Title
Agriculture, Procurement, Processing, and Storage
Document Type
Encyclopedia Entry
Publication Date
2015
Department
Archaeology
Language
English
Publication Title
Archaeology of Food : An Encyclopedia
Abstract
Agriculture is a form of subsistence in which humans primarily raise domesticated plants or animals for food or secondary products rather that procuring them from the wild. Agriculture developed independently and spread in many regions around the world. As a result, a great diversity of agricultural strategies emerged to maintain and intensify production across a wide range of ecological settings and for a variety of social and political purposes. In order to grasp the multitude of past agricultural practices, archaeologists employ numerous methods from landscape reconstruction to examination of microscopic plant remains. Various scales of agricultural practice are discussed in this entry, along with the range of methodological approaches and evidence available to archaeologists interested in studying ancient farming.
Recommended Citation
Bruno, Maria C. "Agriculture, Procurement, Processing, and Storage." In Archaeology of Food: An Encyclopedia, edited by Karen Bescherer Metheny and Mary C. Beaudry, 18-23. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015.
Comments
For more information on the published version, visit Rowman and Littlefield's Website.