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Agriculture between the third and first millennium bc in the Balearic Islands: the archaeobotanical data

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Abstract

This paper presents new data regarding agricultural developments in the Balearic Islands between the end of the third millennium bc and the arrival of the Romans in the 2nd century bc. Data available so far reveals that agriculture, together with raising livestock, were the population’s source of livelihood. Agriculture in the third and second millennium consisted essentially of growing cereals and legumes. The available data point to an agricultural development similar to that of the continent, in the region stretching between the south of France and the south of the Iberian Peninsula. The similarities, in fact, possibly reflect contacts. Arboriculture was first introduced in the island of Ibiza in the first millennium in contexts linked to Phoenician colonisation. Olive oil and wine production developed remarkably on this island and were oriented toward export. Although the chronology of this process is still unclear, it seems that in Mallorca and Menorca it took place at a later period.

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Acknowledgements

This paper is an output of the project FRUITFUL: La introducción y el desarrollo de la arboricultura en la Península Ibérica (HAR2015-64953-P) coordinated by LPCH and funded by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad within the Programa Estatal de Fomento de la Investigación Científica y Técnica de Excelencia, Subprograma Estatal de Generación del Conocimiento. GPJ work has been carried out within the postdoctoral Contract FPDI-2013-16034 funded by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad. The work of LLPG has been funded by a Beatriu de Pinós postdoctoral fellowship from the Catalan Government (2014 BP-A 00216). The work of YCM has been founded by the Ramón y Cajal program from the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad. Thanks to Carlos Gómez Bellard and Damià Ramis for their comments and to ARPA SL for providing us the material from Pati d’Armes and Puig des Molins.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. GI Arqueobiología, Instituto de Historia (CCHS-CSIC), Albasanz 26-28, 28037, Madrid, Spain

    Guillem Pérez-Jordà & Leonor Peña-Chocarro

  2. UMR7209, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle-CNRS-Sorbonne Universités, 55 Rue Buffon, 75005, Paris, France

    Llorenç Picornell-Gelabert

  3. Departament de Ciències Històriques i Teoria de les Arts, Universitat de les Illes Balears (UIB), Carretera de Valldemossa Km 7,5, Palma, 07122, Illes Balears, Spain

    Llorenç Picornell-Gelabert

  4. Dept. de Prehistòria, Arqueologia i Hª Antiga, Universitat de València, Avda. Blasco Ibañez 22, 46010, València, Spain

    Yolanda Carrión Marco

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  1. Guillem Pérez-Jordà
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Correspondence to Guillem Pérez-Jordà.

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Pérez-Jordà, G., Peña-Chocarro, L., Picornell-Gelabert, L. et al. Agriculture between the third and first millennium bc in the Balearic Islands: the archaeobotanical data. Veget Hist Archaeobot 27, 253–265 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-017-0618-y

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