FURTHER READING
Cyril Aldred, Jewels of the Pharaohs (London: Th ames and Hudson,
1978).
Sue Blundell, Women in Ancient Greece (Ca mbridge, Mass.: Har-
vard University Press, 1995).
Richard Corson, Fashions in Makeup: From Ancient to Modern
Times (London: Peter Owen Publishers, 2004).
Antonio d’Ambrosio, Women and Beauty in Pompeii (Los Angeles:
J. Paul Getty Museum, 2001).
Mikhal Dayagi-Medeles, Perfumes and Cosmetics in the Ancient
Worl d (Jersusalem: Israel Museum, 1989).
Giuseppe Donato and Monique Seefried, Th e Fragrant Past: Per-
fumes of Cleopatra and Julius Caesar (Rome: Istituto Poligrafi -
co e Zecca dello Stato, 1989).
Bernard Fagg, Nok Terracottas (Lagos: Nigerian Museum/London:
Ethongraphica, 1977).
Joann Fletcher, Oils and Perfumes of Ancient Egypt (New York: Har-
ry N. Abrams, 1999).
Mary G. Houston, Ancient Egyptian, Mesopotamian, and Persian
Costume (Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications, 2002).
Julie Jones, ed., Jade in Ancient Costa Rica (New York: Metropolitan
Museum of Art, 1998).
Mary Ellen Miller, Th e Art of Mesoamerica: From Olmec to Aztec,
3rd ed. (London: Th ames and Hudson, 2001).
Anne Paul, Paracas Ritual Attire: Symbols of Authority in Ancient
Peru (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1990).
Clare Phillips, Jewelry: From Antiquity to the Present (New York:
Th ames and Hudson, 1996).
Elizabeth Riefstahl, Toilet Articles from Ancient Egypt (Brooklyn:
Brooklyn Museum, 1943).
Phyllis G. Tortora and Keith Eubank, Survey of Historic Costume:
A History of Western Dress (New York: Fairchild Publications,
1994).
Monica Blackmun Visoná, Robin Poyner, Herbert M. Cole, et al., A
History of Art in Africa (New York: Abrams, 2001).
Alix Wilkinson, Ancient Egyptian Jewellery (London: Methuen,
1971).
▶ agriculture
introduction
For most of human history people survived as hunter-gath-
erers. Hunter-gatherers fed themselves by hunting game, in-
cluding fi sh, seafood, and birds (as well as birds’ eggs) and by
foraging for plant foods that grow wild, including fruits, ber-
ries, roots, leafy vegetables, rice, grains, and the like. Hunter-
gatherers lived in small nomadic bands, meaning that they
moved from place to place in search of food, especially as the
seasons and weather conditions changed.
Because the ancient world was sparsely populated, hunt-
ing and gathering were successful ways of fi nding food much
of the time. Populations did not have to compete with one
another for territory and the foodstuff s it might contain. Fur-
ther, the food supplies of a territory usually did not run out
because of too much consumption; if they did, the band of
people could simply move on to another territory.
A s t he world bec a me more popu lated , however, it bec a me
less and less practical for roving bands of hunter-gatherers to
move about at will. One band of hunter-gatherers oft en found
itself in competition with another for food, leading to con-
fl ict. Growing numbers of people meant that food supplies
in a territory could quickly become used up. Furthermore,
hunting and gathering were extremely uncertain ways to ob-
tain food. Early peoples were dependent on what they could
fi nd when they could fi nd it, but such factors as drought,
monsoon rains, and temperature extremes made the avail-
ability of food supplies inconsistent over time. Furthermore,
early hunter-gatherers had no way of storing and preserving
food. Th e result was oft en famine and starvation.
A major development in the history of humankind was
the advent of agriculture—not just as a way of providing food
but as a way of life. In roughly 7000 to 6000 b.c.e. humans be-
gan to trade their lives as hunters and gatherers for the more
settled life of agriculturalists, though hunting and gathering
did not disappear. By learning to plant, cultivate, harvest,
and store crops, particularly important crops such as wheat,
barley, and legumes (beans), people could provide themselves
with a greater variety of food. Th ey were no longer depen-
dent entirely on what was locally available at a given time but
could supplement their diets with other plant foods as well as
with animal foods, such as goats, sheep, cattle, chickens, and,
in some parts of the world, dogs.
Additionally, they could make use of by-products from
agriculture for other purposes. Th e straw left over in the fi elds
aft er a grain crop was harvested was used to give strength to
mud bricks used in the construction of homes. Hides could
be used for their leather, and such animals as sheep could be
sheared to provide clothing, fabrics, and similar goods. Do-
mesticated animals provided manure used to fertilize fi elds;
in the case of sheep, goats, and cattle they also supplied milk.
In turn, mil k cou ld be used to ma ke cheese and butter. Chick-
ens and other fowl provided meat and eggs as well as feathers
that could be used in such items as bedding. Little went to
waste on an ancient farm.
Agriculture enabled people to store and preserve food for
the lean times. In such places as ancient Egypt, for example,
farmers were able to grow a year’s worth of grain, perhaps
more, which then could be stored throughout the year and
distributed to people as it was needed. Th is ability to store
and preserve food evened out many of the ups and downs of
food availability, reducing the threat of famine and starva-
tion. Th e result was longer life expectancies, improved health,
and the growth of populations. Adding to population growth
was the fact that women, no longer having to move about in
search of food, could bear and raise more children, who then
were able to provide labor in the fi elds.
Perhaps most important, agriculture resulted in a more
sedentary way of life. In modern times, the word sedentary
has a negative connotation. It implies lack of physical activity,
perhaps to the point of laziness. Historians, though, use the
word to refer to settled cultures that did not move about asagriculture: introduction 15