Theme:
4. People of the Present – Peopling the Past
Session format:
Regular session
Title:
Strategies for Food Production in Prehistory
Content:
Today, food production faces serious challenges in terms of climate change, shifting weather regimes and soil degradation. Population affects food production directly through changes in agro-ecological conditions and indirectly by affecting growth and distribution of incomes. Archaeological and historical evidence suggests that human action has always played a role in either exacerbating or mitigating climate-driven effects and the available food resources.
The spread of farming was a major driver of social and ecological change in human history. Cultural choices and environmental factors conditioned the introduction and expansion of farming into new regions, and the differences in ecology, vegetation and landscapes led to different cultural trajectories in this process. A variety of strategies for food production has been used across the globe, depending on ecology and crops.
Subsistence based on farming also include the use of wild resources, both terrestrial and marine. The importance of wild resources compared to domesticated species is often under-communicated, however. Human exploitation of wild species could have been related to a variety of tasks and strategies, both seasonal and unique to different ecological settings and landscapes.
The interaction between human population and food production is multifaceted, and equal to modern societies; prehistoric ones were also vulnerable to increased pressure on resources caused by either population growth or environmental factors.
In this session, we want to look into different strategies and varieties for food production. We also want to explore if new (scientific) methods (e.g. isotope analysis of cereals) can challenge traditional views on prehistoric farming practice (manuring vs. slash and burn). We invite papers discussing methods of food production, including the use of wild resources. Papers addressing the social consequence of shifts in food production, the entanglement of population dynamics and food production and/or environmental change and food production are welcome.
Keywords:
Agriculture, Food production, Resource pressure
Session associated with MERC:
no
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Session associated with CAA:
no
Session associated with DGUF:
no
Session associated with other:
Main organiser:
Steinar Solheim (Norway) 1
Co-organisers:
Anette Sand-Eriksen (Norway) 1
Jens Johannsen (Denmark) 2
Affiliations:
1. Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo
2. Aarhus university
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