Archaeobotanical and archaeoentomological evidence from a well at Atlit-Yam indicates colder, more humid climate on the Israeli coast during the PPNC period

Mordechai E. Kislev; Anat Hartmann; Ehud Galili

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2004.02.010

Archaeobotanical and archaeoentomological evidence from a well at Atlit-Yam indicates colder, more humid climate on the Israeli coast during the PPNC period

Mordechai E. Kislev, Anat Hartmann, Ehud Galili

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The archaeobotanical assemblage excavated from a well in a submerged settlement provided the basis for reconstructing the climate that prevailed on the coast of Israel towards the end of the PPNC period (around 7500 BP, uncalibrated). Six wild plant species were recovered from Atlit-Yam that no longer grow in the region today, but do remain in somewhat colder or more humid habitats- Cuminum cyminum, Papaver setigerum, Phoenix theophrasti, Pinus halepensis, Pistacia atlantica and Vitis sylvestris. In addition, a pest beetle, namely the granary weevil- Sitophilus granarius -that still severely infests cereal grains in the temperate regions of the world was also identified. It is therefore suggested that in the mid-8th millennium BP, the climate was apparently more humid and colder than it is today.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1301-1310
Number of pages	10
Journal	Journal of Archaeological Science
Volume	31
Issue number	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2004.02.010
State	Published - Sep 2004
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We would like to thank O. Cohen of the Department of Evolution, Systematics and Ecology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who assisted us with the identification of Cuminum cyminum ; Dr. E. Donahaye of the Department of Plant Protection, Beit-Dagan, Israel, for confirming the identification of Sitophilus granarius ; Prof. S. Jacomet of the Botanical Institute, University of Basel, Dr. R. Buxo of the Museum of Archaeology, Catalunya, and Dr. R. Neef of the German Archaeological Institute at Berlin for sending reference samples of Papaver setigerum ; Prof. Dr. H. Scholz of the Botanical Garden and Botanical Museum of Berlin for lending a seed sample of the type specimen of Phoenix theophrasti ; J. Langsam for the SEM micrographs; Prof. I. Hershkovitz and V. Eshed of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Dept. of Anatomy and Anthropology, Tel Aviv University; I. Zohar of the University of Haifa; marine archaeologists and divers J.P. Dwyer, D. Moskowitz and S. Sorkis; S Ben-Yehuda for the drawings; the photographers Y. Galili and I. Grinberg; and the Irene Levi Sala Care Archaeological Foundation, the Matla and Feival Coastal Archaeological Foundation and the National Geographic Society for their financial help.

Keywords

Climatic change
Papaver setigerum
Phoenix theophrasti
Sitophilus granarius
Submerged Neolithic settlement

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Archaeology
Archaeology

Access to Document

10.1016/j.jas.2004.02.010

Cite this

@article{953e9aa6835e4c53b6133c984438c621,

title = "Archaeobotanical and archaeoentomological evidence from a well at Atlit-Yam indicates colder, more humid climate on the Israeli coast during the PPNC period",

abstract = "The archaeobotanical assemblage excavated from a well in a submerged settlement provided the basis for reconstructing the climate that prevailed on the coast of Israel towards the end of the PPNC period (around 7500 BP, uncalibrated). Six wild plant species were recovered from Atlit-Yam that no longer grow in the region today, but do remain in somewhat colder or more humid habitats- Cuminum cyminum, Papaver setigerum, Phoenix theophrasti, Pinus halepensis, Pistacia atlantica and Vitis sylvestris. In addition, a pest beetle, namely the granary weevil- Sitophilus granarius -that still severely infests cereal grains in the temperate regions of the world was also identified. It is therefore suggested that in the mid-8th millennium BP, the climate was apparently more humid and colder than it is today.",

keywords = "Climatic change, Papaver setigerum, Phoenix theophrasti, Sitophilus granarius, Submerged Neolithic settlement",

author = "Kislev, {Mordechai E.} and Anat Hartmann and Ehud Galili",

note = "Funding Information: We would like to thank O. Cohen of the Department of Evolution, Systematics and Ecology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who assisted us with the identification of Cuminum cyminum ; Dr. E. Donahaye of the Department of Plant Protection, Beit-Dagan, Israel, for confirming the identification of Sitophilus granarius ; Prof. S. Jacomet of the Botanical Institute, University of Basel, Dr. R. Buxo of the Museum of Archaeology, Catalunya, and Dr. R. Neef of the German Archaeological Institute at Berlin for sending reference samples of Papaver setigerum ; Prof. Dr. H. Scholz of the Botanical Garden and Botanical Museum of Berlin for lending a seed sample of the type specimen of Phoenix theophrasti ; J. Langsam for the SEM micrographs; Prof. I. Hershkovitz and V. Eshed of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Dept. of Anatomy and Anthropology, Tel Aviv University; I. Zohar of the University of Haifa; marine archaeologists and divers J.P. Dwyer, D. Moskowitz and S. Sorkis; S Ben-Yehuda for the drawings; the photographers Y. Galili and I. Grinberg; and the Irene Levi Sala Care Archaeological Foundation, the Matla and Feival Coastal Archaeological Foundation and the National Geographic Society for their financial help. ",

year = "2004",

month = sep,

doi = "10.1016/j.jas.2004.02.010",

language = "English",

volume = "31",

pages = "1301--1310",

journal = "Journal of Archaeological Science",

issn = "0305-4403",

publisher = "Elsevier",

number = "9",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Archaeobotanical and archaeoentomological evidence from a well at Atlit-Yam indicates colder, more humid climate on the Israeli coast during the PPNC period

AU - Kislev, Mordechai E.

AU - Hartmann, Anat

AU - Galili, Ehud

N1 - Funding Information: We would like to thank O. Cohen of the Department of Evolution, Systematics and Ecology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who assisted us with the identification of Cuminum cyminum ; Dr. E. Donahaye of the Department of Plant Protection, Beit-Dagan, Israel, for confirming the identification of Sitophilus granarius ; Prof. S. Jacomet of the Botanical Institute, University of Basel, Dr. R. Buxo of the Museum of Archaeology, Catalunya, and Dr. R. Neef of the German Archaeological Institute at Berlin for sending reference samples of Papaver setigerum ; Prof. Dr. H. Scholz of the Botanical Garden and Botanical Museum of Berlin for lending a seed sample of the type specimen of Phoenix theophrasti ; J. Langsam for the SEM micrographs; Prof. I. Hershkovitz and V. Eshed of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Dept. of Anatomy and Anthropology, Tel Aviv University; I. Zohar of the University of Haifa; marine archaeologists and divers J.P. Dwyer, D. Moskowitz and S. Sorkis; S Ben-Yehuda for the drawings; the photographers Y. Galili and I. Grinberg; and the Irene Levi Sala Care Archaeological Foundation, the Matla and Feival Coastal Archaeological Foundation and the National Geographic Society for their financial help.

PY - 2004/9

Y1 - 2004/9

N2 - The archaeobotanical assemblage excavated from a well in a submerged settlement provided the basis for reconstructing the climate that prevailed on the coast of Israel towards the end of the PPNC period (around 7500 BP, uncalibrated). Six wild plant species were recovered from Atlit-Yam that no longer grow in the region today, but do remain in somewhat colder or more humid habitats- Cuminum cyminum, Papaver setigerum, Phoenix theophrasti, Pinus halepensis, Pistacia atlantica and Vitis sylvestris. In addition, a pest beetle, namely the granary weevil- Sitophilus granarius -that still severely infests cereal grains in the temperate regions of the world was also identified. It is therefore suggested that in the mid-8th millennium BP, the climate was apparently more humid and colder than it is today.

AB - The archaeobotanical assemblage excavated from a well in a submerged settlement provided the basis for reconstructing the climate that prevailed on the coast of Israel towards the end of the PPNC period (around 7500 BP, uncalibrated). Six wild plant species were recovered from Atlit-Yam that no longer grow in the region today, but do remain in somewhat colder or more humid habitats- Cuminum cyminum, Papaver setigerum, Phoenix theophrasti, Pinus halepensis, Pistacia atlantica and Vitis sylvestris. In addition, a pest beetle, namely the granary weevil- Sitophilus granarius -that still severely infests cereal grains in the temperate regions of the world was also identified. It is therefore suggested that in the mid-8th millennium BP, the climate was apparently more humid and colder than it is today.

KW - Climatic change

KW - Papaver setigerum

KW - Phoenix theophrasti

KW - Sitophilus granarius

KW - Submerged Neolithic settlement

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=3042635874&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.jas.2004.02.010

DO - 10.1016/j.jas.2004.02.010

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:3042635874

SN - 0305-4403

VL - 31

SP - 1301

EP - 1310

JO - Journal of Archaeological Science

JF - Journal of Archaeological Science

IS - 9

ER -

Archaeobotanical and archaeoentomological evidence from a well at Atlit-Yam indicates colder, more humid climate on the Israeli coast during the PPNC period

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this