A joint study by researchers from Tel Aviv University and the Hebrew University uncovered the first evidence of domestication of a fruit tree. The researchers analyzed traces of charcoal from the Chalcolithic site of Tel Zaf, in the Jordan Valley, and determined that they came from olive trees. Since the olive tree did not grow naturally in the Jordan Valley, this means that the inhabitants intentionally planted the tree about 7,000 years ago.
The groundbreaking study was led by Dr. Dafna Langgut, of the Jacob M. Alkow Department of Archeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures, Sonia &Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology, and Tel Aviv University's Steinhardt Museum of Natural History.
The charcoal remains were found in the archaeological excavation led by Professor Yosef Garfinkel of the Hebrew University Institute of Archaeology. The findings were published in the journal Scientific Reports from the publisher Nature.
Indisputable proof of domestication
According to Dr. Langgut, director of the Laboratory for Archaeobotany and Ancient Environments, which specializes in the microscopic identification of plant remains, trees, even when burned to charcoal, can be identified by their anatomical structure. Wood was the "plastic" of the ancient world. It was used for construction, to make tools and furniture, and as a source of energy. Therefore, the identification of the remains of trees found in archaeological sites, such as charcoal from homes, is key to understanding what types of trees grew in the natural environment of the time and when humans began to cultivate fruit trees .
In her lab, Dr. Langgut identified the Tel Zaf charcoal as belonging to olive and fig trees. Olive trees grow wild in the land of Israel, but they do not grow in the Jordan Valley , she says.
This means that someone brought them there intentionally:they took the knowledge and the plant itself to a place that is outside of its natural habitat. In archaeobotany, this is considered indisputable proof of domestication, meaning that we have here the earliest evidence of olive domestication anywhere in the world .
I also identified many remains of young fig branches. The fig tree grew naturally in the Jordan Valley, but its branches had little value as firewood or as raw material for tools or furniture, so people had no reason to collect large quantities and bring them to the village.
Apparently, these fig branches were the result of pruning, a method still used today to increase the yield of fruit trees.
Deluxe tests
The tree remains examined by Dr. Langgut were collected by Professor Yosef Garfinkel of the Hebrew University, who led the excavation at Tel Zaf. According to Professor Garfinkel Tel Zaf was a large prehistoric settlement in the middle Jordan Valley, south of Beit She'an, inhabited between 7,200 and 6,700 years ago. Large courtyard houses were discovered at the site, each with several barns for storing crops.
The storage capacity was up to 20 times greater than the calorie consumption of a single family, so it is evident that they were deposits to store great wealth. The wealth of the town was manifested in the production of elaborate pottery, painted with remarkable skill. In addition, we find items brought from afar:pottery from the Ubaid culture of Mesopotamia, obsidian from Anatolia, a copper punch from the Caucasus, and much more .
Dr. Langgut and Prof. Garfinkel were not surprised to discover that the people of Tel Zaf were the first in the world to intentionally cultivate olive and fig trees, as growing fruit trees is an ordeal of luxury, and it is known that this place was exceptionally rich.
According to Dr. Langgut the domestication of fruit trees is a process that takes many years, and therefore corresponds to a society of abundance, rather than one that struggles to survive. The trees bear fruit only 3-4 years after being planted. Since fruit tree groves require a considerable initial investment and then live for a long time, they have great economic and social importance in terms of land ownership and legacy to future generations, procedures that suggest the beginning of a complex society. .
In addition, it is quite possible that the inhabitants of Tel Zaf traded products derived from fruit trees, such as olives, olive oil and dried figs, which have a long shelf life. Such products may have enabled long-distance trade that led to the accumulation of material wealth, and possibly even taxation, initial steps in turning the locals into a society with a socioeconomic hierarchy supported by an administrative system.
Dr. Langgut concludes that at the Tel Zaf archaeological site we have found the world's first evidence of fruit tree domestication, along with some of the earliest seals, suggesting the beginnings of administrative procedures.
Taken together, the findings indicate wealth and the first steps towards the formation of a complex multi-tiered society, with the farming class supplemented by clerical and merchant classes .