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Traditional and ancient rural economy in Mediterranean Europe: plus ça change?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 October 2013

Paul Halstead
Paul Halstead
Affiliation:
University of Sheffield
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The study of recent ‘traditional’ Mediterranean rural economy has long been a predilection of ancient historians and archaeologists working in that area. Traditional practices and production norms have been used by ancient historians in the interpretation of the often enigmatic testimony of the ancient agronomic writers, while archaeologists have used the same information to fill in the many gaps in the material record supplied by the spade. Much of the relevant data on traditional rural economy are gleaned from the accounts of early travellers or of modern geographers, ethnographers and agronomists. But comparanda acquired at first-hand enhance the credibility of archaeologists and ancient historians as fieldworkers, and chance summer encounters with Cretan shepherds or Cycladic fishermen are valuable currency in competitive displays at academic conferences.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Hellenic Studies , Volume 107 , November 1987 , pp. 77 - 87
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies 1987

References

This paper was delivered at the Institute of Classical Studies, London, in January 1986 at the invitation of Dominic Rathbone. For various helpful suggestions and criticisms, I am indebted to Hamish Forbes, Peter Garnsey, Wim Jongman and Anthony Snodgrass; also to Jim Lewthwaite for a decade of obscure bibliographic clues, often illegible but sometimes invaluable; and to the library staff of the Ινστιτούτο Σιτηρών, Thessaloniki, for copies of publications of Greek rotation and fallowing experiments. Above all, thanks are due to the many farmers and shepherds in Cyprus, Greece, Spain and Italy who have, over the last fifteen years, treated my ignorant enquiries into their affairs with extraordinary patience and good humour.

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