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The archaeology and ethnoarchaeology of rain-fed cultivation in arid and hyper-arid North Africa

Lancelotti, Carla; Biagetti, Stefano; Zerboni, Andrea; Usai, Donatella; Madella, Marco

ANTIQUITY
2019
VL / 93 - BP / 1026 - EP / 1039
abstract
Rain-fed cultivation in drylands-especially in arid and hyper-arid areas-is often considered to play a minor role in human subsistence. Drawing upon the results of ethnoarchaeological research in North Africa, this paper reviews non-irrigated agricultural practices in the absence of anthropogenic water-harvesting structures, and presents a proposal for how such practices can be identified in the drylands of the past. An improved understanding of the long-term development of rain-fed cultivation augments our knowledge of past land-use strategies and can inform future models of sustainable agriculture in some of the world's driest regions.

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