Authors:
- The only book sofar that covers such a long period
- Integration of information only available in specialized journals and reports mainly written in German and French, and to a limited extent in English and Dutch, combined with new material
- Offering information on the entire range of crops, livestock, tools, farm-buildings, presence or absence of hamlets and the impact on the environment
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Table of contents (11 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
About this book
This book deals with the early history of agriculture in a defined part of Western Europe: the loess belt west of the river Rhine. It is a well-illustrated book that integrates existing and new information, starting with the first farmers and ending when food production was no longer the chief source of livelihood for the entire population. The loess belt was chosen because it is a region with only one type of soil and climate as these are all-important factors where farming is concerned.
Subjects covered are crops, crop cultivation, livestock and livestock handling, the farm and its yard, and the farm in connection with other farms. Crop plants and animals are described, together with their origin. New tools such as the plough, wheen, wagon and scythe are introduced. Groundplans of farm buildings, the history of the outhouse and the presence or absence of hamlets are presented as well, and the impact of farming on the landscape is not forgotten.
The loess belt was not an island and the world beyond its boundaries was important for new ideas, new materials and new people.
Summarising six millennia of agriculture, the thinking in terms of the Western European loess belt as one agricultural-cultural unit seems justified.
Authors and Affiliations
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Fac. Archaeology, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands
Corrie C. Bakels
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: The Western European Loess Belt
Book Subtitle: Agrarian History, 5300 BC - AD 1000
Authors: Corrie C. Bakels
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9840-6
Publisher: Springer Dordrecht
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law, Social Sciences (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4020-9839-0Published: 10 August 2009
Softcover ISBN: 978-94-007-9136-7Published: 11 September 2014
eBook ISBN: 978-1-4020-9840-6Published: 29 July 2009
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: VIII, 295
Topics: Archaeology, History, general, Agriculture, Geography, general