Domesticating the Mosaic: Stable Isotope Approaches to Agroecologies in South Asia

Summary

The origin of agriculture is a long-standing and pivotal point of archaeological research. The focus, however, has predominantly been on the earliest instances of crop domestication, whereas less is known about the nature of early farming. South Asia with its mosaic of environments and early farming strategies demonstrates the need for nuanced attention to aspects of early agro-ecologies such as manuring, water management strategies, and animal husbandry. Stable isotope analysis of botanical, faunal, and human remains has increasingly emerged as a powerful tool for reconstructing local farming practices, including crop growing conditions, herding and foddering, and dietary reliance on different types of food. Here, I discuss how these methodologies are aiding in the development of a more detailed understanding of early agricultural strategies in the diverse eco-geographical zones of the Indian subcontinent. I argue that these datasets allow us to link subsistence observations to changes and differentiation in social organisation and to anthropogenic landscape use and perception.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22576