The archaeology and ethnoarchaeology of rain-fed cultivation in arid and hyper-arid North Africa

• Autores: Carla Lancelotti, Stefano Biagetti, Andrea Zerboni, Donatella Usai, Marco Madella
• Localización: Antiquity, ISSN 0003-598X, Vol. 93, Nº 370, 2019, págs. 1026-1039
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Rain-fed cultivation in drylands—especially in arid and hyper-arid areas—is often considered to play a minor role in human subsistence. Drawing upon the results of ethnoarchaeological research in North Africa, this paper reviews non-irrigated agricultural practices in the absence of anthropogenic water-harvesting structures, and presents a proposal for how such practices can be identified in the drylands of the past. An improved understanding of the long-term development of rain-fed cultivation augments our knowledge of past land-use strategies and can inform future models of sustainable agriculture in some of the world's driest regions.