Soil Conditions
Slash-and-Burn agriculture left soil ___ for a few years
What country remained immune to soil erosion because of the floods of the Nile?
Egypt
Did Ancient Greeks know about the fertilizing properties of manure and compost?
Yes
John Lloyd Stephens found ruins in which two locations?
- Mexico
- Guatemala
Romans recognized that their wealth came from where? Coining the name Mother Earth
The Earth
Soil quality was assessed by what was grown on it, its color, taste, and ____?
smell
Mesoamerican communities depended on cultivating ___?
Maize
Soil erosion began to exceed soil production after the introduction of ___
Lucius Columella thought the best soil required what kind of labor?
Minimal labor
Roman farmers collected ___ from oxen, horses, sheep, etc. to use by spreading on their fields
Manure
Area of little evidence of past cultivation contained eroded soil or well-developed soil?
Well-developed soil
____ ____ were glorified by historians as careful stewards of their land, but the dirt of modern land tells a tale of destructive episodes of soil erosion
Ancient Greeks
Ancient Greeks put faith in stories of lost ___
Utopias
Perkins Marsh revealed that __ did not necessarily recover after being abused.
Land
Roman Agriculturists recognized the importance of crop _____?
Rotation
The two things grown in marginal areas prone to soil erosion
- Olives
- Grapes
North African provinces were compelled to provide free grain to what city?
Rome
Where were the first Greek settlements located?
In valleys with good soil and reliable water
Marcus Cato (234-149 BC) distinguished how many types of arable soil?
9
What was the major cash crop along Italy’s river valley?
Grain
Soil Degration lead to vulnerability to hostile neighbors, internal sociopolitical disruption, and...
Harsh winters/droughts
__ inches of soil have been lost from Argolid uplands since the start of the Bronze Age Agriculture
15
What percentage of Greece could support agriculture?
1/5
Marcus Varro advocated adapting what?
farming practices and/or equipment
When Rome could no longer rely on their land, what country or region shipped grain to feed the people?
Egypt, North Africa