The tropical turn
agricultural innovation in the ancient Middle East and the Mediterranean
- ISBN: 9780520390843
- Editorial: University of California Press
- Fecha de la edición: 2023
- Lugar de la edición: Berkeley (CA). Estados Unidos de Norteamérica
- Encuadernación: Rústica
- Medidas: 24 cm
- Nº Pág.: 320
- Idiomas: Inglés
This book chronicles the earliest histories of familiar tropical Asian crops in the ancient Middle East and the Mediterranean, from rice and cotton to citruses and cucumbers. Drawing on archaeological materials and textual sources in over seven ancient languages, The Tropical Turn unravels the breathtaking anthropogenic peregrinations of these familiar crops from their homelands in tropical and subtropical Asia to the Middle East and the Mediterranean, showing the significant impact South Asia had on the ecologies, dietary habits, and cultural identities of peoples across the ancient world. In the process, Sureshkumar Muthukumaran offers a fresh narrative history of human connectivity across Afro-Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the late centuries BCE.
The historical context
Wool from trees : cotton
The golden grain : Asiatic rice
Persian apples : citruses
Familiar but foreign : eastern cucurbits
The Egyptian bean : the sacred lotus
A forgotten tuber : taro
Timber for god and king : Sissoo
How to turn tropical
