Emplotment as Epic in Archaeological Writing: The Site Monograph as Narrative

To emplot a narrative as epic is to present a story of vast scope and multiple plots as a legitimate member of a tradition of other such stories. This article argues that emplotment as epic is the broadest of three levels of plot in archaeological writings. At that level, the site monograph emerges as a characteristically archaeological form of narrative, fundamental to archaeology as a discipline and a source of chronic anxiety for archaeologists. The ‘stories’ told in site monographs are epic in length, diversity of materials covered and multiplicity of themes, plots and authors. Indeed, the more complexities of that sort the better, since those are features that help to emplot the work as good archaeology

Domestication of the Triticeae in the Fertile Crescent

WOS: 000268721700003About 12,000 years ago, humans began the transition from hunter-gathering to a sedentary, agriculture-based society. From its origins ill the Fertile Crescent, farming expanded throughout Europe, Asia and Africa, together with various domesticated plants and animals. Where, how and why agriculture originated is still debated. Progress has been made in Understanding plant domestication in the last few years. New insights were obtained mainly due to (I) the use of comprehensive germplasm collections covering the whole distribution area for each species; (II) the comparison of many wild and domesticated accessions for each species; (III) the identification of the wild progenitor in the wild gene pool and its comparison with domesticate descendants (IV) the use of molecular fingerprinting techniques at many loci and the access to new generation high-throughput sequencing technologies; (V) the identification and cloning of genes involved in domestication, and (VI) excavation campaigns. This chapter reviews the recent knowledge on wheat, barley and rye domestication in the Fertile Crescent and covers several issues concerning the molecular knowledge of the effects induced by domestication and breeding of these crops