by Ilan Gattegno and Israel Hayom Staff
Until now, humans were believed to have begun the transition from hunter-gatherer societies to established agriculture some 12,000 years ago • Excavation at Sea of Galilee reveals domesticated grains, weeds, and sickle blades for harvesting wheat.
A wheat field. When wheat is
cultivated, its wild form is altered, explains Professor Ehud Weiss of
Bar-Ilan University
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Photo credit: Moshe Shai  |
New findings at the archeological site Ohalo
II near the Sea of Galilee have revealed that wheat and barley had been
sown there dating back 23,000 years -- 11,000 years prior to the
estimated inception of organized agriculture.
Professor Ehud Weiss of the Land of Israel
Studies and Archeology Department at Bar-Ilan University and Dr. Ainit
Snir led the team of archeologists, botanists, and ecologists who made
the breakthrough discovery, which was published in the July issue of the
Plos One scientific journal.
Until now, historians have believed that
humans began transitioning from hunter-gatherer societies to established
agriculture communities some 12,000 years ago.
The Israeli researchers based their startling
new conclusion on three discoveries: the atypically high presence of
domestic, rather than wild, wheat and barley dispersal units; a high
concentration of proto-weeds -- plants of the type known to flourish in
fields planted with domesticated crops; and sickle blades that were used
to cut and harvest grains.
Weiss explained that the plant remains from
the site were unusually well-preserved because they had been charred and
then covered by sediment and water, which sealed them in low-oxygen
conditions.
"Due to this, it was possible to recover an
extensive amount of information on the site and its inhabitants -- which
made this a uniquely preserved site, and therefore one of the best
archaeological examples worldwide of hunter-gatherers' way of life. Here
we see evidence of repeated sowing and harvesting of later domesticated
cereals," Weiss explained.
"The ears of cereals like wheat and barley --
in their wild form -- are built from separate units that break off and
are easily dispersed, allowing the seeds to reach the ground, germinate,
and grow into a new plant without any human intervention," Weiss said.
"When humans cultivate these grains over a
number of successive seasons, however, a change occurs. They develop a
rough scar that locks the seed dispersal units together. Such plants
cannot sow themselves. This is the hallmark of domesticated, rather than
wild-type plants."
Ohalo II is a 23,000-year-old camp site of a
community of hunter-gatherers who lived on the shore of the Sea of
Galilee. Located 9 kilometers (6 miles) south of Tiberias, the site was
discovered in 1989 when the level of the lake plummeted.
Ilan Gattegno and Israel Hayom Staff
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=27103
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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