Unprecedented yet gradual nature of first millennium CE intercontinental crop plant dispersal revealed in ancient Negev desert refuse

Daniel Fuks, Yoel Melamed, Dafna Langgut, Tali Erickson-Gini, Yotam Tepper, Guy Bar-Oz, Ehud Weiss

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Global agro-biodiversity has resulted from processes of plant migration and agricultural adoption. Although critically affecting current diversity, crop diffusion from Classical antiquity to the Middle Ages is poorly researched, overshadowed by studies on that of prehistoric periods. A new archaeobotanical dataset from three Negev Highland desert sites demonstrates the first millennium CE's significance for long-term agricultural change in Southwest Asia. This enables evaluation of the 'Islamic Green Revolution (IGR)' thesis compared to 'Roman Agricultural Diffusion (RAD)', and both versus crop diffusion during and since the Neolithic. Among the findings, some of the earliest aubergine (Solanum melongena) seeds in the Levant represent the proposed IGR. Several other identified economic plants, including two unprecedented in Levantine archaeobotany-jujube (Ziziphus jujuba/mauritiana) and white lupine (Lupinus albus)-implicate RAD as the greater force for crop migrations. Altogether the evidence supports a gradualist model for Holocene-wide crop diffusion, within which the first millennium CE contributed more to global agricultural diversity than any earlier period.

Original languageEnglish
JournaleLife
Volume12
Early online date27 Nov 2023
DOIs
StatePublished - 27 Nov 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, Fuks et al.

Funding

As part of a Ph.D. dissertation conducted at Bar-Ilan University, this research was supported by the Bar-Ilan Doctoral Fellowships of Excellence Program, the Rottenstreich Fellowship of the Israel Council for Higher Education, and the Molcho fund for agricultural research in the Negev (awarded to D.F.). As part of the NEGEVBYZ project, this research was also supported by the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (grant 648427) and the Israel Science Foundation (grant 340-14) (awarded to G.B.O). Manuscript preparation was further supported by a Newton International Fellowship of the British Academy (NIF23/100633) and a Marie S. Curie International Fellowship of the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme (Project CroProLITE, no. 101025677), awarded to D.F. Archaeology was conducted on behalf of the Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, under licenses of the Israel Antiquities Authority (Elusa: G-69/2014, G-10/2015, G-6/2017; Shivta: G-87/2015, G-4/2016; Nessana: G-4/2017). We also wish to thank the Israel Nature and Parks Authority for facilitating the excavations at Elusa, Shivta, and Nessana, as well as Ami and Dina Oach of Shivta Farm. For assistance with processing during the excavations, we are grateful to Ifat Shapira, Uri Yehuda, Ruti Roche, Gabriel Fuks, Aehab Asad, Ari Levy, and Yaniv Sfez, and countless other volunteers. We also wish to thank Yael Mahler-Slasky, Tammy Friedman, Anat Hartmann-Shenkman, Michal David, Suembikya Frumin, Noam Even, Itamar Berko, and Oriya Bashari for laboratory assistance; Senthil Ram Prabhu Thangadurai and Ron Shahar of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Laboratory of Bone Biomechanics for micro-CT scanning; and Sapir Haad for graphics. As part of a Ph.D. dissertation conducted at Bar-Ilan University, this research was supported by the Bar-Ilan Doctoral Fellowships of Excellence Program, the Rottenstreich Fellowship of the Israel Council for Higher Education, and the Molcho fund for agricultural research in the Negev (awarded to D.F.). As part of the NEGEVBYZ project, this research was also supported E\ WKH (XURSHDQ 5HVHDUFK &RXQFLO X02Q0 GHU WKH (XURSHDQ 8QLRQ¶V +RUL]RQ Research and Innovation Programme (grant 648427) and the Israel Science Foundation (grant 340-14) (awarded to G.B.O). Manuscript preparation was further supported by a Newton International Fellowship of the British Academy (NIF23/100633) and a Marie S. Curie International Fellowship of WKH (XURSHDQ &RPPLVVLRQ¶V +RUL]RQ )UDPHZRUN Programme (Project CroProLITE, no. 101025677), awarded to D.F. Archaeology was conducted on behalf of the Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, under licenses of the Israel Antiquities Authority (Elusa: G-69/2014, G-10/2015, G-6/2017; Shivta: G-87/2015, G-4/2016; Nessana: G-4/2017). We also wish to thank the Israel Nature and Parks Authority for facilitating the excavations at Elusa, Shivta, and Nessana, as well as Ami and Dina Oach of Shivta Farm. For assistance with processing during the excavations, we are grateful to Ifat Shapira, Uri Yehuda, Ruti Roche, Gabriel Fuks, Aehab Asad, Ari Levy, and Yaniv Sfez, and countless other volunteers. We also wish to thank Yael Mahler-Slasky, Tammy Friedman, Anat Hartmann-Shenkman, Michal David, Suembikya Frumin, Noam Even, Itamar Berko, and Oriya Bashari for laboratory assistance; Senthil Ram Prabhu

FundersFunder number
European Commission’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme
Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Laboratory of Bone Biomechanics
Israel Antiquities AuthorityG-4/2017, G-4/2016, G-69/2014, G-87/2015, G-10/2015, G-6/2017
Israel Nature and Parks Authority
RQ Research and Innovation Programme
Rottenstreich Fellowship of the Israel Council for Higher Education
Sapir Haad
WKH101025677
Yaniv Sfez
Zinman Institute of Archaeology
Horizon 2020 Framework Programme648427
British AcademyNIF23/100633
European Commission
Israel Science Foundation340-14
University of Haifa

    Keywords

    • Islamic Green Revolution
    • Roman Agricultural Diffusion
    • agricultural change
    • archaeobotany
    • crop history
    • ecology
    • foodways
    • plant biology

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