EAA2021: Abstract

A recent study of quantitative archaeobotanical and ceramic data from trash middens provided the first empirical proof for export wine production in the Late Antique Negev Highlands, tracing its rise and fall within a period of approximately two centuries (mid-4th–mid-6th c. CE). This study advanced an original approach to tracking trends in ancient production, using quantitative changes in grape pip proportions as an index for the intensity of grape cultivation, and those of Gaza amphorae as an index for involvement in Mediterranean trade. For the sake of future applicability and adaptability of this approach to economic archaeology, this presentation surveys its strengths and limitations, with reference to the comparability of archaeological contexts, dataset size, and temporal/regional resolution. In addition, reasons why an alternative approach – based upon calculating production capacity of known winepresses – yielded different conclusions regarding Byzantine Negev viticulture, will be discussed, including how to reconcile the discrepancy. Furthermore, additional archaeobotanical findings from the Byzantine Negev Highlands demonstrate how different scales of temporal analysis yield different narratives of the microregional agricultural economy. This not only contributes to more holistic, multi-scalar economic reconstruction but offers potentially profound opportunities for integrated models. For instance, seasonal effects can potentially be incorporated in archaeological-economic reconstructions, as is done in modern gross domestic product (GDP) growth models. Findings from the Late Antique Negev Highlands demonstrate how archaeobotany can contribute to economic reconstruction on millennial, decadal-centennial, and seasonal levels, while emphasizing the importance of temporal scale in economic archaeology.

economic archaeology, viticulture, ancient wine production, Mediterranean trade, ancient globalization, Late Antiquity

 Abstract (PDF)

Daniel Fuks¹