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Lathyrus Consumption in Late Bronze and Iron Age Sites in Israel: an Aegean Affinity

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Lathyrus Consumption in Late Bronze and Iron Age Sites in Israel: an Aegean Affinity Journal of Archaeological Science 37 (2010) 2477e2485 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Archaeological Science journal homepage: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jas Lathyrus consumption in late Bronze and iron age sites in Israel: an Aegean affinity Yael Mahler-Slasky a,b,c,*, Mordechai E. Kislev c a Martin (Szusz) Dept. of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel b Kimmel Center for Archaeological Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel c Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel article info abstact Article history: This paper presents new evidence, together with previous findings, for the appearance of charred seeds Received 30 January 2010 of Lathyrus sativus (grass pea)/Lathyrus cicera. This grain legume was a food staple in ancient times, Received in revised form principally in the Aegean region, but also appeared sporadically and in a limited way in the archaeo- 14 May 2010 logical record of the southern Levant. It is encountered there first in the Late Bronze Age but disappears Accepted 17 May 2010 in the record at the end of the Iron Age. Although a palatable, nutritious plant adapted for growing under adverse conditions, its seeds can be toxic when consumed in large quantities. Apparently L. sativus/cicera Keywords: made its way to the lowlands of the southern Levant, either by trade or with Philistine immigrants. It is Lathyrus Aegean absent at other south Levantine Bronze Age (i.e., Canaanite) and Iron Age sites and it remained a food Philistines component in the southern coastal region (i.e., Philistia, the region associated with the biblical Philis- Ethnic food tines) up to the end of Iron Age II, suggesting a possible ethnic association. Evidence of L. sativus/cicera Archaeobotany joins that of another Aegean archaeobotanical import from an earlier, Middle Bronze Age II context, Iron age Lathyrus clymenum, found at Tel Nami, a coastal site farther to the north of the region. Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction 1992) and Horbat Rosh Zayit (Iron Age II contexts; Kislev and Melamed, 2000)(Fig. 1). Archaeobotanical research in the last few decades has advanced Peoples of this region in the Middle Bronze and Late Bronze Ages to a level that enables the reconstruction of plant-based portions of are conventionally identified as the biblical Canaanites, while later diets of site-specific populations and their significance in recon- Iron Age peoples are somewhat more ethnically diverse and generally struction of ancient site-based economies. Recent Levantine Bronze associated with different geographical regions. The biblical Israelites Age and Iron Age discoveries (second millennium BCE to ca. 496 are believed to have inhabited the hill country of Judea, Samaria and BCE) indicate that denizens of the southern Levant cultivated local Galilee, the Philistines the southern coastal and piedmont plateaus plants of the area, cereals, such as wheat and barley, fruits, such as (Philistia), and groups of later Canaanites and their descendants, the grapes, figs, olives and legumes, including lentils and vetches. Phoenicians, some northern valley sites and the northern coastal Remnants of these plants have been found at various sites in the plain (southern Phoenicia). On the issue of the ethnic identification of region and have been reported on for a number of periods. Exam- the various groups in south Levantine Iron Age, including, inter alia, ples of such discoveries are from Shiloh (Middle Bronze Age and the Israelites and Philistines, as well as discussions on the theoretical Iron Age I contexts; Kislev, 1993a), Lachish (Early Bronze Age II and definition of ethnicities, see, e.g., Faust, 2007; Killebrew 2005.The Iron Age II contexts; Helbaek, 1958), Deir Alla (Late Bronze Age discussion on the archaeological definition of the various groups in through the end of the Iron Age contexts; Neef, 1989; van Zeist and the area of the southern Levant, is beyond the scope of this paper but Heeres, 1973), Pella (Bronze Age and Iron Age contexts; Willcox, is discussed in the reference above. Contrary to the claim that all foreign peoples that settled in the southern Levant raised and consumed only indigenous crops and fruits (e.g., Helbaek, 1958), we report here about another food ingredient, a cultivated legume e Lathyrus sativus/cicera. * Corresponding author. Martin (Szusz) Dept. of Land of Israel Studies and We have found it at two sites: Tel Miqne, dated to the 1st quarter Archaeology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel. Tel.: þ972 8 9346101; of the12th century BCE and Ashkelon, dated to ca 604 BCE. Our fax: þ972 8 9346062. E-mail address: [email protected] (Y. Mahler-Slasky). findings from these sites, in addition to earlier findings of L. sativus/ 0305-4403/$ e see front matter Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2010.05.008 2478 Y. Mahler-Slasky, M.E. Kislev / Journal of Archaeological Science 37 (2010) 2477e2485 food (i.e., preferred by people of a particular ethnic tradition), even as it remains to the present in some regions of the globe. It presents some new evidence of archaeobotanical finds of L. sativus/cicera in Israel in Late Bronze and Iron Age contexts, reviews earlier exam- ples of its presence and also discusses evidence for another culti- vated Aegean import, L. clymenum (Kislev and Hopf, 1985; Kislev et al., 1993, 2006) 2. Nutritional background 2.1. The plant and its relation to the motor-neuron disease lathyrism L. sativus and L. cicera are related, cultivated species, belonging to section Cicercula of the genus Lathyrus. Both have a short, flat pod that usually contains 3 to 5 smooth, subquadrate, slightly compressed seeds, each 3e15 mm long; the longer seeds occurring only in L. sativus (Figs. 2 and 3). There are many cultivars of L. sativus that may be characterized by seed morphology, despite the large variability in size and shape of each type of seed, even within the same plant. Seed size and shape of small-seed varieties of L. sativus may overlap those of L. cicera. This similarity was even more pronounced in ancient times because the seeds of L. sativus were probably smaller than those of modern plants. It is therefore diffi- cult to distinguish between L. sativus and L. cicera in archaeological samples. The only way is by analyzing seed coats, the sole param- eter that clearly differentiates between them (Chernoff et al., 1992; Kislev and Hopf, 1985). 2.2. The nutritional value L. sativus is a grain legume consumed both by humans and animals. Today it is an important economic crop in such places as India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Ethiopia, mainly in areas Fig. 1. Map of archaeological sites referenced in this article (based on a map drawn by J Rosenberg, courtesy of Aren Maeir, director of the Tell es-Safi/Gath Archaeological Project). cicera from Tel Batash, dated to the 15th century BCE (Kislev et al., 2006), Tel Qasile, dated ca early 11th century BCE (Kislev and Hopf, 1985) and L. Clymenum, another cultivated Lathyrus species, from Tel Nami dated to ca 1950e1750 BCE (Kislev et al., 1993), provide an indication that the cultivated legume may have been introduced to the south Levantine Coast. Whether this was accomplished by immigrants or through trade remains obscure, but this food source was anyway likely to have been preferred by Aegean immigrants, including the Philistines, as part of their traditional lifestyle. On unique Philistine dietary customs see Ben-Shlomo et al., 2008; Killebrew and Lev-Tov, 2008; Maeir, 2008. L. sativus (grass pea), found sporadically and in limited quanti- ties in archaeological excavations in the southern lowlands, is known to have been an Aegean crop for thousands of years (Kislev, 1989; Ladizinsky, 1989) e In archaeobotanical material it is not possible to distinguish between the seeds of L. sativus and those of the closely related L. cicera. Therefore in this work we refer to both Fig. 2. Lathyrus sativus/cicera seeds from Tel Miqne, field I, Building Complex 150 of species as L. sativus/cicera. Stratum VIIIA, first quarter of the 12th century BCE. Side view of carbonized seeds from This paper examines different aspects of this crop legume, different locations in the pod. AeB. Terminal seeds near the pod base. CeD. Seeds from which indicate the likelihood that L. sativus/cicera was an “ethnic” the middle of the pod. E. Terminal seed close to the style. Y. Mahler-Slasky, M.E. Kislev / Journal of Archaeological Science 37 (2010) 2477e2485 2479 Fig. 3. Lathyrus sativus/cicera seeds from Tel Ashkelon, Grid 50, Building 58, Room 52, 604 BCE. Side view of carbonized seeds from different locations in the pod. The radicle is on the top right. A. Terminal seed near the pod base. BeC. Seeds from the middle of the pod. D. Terminal seed close to the style. that suffer from frequent famines and food shortages (Campbell, sativus seeds for 1 hour followed by decanting the water removes 1997). It is even the subject of sophisticated research, especially about 70% of the b-ODAP from the seeds (Jha, 1987) However, as L. sativus is endowed with many properties that make it an breeding efforts have been conducted in order to achieve new attractive source of nourishment (e.g., Polignano et al., 2009). It is clones of L. sativus with reduced amounts of ODAP (Barceloux, eminently palatable, nutritious and adapted to grow in harsh 2009; Hugon et al., 2000; Santha and Mehra, 2001). environments characterized by drought or flooding. It has a hardy, penetrating root system that enables it to grow in a wide range of 3. On the origin of cultivation of L.
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