Employing a rudimentary technology upon a highly variable landscape, the ancient Greeks created a sophisticated agrarian base which aided the evolution of complex social and political systems.
Date: From the eighth millennium b. c.e. to 31 b. c.e.
Category: Agriculture
Evidence for Agrarian Activity Archaeological evidence, including representations on ceramic vessels, food processing equipment, and paleobotanical information, is the primary channel for establishing the sequence of agricultural development in Greece, including the islands in the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas. Literary sources from the Dark Ages of Greece through the Classical Age (from c. 1150 b. c.e. to the fourth century b. c.e.), for example Homer, Xenophon, Hesiod, and Theophrastus, are valuable, particularly for specific topics such as cattle husbandry.
Origins of Agriculture in Greece Franchthi Cave above the Gulf of Argos in the Peloponnese documents the transition from a Mesolithic hunting-and-foraging lifestyle to a Neolithic food-producing lifestyle. Dating to the eighth millennium b. c.e., the human population hunted red deer and wild pigs and collected a variety of vegetal foods, including lentils, oats, wild barley, and pistachio nuts. After 6000 b. c.e., an economic shift is apparent. Large-seeded lentils and domesticated wheat and barley were produced, and cattle, pigs, sheep, and goats were domesticated. Pottery, an essential component of farming communities, appears during this period. Stone remained the primary material for tool manufacture, with the sickle blades used in grain harvesting becoming more prevalent in the archaeological record.
A range of sites mirrors the developments at early Neolithic Franchthi: Argissa in Thessaly (c. 6000 b. c.e.), Nea Nicomedia in Macedonia (6230 b. c.e.), and Neolithic Knossos on Crete (c. late seventh millennium b. c.e.).
These communities ranged in size from fifty to three hundred individuals residing in wattle and daub huts, made of woven rods and twigs plastered with clay. Cultivated organisms included emmer and einkorn wheat, peas, lentils, barley, and the livestock complex noted above. Human power in tilling the soil was probably the rule in these early Neolithic settlements. Human diets continued to be supplemented through hunting and collecting wild vegetal foods, a strategy which would offset nutritional stress brought about through crop failure. Cattle and pigs were indigenous to Greece and were probably domesticated locally, while sheep and goats undoubtedly diffused from sites farther east in Asia. Barley, oats, and lentils were indigenous. The wheats, important throughout the entire culture history of ancient Greece, were diffused from Southwest Asia.
Agrarian Complex Is Established The environmental variability of Greece and the islands—specifically altitude, soil fertility, and moisture availability—influenced early agricultural decision making and subsequent practices. Upland regions, notorious for poor, thin soils, became adapted to pastorialism, with herds moving into prolific pastures during summer months. Dry heat was characteristic of summers, while wet winters predominated.
During the Neolithic period (c. 6000 b. c.e. to the third or early first millennium b. c.e., depending upon environmental conditions), an agricultural village economy became established which emphasized a mixed farming strategy. The subsequent pattern of cereals, grapes, olives, and domesticated livestock was established by Mycenaean times (c. 1575 to 1200 b. c.e.). The natural terrain dictated the form of village adaptation and agrarian enterprise: cattle husbandry and grain cultivation in northern Greece, while in the southern regions extensive cultivation of grapes and olives. Dry farming predominated, irrigation being minimal and used in orchards and gardens. The earliest evidence of olives (c. 3900 b. c.e.) comes from Crete. Wild grapes were indigenous over much of northern Greece; however, the history of Greek winemaking is imperfectly understood. By Mycenaean times winemaking was well developed, and trade in wine, in addition to olives, was central to the Mycenaean economy.
Two patterns emerged: expansion of agrarian enterprise for the production of trade commodities and small-scale mixed subsistence farming. Kinship-integrated cooperative households were the basic unit of small-scale production and consumption. Farm size varied during the Classical period from twelve to sixty-four acres, depending upon the owner’s wealth and the topography. Farms comprised of thousands of acres were possible but rare. By Hellenistic and Roman times (the fourth to first centuries b. c.e.), much larger productive units were found. Primary crops of peasant households in the first century b. c.e. included cereals, beans, peas, and a variety of fruits and vegetables, including cabbage, onions, beets, and apples. Cattle were primarily used for tilling and transport. Sheep and goats provided milk for cheese, wool, and hides. Pigs, chickens, and bees were part of a farmstead’s subsistence program. While Greece was not primarily a meat-consuming culture, the sacrifice of any livestock usually destined the meat for human consumption. Beginning in the first century b. c.e., food for livestock consisted of grasses, millet, and alfalfa, which were harvested and stored for winter use. Horses were used primarily for riding by
Caffle were an important part of ancient Greek society and were used for both farming and transportation. (F. R. Niglutsch)
Individuals who could afford their upkeep.
Cultivation and Technology Variability in field cultivation was a constant in ancient Greece. If additional land was needed in a mountainous region, then terraces were cut into the hillsides. Terraces functioned not only to increase arable acreage but also to prevent erosion and conserve moisture. Artificial drainage and small-scale irrigation projects might be developed depending on local conditions. The value of manure in elevating soil fertility was recognized, and both animal and human wastes were applied to orchards and gardens. Fallowing arable land to recoup nutritional losses was a common practice. The value of nitrogen-fixing legumes was recognized from Mycenaean times, and, by the fourth century b. c.e., legumes were advocated in lieu of conventional fallowing.
Agricultural implements such as plows, hoes, and sickles were constructed of wood, stone, or metal. The plow, or ard, scratched the topsoil to destroy weeds and conserve moisture. The point of the oxen-drawn plow was made of bronze or iron. Devices that processed foodstuffs, stone presses, and mills for wine and oil were more complex and by Hellenistic and Roman times became increasingly sophisticated. The antiquity of these machines in Greece remains unknown.
Crop yields were low; however, the scarcity of information prevents any overall assessment of production throughout the Greek world. The local environment, specific cultural practices such as the use of manure, and the availability of land and labor greatly influenced yields. It is noteworthy, however, that from this simple yet adaptive productive system, the Greeks laid the foundation for the Western civilizational experience.
Further Reading
Burford, Alison. Land and Labor in the Greek World. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993.
Gallant, Thomas A. Risk and Survival in Ancient Greece: Reconstructing the Rural Domestic Economy. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1991.
Hanson, Victor Davis. The Other Greeks: The Family Farm and the Agrarian Roots of Western Civilization. 2d ed. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999.
Harris, David R., ed. The Origins and Spread of Agriculture and Pastoral-ism in Eurasia. Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1996.
Rene M. Descartes
See also: Archaic Greece; Classical Greece; Daily Life and Customs; Hellenistic Greece; Mycenaean Greece; Science; Settlements and Social Structure; Technology.
World History
