Traditional and Ancient Rural Economy in Mediterranean Europe: Plus ça Change?

Author(s): Paul Halstead

Source: The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 107 (1987), pp. 77-87
Published by: The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/630071
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Journalof HellenicStudiescvii (1987) 77-87

TRADITIONAL AND ANCIENT RURAL ECONOMY IN

MEDITERRANEANEUROPE: PLUS QA CHANGE?
The studyof recent'traditional'Mediterranean ruraleconomyhaslong beena predilection
of ancient historiansand archaeologistsworking in that area. Traditionalpracticesand
productionnorms have been used by ancienthistoriansin the interpretationof the often
enigmatictestimonyof the ancientagronomicwriters,whilearchaeologists haveusedthesame
informationto fill in the manygapsin the materialrecordsuppliedby the spade.Muchof the
relevantdataon traditional ruraleconomyaregleanedfromtheaccountsof earlytravellers or of
moderngeographers,ethnographers and agronomists.But comparanda at
acquired first-hand
enhancethe credibilityof archaeologists and ancienthistoriansas fieldworkers,and chance
summerencounterswith Cretanshepherdsor Cycladicfishermenare valuablecurrencyin
competitivedisplaysat academicconferences.
Morecrucialthanthesource of traditional analogies,however,is the issueof theirrelevance
andhistoricpast.Insomequarters
to theprehistoric animplicitassumption of relevanceperhaps
arisesfroma ratherromanticnotionof the Mediterranean rustic,bothancientandmodern,asa
being in communionwith nature.' Others have arguedmore explicitly for an essential
continuityin ruraleconomyas a reflectionof the strongconstraintsimposedby the natural
environmentof the Mediterranean.2 Yet it is clearthatmanyaspectsof traditional rurallife are
integrallybound up with elementsof the contemporary natural and socialenvironment which
havenot remainedunchangedsincetime immemorial.The purposeof thispaperis to caution
againstthe uncriticaluse of traditionalpracticesand normsas analogiesfor antiquityand to
suggestthatthegreatestvalueof studyingtraditional farmingmaybe asa guideto thequestions
we shouldbe askingaboutthe past.

I. TRADITIONAL MEDITERRANEAN FARMING

Most descriptionsof traditionalMediterraneanfarmingrecognizethe influenceof two

distinctivefeaturesof theMediterranean
naturalenvironment-climateandrelief.3Theclimate
of the coastallowlands,wheremost humansettlementis concentrated, is characterizedby an
alternation beweenmildwintersandhotsummersandby a winterrainfallregime.Annualcrops
likewheattakeadvantageof themildwintersto completetheirgrowthcycleby earlysummer,
whileperennialcropssuchastheoliveareadaptedto survivingthesummerdrought.Thereliefis
heavilybroken,suchthattheplainsandhillsof thelowlandsusuallylie withindays,if not hours,
of highmountainswhicharesnow-boundin winterbutcool andwell-wateredin summer.The
flocksof sheepand goats which overwinterin the lowlandscan thus escapethe summerdrought
by moving to the high pastures of the mountains and there are 'transhumant'pastoral
communities which undertakesuch a patternof twice-yearly movement between lowland and
mountain throughout the Mediterranean.
This paper was delivered at the Institute of Classical my ignorant enquiriesinto their affairswith extraordi-
Studies, London, in January 1986 at the invitation of nary patience and good humour.
Dominic Rathbone. For varioushelpful suggestionsand 1 For a critique of such uniformitarianassumptions
criticisms, I am indebted to Hamish Forbes, Peter about rurallife in Greece, see L. M. Danforth,Journalof
Garnsey, Wim Jongman and Anthony Snodgrass;also ModernGreekStudiesii (1985) 53-85.
toJim Lewthwaite for a decadeof obscurebibliographic 2 E.g. M. R. Jarman,G. N. Bailey and H. N. Jarman
clues, often illegible but sometimes invaluable;and to (eds.) Early Europeanagriculture(Cambridge 1982).
the library staff of the Ivwr-ro'rroI"rrlpwcv,Thessalo- 3 E.g. E. C. Semple, Thegeographyof the Mediterra-
niki, for copies of publications of Greek rotation and nean region and its relationto ancient history (London
fallowing experiments. Above all, thanksare due to the 1932); D. B. Grigg, The agricultural systemsof the world:
many farmersand shepherdsin Cyprus, Greece, Spain an evolutionaryapproach(Cambridge 1974); G. Barker,
and Italy who have, over the last fifteen years, treated Prehistoric
farmingin Europe(Cambridge 1985).
78 P. HALSTEAD
Clearly one consequenceof broken relief is considerablelocaldiversity of topography and
climate, but certain generalizations about land-use can still be made. Traditionally the
Mediterraneanlandscapehasbeen dominatedby the seasonalpasturesof sheep and goats and by
wheat or barley fields sown on a two-year fallowing cycle. The fallow fields have been
cultivatedto preventweed growth (hence 'barefallow') and so to preservetwo years'moisture
for the succeeding cereal crop. A much smaller area is devoted to vegetable gardens and to
orchardsor vineyards,though the value of their produce is disproportionatelylarge. Locally,
olives and vines may take up a large part of the total cultivated area, partly becauseof their
ability to thrive on soils to which shallow rooting cerealsare ill-adapted.
Scholarshave extrapolateda number of traditionalfeaturesback into the past. In Greece,
some sort of seasonaluse of mountain pastureby early historicaltimes is clearly implied in the
story relatinghow the infant Oidipous was handedover by a Theban shepherdto a Corinthian
shepherdon Mt. Kithairon,4but full-scaletranshumantpastoralismhasbeen suggestedfor later
prehistory on archaeologicalgrounds in Greece, Italy and Spain.5 Indeed a broadly similar
patternof movement haseven been suggestedfor a populationdependenton animalssuchas red
deer in northwest Greece during the last Ice Age.6
The alternationof cerealsand bare fallow has also widely been assumedto be the norm in
historicaltimes7 and perhapsin prehistory.8This assumptionis integral to many estimatesof
past labour requirementsor productivity and has contributed to the widespread belief that
ancient agriculturewas woefully unproductive, with rare insights by the early agronomists
being effectively neutralizedby technological shortcomings. Local specializationin olives or
vines has also arousedinterest,and is a basicprerequisiteof Renfrew'sargumentthat the palices
of Bronze Age southernGreecedeveloped as centresfor the redistributionof the fruitsof locally
specializedagriculturalproduction.9
Unfortunately the direct historical or archaeological evidence for extrapolating these
traditionalforms back as widespreadelements of past rurallife is rarelyunambiguous.For this
reason circumstantial arguments as to what is likely to have taken place assume great
importance.Clearly such circumstantialargumentsare dependenton understandingthe social
and natural environmentalcontext of traditionaltranshumance,bare fallowing or tree-crop
specialization.For example, the geographical pattern of local specializationin crops such as
olives and vines has changedradicallyduring the last three centuriesfor a variety of locally and
historically specific reasons-in response to the development of new urban markets, to the
constructionof new transportlinks such as canalsand railwaysor to the growth and decline of
competing producersbecauseof government interventionor becauseof naturaldisasterssuch as
the phylloxerawhich wiped out the vineyardsof Franceand Spain,then ItalyandDalmatia.10In
Greece itself local specializationin olives in areasill-suitedto cerealgrowing is clearlyrelatedto
the opportunitiesof an internationalmarketeconomy: thus olive growers in the infertileMani
peninsula of southern Greece cut down their trees and reverted to cereal production when

4 Semple(n. 3) 323. Zeitalter (Archaeologia Homerica ii. H [G6ittingen

s K. Kilian, Archiiologisches Korrespondenzblatt ii 1968]) Ioo-I; H. J. van Wersch, 'The agricultural
(1972) 115-23; Archiiologisches Korrespondenzblatt iii economy', in W. A. McDonald and G. R. Rapp (eds.)
(1973) 431-5; G. Barker,'Prehistoricterritoriesand The MinnesotaMesseniaexpedition(Minneapolis 1972)
economyin centralItaly',in E. S. Higgs(ed.)Palaeoeco- 183-4; A. G. Sherratt,WorldArchaeologyxi (1980) 313-
nomy(Cambridge1975)11-75; Jarmanet al. (n. 2). M. Wagstaff, S. Augustson and C. Gamble,
6 E. S. Higgs, C. Vita-Finzi,D. R. HarrisandA. E. 20;'Alternative subsistencestrategies',in C. Renfrew and
Fagg,Proceedings ofthePrehistoric
Societyxxxiii(1967) 1- M. Wagstaff (eds.) An islandpolity: the archaeologyof
29. exploitationin Melos (Cambridge 1982) 177;J. L. Bintliff
7 Semple(n. 3) 386;M. I. Finley,Theancient economy and A. M. Snodgrass,Journal of Field Archaeologyxii
(London1973)Io8;R. DuncanJones,Theeconomy ofthe (1985) 142.
Romanempire; studies2
quantitative (Cambridge1982)49; 9 C. Renfrew, The emergenceof civilisation: the
butcf.K. D. White,Roman farming(London1970)1I9- Cyclades and the Aegean in the third millenniumBC
21.
(London 1972).
8W. Richter, Die Landwirtschaft
im homerischen 10
Grigg (n. 3) I41-4.
 TRADITIONALAND ANCIENTRURALECONOMY 79
World War II disruptedinternationaltradeand forced them to rely on local subsistence
agriculture.This does not, of course,meanthat local specialization did not takeplacein the
distantpast, but it does cast doubt on Renfrew'smodel in which local specializationis a
prerequisitefor the initial developmentof the very institutionswhich would have made
specializedcommunitiesviable."
Two othertraditional featuresnotedaboveareratherharderto dismiss.Transhumance and
barefallowing(andhencetheabsenceof manuringor croprotation)togetheraccountfor what
many see as the singlemost fundamentaldistinctionbetweentraditionalMediterranean and
temperateEuropeanfarming-the divorcebetweenstockhusbandry andarablefarming."2In
essence,transhumance removeslivestockfromthe lowlandsfor halfof theyear,thusdepriving
thearablesectorof halfof theavailablemanure.13Barefallow,in turn,produceslessfodderthan
a weedy (i.e. uncultivated)fallowandfarlessthana rotationincludingfoddercrops:thusthe
grazing potential of the lowlands is kept low and livestock are forced into seasonal
transhumance."4Togetherthe most distinctivecharacteristics of traditionalstock and crop
husbandry have locked the pastoralandarable
sectorsof the rural economyinto a viciouscircle
of increasingseparation.
Butwasthispastoral:arable divorceequallycharacteristic
of ruraleconomyin antiquity? To
answer this question,we must first look criticallyat the naturaland social context of
transhumance andbarefallowingin traditionalruraleconomy.

II. TRANSHUMANCE

Most studies of traditionalMediterraneantranshumancehave rightly stressedthe

complementary natureof thelowlandwintergrazingareasandthehighlandsummerpastures. A
few of thesestudieshavearguedthatthelowlandsarein facttoo hotanddryin summerforstock
to survive,while winterconditionsin the mountainsare equallysevere.Under this extreme
formulation,transhumance is literallyan inevitableconsequenceof environmental constraints
andcan be extrapolated backinto the distantpastwith absoluteconfidence.All the common
farmyardanimals,however,cananddo survivetheheatandaridityof thelowlandsummersand
a few evenoverwinterin the mountains,albeitat a considerable 1 A more
costin stall-feeding.
usual,and less contentious,'environmental' interpretationof transhumance seessuch twice-
yearly movements as evading the season of scarce grazing in both the lowlands and the
mountainsandso permittingthemaintenance of largerpopulationsof livestock(andpeople).16
In other words, transhumance is a necessaryresponseto the Mediterranean environmentif
livestockarekepton a sufficientlylargescale.Stockhusbandryon the necessaryscalein the past
cannotbe assumedandhasrarely,if ever, beendemonstrated.
In later prehistory, at least, the ecological niche occupied by traditional transhumant
pastoralists simply did not exist. Firstly, the present summer pastures in the mountains are, to a
large extent, not a 'natural' feature of the Mediterranean landscape." Although tree growth
may be prevented locally in the mountains by steepness of slope, absence of soil, waterlogging
and so on, no Mediterraneanmountain is high enough (for its southerlylatitude)for extensive
alpine meadows to be the inevitableproduct of harshwinter conditions. On the contrary,tree
growth tends to be associatedin the mountainsof the Mediterraneanregion with wet, rather
1 See also S. Aschenbrenner,'A contemporary 13 14
Semple (n. 3) 300.
community',in McDonaldand Rapp(n. 8) 49;J. G. Grigg (n. 3) 125.
Lewthwaite,'Acornsfor the ancestors:the prehistoric 15
E.g. J. K. Campbell, Honour,family,andpatronage
exploitationof woodlandsin the west Mediterranean', (Oxford 1964) 10-11.
in S. LimbreyandM. Bell (eds.)Archaeological
aspects
of 16 Higgs et al. (n. 6); Barker(n. 5);Jarmanet al. (n. 2);
woodland ReportsInter- J. M. Frayn, Sheep-rearingand the wool tradein Italy
ecology(BritishArchaeological
nationalSeriescxlvi [Oxford1982]) 218. duringthe Romanperiod(Liverpool 1984).
17
I2Semple(n. 3) 297;Grigg(n. 3) 125. Higgs et al. (n. 6); G. Mavrommatis pers. comm.
80 P. HALSTEAD
than warm, topographicalsituations.In northernGreece,for example, the tree-lineis higher on
west- than on east-facingslopes, higher on high mountains than on low ones, and higher on
impermeablethanon permeablerocks, all of which suggestssummeraridity,ratherthanwinter
cold, as the major climaticfactor favouring grassland.'8 Even if insufficientto prevent tree
growth, aridity could seriously retard regenerationof high mountain forests in the face of
clearanceby shepherdsand woodcutters, which is very well documented in the recent past.19
Most mountainpastureseemsto be the productof human interference--eitherdirectlythrough
the fire and axe or indirectly through grazing livestock-and, as the decline of the traditional
pastoraleconomies leads to relaxationof grazing pressure,trees are widely recolonizing these
areas.Throughout much of later prehistory, therefore, and perhapswell into early historical
times, mountain pasturemay have been very limited in extent.
Secondly, the fertile lowlands occupied by the earliestMediterraneanfarmersin the sixth
millennium bc were also well wooded.20 This does not mean that a dense arborealcanopy
preventedthe growth at groundlevel of accessiblegrazeand browse, but herdinglargenumbers
of animalswould have been very difficultand a variety of large predatorsand competitorswill
have made close herding necessary.Moreover the trees will have offered browse for domestic
livestock during the months when the more shallow-rooting grassesdied back21and in some
areasseasonalwetland will have provided an alternativesource of graze for small numbersof
animals,so summerwill not have been sucha seasonof scarcityfor lowland livestock as hasbeen
the case in recent times. Thus seasonaluse of distantmountain pasturesmay only have become
advantageous, let alone necessary,once extensive clearancehad created a surfeit of winter
grazing in the lowlands and this surfeit had been taken up by greatly increasednumbers of
livestock.
Thirdly, the social environment in which the transhumantpastoralismof recent centuries
flourished is quite unlike any which existed in the distant past. The unusual political and
economic conditionsunderwhich the long distancesystemsof Spain(the 'Mesta')and Italy (the
'Dogana') developed to supply the mediaeval wool trade are well known. More recently
Lewthwaite has discussedthe internationalpolitical and economic factorswhich underpinned
smaller scale pastoraleconomies in Corsica and Sardinia.22In northernGreece the traditional
economy of the Vlachs and Sarakatsani,who inspired much of the recent archaeological
fascinationwith transhumantpastoralism,also warrantsfurther investigation. Though many
Vlach and Sarakatsanishepherdsdid make the prescribedannualmoves with their flocks to and
from the high mountain pasturesof the Pindhos range, others stayed in the mountains as
sedentary mixed farmers, while others travelled widely in Greece, the Balkans and eastern
Europe making a living as merchants, tinkers or builders.23 In recent times, at least, the
shepherdshave sold the produce of their flocks (wool, cheese, lambs) in the markets of the
lowland towns and have bought in relativelycheap agriculturalstaples,such as flour and oil,24
and up to the nineteenthcentury some of the highland population was employed in guiding,
guarding and robbing traders passing through the mountains. Thus in a number of ways the
recent highland economy has been heavily subsidized by and parasitic upon the market economy

18 Admiralty, Naval IntelligenceDivision, Greece,i:

physical geography, history, administrationand peoples
(Geographical Handbook Series [Andover 1944]); P.
Quezel, Vegetatioxiv (1967) 127-228.
19 W.B. Turrill, Theplant-lifeof the Balkanpeninsula
(Oxford 1929).
20 E.g.W. van Zeist and S. Bottema, 'Vegetational
history of the easternMediterraneanand the Near East
during the last 20,0oo years',inJ. L. Bintliff and W. van
Zeist (eds.) Palaeoclimates,
palaeoenvironments andhuman
communitiesin the easternMediterraneanregion in later
prehistory(British Archaeological Reports International
Series cxxxiii [Oxford 1982]) 277-321.
21 G. Williamson and
W.J. A. Payne, An introduction
to animalhusbandryin the tropics2(London 1965) 79; F.
Pernetand G. Lenclud,Bergeren Corse(Grenoble 1977).
22J. G. Lewthwaite, 'Plain tails from the hills:
transhumance in Mediterranean archaeology', in A.
Sheridan and G. Bailey (eds.) Economicarchaeology:
towardsan integrationof ecologicaland social approaches
(British Archaeological Reports International Series
xcvi [Oxford 19811)57-66.
23 A. J. B. Wace and M. S. Thompson, Nomadsof the
Balkans (London 1914); Campbell (n. Is); N. Gage,
Eleni (London 1983).
24 Campbell (n. 15) 363-4.
 TRADITIONALAND ANCIENTRURALECONOMY 81
of the lowlands.25Withoutthis 'subsidy',pastoralcommunitieswould need to maintainfar
largerflocksto supporta given humanpopulation.
Quitewhenthenicheoccupiedby traditional transhumant wasfirstcreatedand
pastoralists
exploitedis a difficult the
question, answer to which doubtlessvaries
from area to areawithinthe
Mediterranean. Firm palynologicalevidencefor the impact of early farmerson lowland
vegetationis notoriouslyhardto find,26suggestingthat clearancewas in most casesa very
gradualprocess,andextensivedeforestation in the mountainsseems,in someareasat least,only
to havetakenplacein thelastfew centuries.Thereis alsoa tendencyamongancienthistorians to
play down the importance in classical
antiquity of the urban market upon which recent
havebeendependent.27
pastoralists The appearance in northernGreecetowardsthe endof the
firstmillenniumAD of the Vlachs,28the linguisticallyandculturallydistinctgroupwhichhas
traditionallyoccupiedmuchof the high Pindhos,may then reflectthe colonizationof a new
economic niche.29Locally, specializedpastoralismmay well have existed much earlier,
particularly marginalareas,but the wholesaleseasonalremovalof livestock
in agriculturally
from the arablelowlandswas probablynot commonplacein antiquity.30

III.BARE
FALLOWING

The popularexplanationfor the traditionalprevalenceof barefallowing(andnear-absence

of soil-improving practicessuchasmanuringandcereal/pulse rotation)is thatthelimitingfactor
on cropproductionin the Mediterranean is the availabilityof water,ratherthannutrients,and
thatbarefallowingallowstwo years'rainfallto be storedfor one crop.31At best,therefore,
manuringoffersanirrelevantimprovementin soilfertilityandat worstit accelerates waterloss
by openingup the soil, andso is actuallydeleterious.32 Similarlya pulserotationcrop,which
addsnitrogento thesoil,is at bestirrelevantandat worstcompeteswith theensuingcerealcrop
for moistureandso is positivelydisadvantageous. The factthatcereal/pulse rotationhasonly
begun to oust bare fallowingvery recently, and at the behest of modern agronomists,even
though its theoretical advantages were appreciatedby the ancient agriculturalwriters,
apparentlyconfirmsthe unsuitability of thispracticeto the Mediterranean.
Thatsoilmoisturecanbe a limitingfactoron cropproductionin theMediterranean is made
amply clear by the frequent coincidence of severe drought and crop failure.33Moisture is
evidently not the only limitingfactor,however, because the widespread abandonment of bare
fallowingsince World War II has been accompaniedby the adoptionof weed killersand

25 See also S. H. Lees and D. G. Bates, American ephemeral habitations of mobile pastoralists can be
Antiquityxxxix (1974) 187-93; P. Briant, Etatetpasteurs archaeologically invisible, especially in the difficult
au moyen-orientancien(Cambridge 1982) 235. terrain of the mountains; conversely, to interpret all
26 See
e.g. the extensive pollen record from central high mountain occupation sites as the remains of
and northern Greece: T. A. Wijmstra, Acta Botanica transhumantpastoralistsis begging the question.
Neerlandicaxviii (1969) 511-27; H. E. Wright, 'Vege- 30 P. Garnsey, 'Mountain economies in southern
tation history', in McDonald and Rapp (n. 8); S. Europeor: thoughts on the early history, continuity and
Bottema, Latequaternary vegetationhistoryof northwestern individuality of Mediterraneanupland pastoralism'in
Greece(Groningen 1974); Palaeohistoriaxxi (1979) M. Mattmiiller (ed.), 'Wirtschaft und Gesellschaftvon
I9-
40; ActaBotanicaNeerlandicaxxix (1980) 343-9; Palaeo- Berggebieten', Itinerav/vi (Basel 1986), 7-29.
historiaxxiv (1982) 257-89;J. R. A. Greig andJ. Turner, 31 Semple (n. 3) 386; White (n. 7) iI3, ii8.
Journal of ArchaeologicalScience i (1974) 177-94; J. 32 Semple (n. 3) 411;White (n. 7) 129.
Turner and J. Greig, Review of Palaeobotanyand 33 E.g. D. Christodoulou, The evolutionof the rural
Palynologyxx (I975) 171-204; N. Athanasiadhis,Flora land use pattern in Cyprus (World Land Use Survey
clxiv (1975) 99-132. Regional Monograph ii [Bude 1959]) 28-33.
27 Finley (n. 7). 34 H. M. James and A. Frangopoulos, Cyprus
28 A. P.
Avramea, H pvuJav-rivrEaaa;kiapEXPITrou AgriculturalJournal xxxiv (1939) 5-19; L. Littlejohn,
12o4 (BIp•itol#Kl .N. apiTr6;kou 27), (Athens 1974) 66. EmpireJournal of ExperimentalAgriculturexiv (1946)
29 The
antiquity of transhumantpastoralismcannot 123-33; P. A. Loizides, EmpireJournalof Experimental
be resolved by archaeological survey alone: the often Agriculturexxvi (1958) 25-33.
82 P. HALSTEAD
artificialfertilizers,
butonlyrarelyof irrigation.Infactexperiments conductedduringthe 1930s,
1940s and 1950s in Cyprus showed that fertilizers
improved cerealyields dramatically.34
Fertilizedplots producedmore everyyear than did bare fallowedplots in alternateyears.
Moreover,sheepmanureproducedthe same effectas artificialfertilizers.In fact manureis
appliedto tree crops, gardensand cerealsthroughoutthe Mediterranean and is evidently
beneficial-at leastif thetimingandquantityareappropriate. So manuredannualcroppingis far
more productivethana barefallow/cerealrotation,if sufficientmanureis available.
Alternatively,cerealsmay be grown in rotationwith pulse crops, and again modern
experimental dataareinstructive. TheCypriotexperiments showedthatwheatyieldsfollowing
a pulsecropwere slightlylower thanthoseafterbarefallow,while experimentsin northern
Greeceindicatea slightimprovementin wheatyieldsaftera pulsecrop.35Datafromthe semi-
aridsouthof Australia,however,suggestthatin the long termthe benefitsof pulserotationto
alternateyearwheatyieldsarequiteunequivocal36-andof coursea pulsecropis alsoproduced
in the interveningyears.
If, as seemsinevitable,barefallowingis so muchlessproductiveper unit areathaneither
manuredannualcroppingor cereal/pulse rotation,why wasit so pervasivein therecentpast?As
was noted above,manuringis not in fact unknownin traditionalfarmingand hasprobably
tendedto be concentrated in small-scalegardens,orchardsandso on becauseof the scarcityof
manure3 7-which in turnpartlyresultsfromthetraditional of transhumance.38
prevalence The
key to the of
rarity cereal/pulse rotation in traditionalfarming seems to be the higherlabour
costsof (harvested) pulsecropscomparedwith cereals:39 thoughmoreproductiveperunitarea
thanbarefallowing,cereal/pulse rotationmay be lessproductiveper unit of humanlabour.
In both casesthe scaleof traditionalfarmingis crucial.Traditionally,most of the rural
populationof the Mediterranean haslivedin nucleatedvillagesor towns,farfromthe majority
of theirfields.Evensmallsettlements, whichareoftenlocatedwithaneyeto securityratherthan
forproximityto theirfields,mayfacethesameproblemandtheneedto farmata distancefrom
homeis widelyexacerbated by brokenterrainandby a highlyfragmented anddispersed pattern
of land tenure.40In consequencesubsistenceagriculturehas been dominatedby extensive
cultivationof distantfieldsin whichcerealsalternatewith barefallow,while the morelabour
intensivepulseshave tendedto be relegatedto a minorrole, often restrictedto intensively
workedin-fieldgardens.41This labour-savingtacticrulesout the possibilityof widespread
cereal/pulserotation.
Why was barefallowingcharacteristic of the cerealfields?Significantly,in the Cypriot
experimentsreferredto earlier,the mainobstacleto manuredannualcroppingof cerealswas
foundto be the proliferation of weeds.The extensivelycultivatedcerealfieldsof traditional
farming received only low levels of manuring,tillingandweedingandso producedpoorcrops
whichdidnot competewell with weeds.Barefallowing,by ploughingup fallowweedsbefore
they seed, is an effectivemeansof checking weed growth and, becauseploughing can take place
in late spring in the agriculturalslackseasonbetween sowing and harvest,it makes economical

3s B. (Q.KOK6ulOS, EcTTOVIKa IIO--IIII (1963) 1-15; 31-54-

I. E. coT-ripicd6iS,F cpytKi EpEUvai (1977) 125-36. 39 F. Dovring, Land and labor in Europe19oo-195o
36 M. Williams, The makingof the south Australian (The Hague 1960) 404; M.
Wagstaff and C. Gamble,
landscape(New York 1974); B. A. Chatterton and L. 'Islandresourcesandtheirlimitations',in Renfrewand
Chatterton, LibyanStudiesxv (1984) 157-60. Wagstaff(n. 8) o103.
37 E.g. P. A. Loizides, 'The cereal-fallow rotation in 40 Dovring (n. 39) 15, 26-7; Christodoulou (n. 33);
Cyprus', Proceedings of thefirst Commonwealth conference M. Chisholm, Rural settlementand land use2 (London
on tropicalandsubtropical soils (Commonwealth Bureau 1968); S. F. Silverman, American lxx
of Soil Science, Technical Communication xlvi [Har- (1968) I-2o; H. A. Forbes, AnnalsAnthropologist
of the New York
penden 1948)] 2Io. Academyof Sciencescclxviii (1976) 236-50; M. Wagstaff
38 Also,
in the recent, heavily deforested landscape, and S. Augustson,'Traditional land use', in Renfrew
farmershave sometimes needed to use availabledung as and Wagstaff(n. io8.
8)
fuel-e.g. A. C. de Vooys, Tijdschrift van hetKoninklijk 41 E.g. WagstaffandAugustson(n. 40) 19.
NederlandschAardriqkskundig Genootschaplxxvi (I959)
 TRADITIONALAND ANCIENTRURALECONOMY 83
use of scarcemanpowerand ploughanimals.42This scarcityis in turna consequenceof the
extensiveandunproductivenatureof traditionalland-use.
Liketranshumance, therefore,traditionalbarefallowingis integrallyrelatedto a specific
historicalcontext and shouldnot be extrapolatedback into the distantpast uncritically.If
traditionalextensivefarmingis integrallyrelatedto the traditionalnucleatedpatternof
settlement,dispersedsettlementin farmsteadsand villageslocatednearerto the arableland
mightwell be associatedwith moreintensivefarming.In facta relativelydispersedpatternof
settlementdoes seemto have been the norm for most of prehistory43 and hasrecentlybeen
documentedforclassicalantiquityin a hostof intensivearchaeological surveys.44Evenif some
of thesmallestrural'sites'locatedin thesesurveysarenot permanentfarmsteads, thepresenceof
substantial(i.earchaeologicallyvisible)field-housesmayhaverathersimilarimplications for the
intensityof land-use.45 Thus if the of
deconstruction traditional
agriculturalpracticeoffered
hereis basicallyvalid,intensivecultivationinvolvingregularmanuringandcereal/pulse rotation
may have been in
commonplace antiquity. Indeed the widespread'background' scatter of
ancientpottery,documentedin partsof the lowlandMediterranean landscapeas a spin-offof
recentsurveys,46 surely reflects
intensive activity
agricultural andwasperhapslargelycreatedby
or
manuring middening.47

IV. LAND-USE IN ANTIQUITY-AN ALTERNATIVE

MODEL

Transhumance andbarefallowing,the twin interrelated pillarsof the traditionaldivorce

betweenlivestockandcrophusbandry, haveboth beenshownto be integrallyboundup with
the nucleatednatureof humansettlementandthe consequentlyextensivenatureof land-usein
therecentpast.Duringlaterprehistoryandearlyhistoricaltimes,muchof theruralpopulation
of the Mediterranean livedrelativelycloseto the fieldsthey workedandsmall-scaleintensive
farming was a practicablealternative.
Undersucha regime,cereal/pulse rotationmaywell have
beenthe norm ratherthan the exceptionandchanges in animalhusbandryarealsolikely.The
traditionalsystemof farminga scatterof distantand dispersedplots makesit difficultfor
individualhouseholdsto grazetheirsmallherdof livestockon theirown arableland.Instead
most livestockwererunin largeconsolidatedherds,eitheron a communalbasisor underthe
ownershipof specializedpastoralists, andfieldsundercerealsandthosein fallowtendedto be
groupedintolargeblocksto facilitateherding.Theselargeherdsbothpermittedandencouraged
transhumance. Withdispersed settlementandcloserplots,herdingat thehouseholdlevelwould
be morepracticable andmorecomplexrotationschemesmightbe a substantial obstacleto large
consolidatedherds.Transhumance would thenbe lesslikelyandthe consequentintegrationof
cropandlivestockhusbandry wouldin turnmakemanuremorefreelyavailableandso reinforce
the viabilityof intensivearablefarming.
Viewed in this light, discussionby the ancientagriculturalwritersof the benefitsof intensive
practiceslike manuringand cereal/pulserotationshould perhapsbe interpretednot as exploring
the boundariesof contemporaryagronomic theory, but ratheras advocating the applicationto
extensively farmed estatesof techniquesused on small farms since time immemorial.
42
E.g. H. A. Forbes, Expeditionxix. i (1976) 5-11. 45 R. Osborne, ABSA lxxx (1985) 119-28.
43 E.g. P. Halstead,'Counting sheepin Neolithic and 46 T.W. Gallant,'The Ionian Islandspaleo-economy
Bronze Age Greece', in I. Hodder, G. Isaac and N. researchproject',in Kellerand Rupp (n. 44); Bintliffand
Hammond (eds.), Patternof thepast: studiesin honourof Snodgrass (n. 8).
David Clarke(Cambridge 1981) 307-39 47 A. M. Snodgrass, Annales (A.S.C.) v-vi (1982)
44 P. D. A. Garnsey, Proceedings of Cambridge Philo- 8oo-12; see also T. J. Wilkinson, Journal of Field
logicalSocietyccv (1979) 1-25; D. R. Keller and D. W. Archaeologyix (1982) 323-33; D. Crowther, Scottish
Rupp (eds.), Archaeologicalsurvey in the Mediterranean ArchaeologicalReview ii (1983) 31-44; T. M. William-
area(BritishArchaeologicalReportsInternationalSeries son, Britanniaxv (1984) 225-30.
clv [Oxford 19831).
84 P. HALSTEAD
This contrastbetween traditionalextensivefarmingandthe alternativeintensivemodel hasa
numberof quiteradicalimplicationsfor attemptsby ancienthistoriansto quantifythe likely
labour requirementsand productivityof classicalagriculture.For example, traditional
agricultureis heavilydependenton work animals-both packanimals,for carryinglabourto
andproducefromthe distantandscatteredfields,andploughanimalsfor tillingthe extensive
areasundercerealsor cultivatedfallow.The feedingcostsof suchworkanimalsareprodigious48
andRomancoloniallandallotmentsmayoftenhavebeentoo smalltojustifythe capitalcostof
keepingworkanimals:aslittleas7-8jugera(c.2 ha)workedby handcouldfeeda family,but20o
jugera(c. 5 ha) would be neededif work animalswere kept.49
Spadeandhoe cultivationis stillthe normfor in-fieldgardenstodayandhason occasion
replacedploughingbothin recentcenturiesandin classicalantiquity.50Forthe Romanperiod
spadesand hoes are richlyattestedby archaeological finds5"-though many of these were
doubtlessusedto complementratherthanto replacethe plough.52The widerimplicationsfor
farmingsocietiesof ploughversushoe cultivationhavebeendiscussedby Goody,53but two
particular pointsdeservementionhere.Firstly,with ploughagriculture, the capital-expensive
plough team setsthe limiton productivity,whereas hoe cultivationcan make farfulleruseof a
household'shumanlabourforce.Secondly,the alternativecultivationtechnologiesaffectthe
costsof cropproductionat a numberof levels.
Underthe traditionalextensivesystem,muchagricultural labouris directlygearedto the
maintenance of workanimalswhich,becausetheyareworkingduringthe day,needto be stall
fedformuchof theyear.Cropsarethereforeharvestedtogetherwith muchof thestraw,which
couldotherwisehavebeenleft in the fieldandgrazedinsitu. Reapingthusbecomesevenmore
back-breaking anda fargreatervolumeof cropmustbe transported from the fieldsandthen
threshedandwinnowed.Tramplingthe cropunderthe hoovesof work animals,ratherthan
flailingby hand,offsetsthegreatervolumeof cropto be threshed,buttheneedto savestrawand
chafffor foddermeansthatthe cropmustbe winnowedlaboriouslyin only a light breeze.54
The differentcultivationtechnologiesmay also entail very differentseed:yieldratios.
Extensiveploughagricultureis traditionally associated,andagainclearlyfor reasonsof scale,
withbroadcast sowing,whichis verywastefulof seed.55Intensivegardening,on theotherhand,
is compatiblewith dibbling-a sparserbut moreevenmethodof sowingwhichpermitsmuch
higherseed:yieldratios.56Thusextensiveandintensivefarmingarecharacterized by different
cultivationtechnologies,by differentharvestingand crop processingtechniquesand so by
differentlabourinputsandproductionoutputsat almosteverystagein the agricultural cycle.
Thesedifferences mightaccountfor someof the 'discrepancies'in ancientliteraryestimates
of labourrequirements or productivitynotedso despairingly by Duncan-Jones.57 Of course,
additionalvariationis introducedby otherfactors.Speedof ploughing,forexample,dependson
the heavinessof the soil andnumberof ploughanimals.Threshingis fasteron a hot day, but
slower if the crop is a glume wheat ratherthan a free-threshingcerealor pulse. Considerationof

48
E.g. Christodoulou(n. 33) 182-3.
49 White(n. 7) 336, citingan unpublished
paperof
K. Hopkins; cf G. Delille, Agricolturae demografianel
regnodi Napoli nei secolixviii e xix (Naples 1977), who
cites maximumcultivable areas of 3-5 ha and io ha
respectivelyfor smallholdings
withoutandwith a pair
of oxen (pp.127-9) anda requirement
of upto Io-12 ha
of grazingto maintaina singleox (p. 135).
50 H. A. Forbes,
Strategies and soils: technology,
productionand environmentin the peninsulaof Methana,
Greece(Ph.D. dissertation,University of Pennsylvania
1982) 217; Delille (n. 49); White (n. 7) 484 n. 5.
s' K. D. White, Agricultural implementsof the Roman
world (Cambridge 1967).
52
E.g. Delille (n. 49) 118 fig. 39.
53sJ. Goody, Productionand reproduction
Cambridge
Studies in Social Anthropology xvii (1976); see also A.
Gilman, CurrentAnthropologyxxii(198I) 1-23; A. G.
Sherratt, 'Plough and pastoralism: aspects of the
secondaryproductsrevolution', in Hodder et al. (n. 43).
54 G. Jones and P. Halstead, 'Traditional crop
processing in Amorgos, Greece', (in preparation).
F. Sigaut, L'agriculture et le feu Cahiers des
s" E.g.
Etudes Ruralesi (Paris 1975) 220-1.
56 P. McConnell, The agricultural notebook(London
1883).
s7 Duncan-Jones (n. 7) 330.
 TRADITIONALAND ANCIENTRURALECONOMY 85
decisionmakingby modernfarmers,however, suggestsother, perhapsmore fundamental,
reasonsfor cautionin the searchfor labourandproductionnormsfor ancientagriculture.

V. THE ECONOMICS 'OF AGRICULTURE-NORMS AND VARIABILITY

Whenmodernpeasantfarmersarequestionedaboutaverage yieldsor labourrequirements, they

areoftenunwilling,evenunableto give a straightanswer.Thoughfrustrating for the amateur
ethnographer, thisexperiencecanalsobe instructive.
Throughthelife-cycleof anindividualhousehold,thenumberof mouthsto be fedchanges,
additionalproductionrequirements occurfordowriesandthelike,andthenumberof available
workerschanges.58Ineffectthefarmeris aimingata movingtargetwitha weaponof gradually
shiftingcalibre.Upon thisfoundationof a gradually(andlargelypredictably) changingratioof
to is
producers consumers, superimposed a morass
of unpredictablevariation in bothinputand
output.59
Key membersof the labourforce,humanor animal,may be lost throughdeath,injuryor
illness.Cropreturnsfroma given plot of landfluctuatein responseto externalfactorssuchas
variationin the amountandtimingof rainfall.Storedcropsaresubjectto unpredictable losses
or To
throughfire,spoiling pestdamage. complicate issue, the one of the manyways in which
farmersabsorbtemporarysurplusor deficitmaybe to buyor selllandor labour.60So eachyear
thefarmermaybe aimingfora differentproductiontarget,froma differentareaof land,with a
differentlabourforceandwith the cushionof a greateror lesseramountof producein store.
He may adjusta numberof aspectsof agricultural practiceas a tacticalsolutionto these
problems. If stores arerunningout and a drywinterhasruinedthemaincerealcrop,he maytrya
late spring-sowncropsuchas millet.If storesareplentiful,he may try a high riskcropwith a
high marketvalue. His choice of fallowing and rotationregime will reflectthe relative
availabilityof land,humanlabour,workanimals,manure,storedproduceandso on-as will the
of
frequency ploughing,hoeingandweeding.Mostsinisterof all from the perspectiveof the
quantitativeancienthistorian,he may varyhis sowingrate,andthushis seed:yieldratio.
Fora givensoil type, the moresparselya farmersows,the moreshootsor tillerseachseed
will putout. If a farmerhasaccessto enoughgood soilfornormalsubsistence, he maysow fields
with marginalsoilverysparselyon thegroundsthathe loseslittlewhenthecropis a failureand
securesa windfallbumperharvestwhenweatherconditionsareideal.61Ifa farmerneedsa good
returnfrom all his landto be confidentof an adequateharvest,andyet is shortof labourfor
tillingand weeding,he may sow thicklyso thata densecrop outcompetesthe weedswhich
would otherwisechoke it.62 Evidentlythe miserablylow seed:yieldratiosfrom mediaeval
estates in northwest Europe,63 often used in modelling prehistoricand classicalagriculture,
likewisereflectparticular
localfactors(suchasthe availabilityof landandlabouror thepriceof
grain),64 as well as the relatively high rates of sowing required in a region of cold and wet
climate.6" At any rate, the dangers of an uncritical search for 'normal' seed:yield ratios for
classical antiquity are apparent.

58 M. Sahlins, Stoneage economics(London 1974). cerealsworkshop,Algiers, i (Algiers 1979) 30.

59 Forbes (n. 40); (n. 50); J. O'Shea, 'Coping with 63 B. H. Slicher van Bath, The agrarianhistoryof
scarcity:exchangeandsocialstorage',in Sheridanand western Europe AD 500-So-1850o(London 1963); G. Duby,
Bailey (n. 22). Rural economy and country life in the medieval west
60 P. Hill, Rural Hausa: a village and a setting (London 1968).
(Cambridge 1972). 64 E.g. E. van Cauwenberghe and H. van der Wee
61 P. A. Rowley-Conwy,'Slashandburnin the (eds.) Productivityof landandagriculturalinnovationin the
Cf.
temperateEuropeanNeolithic',in R. J. Mercer(ed.), Low Countries(125o-18oo) (Leuven 1978) 125-39.
practicein Britishprehistory
Farming (Edinburgh1981) 65 J. Percival, The wheatplant (London 1921) 42 1-2;
85-96. I. Arnon, Crop productionin dry regions, 2: systematic
62 E.g. E. A. Skorda,'Constraints
to cerealproduc- treatmentof the principalcrops(London 1972) 48.
tion and possiblesolutionsin Greece',Fifth regional
86 P. HALSTEAD
VI. AGRICULTURAL NORMS AND THE ANCIENT ECONOMY

Theseissuesof rotationandfallowingregime,sowingratesandso on areclearlyimportant

per from the point of view of the agricultural
se historian.They are also relevantto certain
broaderquestionsin socialand economichistory,such as the relationshipin RomanItaly
betweenfreepeasantryandlandownersand the relativeimportanceto the latterof slaveand
seasonallyhiredfreelabour.66
The precedingdiscussionalsosuggeststhe needfor reevaluation of Finley'sconvictionthat
the goalof self-sufficiency
extolledby the Romanwriterswasa moralpreceptwith no basisin
economicrationality.67 Infact,asFinleyhimselfpointsout,becausetransport costswerehighin
the ancientworld,localsurplusesand deficitscouldnot easilybe evenedout by trade.68The
outcome was violent fluctuationin the prices of agriculturalproduce,and in such an
environmentto aimfor self-sufficiency andso avoidbeingat the mercyof extortionately high
priceswould havebeenvery hard-headed economicrationalityindeed.69
Thisleadson to whatis arguablythe mostimportantproblemin the ancienteconomy-
how did rich Greeksand Romansin classicalantiquityacquiretheir wealth?The current
consensusamongancienthistorians seemsto be thatfarmingwas,withveryfew exceptions,the
only reallyimportantareaof economicactivity,atleastuntilwell intotheRomanperiod.70Yet
agricultureseemsto offeronlymodestpotentialforaccumulating wealth:theaveragereturnson
cerealswerelow and,becauseof theirbulk,theycouldnoteasilybe traded,whilecashcropssuch
asvinesyieldedhigherreturns,butonly highqualityproducewasreallyprofitableandthatwas
tradedon a small scale.7' The problemof how the rich first got rich-before they had
accumulatedextensiveestates72-is even moredifficultto resolvefrom thisperspective.
Herethe variabilityanduncertaintyinherentin agriculture, insteadof beingan obstacleto
thediscoveryof norms,becomea usefulheuristicdevicein theirown right.Thoughthereturns
from cereal agriculturewere normally low, a killing could evidently be made from
exceptionallyhighpricesin timesof famine-a rangeof culturalandlegalprescriptions against
excessiveprofiteeringaredocumentedfortheGreekworld73and,fortheRomans,Varroclearly
advocatesthestoringup of produceforthisverypurpose.74Cerealfarmingdoesnot emergein
the ancientwritersas the primaryeconomicgoal of landowners,becausethe rewardsof such
famine-broking musthavebeenas unpredictable as the risks.75But occasionalwindfallprofits
couldwell, over the timespanof a generationor two, havemadea majorcontributionto the
incomeof elite households- andmay well hold the key to the originalemergenceof a rich
minority,giventhatcurrentancienthistoricalorthodoxyseems,on a mixtureof theoretical and
empiricalgrounds,to haveruledout all the obviousalternatives.

VII. CONCLUSION

This paper has perhaps taken a rather tortuous path through the Mediterranean rural
landscape, but its message is simple. Before archaeologists and ancient historians seek to transfer
the behaviour of those they meet on their Mediterranean travels back into the past, they should
look closely at what their informants are doing and why. And though the complexity of
traditional agricultural ecology may obstruct the search for simple production norms, the
unravelling of this complexity may also help to identify new and important questions which
66 E.g. K. Hopkins, and slaves(Cam-
Conquerors 71 Duncan-Jones (n. 7).
bridge 1978); D. W. Rathbone,JRSlxxi (1981)10-23. 72 E.g. Finley (n.
67 7) 102-3; Hopkins (n. 66).
68 Finley(n. 7) o109. 73 E.g. Finley (n. 7) 169-70; M. M. Austin and P.
69
Finley(n. 7) 127. Vidal-Naquet, Economicand social history of ancient
. du Boulay,Portraitofa Greekmountainvillage Greece:an introduction(London 1977) 291-4.
Cf.
(Oxford 33-7; Forbes(n. 50).
70 1974) 74 Duncan-Jones (n. 7) 38.
Finley(n. 7). 7s Duncan-Jones (n. 7) 146.
 TRADITIONALAND ANCIENTRURALECONOMY 87
shouldbe askedaboutthe past.It is certainlynot intendedto discourageancienthistoriansand
prehistoriansfromusingtheirknowledgeof traditional ruraleconomyin theinvestigationof the
past. On the contrary,such knowledge is essential
both to evaluateand to supplementthe
ancientliterarysources.Moreover,the intensivemodel of land-useproposedhere as an
alternative(or complement)to the extensivetraditionalpatternis consistentwith, but cannot
reallybe testedagainstthe ancientliterarysources,given theirsystematiclack of interestin
small-scale,subsistencefarming.76Furtherprogressis heavily dependenton developing
improvedarchaeological methodsfor the studyof ancientagriculture- andto thisendethno-
archaeological studyof the lastvestigesof traditionalruraleconomyin the Mediterranean is a
matterof the greatesturgency.
PAUL HALSTEAD
of Sheffeld
University
76
Cf. Duby (n. 63) 23, suggestingthat Pliny is cf. also M. H. Jameson, CJ (1977-8) 122-45.
describingextensive,but Columella intensiveagriculture;