Central Eurasian Paleoethnobotany

Archaeobotany on the Silk Road

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Recent Publications

  • Fruits of the Silk Roads
  • Archaeological assessment reveals Earth’s early transformation through land use
  • A Note About My Publications
  • Fruit from the Sands: The Silk Road Origins of the Foods We Eat
  • Grazing Animals Drove Domestication in Grain Crops

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Publication Types

  • Articles (34)
    • Book Reviews (5)
    • Thesis Writings (2)
  • Book Chapters (7)
  • Books (1)
  • Edited Volumes (2)
  • Notes to Readers (1)

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Each figure in the Terra Cotta Army of the first emperor is unique and likely reflects the image of a real person who existed two millennia ago. Interestingly, the monument was raided shortly after it was closed up, and all of the soldiers’ metal weapons were taken. I was in Xian two weeks ago for a conference on the spread of agriculture into Tibet. What an amazing archaeological site, dating to the Qin Dynasty (221-206BC) only one third of the army has been excavated. #xian #china #terracotta #terracottawarriors #terracottaarmy #qindynasty #firstemperor #archaeology #archaeologistlife #layinginwait #robertspengler #silkroad #ancientchina #fruitfromthesands #fruitsofthesilkroad
Great Mosque of Xi'an 西安大清真寺 this amazing Mosque in the ancient capital was built during the Ming Dynasty, officially opening in 1644. It was built on top of the ruins of former religious buildings dating back to the Tang Dynasty. The spread of religious beliefs into East Asia and the cosmopolitan nature of big cities in Asia are legacies of the Silk Road. Of course, this feed is about the spread of plants along the Silk Road, so I have to draw your attention to the grape vine reliefs behind my shoulder. Grapevine motifs are features of the Classical Mediterranean, but spread along the ancient Silk Road. #silkroad #spiceroutes #grapes #wine #ancientwine #mosque #ancientmosque #greatmosquexian #xianchina #dynasticcapital #robertspengler #archaeology #archaeobotany #paleoethnobotany #fruitsofthesilkroad #fruitfromthesands #centralasia 📷 @keengiedre
How to fit 1.4 billion people into one country - strict government planning and infrastructure development. Uniform housing, grid-patterns road systems, high rises, and not a wild plant as far as the eye can see, then repeat until you run out of land. View from the air somewhere north of Beijing. #china #anthropocene #housingprojects #governmentplanning #beijing #humanity #robertspengler #archaeology #overpopulation
The obligatory shot of the Terra Cotta Army of the first emperor. I was in Xian last week for a conference on the spread of agriculture into Tibet. What an amazing archaeological site, dating to the Qin Dynasty (221-206BC) only one third of the army has been excavated; most of them still lay in rest underground. #xian #china #terracotta #terracottawarriors #terracottaarmy #qindynasty #firstemperor #archaeology #archaeologistlife #layinginwait #robertspengler #silkroad #ancientchina #fruitfromthesands #fruitsofthesilkroad
A wonderful conference in Xian at #northwestuniversity on the spread of agriculture into Tibet. With an amazing crew of scholars. An evening or two out on 德福巷 Defuxiang Street 📷 @keengiedre #xian #德福巷 #Defuxiang #china #nightonthetown #archaeology #robertspengler #xianchina #pubcrawl
A wonderful photo of my dear colleague, Patrick Roberts, at the Max Planck Institute in Jena Germany. We are displaying our books, both of which came out this past year and both deal with humans and their interactions with plants. If you are interested in knowing more about the cuisine of the ancient Silk Road, read #fruitfromthesands or visit my website robertnspengler.com #maxplanckinstituteforthescienceofhumanhistoy #mpishh #ecology #botany #humansandplants #silkroad #innerasia #centralasia #archaeobotany #archaeology #paleoethnobotant #spiceroutes #fruitsofthesilkroad #robertspengler #afrasiab #ancientsamarkand #samarkand #uzbekistan #silkroadarchaeology
This is a typical domestic kitchen from medieval Afrasiab, it looks much like other contemporary kitchens from along the Silk Road. This example was excavated by a team from the Institute of Archaeology in Samarkand a couple years ago and remains exposed at the site today. A flat stone or fired bring platform with an elevated oven of clay. The tandoori or tandir over could be used to boil meat or bake bread. If you are interested in knowing more about the cuisine of the ancient Silk Road, read #fruitfromthesands or visit my website robertnspengler.com #silkroad #innerasia #centralasia #archaeobotany #archaeology #paleoethnobotant #spiceroutes #fruitsofthesilkroad #robertspengler #afrasiab #ancientsamarkand #samarkand #uzbekistan #silkroadarchaeology
Oats and awned barley - large-seeded grasses (wheats and barley) were domesticated in the Fertile Crescent in a process of evolution under cultivation that began about 10,000 years ago. The wild relatives already had rather large seeds that had weak seed-dispersal mechanisms - mechanical dispersal through shattering awns. Interestingly, cereals are used as the main case study for understanding domestication, despite the fact that only a small number of domesticated plants evolved from large-seeded grasses or had mechanical dispersal. My new ERC-funded research initiative, Fruits of Eurasia: Domestication and Dispersal, seeks to understand what is going on in some of the least studied domesticated plants. #fedd #fruitsofeurasia #robertspengler #archaeology #archaeobotany #oats #fruitsofthesilkroad #fruitfromthesands #domestication #originsofagriculture #firstfarmers #ancientcrops

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