Ehud Weiss

Domestication of plants in the old world : the origin and spread of domesticated plants in south-west Asia, Europe, and the mediterranean Basin

1. Current state of the art 2. Sources of evidence for the origin and spread of domesticated plants 3. Cereals 4. Pulses 5. Oil and fibre producing crops 6. Fruit trees and nuts 7. Vegetables and tubers 8. Condiments 9. Dye crops 10. Plant remains in representative archaeological sites Appendix A: Site orientation maps Appendix B: Chronological chart for the main geographical regions mentioned in the book References Index

Processing of wild cereal grains in the Upper Palaeolithic revealed by starch grain analysis

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and wheat (Triticum monococcum L. and Triticum turgidum L.) were among the principal ‘founder crops’ of southwest Asian agriculture. Two issues that were central to the cultural transition from foraging to food production are poorly understood. They are the dates at which human groups began to routinely exploit wild varieties of wheat and barley, and when foragers first utilized technologies to pound and grind the hard, fibrous seeds of these and other plants to turn them into easily digestible foodstuffs. Here we report the earliest direct evidence for human processing of grass seeds, including barley and possibly wheat, in the form of starch grains recovered from a ground stone artefact from the Upper Palaeolithic site of Ohalo II in Israel. Associated evidence for an oven-like hearth was also found at this site, suggesting that dough made from grain flour was baked. Our data indicate that routine processing of a selected group of wild cereals, combined with effective methods of cooking ground seeds, were practiced at least 12,000 years before their domestication in southwest Asia.

Small-Grained Wild Grasses as Staple Food at the 23 000-Year-Old Site of Ohalo II, Israel

More than 16 000 grains of small-grained grasses were retrieved at Ohalo II, a submerged 23 000-year-old site on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, Israel. The grains were part of a very large archaeobotanical assemblage, unique for its period and region, as well as its exceptionally good preservation. This paper proposes that these grains were a staple food at Ohalo II, based on several lines of evidence: 1. the large number of grains found; 2. the fact that all grains were fully mature; and 3. ethnographic parallels for the use of small-grained grasses in hunter-gatherers’ societies as well as among present-day agriculturalists.

The Neolithic Southwest Asian Founder Crops Their Biology and Archaeobotany

This article reviews the available information on the founder grain crops (einkorn wheat, emmer wheat, barley, lentil, pea, chickpea, and flax) that started agriculture in Southwest Asia during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period, some 11,000–10,000 years ago. It provides a critical assessment for recognizing domestication traits by focusing on two fields of study: biology and archaeobotany. The data in these fields have increased considerably during the past decade, and new research techniques have added much to our knowledge of progenitor plants and their domesticated derivatives. This article presents the current and accumulated knowledge regarding each plant and illustrates the new picture that emerged on the origin of agriculture.

Genomic analysis of 6,000-year-old cultivated grain illuminates the domestication history of barley

The cereal grass barley was domesticated about 10,000 years before the present in the Fertile Crescent and became a founder crop of Neolithic agriculture. Here we report the genome sequences of five 6,000-year-old barley grains excavated at a cave in the Judean Desert close to the Dead Sea. Comparison to whole-exome sequence data from a diversity panel of present-day barley accessions showed the close affinity of ancient samples to extant landraces from the Southern Levant and Egypt, consistent with a proposed origin of domesticated barley in the Upper Jordan Valley. Our findings suggest that barley landraces grown in present-day Israel have not experienced major lineage turnover over the past six millennia, although there is evidence for gene flow between cultivated and sympatric wild populations. We demonstrate the usefulness of ancient genomes from desiccated archaeobotanical remains in informing research into the origin, early domestication and subsequent migration of crop species.

New evidence for the processing of wild cereal grains at Ohalo II, a 23 000-year-old campsite on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, Israel

Traces of starch found on a large flat stone discovered in the hunter-fisher-gatherer site of Ohalo II famously represent the first identification of Upper Palaeolithic grinding of grasses. Given the importance of this discovery for the use of edible grain, further analyses have now been undertaken. Meticulous sampling combined with good preservation allow the authors to demonstrate that the Ohalo II stone was certainly used for the routine processing of wild cereals, wheat, barley and now oats among them, around 23 000 years ago.

Plant remains as indicators for economic activity: a case study from Iron Age Ashkelon

The Philistine city of Ashkelon, situated on Israels southern shoreline, was destroyed by the troops of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar in 604 BCE. The plant remains collected systematically during the current excavations provide for the first time insights into the economic activities of this port town. Staple food, cereals, pulses, and fruits were found in large quantities. We employed the weed species not natural to the Ashkelon area as markers for locating wheat fields farmed in the citys hinterland. We found that a portion of the wheat came from the east, as far away as the Judean Hills and the northern Negev; while another portion was shipped from the northern part of the country. In addition, we demonstrate that the appearance of large quantities of uncharred nutlets of blue bushy bugloss (Echiochilon fruticosum var. sieberi) on the sites floors is a marker for the use of sand as a construction material. The identified plant remains agree well with our knowledge of 7th century BCE Ashkelon as a major commercial center. It also indicates the sweep of activities related to the storing of food before the city came under Babylonian siege.

“Beginnings of Fruit Growing in the Old World” – two generations later

AbstractThis paper reviews our current knowledge on Near-Eastern fruit tree domestication, and compares this to the data presented by Daniel Zohary and Pinhas Spiegel-Roy in their seminal paper “Beginnings of Fruit Growing in the Old World”, which was published in Science in 1975. In both papers, the data under consideration include discussion of archaeobotanical assemblages from representative sites across southwest Asia, as well as data provided by living plants – particularly by wild relatives of the crops concerned and molecular data of the crop plants and their wild relatives. On the one hand, it was found that many of Zohary and Spiegel-Roys conclusions remain valid – the wild progenitors of domesticated fruit trees, olives, grapevine and dates were domesticated during the Chalcolithic period, and fig during the Early Bronze Age period. On the other hand, molecular data indicate that in both the olive and grapevine, genetic materials outside the Levant were later added to the domesticated stock, an...

“Holy Garbage”: A Quantitative Study of the City-Dump of Early Roman Jerusalem

Abstract The chance discovery of an Early Roman city dump (1st century CE) in Jerusalem has yielded for the first time ever quantitative data on garbage components that introduce us to the mundane daily life Jerusalemites led and the kind of animals that were featured in their diet. Most of the garbage consists of pottery shards, all common tableware, while prestige objects are entirely absent. Other significant garbage components include numerous fragments of cooking ovens, wall plaster, animal bones and plant remains. Of the pottery vessels, cooking pots are the most abundant type. Most of the refuse turns out to be “household garbage” originating in the domestic areas of the city, while large numbers of cooking pots may point to the presence of pilgrims. Significantly, the faunal assemblage, which is dominated by kosher species and the clear absence of pigs, set Jerusalem during its peak historical period apart from all other contemporaneous Roman urban centers.

Studying Ancient Anthropogenic Impacts on Current Floral Biodiversity in the Southern Levant as reflected by the Philistine Migration

Human migrations across geographic boundaries can facilitate the introduction of new husbandry practices and dispersal of plants and animals, resulting in changes in biodiversity. As previously demonstrated, the 12th century BCE Philistine migration–to the southern Levantine littoral, involved the transportation of pigs from Europe, engendering long term genetic displacement of local Near Eastern haplotypes. Building on this, and combining biogeographical methods of Floral List comparisons with archaeological data, we have elucidated the Philistine impact on Southern Levantine floral ecosystems. We demonstrate that previously unexploited local plants were incorporated into the Philistine milieu, and new species were introduced–from Europe, the Aegean, Egypt and Mesopotamia –resulting in the earliest locally cultivated sycamore, cumin, coriander, bay tree and opium poppy. This research has highlighted the impact of past cultures on the formation of floral ecosystems and their long-term effects on contemporary local biological diversity.