scholarly journals Expect the unexpected: the vital need for wild plants in a Bronze Age farmer’s diet

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yvonne Van Amerongen
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Physical Anthropology ◽  
Wild Plants ◽  
Wild Plant ◽  
Full Time ◽  
The People ◽  
Wild Plant Gathering ◽  
Nutritional Studies ◽  
The Bronze Age

Wild plant gathering and consumption has previously been described as being unimportant during the Bronze Age in the western Netherlands. It was believed that the people were full-time farmers and that the food produced on the settlement was enough for people to be self-sufficient. However, the analysis performed here to re-evaluate this statement has shown that wild plants were also essential to life in the Bronze Age. The combined information obtained from ethnography, ethnobotany, archaeology, ecology, nutritional studies, and physical anthropology has indeed indicated that wild plants, and especially their vegetative parts, would have had to have been gathered yearround in order for people to remain healthy.

scholarly journals Aegean diffusions - Diffusions of power: Cultural connections between Minoan Crete and Pharaonic Egypt

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Vinko Kerr-Harris
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
The People ◽  
Minoan Crete ◽  
Cultural Connections ◽  
Economic Nature ◽  
The Bronze Age

<p>The development of Minoan society has traditionally been considered by scholars to have been an insular phenomenon unique to the southern Aegean. Such assumptions, however, fail to acknowledge the wider context of the Bronze Age in the Eastern Mediterranean. Contact between the people of Crete and their contemporaries in Egypt and the Levant is well attested in the archaeological record, with a plethora of artefacts – imported and imitation – appearing on both sides of the Libyan Sea. Whilst investigations into the economic nature of these exchanges have been undertaken, little thought has been given to the cultural consequences of inter-regional contacts. This thesis examines the evolution of palatial society upon Crete and considers the extent to which interactions with comparatively more mature civilisations may have influenced the increasingly hierarchal trajectory of Minoan society, by re-evaluating the corpus of material culture and interconnectivity.</p>

scholarly journals Bronze age sickles in diverse roles

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 23-30
Author(s):  
Eszter Fejér
Keyword(s):  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Carpathian Basin ◽  
Research Interest ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
The People ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Special Value ◽  
The Bronze Age

Bronze sickles are among the most numerous types of artefacts discovered in Late Bronze Age assemblages in Europe, and they have been found in particularly large numbers in the Carpathian Basin. Since their form has barely changed during the last few thousand years and they are generally regarded as having a very ordinary function, for a long time they had failed to spark research interest. Nevertheless, detailed analysis of their find contexts and condition, as well as their comparison with historical, anthropological, and ethnographic observations reveal that they may have had diverse meanings, a greater significance than previously thought, and a special value for the people of the Bronze Age.

scholarly journals Conceptualising the Factors that Influence the Commercialisation of Non-Timber Forest Products: The Case of Wild Plant Gathering by Organic Herb Farmers in South Tyrol (Italy)

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 2028 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Schunko ◽  
Sarah Lechthaler ◽  
Christian Vogl
Keyword(s):  
Rural Development ◽  
Forest Products ◽  
Political Support ◽  
Wild Plants ◽  
Wild Plant ◽  
South Tyrol ◽  
Organic Certification ◽  
Non Timber Forest Products ◽  
Wild Plant Gathering ◽  
Support Mechanisms

The gathering and commercialisation of non-timber forest products (NTFP) in Europe has repeatedly been praised for its potential to support rural development. However, political support mechanisms explicitly targeting NTFP remain underdeveloped. In this study, we aimed to contribute to the design of support mechanisms by understanding the factors that influence the commercialisation of wild plants by organic farmers. We first developed a conceptual framework based on fifteen factors and then applied the framework to a case study in South Tyrol (Alto Adige), Italy. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with all fourteen members of the Vereinigung Südtiroler Kräuteranbauer (Associazione Coltivatori Sudtirolesi Piante Officinali), who commercialised wild plant species, and the data were then analysed using qualitative content analysis. Agricultural intensification, pesticide drift, limited access to gathering sites suitable for organic certification, legal restrictions, lack of consumer awareness about the additional value of organic wild plant certification, and limited product diversity were perceived as limiting factors; management techniques in organic farming, organic certification, a trend for wild, regional and healthy foods, the availability of training, and favourable cultural values and attitudes towards wild plant gathering were perceived as supportive. This study offers a comprehensive understanding of the many diverse factors that may influence wild plant commercialisation in Europe and beyond and provides guidance on how political support mechanisms could unlock the much heralded potential of wild plant commercialisation for rural development.

Non-Medicinal Uses of Selected Wild Plants By The People of Mustang District, Nepal

2009 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 47-57
Author(s):  
Sandesh Bhattarai ◽  
R. P. Chaudhary ◽  
R SL Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
In Situ Conservation ◽  
Construction Materials ◽  
Local People ◽  
Wild Plants ◽  
Wild Plant ◽  
Medicinal Uses ◽  
Local Resources ◽  
The People ◽  
Wild Plant Species

The local people of Mustang district use several wild plant species to fulfill various daily needs. Local people were interviewed during 2005-2007 regarding their uses of plants. We recorded several uses of 51 plant species (29 herbs,12 shrubs and 10 trees), belonging to 19 families under 31 genera. Among 51 species recorded, 23 species were used as fodder; followed by decoration materials and organic manure (nine species each). Plants were also used to make household articles, construction materials, recreational drugs, dye, soap, to make a beverage that is consumed as a substitute for tea and others. It is hoped that sustainable harvesting of these local resources will play an important role in in-situ conservation and ultimately help to maintain a sustainable ecosystem.Key words: Fodder; Mustang; Sustainable; Valuable resources; Wild plantsJournal of Natural History MuseumVol. 24, 2009 Page 47-57

The Coming of Agriculture People, Landscapes, and Change c.4000 –1500 bc

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alasdair Whittle ◽  
Colin Renfrew
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
General Tendency ◽  
Neolithic Period ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
The People ◽  
New Evidence ◽  
The Bronze Age ◽  
Growing Population

This chapter reviews the development of agriculture in Britain and Ireland from the Neolithic period to the middle of the Bronze Age (approximately 4000 to 1500 bc in calendar years), and the associated questions of the identity of the people involved, the density of populations, and their effect on the landscape. This brief account is set in the context of the wider development of an agricultural way of life on the adjacent continental mainland, going as far back as 6000 bc in central Europe. I hope to raise questions as much as to answer them, and to concentrate wherever possible on new evidence and approaches. I should like to frame my discussion by setting out four hypotheses: 1. Overall, change was slow, but punctuated by spurts or accelerations (notably around 5500 bc, 4000 bc, and 1500 bc), whose nature is still poorly understood. This hypothesis stands in opposition to a general tendency to envisage a steadily intensifying evolution of subsistence methods, population levels, and landscapes. 2. There was much continuity of population both in continental Europe and in Britain and Ireland, but the role of colonization still needs seriously to be considered. This hypothesis seeks to re-examine both the assumption in continental research of major colonization with the onset of the Neolithic and the recent British consensus that the beginnings of the Neolithic were essentially to do with the acculturation of an indigenous population. 3. Although some landscapes had been cleared of substantial tracts of woodland by about 2500–2000 bc, population levels in most parts of Britain and Ireland remained relatively low at least until the middle of the Bronze Age, and the lifestyle can be characterized by continuing mobility and/or short-term sedentism. This hypothesis restates recent opposition to the notion that the introduction of agriculture entailed sedentary existence, rapidly growing population, and intensifying production right from the start. The coming of agriculture in a more familiar guise, although preceded in Britain and Ireland by herding and piecemeal cultivation from about 4000 bc, was not seen till as late as about 1500 bc onwards.

Europe in the Iron Age

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Haselgrove ◽  
Katharina Rebay-Salisbury ◽  
Peter S. Wells
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Physical Geography ◽  
Biological Anthropology ◽  
Mountain Ranges ◽  
Health And Nutrition ◽  
Individual Mobility ◽  
The People ◽  
Key Aspects ◽  
The Bronze Age

This chapter introduces the regional framework within which the archaeology of Iron Age Europe is presented in Chapters 4–17 of the book, and examines some key aspects of climate, environment, and population during the period. It outlines the main features of European physical geography—including landscapes, mountain ranges, river systems, and coastlines—discussing their roles as barriers to and facilitators of human connectivity during the Iron Age. Topography, soil types, and natural resources all had a major impact on subsistence practices and lifeways across the continent; climate changes presented specific challenges to the people at the end of the Bronze Age and in several phases during the Iron Age. Biological anthropology informs us about Iron Age health and nutrition, while isotope and DNA analyses of human remains are increasingly shedding new light on individual mobility and population histories through the period.

scholarly journals Is the Commercialization of Wild Plants by Organic Producers in Austria Neglected or Irrelevant?

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 3989 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Schunko ◽  
Christian Vogl
Keyword(s):  
Wild Plants ◽  
Wild Plant ◽  
Regional Economies ◽  
Cultural Perspective ◽  
Commercial Activity ◽  
Organic Certification ◽  
Farm Diversification ◽  
Innovative Products ◽  
Wild Plant Gathering ◽  
Design Databases

European countries are split over the appreciation of wild berries, fruits, mushrooms, and herbs. While some countries provide public statistics on wild plants, others seem to neglect wild plant gathering and commercialization. In this study, we aimed to understand if wild plant commercialization is neglected or irrelevant in Austria, a country that does not provide statistics. We focus on organic producers, because organic certification of wild plant gathering might have potential for countering frequent concerns about commercial gathering, including destructive gathering and overharvesting. Using a mixed-methods approach with a concurrent triangulation design, databases of six organic certification bodies were analysed concurrently with semi-structured expert interviews of their representatives. We found that organic certification for gathering was issued to 1.5% of organic producers in the year 2016 in Austria and is relevant for three distinct gatherer types: regular, diversified, and single-plant gatherers. Organic gathering is most frequently part of agricultural or horticultural farms and rarely an isolated commercial activity. It is related to mixed farming, deepening on-farm diversification, and contributes to maintaining traditions, as well as the local socio-ecological memory of wild plant products. Organic wild plants are directly marketed to consumers as traditional and innovative products, but also supplied to mass markets. We conclude that from a socio-cultural perspective and a focus on regional economies, organic gathering is neglected in Austria, whereas from an income perspective, wild plant gathering seems to be indeed relevant for few organic producers, although exhibiting potential.

scholarly journals Material Entanglements of Writing Practices in the Bronze Age Aegean and Cyprus

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (24) ◽  
pp. 10671
Author(s):  
Philippa M. Steele
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
The Other ◽  
Writing Systems ◽  
Writing Practices ◽  
The People ◽  
The One ◽  
Writing Practice ◽  
The Bronze Age

The present paper explores theoretical aspects of the study of writing systems and practices. It approaches the mesh that constitutes writing practice through one type of agent: the writing instrument used to write clay documents in the Bronze Age Aegean and Cyprus. On the one hand, this investigation will use types of writing implements and their distribution to think through wider issues concerning the development of writing practices across the Bronze Age Aegean and Cyprus. On the other, it will attempt to establish the place of writing implements within a broader conceptual framework of the people, things and actions that constitute writing practices in this area and period.

scholarly journals Late Bronze Age anthropological materials from the Nepljuevski kurgan cemetery

2020 ◽  
pp. 133-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.K. Karapetian ◽  
N.A. Leybova ◽  
S.V. Sharapova
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Southern Urals ◽  
The Body ◽  
European Ancestry ◽  
Burial Ground ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
The People ◽  
Tripolye Culture ◽  
The Bronze Age ◽  
Culture Sample

The body of works on craniological and paleoodontological analyses of the materials from the Bronze Age sites of the Southern Trans-Urals still has not clarified the question of the genesis of the people who lived in this area. This is partly due to fragmentary state of the available materials, so that publication of new data appears highly relevant. This paper deals with the results of craniological and dental analyses of an osteological sample from two kurgans of the Nepljuevski burial ground, excavated between 2015 and 2017 by a Russian-German archaeological expedition. The burial ground is located 300 km south-west of Chelyabinsk city, in Kartalinsky dis-trict in the steppes of the Southern Trans-Urals. The recovered materials are dated to the Late Bronze Age and attributed to the Srubnaya-Alakul Culture variant. Materials and methods. Metric description of 5 male and 6 fe-male crania is given. The dental sample comprised remains of 14 children and adolescents and 12 adults. Stan-dard craniometric and paleoodontological protocols were used. Statistical procedures included principal compo-nent analysis (PCA) for craniometric traits and correspondence analysis for odontological traits. Results. Gener-ally, the crania show morphology characteristic for the European (Caucasian) groups. The male crania are ho-mogenous in such traits as narrow, vividly protruding nose and a pronounced horizontal profiling. The sample is dominated by individuals with a high facial height. Females and males generally show morphological similarities, but females, on average, have a relatively higher braincase, wider and lower orbits, a relatively wider nose, and slightly less pronounced horizontal profiling. The odontological analysis is in line with the cranoimetric data indi-cating European ancestry. One of the distinct characteristics of this sample is the presence of «enamel pearls» — a usually rare trait — in 5 out of 12 individuals, which may indicate an increased percentage of biological relatives in it. Conclusion. Overall, the crania from kurgan 1 find analogies among gracilized high-faced forms widespread in Southern Urals and Kazakhstan during the Bronze Age, often linked to the southern ancestry. The attribution of the Nepljuevski sample to the circle of gracile forms is indicated by the results of odontological analysis, which revealed its proximity to the Tripolye culture sample.

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