Hemp in ancient rope and fabric from the Christmas Cave in Israel: Talmudic background and DNA sequence identification

Terence M. Murphy, Nahum Ben-Yehuda, R. E. Taylor, John R. Southon

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

The " Christmas Cave" , a cave in the Qidron Valley near the Dead Sea and Qumran, has yielded a complex collection of plant-derived rope and fabric artifacts. Using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to amplify DNA of the samples, we estimated the sizes and determined restriction patterns and base sequences of chloroplast genes, primarily rbcL (gene for the large subunit of ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase). DNA was successfully extracted from all samples, but was limited to sizes of approximately 200-300 base pairs. As expected, the DNA extracted from the samples was identified as coming primarily from flax (Linum usitatissamum L.), but two samples had a significant fraction, and all samples had at least a trace, of hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) DNA. Artifacts from the Christmas Cave were thought to date from Roman times, but it was thought possible that some could be much older. Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS)-based 14C dating confirmed that the samples contained representatives from both the Roman and Chalcolithic periods. This paper provides a synthesis of DNA, isotope, and literary analysis to illuminate textile history at the Christmas Cave site.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2579-2588
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Archaeological Science
Volume38
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2011

Funding

The authors are indebted to Dr. Orit Shamir, curator of organic materials of the Israel Antiquities Authority, for allowing us access to the textile collection and for very courteously answering our numerous questions. We wish also to thank Will Beaumont for his dedicated laboratory work. Support to undertake the AMS-based 14 C dates were provided, in part, by the Gabrielle O. Vierra Memorial Fund to RET.

FundersFunder number
Gabrielle O. Vierra Memorial Fund

    Keywords

    • 14C dating
    • AMS-based
    • DNA
    • Fabric
    • Flax
    • Hemp
    • Israel
    • Judean desert
    • Linen
    • PCR
    • Polymerase chain reaction
    • RbcL gene
    • Rope

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