Abstract

In this talk I present recent archaeobotanical research into the agroecologies of early cities in western Eurasia. Complementary methods for reconstructing crop production strategies include stable isotope analysis of crops and ecological analysis of ancient arable weed flora. Drawing on examples of early cities in western Asia and Europe, I show how these methods shed new light on the agricultural and political economies of urban systems. These results show how different urban morphologies fostered the development of distinct production strategies, with differing social and ecological consequences.