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Agriculture and crop dispersal in the western periphery of the Old World: the Amazigh/Berber settling of the Canary Islands (ca. 2nd-15th centuries ce)

Authors :
Morales, Jacob
Speciale, Claudia
Rodriguez-Rodriguez, Amelia
Henriquez-Valido, Pedro
Marrero-Salas, Efrain
Hernandez-Marrero, Juan Carlos
Lopez, Rosa
Delgado-Darias, Teresa
Hagenblad, Jenny
Fregel, Rosa
Santana, Jonathan
Morales, Jacob
Speciale, Claudia
Rodriguez-Rodriguez, Amelia
Henriquez-Valido, Pedro
Marrero-Salas, Efrain
Hernandez-Marrero, Juan Carlos
Lopez, Rosa
Delgado-Darias, Teresa
Hagenblad, Jenny
Fregel, Rosa
Santana, Jonathan
Publication Year :
2023

Abstract

The Canary Islands were settled ca. 1,800 years ago by Amazigh/Berber farming populations originating in North Africa. This historical event represents the last and westernmost expansion of the Mediterranean farming package in Antiquity, and investigating it yields information about crop dispersal along the periphery of the Mediterranean world around the turn of the first millennium ce. The current study focuses on archaeobotanical evidence recorded in a series of pre-Hispanic/Amazigh sites of the Canary Islands (ca. 2nd-15th centuries ce). It offers new, unpublished archaeobotanical findings and direct radiocarbon datings of plant remains from the different islands. The general goal is to gain a better grasp of how the first settlers of the Canary Islands adapted their farming activities to the different natural conditions of each island. The results suggest a shared crop package throughout the islands since at least the 3rd-5th centuries ce. This set of plants was likely introduced from north-western Africa and consists of Hordeum vulgare (hulled barley), Triticum durum (durum wheat), Lens culinaris (lentil), Vicia faba (broad bean), Pisum sativum (pea), and Ficus carica (fig). The crop package probably arrived in a single episode during the initial colonisation and was not followed by any other plants. Subsequent to the initial settling and until the arrival of the European seafarers, the islands remained isolated from each other and from the outside world, a condition that over time led to a decline in crop diversity in all of the islands except Gran Canaria.<br />Funding Agencies|ERC Starting Grant project IsoCAN [851733]; Ministerio de Economia, Industria y Competitividad, Spain [PID2020-117496GB-I00]; La Caixa foundation [2018PATRI25]; Origen y evolucion del poblamiento humano dentro del ambito del Paisaje Cultural de Risco Caido y las Montanas Sagradas de Gran Canaria (Cabildo de Gran Canaria); FEDER/Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion-Agencia Estatal de Investigacion (PALEUCOL) [PGC2018-094101-A-I00]; Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion, Spain [RTI2018-101923-J-I00, RYC2019-028346]; CRUE-CSIC agreement; Springer Nature; European Research Council (ERC) [851733] Funding Source: European Research Council (ERC)

Details

Database :
OAIster
Notes :
application/pdf, English
Publication Type :
Electronic Resource
Accession number :
edsoai.on1428238776
Document Type :
Electronic Resource
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1007.s00334-023-00920-6