Food for Thought or Threads for Weaving: Can We Identify the Uses for Ancient Flax Seeds Discovered in the Southern Levant?

Abstract

Linum usitatissimum L. was, and still is, cultivated for either flax fibres or for oil-rich linseeds. Depending on their intended purpose, flax plants differ in height, branching and quantity of capsules. Likewise, the linseeds themselves vary in size: linseeds for oil production are larger and heavier than those for flax plants purposed for fibres. Archaeobotanical studies of ancient linseeds have succeeded in identifying these motives, by comparing the lengths and width of waterlogged seeds. However, carbonization of archaeobotanical macro remains, found in southern Levantine contexts, often results in shrinkage and deformation of seeds and limits the meaningfulness of morphometric analyses. At Tel Burna (c. 30 km southwest of Jerusalem), linseeds found in Iron Age strata, along with groups of loom weights representing weaving on warp-weighted looms, may point towards flax cultivation for the production of linen. Excavations concentrating on the Iron Age IIA context (950-900 BCE) outside the fortification wall, exposed an area of destruction containing hundreds of charred linseeds in proximity to complete storage vessels. These carbonized linseed finds from Tel Burna may provide the basis for establishing a method to distinguish whether these archaeobotanical macro remains are residues of flax cultivation intended for oil or for textile production.KeywordsArchaeobotanyIron AgeFlaxLinseedTel BurnaSouthern Levant