Agricultural Strategies and Environmental Change in Ancient Anatolia
From The Observatory
Date
October 29, 2025
Location
Archaeology Center, Stanford, CA
Area
Add to a calendar
Identifying how societies make decisions about agricultural practices is important for understanding why some agricultural systems flourish over hundreds or thousands of years while others lead to environmental degradation and societal collapse. Archaeological data offer a unique long-term perspective on agriculture and how societies adapt to complex, intertwined changes in environment and economy on both local and regional scales.
In this lecture, I present recent work from the ancient urban center of Gordion in central Anatolia (modern Turkey), where complex agricultural strategies were employed to adapt to coincident environmental and social change on both local and regional scales. By situating Gordion within its regional agricultural setting over time, I conclude that an understanding of local political economy is necessary to reconstruct agricultural decision making and explain patterns of anthropogenic environmental change.Key Speaker: John Mac Marston
Participants
Stanford Archaeology Center
Organizer, Host | Homepage
The Stanford Archaeology Center is an interdisciplinary hub focused on innovative research and education in archaeology and heritage. We seek to understand the past and also the complex ways in which the archaeological past contributes to contemporary and future worlds. We work to redress the colonial foundations of archaeology through an enduring commitment to ethics and to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion. Through dedicated lab facilities, workshops and lectures with distinguished scholars, opportunities for hands-on fieldwork and access to the Stanford University Archaeology Collection, the Center supports excellence in archaeological research and fosters dynamic links between scholars in disparate fields.
