The tropical turn : agricultural innovation in the ancient Middle East and the Mediterranean / Sureshkumar Muthukumaran.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Muthukumaran, Sureshkumar, 1987- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Agricultural innovations--Mediterranean Region--History--To 1500.

Agricultural innovations.

Tropical crops--Mediterranean Region--History--To 1500.

Tropical crops.

Mediterranean Region.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xix, 294 pages illustrations (black and white), maps (black and white) ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2023]

Summary:

"From rice and cotton to citruses and cucumbers, this book chronicles the earliest histories of familiar tropical Asian crops in the ancient Middle East and the Mediterranean. Drawing on archaeological materials and textual sources in over seven ancient languages, The Tropical Turn unravels the breathtaking anthropogenic peregrinations of these familiar crops from their homelands in tropical and sub-tropical Asia to the Middle East and the Mediterranean, showing the significant impact South Asia had on the ecologies, dietary habits, and cultural identities of peoples across the ancient world. In the process, Sureshkumar Muthukumaran offers a fresh narrative history of human connectivity across Afro-Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the late centuries BCE"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction

The historical context

Wool from trees : cotton

The golden grain : Asiatic rice

Persian apples : citruses

Familiar but foreign : eastern cucurbits

The Egyptian bean : the sacred lotus

A forgotten tuber : taro

Timber for god and king : Sissoo

How to turn tropical.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Muthukumaran, Sureshkumar, 1987- Tropical turn

ISBN:

9780520390836

0520390830

9780520390843

0520390849

OCLC:

1342784580