Bee products in the prehistoric southern levant: evidence from the lipid organic record.

Rivka Chasan,Ehud Galili,Danny Rosenberg,Ron Beeri,Cynthianne Spiteri,Florian Klimscha,Ayelet Dayan,Dor Golan

doi:10.1098/rsos.210950

Abstract

Beehive products have a rich global history. In the wider Levantine region, bees had a significant role in Egypt and Mesopotamia, and intensive beekeeping was noted in Israel during the Biblical period when apiaries were first identified. This study investigates the origins of this extensive beekeeping through organic residue analysis of pottery from prehistoric sites in the southern Levant. The results suggest that beehive products from likely wild bees were used during the Chalcolithic period as a vessel surface treatment and/or as part of the diet. These functions are reinforced by comparison to the wider archaeological record. While the true frequency of beeswax use may be debated, alternatives to beehive products were seemingly preferred as wild resources contrasted with the socio-economic system centred on domesticated resources, controlled production and standardization. Bee products only became an important part of the economic canon in the southern Levant several millennia later.

Highlights

Bees produce a variety of products that can be readily exploited, including beeswax, honey and propolis, each having an extensive history of use [1]
Lipid preservation was low as expected given the Mediterranean climate and alkaline soil [56] characteristic of the southern Levant
From the 247 vessels tested, only 22 vessel interiors and one calcified crust yielded more than 5 μg g−1 of lipids after solvent extraction, considered an interpretable residue [59]

Summary

Introduction

Bees produce a variety of products that can be readily exploited, including beeswax, honey and propolis, each having an extensive history of use [1]. Beeswax was used for several royalsocietypublishing.org/journal/rsos R. Purposes, including lighting [2], gluing [3], medicine [4,5,6], art [7,8], pottery sealing [9], embalming [10] 2 and metallurgy [11]. Honey was frequently used as a sweetener and preservative, but it played a role in medicine and embalming [1]. Propolis was used as medicine [12] and as an adhesive [1]

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Conclusion