temporal trend of livestock raising and particularly the importance of millet fodder to stock raising practices in the Wei River valley, North China. The isotopic evidence overall shows that millet products increased in human and domestic animal diets during the mentioned chronological span. δ¹³C values of pigs and dogs at Dongying are higher than those at Wayaogou, implying that the importance of millet nutrients increased to animal husbandry diachronically. Interestingly, δ¹³C results of domestic cattle of Dongying late phase (−14.1 ± 1.1‰, N = 5) are more enriched than Wayaogou wild Bos (−17.8 ± 0.3‰, N = 3), indicating that millet fodder had taken a significant place in early cattle husbandry. Besides, differences between Bos species of the two periods also imply that δ¹³C values of bone collagen constitute a potential indicator for tracing the origin of cattle husbandry in North China. In addition, domestic sheep at Dongying produced similar isotope data to wild ovicaprid at Wayaogou, suggesting that they possibly had grazed for the most in grassland and therefore experienced a different lifestyle from cattle. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Did Specialized Pastoralism Develop Differently in Africa than in the Near East? An Example from the West African Sahel

Previous studies have highlighted the differences between Africa and the Near East with regard to the earliest phases of food production. However, later innovations and changes, which constantly reshaped food production, have received much less attention. In an attempt to fill this lacuna, at least partially, this paper focuses on the emergence of specialized pastoralism. Through a diachronic overview of the appearance of the characteristics shared by most present-day specialized pastoral groups in Africa and the Near East, it is clear that only at a late date could this mode of livelihood have taken its present shape. This should serve as a warning that projections of recent pastoral lifestyles back in time should be made with caution. It appears that both Africa and the Near East went through two stages of development: a first stage with general food economies, and a second phase of specialization. Archaeo(zoo)logical evidence from the Sahel in Nigeria and Burkina Faso illustrates these developments on a more local scale.     

Crops and weeds: the role of weed functional ecology in the identification of crop husbandry methods

This paper brings together the results of five present-day studies of arable weed ecology, and applies these to the identification of past crop husbandry regimes on the basis of archaeobotanical weed assemblages. The contrasting husbandry regimes covered by the present-day studies include irrigation and dry farming, fallowing and rotation, intensive and extensive cultivation, and autumn and spring sowing. The weed floras associated with these regimes were analysed in terms of the functional ecology of the species represented. These same functional attributes, that distinguished contrasting regimes, were then measured for the weed species found accompanying crop seeds in two archaeobotanical studies, of the Islamic site of Khirbet Faris, S. Jordan and Neolithic sites in central Europe. Analyses using these functional measurements resulted in the identification of irrigation at the former and in the identification of sowing time and intensive cultivation at the latter.     

Continental excursion, 1928, of the Glasgow university school of geography

An assessment is made of developments in agriculture and fish farming within the Integrated Development Programme (I.D.P.) for the Western Isles. The five‐year I.D.P., which was launched in 1982, was partly funded by the E.E.C. The extent of investment in agriculture and fish farming is reviewed. The growth of employment and output in fish farming is reported, and various agricultural indicators such as trends in livestock numbers and performance are assessed. Various conclusions and lessons that can be drawn from the experience of the Western Isles I.D.P. are discussed. The paper is a summary of a detailed assessment recently carried out by the author for the Highlands and Islands Development Board.