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.As a rule, domestication of aspecies can be determined archaeologically by morphological changes inbone structures, like the persistence of juvenile skeletal characteristics.In general, domestication evolved in four distinct stages: first, animalswere attached loosely to human society; then there occurred the com-plete subjugation and captivity of the weaker animals; this was followedby interbreeding with the wild forms to increase the size of the domes-ticated variety; and finally the stock was completely domesticated andseparated from their wild cousins, which are thereafter seen as a threatand exterminated.By this last stage animals, like cultivated plants, hadbecome largely dependent on humans for their survival.Greek and Roman farms supported almost all of the animals that wemake use of today.For pulling plows and carts, and for carrying loadsfrom sacks of grain to cavalrymen, there were oxen, donkeys, mules, andhorses (the latter, then as now considered a nobler beast, was used almostFood and Clothing 23exclusively for riding or pulling war and racing chariots).Meat wassupplied by pigs, sheep, goats, and rabbits; and by chickens, geese, ducks,pigeons, and more elegant birds like pheasants and thrushes.Cattle werekept principally as draft animals, their meat being marketed only afterlong service in the field: little wonder, then, that in the fourth centurywe know that it was priced with goat and mutton, considerably cheaperthan pork, lamb, and venison.Chickens doubled as a source of eggs, andsheep and goats as sources of milk and cheese.Bees, though not do-mesticated, provided the principal ancient sweetener.AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTSWorking the SoilThe plow was one of the most important inventions of the BronzeAge, since it was more efficient than the simple Neolithic hoe: by cut-ting deeper into the earth it helped prevent the exhaustion of the soil.The typical plow of antiquity consisted of a stock with a horizontal pointto break the ground, attached to a draft team by a pole and yoke, andwith a handle for the farmer projecting from the end of the stock (Docu-ment 3).The earliest plows, depicted in Bronze-Age Egyptian tombpaintings, were pulled by the farm workers themselves; the first yokes forharnessing draft animals were fitted around the animals horns; only laterin the Bronze Age was the chest collar developed to harness the powerfrom the sturdiest part of the ox.In lands adjacent to the MediterraneanSea, where soils were dry and friable, the share was small, almost hori-zontal to the ground, and cut a very shallow furrow (the scratch plow),whereas the denser soils of Europe required more robust shares.By theRoman period, then, iron was often used to sheath the stock, and splayingbars were developed to lay the cut sod up on one side of the plow, a processthat is reflected in the myth of the foundation of Rome, when Romulusdrove a plow around the limits of his future city, cutting a furrow (thesymbolic moat) and throwing the soil up to one side (the wall).HarvestingHarvesting in the Neolithic Age was done with small, straight sicklesgrooved to hold flaked flint blades; subsequently curved blades were madeof bronze or iron, but it remained for the Romans to invent the properlybalanced sickle that we are familiar with today, which replaced the old24 ANCIENT TECHNOLOGYsawing or hacking motion with a more efficient sweeping technique thatwas also easier on the harvester s wrist (Document 4).Though the El-der Pliny describes a kind of automated reaping machine from the RomanEmpire, for which there is also some sculptural evidence, it was likely usedonly in the dense crops typical of northern areas outside the Mediterra-nean basin; true mechanization of harvesting would not occur until theMiddle Ages.Threshing and WinnowingOnce harvested, the grains needed to be extracted from the seed podsby threshing the sheaves (Document 5).This was usually accomplishedin one of two ways, both making use of the farm animals on hand forother purposes: the harvest was first spread out on a circular, hard-packedthreshing floor, and animals either were driven over it to crush the podswith their hooves and release the grain, or pulled a threshing sledge whoseundersurface was studded with flint or metal blades that chopped theharvest and cut open the pods, a technique that can still be witnessed insome areas of the eastern Mediterranean.Then, to separate the seed fromthe chaff, farm hands could sieve it in baskets, but more often would tossthe grain into the air using forks, shovels, or oar-like wands (a techniquecalled winnowing) so that the lighter chaff would be blown away and theheavier seeds would settle back onto the threshing floor.Other ImplementsOther necessary agricultural implements (Document 6) included hoes,ironclad spades to break the soil and trench around trees and vines, haftediron picks for heavy working of the soil, two-pronged iron forks, woodenforks for tossing hay, various metal knives and hooks for pruning, grafting,and harvesting vines and trees, and specialized tools like shears for animalhusbandry.THE PROCESSING AND PREPARATION OF FOODThe Implements of Food ProcessingAll three of the important foods of the ancient Mediterranean grain,grapes, and olives needed some preliminary processing before theycould be made into bread, wine, and oil.Food and Clothing 25Figure 1.Push millMills.At first grain was ground into flour between two flat stones(often termed a saddle quern), or in a hollow stone mortar with a pestle [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]