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C8: Stable Isotope Analysis: A Look at Diverse Regional Crop Cultivation
Presenter(s)
Morasha Rabinowitz
Faculty research mentor
Xinyi Liu
Poster/exhibit session
1:00PM - 2:00PM: Poster session C
Acknowledgments
Melissa Ritchey (mentor), NSF (funding), Center for the Environment
Abstract or Description
We study the development of agriculture, specifically considering how crops and farming techniques spread regionally. We are primarily interested in investiture in crops—how much labor and resources did farmers put into their crops and how does that differ across time and space?
In this study we examine archaeological seeds from Greece and Central Asia, between the 3rd to 1st millennium BCE. Cereal crops like barley and wheat, new to Central Asia during the Bronze Age (3rd millennium BCE),had been cultivated in Greece since the Late Neolithic period (6th—5th millennia BCE). This allows for an interesting diachronic analysis of localized cultivation strategies. We use stable isotope analysis of plant remains to measure watering and manuring practices of ancient communities. Carbon ratios can provide information on watering techniques, and nitrogen can inform on possible manuring. Our hope is to explore how diverse sites treat similar crops.