Paul Halstead

This revealing study shows how careful analysis of recent farming practices, and related cultural traditions, in communities around the Mediterranean can enhance our understanding of prehistoric and Greco-Roman societies. Includes a wealth of original interview material and data from field observation Provides original approaches to understanding past farming practices and their social contexts Offers a revealing comparative perspective on Mediterranean societies’ agronomy Identifies a number of previously unrecorded climate-related contrasts in farming practices, which have important socio-economic significance Explores annual tasks, such as tillage and harvest; inter-annual land management techniques, such as rotation; and intergenerational issues, including capital accumulation

Pre-Mechanized Farming in the Mediterranean

Two Oxen Ahead

Clive Gamble

Yannis Hamilakis

Eleni Kotjabopoulou

Animals have always been integral to life and culture in Greece. Recently the study of animal bones has played an important role in investigations of Greek archaeology. In this volume the current position is reviewed with papers ranging from the Palaeolithic to the Medieval periods and employing a wide range of techniques and approaches. The papers cover not only the themes of subsistence and methodology but also symbolism, ritual and the artistic representation of animals. The interdisciplinary and international character of zooarchaeology is confirmed and many new avenues for research are suggested.

Recent Advances

Zooarchaeology in Greece

Peter Rowley-Conwy

Dale Sergeantson

Economic archaeology is the study of how past peoples exploited animals and plants, using as evidence the remains of those animals and plants. The animal side is usually termed zooarchaeology, the plant side archaeobotany. What distinguishes them from other studies of ancient animals and plants is that their ultimate aim is to find out about human behaviour – the animal and plant remains are a means to this end. The 33 papers present a wide array of topics covering many areas of archaeological interest. Aspects of method and theory, animal bone identification, human palaeopathology, prehistoric animal utilisation in South America, and the study of dog cemeteries are covered. The long-running controversy over the milking of animals and the use of dairy products by humans is discussed as is the ecological impact of hunting by farmers, with studies from Serbia and Syria. For Britain, coverage extends from Mesolithic Star Carr, via the origins of agriculture and the farmers of Lismore Fields, through considerations of the Neolithic and Bronze Age. Outside Britain, papers discuss Neolithic subsistence in Cyprus and Croatia, Iron Age society in Spain, Medieval and post-medieval animal utilisation in northern Russia, and the claimed finding of a modern red deer skeleton in Egypt’s Eastern Desert. In exploring these themes, this volume celebrates the life and work of Tony Legge (zoo)archaeologist and teacher.

Studies in Hunting, Herding and Early Agriculture

Economic Zooarchaeology

Paul Halstead

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