Archaeobotany: Crop Husbandry

Crop husbandry, the growing, caring and management of crop species as practiced by ancient societies, is studied by various archaeological disciplines, above all archaeobotany and stable isotope analysis on plant remains. This entry presents some theoretical considerations on crop husbandry and a diachronic summary on its role in human societies, as well as different aspects of crop husbandry as studied by archaeobotanists with a focus on cereal cultivation in the Near East. Among the different activities, tillage, irrigation, weeding, manuring, crop rotation and crop processing are the main areas of archaeobotanical contribution.