Out of the Shadows: Reestablishing the Eastern Fertile Crescent as a Center of Agricultural Origins: Part 1.

Bibliographic Details
Title: Out of the Shadows: Reestablishing the Eastern Fertile Crescent as a Center of Agricultural Origins: Part 1.
Authors: Zeder, Melinda A.1 (AUTHOR) zederm@si.edu
Source: Journal of Archaeological Research. Mar2025, Vol. 33 Issue 1, p1-56. 56p.
Subject Terms: *AGRICULTURAL history, *LAND settlement patterns, *AGRICULTURE, *SCIENTIFIC method, *BACKWATER
Geographic Terms: MIDDLE East
Abstract: Interdisciplinary teams investigating the origins of agriculture in the Eastern Fertile Crescent in the 1950s through 1970s considered the region a primary center of initial domestication and agricultural emergence. Political events then shifted the focus of archaeological investigation on agricultural origins to the Western Fertile Crescent. Decades of subsequent research appeared to indicate that the west was the earliest and most important center of agricultural origins in Southwest Asia, with the Eastern Fertile Crescent portrayed as a backwater that lagged behind transformative innovations from the west. The resumption of investigations in the east in the early 2000s, coupled with new scientific methods for documenting agricultural emergence, has reestablished the region as a heartland of domestication of both crop and livestock species. This broad topic is covered in two papers, beginning here with the history of this work from the 1950s through the early 2000s. The second paper will present a synthesis of recent work in the east, evaluating the continued relevance of early work in light of recent explanatory models for agricultural origins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Journal of Archaeological Research is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Academic Search Complete
Full text is not displayed to guests.
More Details
ISSN:10590161
DOI:10.1007/s10814-024-09195-5
Published in:Journal of Archaeological Research
Language:English