Abstract
This chapter focuses on the adoption of agricultural terracing as a technological enhancement that resulted in changes to cultivation practices and distribution and organization of farm labour. The macroscopic investigation and systematic documentation of terraces in and around the settlements of Kalamianos and Stiri in the south-eastern Corinthia in southern Greece revealed that several large systems of terraces were likely contemporary to these Late Bronze Age settlements in the productive hinterlands of nearby Argolid palace-centres like Mycenae. It is suggested here that the construction of several systems of agricultural terraces, likely achieved with some palatial support, prompted the implementation of diverse cultivation techniques that would have altered labour needs throughout the agricultural calendar. Garden terraces within the settlement of Kalamianos emphasize the variety of growing environments enabled by terraced farming and raise questions regarding the identity of farm workers and the creation of gendered agricultural spaces.
| Original language | American English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Early Land Allotment in Europe: the spread, function and social implications of field systems across Europe in prehistoric times |
| State | Published - 2021 |
Keywords
- Aegean Prehistory
- Ancient Agrciulture
- Ancient Farming
- Landscape Archaeology
- Mycenaeans
Disciplines
- Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity
- Anthropology
- Archaeological Anthropology
- Social and Cultural Anthropology