Agricultural Adaptations during the Late Bronze Age: Archaeobotanical Evidence from Sovjan, Albania, and Tsoungiza, Greece

This thesis investigates the relationship between humans and their environment during the Late Bronze Age (LBA) (ca. 1600-1000 BC) in southern Europe. By studying archaeobotanical assemblages recovered through spatially intensive sampling methods from the LBA deposits from Sovjan, Albania, and Tsoungiza, Greece, agricultural regimes and landuse practices are examined in light of the increasing aridity and increasing seasonality of precipitation that characterizes the environment of this period. The dissimilar geographic and climatological settings of these sites suggest that their respective populations would develop different agricultural strategies to minimize the risks associated with such climatological fluctuations. However, I argue that the inhabitants of Sovjan and Tsoungiza practiced two of the same risk-mitigating strategies: (1) the selection of einkorn and barley, the grains most tolerant to a wide range of environmental conditions, as agricultural staples, and (2) the diversification of their consumable plant resource base. These data, combined with ecological information from the plant taxa recovered, provide detailed information that can be used to evaluate and enhance models of agriculture and landuse for this time period.

Name thesis:degree_name

MA

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Arts and Sciences: Anthropology

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Cincinnati

Year dc:date

2012

Author dc:creator

• Forste, Kathleen M.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Allen, Susan

• Archaeology
• Late Bronze Age
• agriculture
• Albania
• Greece

Statement dc:rights

• unrestricted
• This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1353155094

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:etd.ohiolink.edu:ucin1353155094