Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Material Landscapes and the Consolidation of Agriculture: The Canoles Archaeological Survey Project(CASP), Valencia, Spain

University Of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara CA

Investigators

Abstract

Under the direction of Dr. Michael A. Jochim, Ms Sarah McClure will collect data in eastern Spain for her doctoral dissertation. She will conduct archaeological survey of the Canoles river valley in the Province of Valencia, Spain to identify changes in land use patterns during the transition from hunting and gathering to agricultural economies (8000-2500 BC). Domestic plants (wheat, emmer and legumes) and animals (goats, sheep, pigs and cows) were introduced to the area by 5600 BC. The remains of these domesticates are found in conjunction with the first ceramics of the region. However, in stark contrast to other parts of the Mediterranean, the farmers of eastern Spain did not live in villages until over a millennium later. The aggregation of people in villages indicates changes in their economies such as an intensification of agricultural practices and corresponding changes in social organization and cultural behavior. Current research in the Province of Valencia suggests that this reconstruction of the transition to farming may well be biased, since it is based largely on information from individual sites (caves and rockshelters). Ms McClure will use a regional approach to characterize the timing and nature of the shift to village farming economies. The primary aim of the study is to investigate the commonly held idea of a slow shift to intensified farming and to examine the social and ecological underpinnings of the transition. The archaeological survey of the Canoles valley will elucidate the role available wild resources played in the transition to agriculture. The Canoles valley is particularly suitable for this kind of analysis since it is a large valley connecting the Mediterranean coastal plain with the central plateau (Meseta) and contains a wealth of different ecological zones. Land use patterns will indicate how people were using their landscape and how this changed with new forms of subsistence practices. The transition to agriculture was a major turning point in human and environmental history, setting the stage for the rise of civilizations and changing the relationship between humans and their environment. In order to understand this transition, archaeologists must look to different regions of the world to identify fundamental similarities and differences in the timing, tempo, and impact of the cultural and organizational changes associated with the transition to food producing economies. Ms McClure's research in eastern Spain will contribute to the understanding of this fundamental shift and will also assist in training a promising young scientist.