- Bioversity promotes a fund-raiser for forgotten fruit trees.
- Seed crisis in Bangladesh. It’s complicated. Really complicated.
- Belatedly, mirthful report on mead.
- “…during the advent of agriculture … early farmers may have at first come together in communal activities, prior to congregating in villages.”
- USDA’s fruit genebank at Corvallis in the news.
Agriculture and people
So, “agricultural expansion is the principal factor for shaping global linguistic diversity,” and indeed human genetic diversity, both in Europe and Japan. Further evidence for Bellwood’s controversial thesis.
Yes, why not, the oldest horse breed in the world
Quick, what’s the oldest horse breed still in existence? Well, apparently, it’s the Caspian or Māzandarān Horse, and remains have recently been found in a cemetery dating back to 3400 BCE. Perhaps I should find it hard to believe one can recognize a breed from a skeleton, but I choose to suspend any disbelief I may have, because I like the story.
The Caspian horse was thought to have disappeared into antiquity, until 1965 when the American wife of an Iranian aristocrat called Louise Firouz went on an expedition on horseback and discovered small horses in the Iranian mountainous regions south of the Caspian Sea.
It happens to be very genetically diverse, which may suggest survival of wild horses in a Holocene refugium. Will they try to extract ancient DNA from the skeleton? Gosh, I do hope so. Via.
Greek cereal iconography through the ages
Another foray into the wonderful world of agrobiodiversity iconography today, if you don’t mind. These musings started in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens when I saw this detail from a 500 BC marble grave stela from Velanideza in Attica.
Originally, this would have been painted, and the museum helpfully provides a reconstruction (sorry about the reflection).
This is part of what the caption says (eccentric spelling etc. in the original):
Depicted is the dead Lyseas in the guise of Dyonisos’ worshiper. He bears a vine wreath on his head, chiton and himation. He holds a kantharos (wine cup) in his right hand and a laurel branch (?) in his left… According to the inscription carved on the base, the stele was erected by Semon on the grave of his son, Lyseas.
Now, about that question mark. I guess it could be laurel, but aren’t depictions of that plant usually in the form of wreaths? Might they not be cereal spikes that Lyseas is holding? Ok, cereal spikes which have lost their awns, but the paint has faded a lot. Cereal spikes like these, admittedly much more naturalistic ones, on a Theran pot. ((The pot on the left apparently shows vetch.))
Cereal spikes a bit like these advertizing a modern bakery a short walk from the museum.
Or like these modernistic renditions, also lacking awns, by the entrance of a branch of a local bank with a focus on agriculture.
Well, maybe not. It probably was laurel after all. But that question mark…
Agricultural biodiversity in the Linear B tablets
It was a great thrill during a recent visit to Athens to check out selected Linear B tablets on display at the National Archaeological Museum. I hadn’t seen these things outside books since I was about 12 I think. It was an even greater thrill to realize — or remember — that some deal with agrobiodiversity. Here’s one (Ge 610) that “records quantities of raw materials for perfume manufacture.” It comes from the House of the Sphinxes at Mycenae, which may have belonged to a herbalist.
Unfortunately, I was not able to find any further information online about Ge 610, but I had better luck with Ge 603, one of a set “recording aromatic herbs (cumin, coriander, fennel, sesame, saffron) associated with male (workers) names).”
You can read all about that one in Writing Without Letters:
And it also gets a footnote in another book. Oh what fun one could have with this!