Farmsteads and farmers in the Greek countryside A material culture perspective

Most people in Greek societies in the Classical and Hellenistic period were involved in agriculture and many of them lived in a city or village and commuted to their fields. However, archaeological surface surveys have demonstrated that the countryside contained many farmstead sites, particularly in the late 4^th and early 3^rd centuries BC. In this period more people than ever before lived in a farm close to their fields, people that are non-existent in our historical sources. The aim of this study is to characterize these farming households by looking at the material remains they left behind in the landscape.
Material culture from farmstead sites in eight different archaeological survey projects is included in this study (The Methana Survey, the Berbati-Limnes Archaeological Survey, the Atene Survey, the Stanford Skourta Plain project, the Džarylgač Survey Project, the Cambridge-Bradford Boeotia Expedition, the Halos Archaeological Survey Project and the Stratiké Surface Survey Project). The material culture study demonstrates there is regional variation in the household repertoire of farmsteads: these patterns could represent variations in agricultural/domestic strategies or indicate the use of (perishable) alternative materials. The study also shows the assemblages from isolated farms in the countryside differ from those found in hamlets, villages or towns. The modest nature of the material culture and the lack of luxury items may suggest that the farmers living in isolated farmsteads were people of lesser means for whom a residence out in the countryside provided a way to survive.