Ancient Mesopotamian discovery transforms knowledge of early farming(rutgers.edu)
rutgers.edu
Ancient Mesopotamian discovery transforms knowledge of early farming
https://www.rutgers.edu/news/ancient-mesopotamian-discovery-transforms-knowledge-early-farming
13 comments
David Graeber and David Wengrow*
In particular, their theory of "play farming", that many societies around the world experimented with going in and out of agricultural societies, is relevant.
In particular, their theory of "play farming", that many societies around the world experimented with going in and out of agricultural societies, is relevant.
This site is not actionable for me. No purchase, read, download or anything.
There are GET A COPY buttons for both bookstores and libraries under the summary at the top of the page.
I'm perhaps being excessively pedantic, but calling this "early" farming seems strange to me. This find is from 1500–1100 BCE, which is, based on our best current evidence, about 8000 years after the start of agriculture in the region.
Doesn't the presence of uniform "bullhide" copper ingots at prehistoric sites testify to widespread trade already? Folks running metals all over the world were likely not just carrying the ingots.
The date range given for the discovery (1500–1100 BCE) is fairly late, coming after the Old Babylonian era (1900-1600). Probably by around the time of the first extant writing (3200 - 3000) from Sumer, there were trade networks importing carnelian, lapis lazuli, and other materials not found in the region.
I don't think the interest here is the implication of developed trade networks at that time, but rather that the millet was found at all and what that says about the agricultural practices. For thousands of years, people wrote on clay tables with styli made from reeds, yet we've never actually found such a stylus or know precisely how they were made.
I don't think the interest here is the implication of developed trade networks at that time, but rather that the millet was found at all and what that says about the agricultural practices. For thousands of years, people wrote on clay tables with styli made from reeds, yet we've never actually found such a stylus or know precisely how they were made.
Regional and wider exchange networks had existed in that region for several thousand years before millet is now believed to have been cultivated. The transformational nature of this discovery has more to do with our understanding of farming practices. As stated in the article, this site precedes the earliest known site where millet was presumably cultivated in that region by 500-1000 years.
If you read the publication linked there is a lot of textual evidence for millet production that goes back into the 3rd millenium B.C.E. The transformation here has largely to do with new methods of discovering what crops were grown where, and a shift in our understanding.
If you read the publication linked there is a lot of textual evidence for millet production that goes back into the 3rd millenium B.C.E. The transformation here has largely to do with new methods of discovering what crops were grown where, and a shift in our understanding.
Meaning, the grain could have been imported?
Land transport of grain is unlikely. Marine or riverine transport was common in history; you'd have to make some kind of evaluation as to how likely it was in the prehistoric region in question. But assuming it was happening, you still have some sharp restrictions on where it could have come from.
Nobody got from China to Mesopotamia by canoe. Lots of goods were transported by caravan overland, and that certainly included seeds that could be planted to grow useful crops.
None of those words (bullhide, copper, and ingot) even appear in the article. What do they have to with growing millet in the Sumerian summers?
I was taken aback by the photo that I have seen on the page, and it seems that it looks so wonderful to take a good look at the crops at the aerial view.
[1] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56269264-the-dawn-of-eve...