Food exchange networks in ancient agrarian societies, Eastern Mediterranean
Case details
- Resource system
- Coupled Agroecosystems
- Resource units
- Subsistence agricultural crops
- Location
- Eastern Mediterranean
Location map
Description
This is a diachronic case study emphasizing general properties of agricultural production and exchange over 10,000 years of agricultural production in the Eastern Mediterranean. Emphasis is placed on changing relationships between farmers and the individuals and institutions responsible for maintaining food-exchange networks and ensuring equitable distribution of food in times of subsistence crisis.
Institutional analysis
Institutional analysis document
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Coded institutional data
No coded case data available.
System representation
Resource system
Rainfed agroecosystems, involving a mix of infield pulses and cash crops, outfield cereals, orchards, and livestock in a landscape with marked variability in water availability.
Resource users
Farming households
Public infrastructure
Food-exchange networks on multiple scales.
Public infrastructure providers
Varies over time and space:
Kin groups
Local elites
Redistributive bureaucracy
Patrons
Relationship 1
Harvest crops.
Manage livestock.
Modify soil.
Relationship 2
Participate in reciprocal food exchange systems.
Participate in market economies.
Petition palace bureaucracies.
Elect food-distribution officials.
Tax agricultural households.
Relationship 3
Provide stored food resources.
Provide access to distance resource systems.
Build and maintain transportation networks.
Maintain diplomatic ties.
Relationship 4
Transport energy (calories) or natural infrastructure between resources systems.
Relationship 5
Incentivize yield maximization over variance minimization.
Relationship 6
Prevent starvation.
Unite disparate resource-user groups.
Free-ride
Exogenous drivers (7) - Resource
(none specified)Exogenous drivers (7) - Infrastructure
(none specified)Exogenous drivers (8) - Users
(none specified)Exogenous drivers (8) - Providers
(none specified)Human infrastructure (users)
(none specified)Human infrastructure (providers)
(none specified)Sources
Contributors
- Ute Brady, Arizona State University
- Nicolas Gauthier, Arizona State University
Bibliography
- (2015). Food exchange and the robustness of agrarian societies in the Eastern Mediterranean. ESS 591: Applied Robustness Analysis in Social-Ecological Systems.