{"title":"THE VEGETATION HISTORY OF THE SHEPHELAH, SOUTHERN LEVANT: MIDDLE BRONZE AGE–HELLENISTIC PERIOD (c.2000–100 BC)","authors":"Minji Jin, Oded Lipschits, Dafna Langgut","doi":"10.1111/ojoa.12287","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Although the Shephelah region (Israel) is of a great archaeological significance and has been intensively excavated, very little is known about its landscape history. This study presents two large-scale charred wood assemblages (>2300 items) that were recovered from Tel Azekah and Tel Lachish in order to reconstruct the ancient vegetation of the Shephelah. The two assemblages cover a temporal range from the Middle Bronze Age through the Hellenistic period (c.2000–100 BC). This new diachronic environmental investigation demonstrates that the natural arboreal vegetation in the Shephelah was dominated by oak and pistachio. From the perspective of the regional fruit tree horticulture, olive was the dominant component, indicating that the region included extensive olive orchards. Other documented fruit trees are grapevine, fig, sycamore fig, carob, date palm and almond. The high frequencies of olive remains throughout all investigated periods point to climatic conditions in the region being close to what we are facing today, with at least 400–450 mm of annual precipitation, which is required for a profitable grove. During the Iron Age II, the proportion of olive remains reached its zenith, most probably as a result of Assyrian agroeconomic management that assigned the Shephelah to olive oil production. At the same time, a reduction in natural Mediterranean trees was identified, representing intense human pressure on the natural environment. The discovery of charred cedar of Lebanon remains only at Lachish points to the high status of the site within the region.","PeriodicalId":46185,"journal":{"name":"Oxford Journal of Archaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7000,"publicationDate":"2023-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Oxford Journal of Archaeology","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ojoa.12287","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"ARCHAEOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Although the Shephelah region (Israel) is of a great archaeological significance and has been intensively excavated, very little is known about its landscape history. This study presents two large-scale charred wood assemblages (>2300 items) that were recovered from Tel Azekah and Tel Lachish in order to reconstruct the ancient vegetation of the Shephelah. The two assemblages cover a temporal range from the Middle Bronze Age through the Hellenistic period (c.2000–100 BC). This new diachronic environmental investigation demonstrates that the natural arboreal vegetation in the Shephelah was dominated by oak and pistachio. From the perspective of the regional fruit tree horticulture, olive was the dominant component, indicating that the region included extensive olive orchards. Other documented fruit trees are grapevine, fig, sycamore fig, carob, date palm and almond. The high frequencies of olive remains throughout all investigated periods point to climatic conditions in the region being close to what we are facing today, with at least 400–450 mm of annual precipitation, which is required for a profitable grove. During the Iron Age II, the proportion of olive remains reached its zenith, most probably as a result of Assyrian agroeconomic management that assigned the Shephelah to olive oil production. At the same time, a reduction in natural Mediterranean trees was identified, representing intense human pressure on the natural environment. The discovery of charred cedar of Lebanon remains only at Lachish points to the high status of the site within the region.
期刊介绍:
Covering the whole range of archaeology, from Palaeolithic to medieval times, the Oxford Journal of Archaeology is the premier English language journal of European, Mediterranean and western Asian archaeology. Publishing four issues a year, it provides topical coverage of current research in Prehistoric, Classical and later periods, with contributions from an international cast of academics and field workers. It encourages debate and is essential reading for anyone studying the archaeology of these areas. The journal does not accept or undertake book reviews.