4.2 Article

Prehistoric agricultural decision making in the western Himalayas: ecological and social variables

Journal

ANTIQUITY
Volume 96, Issue 389, Pages 1214-1231

Publisher

CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2022.80

Keywords

Tibet; Himalayas; prehistoric archaeology; archaeobotany; high altitude; palaeoeconomy

Funding

  1. Archaeological Survey and Research of the Tibetan Plateau Silk Road [16JJD780011]
  2. Strategic Priority Research Programme of the Chinese Academy of Sciences [XDA2004010104]
  3. European Research Council Fruits of Eurasia: Domestication and Dispersal (FEDD) project [851102]
  4. Max Planck Society

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This study presents archaeobotanical evidence from western Tibet, revealing the development of agriculture in the high-altitude landscape. The data indicate that barley was widely grown in this region around 400 BC and played different roles based on local ecological constraints. Additionally, social diversity may have played a role in the development of high-altitude agriculture.
The high-altitude landscape of western Tibet is one of the most cxtreme environments in which humans have managed to introduce crop cultivation. To dare, only sparse palaeoeconomic data have been reported from this region. The authors present archaeobotanical evidence from five sites (daring from the late first millennium BC and the early first millennium AD) located in the cold-arid landscape of western Tibet. The data indicate that barley was widely grown in this region by c. 400 BC but probably fulfilled differing roles within local ecological constraints on cultivation. Additionally, larger sites are characterised by more diverse crop assemblages than smaller sites, suggesting a role for social diversity in the development of high-altitude agriculture.

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