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Flax Seed Production: Evidence from the Early Iron Age Site of Tel Beth-Shean, Israel and from Written Sources

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Flax Seed Production: Evidence from the Early Iron Age Site of Tel Beth-Shean, Israel and from Written Sources Veget Hist Archaeobot DOI 10.1007/s00334-011-0303-5 REVIEW Flax seed production: evidence from the early Iron Age site of Tel Beth-Shean, Israel and from written sources Mordechai E. Kislev • Orit Simchoni • Yoel Melamed • Lior Maroz Received: 7 February 2010 / Accepted: 20 May 2011 Ó Springer-Verlag 2011 Abstract For thousands of years, flax was a winter crop Introduction of major importance in the ancient Levant, second only to wheat and barley. It was cultivated from the beginning of Flax cultivation the early Neolithic period through to Roman times and it is still grown there today. Flax seeds (linseed) contain high Linum usitatissimum (flax) is an annual herbaceous plant concentrations of two essential polyunsaturated fatty grown today for fibres as well as for oil, which is extracted acids—linoleic acid (x-6) and a-linolenic acid (x-3), from the seeds. The young plants are particularly sensitive which cannot be produced by the human body. Their oxi- to weeds because their germination is relatively slow. The dation occurs rapidly in the air. So, long term storage of stalk is thin and upright, 50–120 cm high, with several linseed needed airtight containers, and tightly stoppered flowers carried on long pedicels on the top (Agnew 1980). bottles could be used to keep its oil as a remedy. However, Flax for fibres, which is sown densely, produces a single were flax seeds consumed as a food, oil or medicament in unbranched stem. In contrast, flax for oil has stalks with two ancient periods? How commonly were flax seeds eaten? to three lower branches, which are extremely branched at From archaeobotanical finds of flax seed, it is difficult to the top. Each capsule contains up to 10 seeds, which are determine whether the flax was cultivated for fibres alone oblong, flat and shiny. The seeds each weigh 3–5 mg in the or for its seeds that can be cold-pressed to release the fibre varieties and 5–15 mg in flax grown for oil. The world valuable oil. We have therefore studied ancient written average seed yield in fibre varieties is about 40 kg per documents describing various uses of flax seeds, including dunam (0.1 ha). Some 12–14 kg is required for planting a their consumption as a food supplement and uses in med- dunam of fibre-variety flax and two-thirds of that amount for ical applications. We conclude that until recently flax was the oil varieties (Marani 1972; Fouilloux 1989). It appears grown primarily for textile fibres, and only smaller quan- that twice as many flax seeds were sown per unit area in the tities of flax seeds were consumed. So, the flax seed finds Roman period than today, as mentioned in Columella from the early Iron Age site of Tel Beth-Shean also rep- 2.10.17 (Ash 1941), Pliny 19.2 (Rackham 1971), Kilaim 2:2 resent seed consumption or oil extraction. (Neusner 1988) and Kilaim 27:4 (Guggenheimer 1999). This ancient practice might represent farmers’ attempts to Keywords Linseed oil Á DHA Á EPA Á x-3 Á Israel Á cope with weeds that hinder flax sprouts during germina- Iron Age tion. So, as the seed yields were considerably greater than what would be required for sowing in the following year, the remaining edible seeds could be consumed. Flax for seeds was traditionally grown in the 20th cen- Communicated by S. Karg. tury in central Anatolia, and the harvesting was done with sickles. As the capsules have a mucilaginous coating and & M. E. Kislev ( ) Á O. Simchoni Á Y. Melamed Á L. Maroz stick together, only the tops of the plants with the capsules Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, 52900 Ramat-Gan, Israel were harvested. The harvested capsules were piled up, and e-mail: [email protected] at the end of the harvest carried to the threshing floor where 123 Veget Hist Archaeobot they were processed with a threshing sledge and then skin (Ertug˘ 2000). Processed industrially by distillation, sieved. But if flax was cultivated for fibre, then there was linseed oil is inedible. However, cold-pressed oil and the no need to wait until the seeds ripened, and it was uprooted seeds themselves are used now as nutritional supplements while the plant was still green. Some sources indicate that and in medicine and, as we will show, they were so used in flax can be used for both purposes after the seeds have the past. ripened, when it is also uprooted by hand (Ertug˘ 2000). Flax seeds contain high concentrations of essential To maintain fertility of the land, it has been established polyunsaturated fatty acids, which cannot be produced by that a flax farmer should properly wait at least 5–6 years the human body and must be obtained from the diet. These before replanting, as the crop significantly depletes field include a-linolenic acid (x-3) as well as linoleic acid nutrients and perhaps increases the danger of infestation by (x-6), the names derived from the Latin word for flax, Fusarium lini, the agent causing flax wilt (Marani 1972). linum. While a-linolenic acid is generally quite rare in During the 20th century, Israeli farmers grew flax for oil, other seeds, they can contain significant amounts of linoleic but this was halted for economic reasons, partially because acid. In the human body, a-linolenic acid is the chemical of the land depletion problem. This depletion was also precursor for making the longer-chain x-3 fatty acids, recognized in antiquity, as the Mishnah from the Roman eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid period records: ‘‘One who leases a field from his friend for (DHA). DHA serves as a major component of membrane a few years—one should not plant flax because the soil phospholipids in retinal photoreceptors, cerebral grey cannot replenish its strength, but if one leased the field for matter, testes and sperm. While only small amounts of EPA 7 years one may plant flax in the first year because the soil are present in the human body, it is nevertheless important can replenish its strength’’ (Baba Metzia 9:9, Neusner for preventing coronary heart disease, arrhythmias and 1988). In fact, particular installations at Tel Abu Shusha thromboses. Both acids reduce blood cholesterol levels and (Geva), Jezreel valley, Israel, from the late Roman period, provide fluidity to cell membranes. Deficiency in EPA and were suggested to have been used for the production of flax DHA may delay growth in children, and their extreme and fibres and linseed oil (Safrai and Linn 1988). prolonged insufficiency can be fatal. A lack of them may Additional evidence for the prevalence of flax cultiva- also impair immune system operation, cardiovascular tion is provided from the same century by 750 seeds found health, motor function and vision. For adults, the recom- at Deir ’Alla, Jordan, 35 km south of Tel Beth-Shean. mended daily consumption of these two essential fatty Large amounts (30,000) of flax seeds were also recovered acids is a few grams, with a x-6/x-3 ratio of 5/1 to 10/1 in later levels dated to the 7th–5th c. B.C. (van Zeist and (Institute of Medicine of the National Academies 2005, Heeres 1973). pp. 427–455; Arterburn et al. 2006; Simopoulos 1991; Siddiqui et al. 2004; Vaisey-Genser and Morris 2003). Linseed oil extraction The archaeological site Flax was grown from the beginning of the early Neolithic to the Roman period (van Zeist 2000; Zohary and Hopf Beth-Shean served as an Egyptian imperial administrative 2000, pp. 126ff), primarily for textile fibres, but it was also and military base after the rule of Ramesses III (Panitz- used to produce seeds and oil for dietary, medical and other Cohen and Mazar 2009, pp. 1, 95, 139, 147, 577, photo applications (Lucas and Harris 1962, pp. 142ff; Nicholson 4.68, 4.69, 10.14; Kislev et al. 2009; Shamir 2009). Tel and Shaw 2000, pp. 269ff). Today, however, flax is grown Beth-Shean is located at the junction of two important more for its oil than for fibres. Linseed oil is in great roads, the east–west road from the Jezreel valley to Gilead, demand due to its rapid drying, which is important for the and the road running the length of the Jordan valley. The paint industry. The seeds contain about 40% oil on a dry site was occupied almost continuously from the late Neo- weight basis which is 73% rich in polyunsaturated lipids lithic to early Arabic periods (Stern 1993). (Vaisey-Genser and Morris 2003). Traditional production of linseed oil was practised in central Anatolia as follows: the seeds were first roasted in an oven, then ground with a Materials and methods millstone and the flour-like product was mixed with water to prepare dough. This dough was packed into special A subsample has been studied from a bin at Tel Beth-Shean baskets which were stacked under heavy wooden beams containing three quite similar compartments which were and pressed by turning a large wooden screw. The baskets full of charred Linum usitatissimum seeds and with a total stayed under pressure for about 24 h, during which the oil recovered volume of at least 0.69 m3. The content of only drained from them. The oil was used for cooking, lamp oil one of the three compartments (Locus 28817) had been and to protect water buffalo against insects and cracked sent to us for investigation. The two smaller flax seed 123 Veget Hist Archaeobot samples (with a few thousand each) were partly retrieved by flotation.
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