Small-grained wild grasses as staple food at the 23 000-year-old site of Ohalo II, Israel

Ehud Weiss; Mordechai E. Kislev; Orit Simchoni; Dani Nadel

doi:10.1663/0013-0001(2004)58[s125:swgasf]2.0.co;2

Small-grained wild grasses as staple food at the 23 000-year-old site of Ohalo II, Israel

Ehud Weiss, Mordechai E. Kislev, Orit Simchoni, Dani Nadel

Department of Archaeology

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

Abstract

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.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	S125-S134
Journal	Economic Botany
Volume	58
Issue number	SUPPL.
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1663/0013-0001(2004)58[s125:swgasf]2.0.co;2
State	Published - 2004

Keywords

Diet
Hunter-gatherers
Ohalo II
Palaeoethnobotany
Small-grained wild grasses
Staple food
Upper Palaeolithic

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Plant Science
Horticulture

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10.1663/0013-0001(2004)58[s125:swgasf]2.0.co;2

Cite this

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title = "Small-grained wild grasses as staple food at the 23 000-year-old site of Ohalo II, Israel",

abstract = "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.",

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AU - Kislev, Mordechai E.

AU - Simchoni, Orit

AU - Nadel, Dani

PY - 2004

Y1 - 2004

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Small-grained wild grasses as staple food at the 23 000-year-old site of Ohalo II, Israel

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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