Continuous evolvement of constant diet in the 3rd−1st millennium BCE southern Levant: Macro-botanical proxies from Tell eṣ-Ṣâfī/Gath

Abstract

This study employs new macrobotanical evidence to discuss agricultural developments at the site of Tell es-Safi/Gath through Early Bronze Age II-III to Iron Age IIB periods. This was the time period of the Canaanite, Philistine and Judahite cultures’ development, flourishing and falls, a time of droughts and war, appearance of fortified cities and their abandonment, and resettling. We studied species’ turnover over time, from the humid Early Bronze II-III to the dry final phase of the Late Bronze Age and then to the humid Iron Age II. We propose that the diet stability and changes in the fertile zone of southern Levant are evident through the macrobotanical data. Cultural developments are mirrored in the list of crops, yet the dominance of wheat is continuous. The results suggest a continuity in the human culture and the sustainable type of agriculture in this region throughout the Bronze and Iron Ages.