The diet evidence at Ohalo II is incredible — ~90,000 seeds representing more than 100 species were analyzed, with heavy reliance on wild barley, wild wheat, and brome grasses. They also hunted gazelle and other mammals, fished with stone net sinkers, and consumed various bird species. All four seasons are represented, confirming permanent year-round occupation! 🌾🐟
Ohalo II diet evidence shows year-round occupation and heavy cereal use
Key facts
- 150,000 seeds and fruits analyzed, representing around 150 different species
- Heavy reliance on large-grain cereals: wild barley, wild wheat, and wild oats
- Small grain grasses, bromes, acorns, pulses, and wild fruits were also consumed
- Grains were concentrated around a grinding stone on the floor of a hut, with microscopic starch granules indicating flour grinding
- Mammals hunted included gazelle, fallow deer, fox, hare, wild pig, and wild cattle
- Fish caught using nets, evidenced by dozens of stone net sinkers discovered
- 83 bird species identified, with the great crested grebe most common
- Seasonal indicators show all seasons represented, confirming year-round occupation as a permanent settlement
Sources
Barley seeds | The Israel Museum, Jerusalemimj.org.il
Barley seeds · Ohalo II · Epipalaeolithic period, Masraqan Culture, ca. 23,000 years BP · Barley seeds · Israel Antiquities Authority · 1999-9019.
Ohalo II, the Upper Paleolithic Site on the Sea of Galileethoughtco.com
Ohalo's collections include over 100,000 seeds, in the form of several charred seeds. Other plants include wild almond … and wild grape (Vitis ...
New evidence for the processing of wild cereal grains at Ohalo II, a 23 000 ...researchgate.net
The Ohalo II site, dating back 23,000 years, offers information about the initial stages of plant domestication, occurring even before the well-known Neolithic ...
Ohalo IIen.wikipedia.org
90,000 seeds. The seeds account for more than 100 species of wild barley and fruits. grains (Bromus pseudobrachystachys), wild barley (Hordeum spontaneum) and ...
Stone Age hut in Israel yields world's oldest evidence of bedding - PMCpmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
by D Nadel · 2004 · Cited by 171 — To create their bedding, the Ohalo II people chose a grass species characterized by dense bunches of soft delicate stems, which was growing in nearby saline ...
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