Ancient Agriculture

Putting Ancient Agriculture Back to Work

he remains of an extensive ancient agricultural system built and used by Andean peoples centuries ago are found throughout the vast high plain surrounding Lake Titicaca in the Andean countries of Peru and Bolivia (Figs. 1, 2). Raised fields are large elevated planting platforms which provided drainage, improved soil conditions, and improved temperatures for crops, The remains of prehistoric rai...

Raised Field Agriculture in the Lake Titicaca Basin: Putting Ancient Agriculture Back to Work

Agronomic conditions and crop evolution in ancient Near East agriculture

The appearance of agriculture in the Fertile Crescent propelled the development of Western civilization. Here we investigate the evolution of agronomic conditions in this region by reconstructing cereal kernel weight and using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope signatures of kernels and charcoal from a set of 11 Upper Mesopotamia archaeological sites, with chronologies spanning from the onset o...

Cereal mycorrhiza: an ancient symbiosis in modern agriculture.

The majority of terrestrial plants live in association with symbiotic fungi that facilitate mineral nutrient uptake. The oldest and most prevalent of these associations are the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbioses that first evolved approximately 400 million years ago, coinciding with the appearance of the first land plants. Crop domestication, in comparison, is a relatively recent event, begi...

Developmental History of Paddy Rice and Arid Agriculture in Ancient Chinese Civilization

F. Bayerl): The lower Yellow and Yangtze Basins are seen as two independent origins of Chinese agriculture. The Yellow offers arid conditions, while the Yangtze has an aquatic environment, the former favourable to maize, millet and sorghum, and the latter to paddy rice. The two main theories of agricultural origins are Optimal Foraging and Competitive Feasting. The differing environments of the...