GARDENS ARE US,WE ARE NATURE: TRANSCENDING ANTIQUITY AND MODERNITY*

ABSTRACT. The history of gardens and the history of humans are linked inextricably, especially in the context of environment. As people and their institutions have changed, so too have gardens. This brief essay illustrates some important aspects in the evolution of gardens, exploring three seemingly discrete, but actually interconnected, notions: the antiquity of gardens, combining archaeological data with ethnographic parallels; the role of gardens in the changing spatial manifestations of agriculture, from dump heaps to amber waves of grain; and the transformation of domestic space, the literal and figurative reconstruction of garden fences into house walls. Changes are discussed as inadvertent products, rather than as consequences of deliberate actions. Modern ideas about categorizing landscapes are challenged further. The nature/culture dualism is a myth even at the household scale, as is our traditional way of looking at the world.