Traveling the ancient Silk Road to find the origins of the food we eat - author of 'Fruit from the Sands'.I am answering questions about the paleoenvironment, cultural exchange, and social orders in the arid and mountainous zones of Central Asia and western China. These questions feed into a broader understanding of human adaptations, social development, and complexity, while building a new view of the development of complex societies and the role of agricultural intensification. I am investigate the following questions: 1) What variation in plant use and subsistence strategy existed among Late Bronze Age and early Iron Age mobile pastoralists living in the foothills and plains of Semirech’ye? (2) To what extent did local environmental variables influence their reliance on food production, gathering, and fodder selection? (3) What role did agriculture play: how important was it; what crops were produced or acquired through exchange; and how did it fit into the pastoral system? All aspects of society are intertwined in their economy; therefore, in studying economy, specifically subsistence economy, this research provides a necessary foundation for understanding Central Asian mobile pastoralists.Specialties: Paleoethnobotany in Central AsiaFor more information on me and my research, please visit: robertnspengler.com