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Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology pp 91–99Cite as

Agricultural Practice: Transformation Through Time

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Introduction

Agricultural production is a dynamic process that evolves out of interactions between plants, animals, the environment, and the food needs of human communities. Through time, agricultural practices changed as farmers developed new techniques to meet demands presented by both their physical and sociopolitical environments. The diversity of past agricultural practices and how they changed through time are reflected in a range of archaeological datasets, from large-scale landscape modifications such as irrigation and field systems to small-scale shifts in plant and animal ecologies. Archaeologists employ a range of methodologies to document the diversity of past agricultural practices and to understand the reasons for change.

A unifying topic in the archaeological study of transformations in agricultural practices through time is that of intensification. Intensification is the increase of agricultural output per unit of land per unit of time (Brookfield 1972). Two aspects of...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Anthropology/Archaeology Department, Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA, USA

    Maria C. Bruno

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  1. Maria C. Bruno
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Correspondence to Maria C. Bruno .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Archaeology, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia

    Claire Smith

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Bruno, M.C. (2014). Agricultural Practice: Transformation Through Time. In: Smith, C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_72

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_72

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-0426-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-0465-2

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