Technology of Olbian arable farming. Statement of a problem
Journal Title: Eminak - Year 2016, Vol 0, Issue 4
Abstract
The present article focuses on the agricultural technologies adopted in the Olbian chora in the 6th through 3rd centuries before CE, offering an analysis of archaeological, archaeobotanical and ethnographic data. The author considers the possibility that Olbian agriculture might have had more advanced technology than was believed previously. There is evidence that the lands of Olbian chora were delimitated, indicating that agricultural technology of the Classical Antiquity was advanced. Evidently, the absence of traces of large-scale delimitations in the Olbian chora, which were not discovered until recently, led many scholars to believe that local residents practiced shifting cultivation. There has been evidence of delimitation around Olbia for quite a while, but relatively recently satellite imagery allowed to conclusively prove that the Olbian chora was delimitated not partly but in its entirety.It is rather hard to establish whether the most advanced technologies of ancient agriculture (namely, ley farming and crop rotation farming) were adopted in Olbia. We have only circumstantial evidence to rely on. Crop rotation farming featured the rotation of leguminous and forage crops. The remains of a forage crop known as bitter vetch (Vicia ervilia) are quite often found on the territory of the Olbian state. Judging by the fact that almost a ton of this crop’s remains was discovered in Phanagoria, it was cultivated on the Northern Black Sea Coast as a field culture. Legumes (lentils and peas) are also found fairly regularly. However, at present it seems more likely that Olbia residents practiced mixed or ley farming rather than crop rotation. Some scholars believe that mixed farming, when fallow fields are used for grazing, was rather common during the Antiquity.
Authors and Affiliations
Alexander Odrin
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP238875
- DOI -
- Views 159
- Downloads 0
Orphans in the society of Hetmanschyna in the XVIII century
The article examines orphanhood as a phenomenon that was extremely common in traditional society due to mortality. It is assumed that at least one in five children was an orphan. However, most of these children successfu...
History Of Ukrainian Lighthouses: short overview
In the article the author considers main aspects of development of lighthouses from easy shore fires to lighthouses fitted with modern radio-navigational equipment. In the article it is also given a short overview of the...
Ukrainian Public and Political Magazines of Galicia 1848-1914: Analysis of Sources
The article is devoted Ukrainian public and political journal of Galicia in second half of XIX – early XX century: populist, Russophile, radical and conservative tendencies. An attempt to find out how their pages to cove...
Сomparative analysis of the formation of the political elite of Rus and Еngland in the middle ages
A attempt a comparative analysis of formation and development of the political elite of two major European powers – England and Rus. Are parallels in the methods of reconciling the interests of various elite groups that...
Activity of Ovidiopolskaya municipal Council in industry of municipal economy, trade and industry (ХІХ century – 1917)
The article told about activity of Ovidiopol Council in industry of municipal economy, trade and industry in ХІХ century – 1917, realization of tenders, collaboration with different organizations, about development of ci...