The site of Jarmo in Iraqi Kurdistan has yielded key archaeological evidence which supports its i... more The site of Jarmo in Iraqi Kurdistan has yielded key archaeological evidence which supports its interpretation as a large PPNB village. As such, it is the perfect candidate for the study of early agriculture, plant uses, food preparation and cooking practices. In order to explore these, new excavations and intensive sampling and flotation for the recovery of archaeobotanical remains were carried out in 2012 and 2014. This study presents the results from the analysis of the newly recovered archaeobotanical assemblage from Jarmo which has provided invaluable information about early crop agriculture and plant use. Furthermore, the in-depth study of recovered remains of archaeological food by high-resolution microscopy has shed light on culinary traditions and dietary choices during the Neolithic in the Central Zagros Area.
This paper provides an overview of changing agricultural systems from the Neolithic to the Post-M... more This paper provides an overview of changing agricultural systems from the Neolithic to the Post-Meroitic Period in the greater Nubian region. There remain major gaps in the archaeobotanical evidence, and larger samples collected by systematic sieving and flotation are few and far between. Gaps in our knowledge include the initial establishment of the summer, sub-Saharan cereal cultivation system, but other important trends are much clearer, such as the arrival of the classic Egyptian winter cereal cultivation system of Near Eastern origin in the Late Neolithic at least in Lower Nubia; the latter of which complemented established pastoral traditions providing for the emergent political economy. The northward spread of the summer savannah crop system during the first few centuries ce formed the basis for subsequent intensification through the adoption of the cattle-powered saqia. Diversification and intensification through an integration of the summer and winter crop systems along with the development of a cash crop industry facilitated the development of Meroitic state. These processes also may have played an important role in economic changes in the Late Meroitic to Post-Meroitic transition, including the devolution of the Meroitic state. In addition to representing a long-term frontier of overlapping agricultural systems, Nubia was a frontier in cooking traditions, a crossroads between a world of bread in the North and one of liquid preparations, porridges, and beers in the South.
This paper provides an overview of changing agricultural systems from the Neolithic to the Post-M... more This paper provides an overview of changing agricultural systems from the Neolithic to the Post-Meroitic Period in the greater Nubian region. There remain major gaps in the archaeobotanical evidence, and larger samples collected by systematic sieving and flotation are few and far between. Gaps in our knowledge include the initial establishment of the summer, sub-Saharan cereal cultivation system, but other important trends are much clearer, such as the arrival of the classic Egyptian winter cereal cultivation system of Near Eastern origin in the Late Neolithic at least in Lower Nubia; the latter of which complemented established pastoral traditions providing for the emergent political economy. The northward spread of the summer savannah crop system during the first few centuries ce formed the basis for subsequent intensification through the adoption of the cattle-powered saqia. Diversification and intensification through an integration of the summer and winter crop systems along wit...
Domestication is the process by which plants or animals evolved to fit a human-managed environmen... more Domestication is the process by which plants or animals evolved to fit a human-managed environment, and it is marked by innovations in plant morphology and anatomy that are in turn correlated with new human behaviours and technologies for harvesting, storage and field preparation. Archaeobotanical evidence has revealed that domestication was a protracted process taking thousands of plant generations. Within this protracted process there were changes in the selection pressures for domestication traits as well as variation across a geographic mosaic of wild and cultivated populations. Quantitative data allow us to estimate the changing selection coefficients for the evolution of non-shattering (domestic-type seed dispersal) in Asian rice (<i>Oryza sativa</i> L.), barley (<i>Hordeum vulgare</i> L.), emmer wheat (<i>Triticum dicoccon</i> (Shrank) Schübl.) and einkorn wheat (<i>Triticum monococcum</i> L.). These data indicate that selection...
Domestication is the process by which plants or animals evolved to fit a human-managed environmen... more Domestication is the process by which plants or animals evolved to fit a human-managed environment, and it is marked by innovations in plant morphology and anatomy that are in turn correlated with new human behaviours and technologies for harvesting, storage and field preparation. Archaeobotanical evidence has revealed that domestication was a protracted process taking thousands of plant generations. Within this protracted process there were changes in the selection pressures for domestication traits as well as variation across a geographic mosaic of wild and cultivated populations. Quantitative data allow us to estimate the changing selection coefficients for the evolution of non-shattering (domestic-type seed dispersal) in Asian rice (<i>Oryza sativa</i> L.), barley (<i>Hordeum vulgare</i> L.), emmer wheat (<i>Triticum dicoccon</i> (Shrank) Schübl.) and einkorn wheat (<i>Triticum monococcum</i> L.). These data indicate that selection...
This paper addresses the range of subsistence strategies in the protracted transition to agricult... more This paper addresses the range of subsistence strategies in the protracted transition to agriculture in Southwest Asia. Discussed and defined here are the intermediate economies that can be characterized by a mixed-subsistence economy of wild plant exploitation, fruit cultivation and crop agriculture. Archaeobotanical data from sites located across the Fertile Crescent and dated 12000 to 5000 cal. BC are compared alongside a backdrop of data for domestication (i.e., non-shattering rachises and seed size increase) and crop diversity with regionally distinct profiles of crop agriculture and wild food exploitation. This research highlights sub-regional variations across Southwest Asia in the timing of subsistence change in the transition from hunting and gathering to diversified agricultural systems.
Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, Jan 5, 2017
Domestication is the process by which plants or animals evolved to fit a human-managed environmen... more Domestication is the process by which plants or animals evolved to fit a human-managed environment, and it is marked by innovations in plant morphology and anatomy that are in turn correlated with new human behaviours and technologies for harvesting, storage and field preparation. Archaeobotanical evidence has revealed that domestication was a protracted process taking thousands of plant generations. Within this protracted process there were changes in the selection pressures for domestication traits as well as variation across a geographic mosaic of wild and cultivated populations. Quantitative data allow us to estimate the changing selection coefficients for the evolution of non-shattering (domestic-type seed dispersal) in Asian rice (Oryza sativa L.), barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccon (Shrank) Schübl.) and einkorn wheat (Triticum monococcum L.). These data indicate that selection coefficients tended to be low, but also that there were inflection points a...
The site of Jarmo in Iraqi Kurdistan has yielded key archaeological evidence which supports its i... more The site of Jarmo in Iraqi Kurdistan has yielded key archaeological evidence which supports its interpretation as a large PPNB village. As such, it is the perfect candidate for the study of early agriculture, plant uses, food preparation and cooking practices. In order to explore these, new excavations and intensive sampling and flotation for the recovery of archaeobotanical remains were carried out in 2012 and 2014. This study presents the results from the analysis of the newly recovered archaeobotanical assemblage from Jarmo which has provided invaluable information about early crop agriculture and plant use. Furthermore, the in-depth study of recovered remains of archaeological food by high-resolution microscopy has shed light on culinary traditions and dietary choices during the Neolithic in the Central Zagros Area.
This paper provides an overview of changing agricultural systems from the Neolithic to the Post-M... more This paper provides an overview of changing agricultural systems from the Neolithic to the Post-Meroitic Period in the greater Nubian region. There remain major gaps in the archaeobotanical evidence, and larger samples collected by systematic sieving and flotation are few and far between. Gaps in our knowledge include the initial establishment of the summer, sub-Saharan cereal cultivation system, but other important trends are much clearer, such as the arrival of the classic Egyptian winter cereal cultivation system of Near Eastern origin in the Late Neolithic at least in Lower Nubia; the latter of which complemented established pastoral traditions providing for the emergent political economy. The northward spread of the summer savannah crop system during the first few centuries ce formed the basis for subsequent intensification through the adoption of the cattle-powered saqia. Diversification and intensification through an integration of the summer and winter crop systems along with the development of a cash crop industry facilitated the development of Meroitic state. These processes also may have played an important role in economic changes in the Late Meroitic to Post-Meroitic transition, including the devolution of the Meroitic state. In addition to representing a long-term frontier of overlapping agricultural systems, Nubia was a frontier in cooking traditions, a crossroads between a world of bread in the North and one of liquid preparations, porridges, and beers in the South.
This paper provides an overview of changing agricultural systems from the Neolithic to the Post-M... more This paper provides an overview of changing agricultural systems from the Neolithic to the Post-Meroitic Period in the greater Nubian region. There remain major gaps in the archaeobotanical evidence, and larger samples collected by systematic sieving and flotation are few and far between. Gaps in our knowledge include the initial establishment of the summer, sub-Saharan cereal cultivation system, but other important trends are much clearer, such as the arrival of the classic Egyptian winter cereal cultivation system of Near Eastern origin in the Late Neolithic at least in Lower Nubia; the latter of which complemented established pastoral traditions providing for the emergent political economy. The northward spread of the summer savannah crop system during the first few centuries ce formed the basis for subsequent intensification through the adoption of the cattle-powered saqia. Diversification and intensification through an integration of the summer and winter crop systems along wit...
Domestication is the process by which plants or animals evolved to fit a human-managed environmen... more Domestication is the process by which plants or animals evolved to fit a human-managed environment, and it is marked by innovations in plant morphology and anatomy that are in turn correlated with new human behaviours and technologies for harvesting, storage and field preparation. Archaeobotanical evidence has revealed that domestication was a protracted process taking thousands of plant generations. Within this protracted process there were changes in the selection pressures for domestication traits as well as variation across a geographic mosaic of wild and cultivated populations. Quantitative data allow us to estimate the changing selection coefficients for the evolution of non-shattering (domestic-type seed dispersal) in Asian rice (<i>Oryza sativa</i> L.), barley (<i>Hordeum vulgare</i> L.), emmer wheat (<i>Triticum dicoccon</i> (Shrank) Schübl.) and einkorn wheat (<i>Triticum monococcum</i> L.). These data indicate that selection...
Domestication is the process by which plants or animals evolved to fit a human-managed environmen... more Domestication is the process by which plants or animals evolved to fit a human-managed environment, and it is marked by innovations in plant morphology and anatomy that are in turn correlated with new human behaviours and technologies for harvesting, storage and field preparation. Archaeobotanical evidence has revealed that domestication was a protracted process taking thousands of plant generations. Within this protracted process there were changes in the selection pressures for domestication traits as well as variation across a geographic mosaic of wild and cultivated populations. Quantitative data allow us to estimate the changing selection coefficients for the evolution of non-shattering (domestic-type seed dispersal) in Asian rice (<i>Oryza sativa</i> L.), barley (<i>Hordeum vulgare</i> L.), emmer wheat (<i>Triticum dicoccon</i> (Shrank) Schübl.) and einkorn wheat (<i>Triticum monococcum</i> L.). These data indicate that selection...
This paper addresses the range of subsistence strategies in the protracted transition to agricult... more This paper addresses the range of subsistence strategies in the protracted transition to agriculture in Southwest Asia. Discussed and defined here are the intermediate economies that can be characterized by a mixed-subsistence economy of wild plant exploitation, fruit cultivation and crop agriculture. Archaeobotanical data from sites located across the Fertile Crescent and dated 12000 to 5000 cal. BC are compared alongside a backdrop of data for domestication (i.e., non-shattering rachises and seed size increase) and crop diversity with regionally distinct profiles of crop agriculture and wild food exploitation. This research highlights sub-regional variations across Southwest Asia in the timing of subsistence change in the transition from hunting and gathering to diversified agricultural systems.
Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, Jan 5, 2017
Domestication is the process by which plants or animals evolved to fit a human-managed environmen... more Domestication is the process by which plants or animals evolved to fit a human-managed environment, and it is marked by innovations in plant morphology and anatomy that are in turn correlated with new human behaviours and technologies for harvesting, storage and field preparation. Archaeobotanical evidence has revealed that domestication was a protracted process taking thousands of plant generations. Within this protracted process there were changes in the selection pressures for domestication traits as well as variation across a geographic mosaic of wild and cultivated populations. Quantitative data allow us to estimate the changing selection coefficients for the evolution of non-shattering (domestic-type seed dispersal) in Asian rice (Oryza sativa L.), barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccon (Shrank) Schübl.) and einkorn wheat (Triticum monococcum L.). These data indicate that selection coefficients tended to be low, but also that there were inflection points a...
Over three field seasons between 2007 and 2012, we excavated three caves-Mota, Tuwatey, and Gulo-... more Over three field seasons between 2007 and 2012, we excavated three caves-Mota, Tuwatey, and Gulo-situated at an average elevation of 2,084 m above sea level in the cool and moist Boreda Gamo Highlands of southwestern Ethiopia. Anthropogenic deposits in these caves date from the Middle to Late Holocene (ca. 6000 to 100 BP) and provide excellent preservation of material culture, fauna, flora, and human skeletal remains from which to investigate changes in technologies and habitat use over the last several thousand years. Here, we present results and interpretations, suggesting ways in which Ho-locene communities of the Boreda Gamo Highlands
Over three field seasons between 2007 and
2012, we excavated three caves—Mota, Tuwatey, and
Gulo—... more Over three field seasons between 2007 and 2012, we excavated three caves—Mota, Tuwatey, and Gulo—situated at an average elevation of 2,084 m above sea level in the cool and moist Boreda Gamo Highlands of southwestern Ethiopia. Anthropogenic deposits in these caves date from the Middle to Late Holocene (ca. 6000 to 100 BP) and provide excellent preservation of material culture, fauna, flora, and human skeletal remains from which to investigate changes in technologies and habitat use over the last several thousand years. Here, we present results and interpretations, suggesting ways in which Holocene communities of the Boreda Gamo Highlands constructed new landscapes and technologies in their transition from hunting and gathering to an agropastoral way of life.
This paper provides an overview of changing agricultural systems from the Neolithic to the Post-M... more This paper provides an overview of changing agricultural systems from the Neolithic to the Post-Meroitic Period in the greater Nubian region. There remain major gaps in the ar chaeobotanical evidence, and larger samples collected by systematic sieving and flotation are few and far between. Gaps in our knowledge include the initial establishment of the summer, sub-Saharan cereal cultivation system, but other important trends are much clearer, such as the arrival of the classic Egyptian winter cereal cultivation system of Near Eastern origin in the Late Neolithic at least in Lower Nubia; the latter of which com plemented established pastoral traditions providing for the emergent political economy. The northward spread of the summer savannah crop system during the first few centuries CE formed the basis for subsequent intensification through the adoption of the cattle-powered saqia. Diversification and intensification through an integration of the summer and winter crop systems along with the development of a cash crop industry facilitated the development of Meroitic state. These processes also may have played an important role in economic changes in the Late Meroitic to Post-Meroitic transition, including the devolution of the Meroitic state. In addition to representing a long-term frontier of over lapping agricultural systems, Nubia was a frontier in cooking traditions, a crossroads be tween a world of bread in the North and one of liquid preparations, porridges, and beers in the South.
Our understanding of the timing and dynamics of the spread of human populations to the island of ... more Our understanding of the timing and dynamics of the spread of human populations to the island of Cyprus has changed significantly in the last few decades. Ongoing research on a few sites has provided more detail not only on when the initial explorers and farming populations arrived, but also on how the unique culture of prehistoric Cyprus developed. This research explores patterns in the archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological data from prehistoric Cyprus dated from the Neolithic to the Late Bronze Age (c. 8800-1300 BC). The data provide insight into a protracted and non-linear transition to an agriculturally-focused subsistence strategy on the island, the timing of which demonstrates a deviation from the mainland trajectory. The unique transition includes a prolonged period of intermediate or mixed subsistence, which involved both a pulling back from cereal agriculture and secondary animal products and a later move, during the Bronze Age, towards perennial land use for crops that could be commodities. The results presented here suggest that, rather than any passive , demographically-driven shift to cereal agriculture, emerging social complexity and active management played key roles.
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Papers by Leilani Lucas
2012, we excavated three caves—Mota, Tuwatey, and
Gulo—situated at an average elevation of 2,084 m above
sea level in the cool and moist Boreda Gamo Highlands of
southwestern Ethiopia. Anthropogenic deposits in these
caves date from the Middle to Late Holocene (ca. 6000
to 100 BP) and provide excellent preservation of material
culture, fauna, flora, and human skeletal remains from
which to investigate changes in technologies and habitat
use over the last several thousand years. Here, we present
results and interpretations, suggesting ways in which Holocene
communities of the Boreda Gamo Highlands constructed
new landscapes and technologies in their transition
from hunting and gathering to an agropastoral way of life.