Archaeobotany: Methods

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis Champion ◽  
Dorian Q. Fuller
Keyword(s):  
Food Production ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Origins Of Agriculture ◽  
The Past ◽  
Holistic Understanding ◽  
The World ◽  
Archaeobotanical Remains ◽  
Agriculture And Food ◽  
Botanical Remains ◽  
General Scope

Archaeobotany’s goals are to investigate the interactions between human societies and the plant world in the past from the botanical remains preserved in archaeological sites, including the environment people exploited and the foods they extracted from it. Archaeobotanical research in Africa has tended to be less widely practiced than in many other parts of the world, and systematic archaeobotanical sampling is still only incorporated into a minority of archaeological field projects in Africa. Nevertheless, there is potential for archaeobotany to contribute to a holistic understanding of Africa’s past. The general scope of archaeobotany is outlined before focusing on how typical archaeobotanical remains relate to agriculture and food production. A short overview on the practical side of collecting archaeobotanical samples is provided. Archaeobotany’s two general themes are discussed: hunter-gatherer subsistence and the origins of agriculture.

scholarly journals Ecosystem Services Changes on Farmland in Response to Urbanization in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area of China

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 501
Author(s):  
Xuege Wang ◽  
Fengqin Yan ◽  
Yinwei Zeng ◽  
Ming Chen ◽  
Bin He ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Hong Kong ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Great Loss ◽  
The Past ◽  
Bay Area ◽  
Farmland Loss ◽  
The World

Extensive urbanization around the world has caused a great loss of farmland, which significantly impacts the ecosystem services provided by farmland. This study investigated the farmland loss due to urbanization in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) of China from 1980 to 2018 based on multiperiod datasets from the Land Use and Land Cover of China databases. Then, we calculated ecosystem service values (ESVs) of farmland using valuation methods to estimate the ecosystem service variations caused by urbanization in the study area. The results showed that 3711.3 km2 of farmland disappeared because of urbanization, and paddy fields suffered much higher losses than dry farmland. Most of the farmland was converted to urban residential land from 1980 to 2018. In the past 38 years, the ESV of farmland decreased by 5036.7 million yuan due to urbanization, with the highest loss of 2177.5 million yuan from 2000–2010. The hydrological regulation, food production and gas regulation of farmland decreased the most due to urbanization. The top five cities that had the largest total ESV loss of farmland caused by urbanization were Guangzhou, Dongguan, Foshan, Shenzhen and Huizhou. This study revealed that urbanization has increasingly become the dominant reason for farmland loss in the GBA. Our study suggests that governments should increase the construction of ecological cities and attractive countryside to protect farmland and improve the regional ESV.

The Coevolution of Tourism and Agriculture

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 175-191
Author(s):  
Anne-Mette Hjalager
Keyword(s):  
Food Production ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Boundary Crossing ◽  
Economic Opportunities ◽  
The World ◽  
Different Populations ◽  
Agriculture And Food ◽  
Further Development

Coevolution is a term borrowed from biology, and is used to describe the development of two different populations under mutually interdependent circumstances. This article addresses tourism and food production in a coevolution context. Twenty-one examples from around the world illustrate the formats of coevolution, which benefits tourism and food production alike. While these initiatives are not (yet) mainstream in tourism, they nevertheless constitute changes that match tourism trends in the demand for food experiences with wider meaning and significance. For agriculture and food production, tourism opens new possibilities for diversification and economic opportunities that move beyond traditional business models. Its contribution lies in further development in evolutionary and environmental economists' work on socioenvironmental coevolution, and interaction between human and biophysical systems, which are systematized and discussed according to six characteristics: specificity, reciprocity, simultaneity, genetic fixing, boundary crossing, and organically derived.

Needs for Food: Are We Asking Too Much?

1998 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Waterlow
Keyword(s):  
Royal Society ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Other ◽  
World Population ◽  
The Past ◽  
Agricultural Efficiency ◽  
Geometrical Progression ◽  
The World ◽  
Friedrich Engels ◽  
Agriculture And Food

The Royal Society has in recent years taken a great interest in the growth of the world’s population and has been represented at the two big international congresses on this subject, in Delhi and in Cairo (Graham-Smith, 1994). According to U.N. projections, in 20 year’s time the world population will be between 7.5 and 8.5 billion (Demeny, 1996). There does not seem to be much controversy about these figures. On the other hand, when it comes to the question of whether it will be possible to feed these 8 billion people, opinions diverge widely between optimists and pessimists. McCalla (1995), the director of the Agriculture and Natural Resources Department of the World Bank, in a very illuminating discussion of the controversy, has said, “The economists are always wrong,” presumably because they have to deduce future trends from those of the past. It seemed to us that the best way to make a useful contribution is to look at the subject and assess the possibilities from an objective scientific point of view. The Royal Society has done this twice in the past, with two discussion meetings: one on Agricultural Efficiency (Cooke et al., 1977) and the other on Technology in the 1990s: Agriculture and Food (Blaxter and Fowden, 1985). Now, 10 years on, it is time to have another go, widening the scope of the recent discussion meeting “Land Resources: On the Edge of the Malthusion Precipice?” The late Kenneth Blaxter, in a scries of lectures called “People, Food and Resources,” published in 1986, recalled a quotation from Friedrich Engels, writing in 1844 about the Malthusian dilemma: “Science advances in proportion to the knowledge bequeathed to it by the previous generation and thus under the most ordinary conditions grows in geometrical progression — and what is impossible for science?” (my italics).

scholarly journals High-precision chronology for Central American maize diversification from El Gigante rockshelter, Honduras

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (34) ◽  
pp. 9026-9031 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas J. Kennett ◽  
Heather B. Thakar ◽  
Amber M. VanDerwarker ◽  
David L. Webster ◽  
Brendan J. Culleton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Production ◽  
Genetic Data ◽  
Central American ◽  
Segment Length ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
The Past ◽  
American Maize ◽  
Selection For ◽  
Botanical Remains ◽  
Maize Cobs

The first steps toward maize (Zea mays subspecies mays) domestication occurred in the Balsas region of Mexico by ∼9,000 calendar years B.P. (cal B.P.), but it remains unclear when maize was productive enough to be a staple grain in the Americas. Molecular and microbotanical data provide a partial picture of the timing and nature of morphological change, with genetic data indicating that alleles for some domestication traits were not yet fixed by 5,300 cal B.P. in the highlands of Mexico. Here, we report 88 radiocarbon dates on the botanical remains from El Gigante rockshelter (Honduras) to establish a Bayesian chronology over the past ∼11,000 y spanning the transition to maize-based food production. Botanical remains are remarkably well preserved and include over 10,000 maize macrofossils. We directly dated 37 maize cobs to establish the appearance and local change of maize at the site. Cobs are common in deposits dating between 4,340 and 4,020 cal B.P., and again between 2,350 and 980 cal B.P. The earliest cobs appear robustly domesticated, having 10–14 rows, suggesting strong selection for increased yield. The later cobs are comparable to these earliest ones, but show clear emergence of diverse traits, including increased cob width, rachis segment length, and cupule width. Our results indicate that domesticated landraces of maize productive enough to be a staple grain existed in Central America by 4,300 cal B.P.

Introduction

1977 ◽  
Vol 199 (1134) ◽  
pp. 5-8
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Food Samples ◽  
Scientific Investigation ◽  
Rural Populations ◽  
Subsistence Agriculture ◽  
The World ◽  
Agriculture And Food

This was a somewhat unusual discussion meeting in that it was preoccupied with very common medical conditions and with technologies which in many cases are so simple that many would think they should scarcely be regarded as technologies at all. Three quarters of the world’s inhabitants live in rural areas and survive on near subsistence agriculture - they are clearly affected with a great variety of severe diseases, especially in childhood, but diseases of a type which cause little trouble now in the rest of the world. The resources available to help these vast rural populations are very limited, and certainly too small to enable us to deal with the diseases in exactly the same way as this has been done elsewhere. Yet it is urgent to do something, as the population is rising at least as fast as food and other resources. The meeting therefore set out to review a number of the aspects of the rural situation which are particularly important for health. These included the improvement of agriculture and food production, and water supply. We considered the most recent results of aetiological research and asked whether enough facts are available. Some of the results were surprising - for example it appeared that infections of the gut are important causes of malnutrition in West Africa. It is important to have a particularly deep and accurate understanding of what contributes most to ill health, because in these rural areas it is only possible to intervene in a few ways, and if the little money available is spent on unimportant interventions there will be little benefit to the population and no money left to ‘try again’. This is thus a challenge to scientific investigation which in some cases might be simple - watching where people draw water, subtle - finding out what makes them want to have or not have children, or complicated - studying food samples in depth and analysing data with the aid of a computer.

scholarly journals ECLIPSES, MYTHOLOGY, AND ISLAM

Al-Duhaa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (02) ◽  
pp. 01-16
Author(s):  
Muhammad Nabeel Musharraf ◽  
Basheer Ahmad Dars
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Comparative Religion ◽  
Common Source ◽  
The Sun ◽  
The Moon ◽  
The Past ◽  
Holistic Understanding ◽  
The World ◽  
Narrative Literature ◽  
Narrative Literature Review

Comparative religion is a field of study through which views of various religions about a particular topic or sets of topics can be collated, interpreted, and systematically compared for attaining useful insights and broadening the understanding of religious beliefs, behaviors, and actions [i]. The current research furthers the study of comparative religion by elaborating the conceptions or myths related to eclipses as found in various religions and cultures in the world. Written as a narrative literature review, it aims to collate these conceptions and opinions for comparative analysis. In this paper, we have studied the ‘myths’ and ‘mythology’ of the religions and cultures spread across Australia, Asia, the Americas, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. It is found that some common themes exist in the beliefs held by various people and religions. However, if we compare these themes with each other, they are found to be considerably different indicating that they have not come from a common source; people have been creating them at various points in history. However, very different to them is the Islamic perspective on the topic. It profoundly differs from the conceptions held in other religions. It does not say that the eclipses are caused by some giant creature eating up the sun, or because of the sun being imprisoned, or because of a fight between some ‘gods’, and so on. It rather explains them as a phenomenon of nature that invites reflection and pondering. This raises a very important question to ponder upon: Why did Islam not adopt any myths to explain the concept of eclipse unlike any other religion even though it could use them for its benefit? This paper answers it by explaining the nature and objective of the Prophet of Islam and the source of his knowledge which was that very Creator who created the sun and the moon and everything else. Another important point that the current research highlights is that there is an inseparable connection between the fields of history, science, religion, politics, culture, and psychology; none of them can be separated from each other if one wishes to obtain a holistic understanding of this topic as well as many other matters of the past, present, and future.

scholarly journals Ochrona zabytków archeologicznych w prawie japońskim

2021 ◽  
pp. 143-156
Author(s):  
Paula Chmielowska
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Cultural Goods ◽  
Current Generation ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Japanese Law ◽  
Tea Ceremony

Protection of archaeological sites in Japanese law In popular perception Japan is often associated with cherry blossoms, the samurai, the geishas, rice fields and delicious ramen soup. However, each of these elements is relatively new. The country’s culture is rich and ancient, and the Japanese are very aware of their heritage and are eager to protect it. The Japanese government encourages universal public participation in supporting and appreciating artistic activities. The most important cultural goods are considered national treasures, which are particularly valuable to the world and to the Japanese nation. These can be works of art such as paintings, sculptures or architectural masterpieces, as well as other forms of artistic expression such as suiseki – art of artistic display of stones, chadō – tea ceremony, ikebana – flower arrangement, and even the artists themselves. The purpose of this article is to outline the Japanese heritage law with respect to protection of archaeological sites; the long history of the island nation means the Japanese archaeologists have plenty of sites to work on. Since 1945, archaeological research has become an important way of constructing the Japanese national identity. While the key goal of archeology in Japan is still about building national identity in relation to the past, there is a noticeable diversity in research goals and methodology used by the current generation of practicing archaeologists.

scholarly journals Chronometric Dating and Late Holocene Prehistory in the Hawaiian Islands: A Critical Review of Radiocarbon Dates from Moloka'I Island

Radiocarbon ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marshall Weisler
Keyword(s):  
Late Holocene ◽  
The United States ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Radiocarbon Age ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
Growing Body ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Age Determinations

The importance of chronometric dating in archaeology cannot be overemphasized. Indeed, most chronologies developed throughout the world during the past three decades have depended on radiocarbon age determinations to provide a temporal framework for examining change over time in cultural sequences during the late Pleistocene and Holocene. With the advent of legislation in the mid-1960s designed to protect archaeological sites in the United States threatened by increased urban development or government sponsored projects, archaeological surveys and excavations were mandated as a means for preserving information otherwise destroyed. As a result, thousands of projects have contributed to a growing body of “gray literature,” ie, unpublished proprietary or manuscript reports with very limited circulation. Within these reports are hundreds, if not thousands, of 14C age determinations, most of which are not accessible in published form. One objective of this paper is to present all the 14C age determinations for the island of Moloka'i, Hawai'i as of December 1988, including 41 dates never before published with stratigraphic details.

scholarly journals Reframing the Debate Surrounding the Yield Gap between Organic and Conventional Farming

Agronomy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klaus-Peter Wilbois ◽  
Jennifer Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
Food Production ◽  
Conventional Farming ◽  
Yield Gap ◽  
Conventional Agriculture ◽  
Organic Systems ◽  
The World ◽  
Yield Gaps ◽  
Agriculture And Food ◽  
Novel Model ◽  
Organic And Conventional Farming

In this article, we review the literature regarding the yield gap between organic and conventional agriculture and then reflect on the corresponding debate on whether or not organic farming can feed the world. We analyze the current framework and highlight the need to reframe the yield gap debate away from “Can organic feed the world?” towards the more pragmatic question, “How can organic agriculture contribute to feeding the world?”. Furthermore, we challenge the benchmarks that are used in present yield comparison studies, as they are based on fundamentally distinct paradigms of the respective farming methods, and then come up with a novel model to better understand the nature of yield gaps and the benchmarks that they are premised on. We thus conclude that, by establishing appropriate benchmarks, re-prioritizing research needs, and focusing on transforming natural resources rather than inputs, organic systems can raise their yields and play an ever-greater role in global sustainable agriculture and food production in the future.

scholarly journals Spiritual Politics: New Age and New Left in West Germany around 1980

2021 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 239-261
Author(s):  
Joachim C. Häberlen
Keyword(s):  
American Indians ◽  
Fairy Tales ◽  
New Left ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
The Past ◽  
Holistic Understanding ◽  
The World ◽  
The Universe

In the late 1970s, an increasing number of West German ‘alternative’ leftist authors and activists turned to spiritual ideas. A milieu that had once been characterized by what Timothy Scott Brown called a ‘scholarly-scientific imperative’ now turned to magic and mystics, fairy tales and stories about American Indians. The article explores this turn to spirituality within the ‘alternative left’ in West Germany around 1980. Drawing on a close reading of several books, mostly published by Munich’s famous left-wing publisher Trikont Dianus, the article argues that fairy tales, myths and accounts of American Indian shamans promised a deeper and more holistic understanding of the world that was beyond the grasp of rational scientific thinking, including Marxism. This holistic understanding of the world provided the basis for a form of politics focused on living in harmony: in harmony with oneself, not least in a bodily sense; in harmony with nature and the universe; and in harmony with the community and the past, which is why authors began to re-evaluate notions of Heimat (homeland), a notoriously right-wing concept. For leftists tired of the confrontational and often violent politics of the 1970s, such ideas proved appealing. The article suggests understanding the fascination with spiritualism as part and parcel of a moment when old, confrontational forms of politics were rapidly losing appeal and were replaced by a politics concerned with questions of self-hood. Spiritual politics were, to quote Michel Foucault, part of the struggles that attacked ‘not so much “such and such” an institution of power, or group, or elite, or class, but rather a technique, a form of power’, namely a power that determined ‘who one is’.

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