Alfonso Moreno
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199228409
- eISBN:
- 9780191711312
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199228409.003.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter attempts to calculate the grain production and carrying capacity of Attica by analyzing five key variables: land, use of the land, crop yields, population, and consumption. Previous ...
More
This chapter attempts to calculate the grain production and carrying capacity of Attica by analyzing five key variables: land, use of the land, crop yields, population, and consumption. Previous scholarly attempts to calculate these variables are surveyed. As part of the study of land, soil and climate are examined, as well as the extent of arable space, taking into account the use of terracing. As part of the study of land use, the conventional and revised models of Greek farming are compared. The results confirm the continuing usefulness of the former, which would indicate that half of the cultivable land of Attica required fallowing each year, and that natural fertilizers were insufficiently available to overcome this need or to escape relatively low yields. It is argued that the figures of imported grain transmitted by Demosthenes are reliable, and that recent attempts to demonstrate the opposite are unsatisfactory.Less
This chapter attempts to calculate the grain production and carrying capacity of Attica by analyzing five key variables: land, use of the land, crop yields, population, and consumption. Previous scholarly attempts to calculate these variables are surveyed. As part of the study of land, soil and climate are examined, as well as the extent of arable space, taking into account the use of terracing. As part of the study of land use, the conventional and revised models of Greek farming are compared. The results confirm the continuing usefulness of the former, which would indicate that half of the cultivable land of Attica required fallowing each year, and that natural fertilizers were insufficiently available to overcome this need or to escape relatively low yields. It is argued that the figures of imported grain transmitted by Demosthenes are reliable, and that recent attempts to demonstrate the opposite are unsatisfactory.
