Modelling ecological change: Perspectives from neoecology, palaeoecology and environmental archaeology. David R. Harris and Kenneth D. Thomas (Editors), 1990, Institute of Archaeology, University College, London, v + 102 pp., $19.50 (paperbound)
✍ Scribed by Frances B. King
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2010
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 211 KB
- Volume
- 7
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0883-6353
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
BOOK REVIEWS
the morphologically domesticated type. Hansen notes that the earliest clear evidence available for domestication comes from Aswad in Syria dated to 9800 B.P. and several sites in Israel. Possibly as early as 10,000 B.P., and certainly by 9500 B.P., domesticated emmer wheat, two-row hulled barley, and lentils formed the principal agricultural products. After about 9000 B.P., there was common use in the Near East of a domesticated crop complex that included emmer and einkorn wheat, two-row and six-row barley, lentils, peas, and vetch.
At Franchthi Cave, and several other sites in the region, the period between 11,000 and 8000 B.P. shows an initially intense period of occupation followed, inexplicably, by abandonment or substantially decreased occupation. When occupation a t Franchthi Cave resumed, about 8000 B.P., it was accompanied by the apparent displacement of wild oats and barley by domesticated emmer wheat, two-row barley, lentils, and domestic sheep or goats. There are also blade tools showing signs of "sickle gloss," a feature that Hansen notes is often, but not always, associated with the practice of harvesting grasses. Several new species of weeds common in cultivated fields also appear. The botanical data from Franchthi Cave support the introduction of an agriculture system from the Near East and its subsequent spread through southeastern Europe.
At Franchthi Cave, the period 6900-5000 B.P. is characterized by an increase in plant remains and the appearance ofeinkorn wheat and large quantities of medick, a common field weed that may here represent either grain cleaning or the processing of seeds for consumption. There is also a substantial decrease in the quantity of species such as pistachio, almond, and pear that Hansen suggests may be the result of either land clearance for cultivation or scheduling conflicts arising from cultivation activities.
This is an excellent publication, well organized, clearly and succintly written, and a good model for the discussion of plant remains from sites anywhere in the world. It is unfortunate that the high cost will limit its purchase primarily to those researchers working specifically in the eastern Mediterranean region.