Agriculture in Arid Environments: Archaeological Perspectives Perspectives
Graeme Barker (University of Leicester, UK) and David Gilbertson (University of Wales Aberystwyth, UK)
Despite the frequency of speculation by archaeologists, historians and geographers about the long-term role of people in desertification, there have been remarkably few modern scientific studies of the problem. Many areas of the world that are now arid or semi-arid have remains of ancient farming systems. How did ancient farmers and herders exploit such environments and what impact did they have on them? Archaeology, particularly inter-disciplinary landscape archaeology combining the techniques of archaeology and geography, has the potential to address such questions. The seminar will bring together specialists working in different parts of the world, investigating a wide variety of past solutions to farming deserts. By understanding the variability in past farming strategies, their successes and failures, and their short- and long-term environmental impacts, can archaeology contribute to modern debates about desertification and sustainability?
papers:
Author 1 Author 2 Title
Barker Coping with desertification: 5000 years of farming and mining in the Wadi Faynan, southern Jordan S011brk1
Barker Gilbertson Agriculture in arid environments: archaeology and desertification
D’andrea Ethnobotanical investigations of subsistence strategies in Highland Ethiopia
Gilbertson Territoriality, situation and environment: floodwater farming in the ancient Libyan desert
Kajale Archaeobotanical approaches to subsistence agriculture in South Asia and Africa: a comparative perspective
Kinehan The archaeology of pastoral impact in African savannah environments
Minnis Prehistoric anthropogenic ecology of the Mexican Northwest/American Southwest s011mnn1
Newson Successes and failures in farming the Syrian Black Desert
Rosen The decline of desert argriculture: a view from the classical period Negev s011rsn1
Soper African agricultural systems and the terraced landscape of Nyanga, Zimbabwe s011spr1
Sutton Engaruka: farming an Oasis in Maasailand 300-500 years ago
Widgren Islands of agricultural intensification in East Africa: the social, ecological and historical contexts s011wdg1