Agriculture and Pastoralism
Ancient Harvest: Pine Nuts and Archaeology
Pinon nuts (also called pine nuts or pinyon nuts) were an important source of energy for prehistoric hunter-gatherers in the American southwest.
Ancient Raised Field Agriculture
An experimental archaeology project in Bolivia, using ancient farming techniques, has raised more than just corn, beans, and squash.
Band-e Dukhtar (Turkey)
Band-e Dukhtar is an irrigation works located in the Anatolian plain and likely dated to the Achaemenid dynasty.
Farming at Karanis
An exhibit of Greco-Roman subsistence patterns at the Kelsey Museum, by University of Michigan undergraduate students.
Floods, Famines, and Emperors: A book review
In Floods, Famines, and Emperors: El Niño and the Fate of Civilizations, Brian Fagan proposes climate change as a major determinant of cultural change; specifically, the climatic phenomena known collectively as ENSO--the El Niño Southern Oscillation.
ICAES: International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences
A web page dedicated to the 14th annual congress, including poster papers, abstracts, and discussion on paleodiet.
Pastoralism
Pastoralism is the name given to the way of life in which people herd animals.
Patterns of Subsistence
A terrific introduction by Dennis O'Neil to the various methods people make and have made a living, including articles and links on foraging, pastoralism, horticulture and intensive agriculture.
The Oneota Culture of the American Midwest
Archaeologists call the late prehistoric farming communities of the American Midwest "The Oneota", but the name really encompasses a number of tribes. Who were the Oneota and where did they come from?
The Transformation of the American Prairie: Ecological Transformation
The brick and tile industry radically altered the farmlands of the American middle west, with a great impact on the ecology and culture of agricultural fields.
Settlement Patterns
One of the core concepts of the study of archaeology is settlement pattern studies.
Seasonality
Archaeologists use the term 'seasonality' to mean the part of a year a particular activity takes place.
Shieling
Shielings were summer pasturages, and part of the landnam system of farming used by the Vikings in the 8th century AD, but developed several centuries earlier than that.