This atlas is intended as a resource, not just for archaeobotanists hoping to reconstruct past foodways, but also for other archaeologists, palaeoecologists, ethnographers, and agricultural historians. Documenting an era of actual rural community practices in relation to local land use, it also provides unique material for rural sociologists, landscape ecologists, and agricultural technologists.
The Digital atlas of traditional agricultural practices and food processing documents the various processes involved in the production of food-from working the fields through to processing the crops for food, fodder, and other purposes. The atlas aims to define and describe these various processes unambiguously by using a standardized vocabulary and by explicitly taking into account the intention behind each process.
Illustrated with more than 3,000 photographs and numerous films documenting 20 years of field observation in the Mediterranean area, the Middle East, and the Indian subcontinent, the atlas also includes detailed case studies of the practices and processes involving grapes, olives, date palms, barley, and wheat. Many of these processes are part of the intangible cultural heritage of agriculture that is now rapidly disappearing.
The books contain full colour photographs as well as indexes on plant name and subject. The website includes both photographs and films, which can be examined in more detail using the site's extensive search tools.
PDF files of the Frontmatter, selected parts of the books, and the Indices can be downloaded further below. The website is under construction and will be free for all.
This atlas will appear in June 2016 and can be ordered now with a discount. Before July 1, 2016, the atlas will cost € 245.- incl. 6% VAT. After July 1, 2016, the atlas will cost € 325.-, incl. 6% VAT.
Free pages from the book
- PDF of the Frontmatter and the Introduction
- PDF of some pages of Chapter 2, Tillage
- PDF of some pages of Chapter 14, Barley and Wheat
- PDF of the Indices: the Plant index and Subject index
Extra information
Browse this book with Google Books.
More about the Groningen Archaeological Studies.
Reviews
"Overall, this Atlas makes an extremely important contribution towards demonstrating with excellent quality photographic documentation the rich variability in the ways human societies produce and process plants for food or other needs. It is a very useful tool for archaeologists, archaeobotanists, and food historians, safeguarding culinary heritage in a rich photographic compendium. It has also a strong educational value for schoolchildren in industrialized communities, mainly estranged from the processes leading to the foodstuffs available in readymade forms in supermarkets and fast-foods. The beautifully illustrated three volumes of the Digital Atlas of Traditional Agricultural Practices and Food Processing constitute a work of reference for researchers but also a highly attractive piece of work for the wider public." Soultana Maria Valamoti in Economic Botany, 72.4 (2018) 573-574
