Plant exploitation during the early Natufian in north-eastern Jordan: preliminary results from Shubayqa 1

TY - ABST

T1 - Plant exploitation during the early Natufian in north-eastern Jordan: preliminary results from Shubayqa 1

AU - Otaegui, Amaia Arranz

AU - Richter, Tobias

PY - 2016

Y1 - 2016

N2 - In spite of southwest Asia being one of the areas in the world where archaeobotanists have worked longest, information regarding plant exploitation during the Natufian period is still patchy and more materials and well-sampled sites are needed. One of the problems faced by archaeobotanists working on this time period is the low density of plant remains preserved in archaeological sites. This largely contrasts with the extraordinary well-preserved archaeobotanical assemblage found at the Early and Late Natufian Shubayqa 1. In this paper, we present the preliminary results of wood charcoal and non-woody plant analyses from two in situ hearth structures, along with a summary of the available evidence at other contemporary early Natufian sites. In terms of past vegetation, the results show the presence of wetland species indicating a more forested and wet environment during the early Natufian, which is in accordance with the regional palaeoenviromental evidence for the Bølling-Allerød period. In terms of subsistence, the analyses show the predominance of rhizome tubers from wetland species, followed by wild plants including wild wheat and barley. This evidence contrasts with that found at other Natufian sites such as Wadi Hammeh 27 or Hayonim, where wild plant seeds predominated. In fact, tuber remains are commonly absent from archaeobotanical assemblages, probably due to post-depositional processes and the type of recovery methods used. Thus, the archaeobotanical assemblage from Shubayqa 1 constitutes an important contribution in order to understand the subsistence patterns in a region and time period for which little evidence is so far available.

AB - In spite of southwest Asia being one of the areas in the world where archaeobotanists have worked longest, information regarding plant exploitation during the Natufian period is still patchy and more materials and well-sampled sites are needed. One of the problems faced by archaeobotanists working on this time period is the low density of plant remains preserved in archaeological sites. This largely contrasts with the extraordinary well-preserved archaeobotanical assemblage found at the Early and Late Natufian Shubayqa 1. In this paper, we present the preliminary results of wood charcoal and non-woody plant analyses from two in situ hearth structures, along with a summary of the available evidence at other contemporary early Natufian sites. In terms of past vegetation, the results show the presence of wetland species indicating a more forested and wet environment during the early Natufian, which is in accordance with the regional palaeoenviromental evidence for the Bølling-Allerød period. In terms of subsistence, the analyses show the predominance of rhizome tubers from wetland species, followed by wild plants including wild wheat and barley. This evidence contrasts with that found at other Natufian sites such as Wadi Hammeh 27 or Hayonim, where wild plant seeds predominated. In fact, tuber remains are commonly absent from archaeobotanical assemblages, probably due to post-depositional processes and the type of recovery methods used. Thus, the archaeobotanical assemblage from Shubayqa 1 constitutes an important contribution in order to understand the subsistence patterns in a region and time period for which little evidence is so far available.

M3 - Conference abstract for conference

T2 - ICHAJ

Y2 - 24 May 2016

ER -