Ohalo II’s diet was overwhelmingly cereal-based. The wider assemblage included about 150,000 seeds and fruits representing more than 100 species; one hut alone yielded over 90,000. Small-grained grasses were the staple, making up over 90% of edible seeds. Wild barley, wild wheat, bromes, acorns, pulses and wild fruits were also eaten. Cereal concentrations around a grinding stone and microscopic starch granules indicate flour grinding. The animal remains included gazelle, fallow deer, fox, hare, wild pig and wild cattle; stone net sinkers point to net fishing. Bird remains include 83 species, with great crested grebe most common. Remains from all four seasons support year-round occupation, though they do not alone prove a permanent settlement. 🌾🐟
Ohalo II diet was cereal-heavy, with evidence of year-round occupation
Key facts
- The wider plant assemblage included about 150,000 seeds and fruits representing more than 100 species; one hut alone yielded over 90,000.
- Small-grained grasses were the staple, accounting for more than 90% of edible seeds; wild barley, wild wheat and wild oats were among the cereals.
- Brome grasses, acorns, pulses and wild fruits were also eaten.
- Cereal concentrations around a grinding stone and microscopic starch granules indicate grinding and flour production.
- The animal remains included gazelle, fallow deer, fox, hare, wild pig and wild cattle; stone net sinkers indicate fishing with nets.
- Bird remains included 83 species, with great crested grebe most common.
- Remains from all four seasons support year-round occupation; seasonal presence alone does not establish 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 ...
The broad spectrum revisited: Evidence from plant remainspnas.org
by E Weiss · 2004 · Cited by 421 — We focus on grasses because they appear to have been the staple plant food at Ohalo II, representing >90% of the edible seeds recovered. Grasses were also ...
Plant-food preparation on two consecutive floors at Upper ...sciencedirect.com
by A Snir · 2015 · Cited by 69 — The Ohalo II Upper Paleolithic site. A unique and diverse assemblage of seeds and fruit … about 55,000 seeds and fruits were found on its lower floor,
Ohalo II site, Israel; Cultivation and Proto-Weeds in Galilee ...novoscriptorium.com
Archaeobotanical evidence indicates the presence of one of these two grained forms as a wild cereal from the late Pleistocene in Syria (Hillman ...
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