Middle and Late Bronze Age Metal Tools from the Aegean, Eastern ...

Bronze Age Mediterranean climate is comparable to the modern environment, and so
dry-farming, dependent on natural rain, was prominent, as it is today. 208 The need to
retain water in the absence of irrigation in prehistoric Greece may have caused farmers to
exploit (and protect) the landscape by forming terraces, although these have been difficult
to discover in the landscape. 209 The implications of soil erosion on agricultural activity
and its yield remain unknown. Soil investigations are extremely useful for
comprehending the agricultural potential of certain landscapes. 210 Morris’ monograph on
the soil conditions at Karphi, Chrysokamino and Kavousi (Vronda and Kastro) in Crete
offers an excellent example of this type of study. 211 Morris considers the water-holding
capacity of different soils for determining the capability of various locations for
achieving agricultural success. He notes that two soil types in the Kavousi region,
rendzina and alluvium, were “suitable for farming if adequate moisture was present.” 212
Morris is thus able to reconstruct the area’s agricultural activity based on a concurrent
examination of the archaeological and soil data.
A full understanding of second millennium agriculture must take into account
palatial records, palaeobotanical evidence, indications of storage for surpluses, the nature
of soils and, of course, the preserved agricultural implements. The distribution of farming
tools sheds light on the regional choices in metal consumption. There are obvious
208
Van Wersch 1972, 177; Yassoglou and Haidouti. 1978, 33; Bintliff 1977, 17-18. Cf. Moody, Rackham,
and Rapp 1996, 293-294 (for differences between the present environment and prehistory). For the modern
Cretan environment, see Rackham and Moody 1996, 33-38.
209
Zangger 1992, 18; Rackham and Moody (1992, 129) observe that modern Greek walled terraces were
hardly damaged by severe rainstorms and that only nominal water erosion occurred. Morris (2002, 44)
notes that agricultural terraces will erode over time as demonstrated by the erosion of Minoan terraces at
Karphi.
210
Yassoglou and Haidouti 1978; Bintliff 1977, 5-6, figures 1-2; Parsons and Gifford 1995, 292-305;
Grove and Rackham 2001, 262, 266-267.
211
Morris 2002.
212
Morris 2002, 76.
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