Mollusc Taxa and Shell Preservation of the Early and Middle Epipaleolithic Archaeological Site Jordan River Dureijat in Israel

Mollusc taxa and shell preservation of the Early and Middle Epipaleolithic archaeological site Jordan River Dureijat in Israel

Ingþór Björgvinsson

Jarðvísindadeild Háskóli Íslands 2017

Ingþór Björgvinsson

10 eininga ritgerð sem er hluti af Baccalaureus Scientiarum gráðu í jarðfræði

Leiðbeinandi Steffen Mischke

Jarðvísindadeild Verkfræði- og náttúruvísindasvið Háskóli Íslands Reykjavík, vor 2017

Mollusc taxa and shell preservation of the Early and Middle Epipaleolithic archaeological site Jordan River Dureijat in Israel. 10 eininga ritgerð sem er hluti af Baccalaureus Scientiarum gráðu í Jarðfræði

Jarðvísindadeild Verkfræði- og náttúruvísindasvið Háskóli Íslands Sturlugata 7 101 Reykjavík

Sími: 525 4000

Skráningarupplýsingar: Ingþór Björgvinsson, 2017, Mollusc taxa and shell preservation of the Early and Middle Epipaleolithic archaeological site Jordan River Dureijat in Israel, BS ritgerð, Jarðvísindadeild, Háskóli Íslands, 29 bls.

Reykjavík, maí 2017

Útdráttur

Í norðurhluta Ísrael hefur fornleifagröftur staðið yfir sumurin 2014, 2015 og 2016 á svæði sem nefnist Jordan River Dureijat á austurbakka árinnar Jordan. Áin rennur í gegnum dalinn Hula Valley og hafa setlög og mannvistaleyfar frá svæðinu verið rannsökuð. Middle Paleolithic, Acheulian og Late Epipaleolithic tímabilin eru vel þekkt á svæðinu en minna er vitað um Early og Middle Epipaleolithic tímabilin á svæðinu. Í greftrinum í september 2016 var sýnum fyrir þessa rannsókn safnað. Tuttugu skeljasýni voru tekin úr þremur setlögum á svæðinu, skeljarnar taldar og ástand þeirra metið. Í heildina fundust átta skeljategundir og voru þær greindar í eftirfarandi ættir; Melanopsis, Theodoxus, Unio, Heleobia, Bithynia, Valvata, Pisidium og Corbicula. Markmið þessarar rannsóknar var að ákvarða umhverfislega eiginleika svæðisins á þeim tíma er setið í setlögunum settist. Skeljatölurnar, tegundirnar sem fundust og ástand skeljanna benda til þess að þegar setlögin þrjú mynduðust hafi skeljarnar skolast saman við ölduhreyfingar í nálægð við strönd og síðar grafist hlutfallslega hratt af nýju seti. Ályktun var dregin út frá niðurstöðum þessarar rannsóknar að Jordan River Dureijat sé forn strönd Hula Vatnsins sem stóð í Hula Dalnum á Early og Middle Epipaleolithic tímabilunum.

Abstract

An archaeological excavation took place in northern Israel on the Eastern bank of the Jordan River, which flows through the Hula Valley, in September 2016 at the Jordan River Dureijat excavation site, continuing previous excavations at the site from 2014 and 2015. While the Middle Paleolithic, Late Epipaleolithic and Acheulian periods are well documented in the Hula Valley, the Early and Middle Epipaleolithic periods are less understood. Twenty mollusc shell- rich samples were taken from three sediment layers at the site and the shells were counted and their preservation state estimated. A total of eight mollusc shell taxa were found and identified. The taxa that were found were identified as; Melanopsis, Theodoxus, Unio, Heleobia, Bithynia, Valvata, Pisidium and Corbicula. The shell count data, the taxa found and the preservation state of the shells indicate that the shells from the three sediment layers examined were washed together by wave movement in a near shore environment and buried relatively quickly by new sediment. The results from this thesis lead to the conclusion that the area of the Jordan River Dureijat is an ancient shore of the Hula Lake which occupied the Hula Valley during the Early and Middle Epipaleolithic periods.

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements ...... v 1 Introduction ...... 1 1.1 Context and objectives of study ...... 1 1.2 Previous studies ...... 1

2 Study area ...... 2 2.1 Topography and geology ...... 2 2.2 Climate and vegetation ...... 3 2.3 The excavation site ...... 4 3 Materials and methods ...... 5 3.1 Fieldwork and sample collection at the excavation site ...... 5 3.2 Laboratory analysis ...... 7 3.2.1 Weighing of samples ...... 7 3.2.2 Wet sieving of sediments ...... 7 3.2.3 Picking of mollusc shells ...... 7 3.2.4 Assessment of mollusc shell preservation ...... 7 3.3 Data presentation in tables and calculation of total shell numbers ...... 11 3.4 Preparation of figures ...... 11 4 Results ...... 12 4.1 Recorded taxa and abundance of shells ...... 12 4.2 Assessment of shell preservation state ...... 13 4.3 Shell count and preservation state in samples from layer 3B ...... 14 4.4 Shell count and preservation state in samples from layer 3C ...... 15 4.5 Shell count and preservation state in samples from layer 4 ...... 17 5 Discussions ...... 18 6 Conclusions ...... 21 References ...... 22

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my mentor Steffen Mischke and his Ph.D. student Elizabeth Bunin for helping me with the whole process of this study, from the time we spent together collecting the samples in Israel to the day the thesis was completed. I would also like to thank The University of Iceland for giving me and one other B.Sc. student a grant funding the whole trip to Israel. At last I would like to thank Gonen Sharon, the head of the archaeological excavation at the Jordan River Dureijat, for making all of this possible.

1 Introduction

1.1 Context and objectives of the study

Prehistoric sites in the northern part of Israel are well preserved and excavations have taken place in the area regularly over the last decades. That includes the Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov (GBY) and Nahal Mahanayeem Outlet (NMO), Acheulian and Middle Paleolithic sites located on the eastern bank of the Jordan River in the Hula Valley. The two periods, Acheulian and Middle Paleolithic are well documented in the area as well as the Late Epipaleolithic period. The results from the studies from both GBY and NMO led to the conclusion that the sites were located near the shore of an ancient shallow freshwater lake, but the NMO study shows evidence for saline springs near the site of NMO. However, knowledge of the Early and Middle Epipaleolithic periods is missing and the sediment setting in the JRD is an enigma. Therefore, the Jordan River Dureijat (JRD), which is located South from NMO and North from GBY (figure 1), was excavated in hope of learning more about the Early and Middle Epipaleolithic periods in the area (Marder et al., 2015).

The current study reports the results of a research on mollusc shells in sediments from the JRD. The aim of this research is to shed light on the characteristic features of the area at the end of, and immediately after the Last Glacial Maximum, whether it was a margin of a lake, a river bank or a wetland setting. To do that the well documented molluscs of the present Hula Valley can be used as a tool to indicate the ecological conditions of the area where they are found, by examination of the quantity and preservation state of the shells.

1.2 Previous studies

The JRD site was discovered by luck in 1999 during a drainage operation in the area (Sharon et al., 2002) and in 2002 the damage from the drainage operation was to be estimated. An area of one square meter was excavated and interesting material was found, such as human remains and tools used by men. These findings were an inspiration for a test excavation in the JRD in 2014, and the results of that excavation indicated that the area needed to be excavated further. In 2015 the first detailed and systematic excavation took place at the site (Marder et al., 2015; Sharon, 2016).

In the 2015 excavation the finds included human remains, flints, flint cores, bones, bivalves, ostracods, botanical remains and more, and some of the findings were used as tools. The flints are blade-like pieces of a lithic core, ranging in sizes from few millimeters to a couple of centimeters, made by men to use as cutting tools. Flint core (lithic core) is what remains of the source when the blades have been made from it. The most commonly found tools included the blades of flint and limestone rocks used as weights for fish nets. More tools were found but in smaller quantities, such as fish hooks carved from small bones for example.

The molluscs from the 2015 excavation were not examined in detail, but the shell-rich layers were described. The layers were reported to range in thickness from 1 cm to 20 cm, and

1 dominated by Unio, Melanopsis, and other smaller shells (few millimeters in size) (Sharon, 2016).

2 Study area

2.1 Topography and geology

The Hula Valley, a basin with a complex graben structure, is located at the northern part of Israel, 20-30 km North of the Sea of Galilee (Sharon et al., 2002), about 1300 m North of the Benot Ya’aqov Bridge (figure 1). The Hula Lake covered the Southern part of the Hula Valley, but was drained in the 1950s. Different geological structures surround the Hula Valley; on the Western side are the Galilee Mountains with pyroclastic sediment rocks and limestone, and on the East side are the Golan Heights with volcanic rocks, consisting mostly of basalts (Sharon et al., 2002).

The Jordan River flows from North to the South through the Hula Valley before merging into the Sea of Galilee. The geological layers on the Eastern banks of the Jordan River, exposed by the river at the previous excavation sites in the Hula Valley, have been found to range in age from Pliocene to Holocene (Sharon et al., 2002; Belitzky, 1987). Where the river flows marks the boundaries of two tectonic plates, the African plate and the Arabian plate. The area is also referred to as the Jordan Rift Valley.

Figure 1 - The locations of JRD, NMO and GBY are shown in the figure. The small figure in the upper right corner shows Israel and the location of GBY excavation site, North of the Sea of Galilee and The Dead Sea (The Dead Sea is the larger lake on the figure, to the South-East from Jerusalem) (Marder et al., 2015).

2.2 Climate and vegetation

The Eastern Mediterranean has seasonal changes in temperatures, hot and dry summers and cool and wet winters. The mean temperatures for January and July in the modern Hula Basin are 11.4°C and 27.7°C with mean annual temperature at 20.3°C (Israel Meteorological Service, Unpublished data). The Jordan river drains the Hula Valley Basin and the mean annual precipitation is higher in the Golan Heights (600-900 mm) and in the Upper Galilee (600-700

3 mm) than in the Hula Valley Basin (400-450 mm) (Israel Meteorological Service, Unpublished data). The evaporation rates in the region are high with up to 2600 mm/yr in the Lower Jordan Valley (Hötzl, et al., 2009). Large part of the Hula Valley is used for agriculture so the natural vegetation is less dominant. The natural vegetation in the Hula Basin is a Quercus ithaburensis - Pistacia atlantica forest along with other plants such as shrubs (Zohary, 1973).

2.3 The excavation site

The JRD excavation site (33°1’18.26’’N 35°37’41.78’’E) is located on the Eastern bank of the Jordan River as well as GBY, further South from JRD, and NMO, further North from JRD. The area of the JRD is 30 m2 and for the excavation archaeologists placed a grid at the site divided into 1 m2 squares. Three section walls were exposed; they faced North, West and South. The squares of the grid were given numbers from 96 to 101, from South to North, and the letters from M to Q, from West to East (figure 2). Sediment layers were exposed at the three section walls and at least three shell layers were easily visible and accessible. These three shell layers are seen in figure 3 which shows the excavation site and the position of the layers relative to each other and the squares of the grid. The layers were radiocarbon dated after the 2016 excavation and layer 3B is 13,415 to 13,260 cal yr BP, layer 3C 16,145 to 15,935 cal yr BP and layer 4 17,625 to 17,455 cal yr BP (Sharon, 2017).

Figure 2 - The JRD excavation site. The 30 m2 grid is shown along with identifying letters and numbers (28 m2 as M-100 and M-101 could not be excavated because of roots of a tree located next to the site). (Sharon, 2016)

Figure 3 – The excavation site seen as if standing in the Jordan river looking East. The 30 m2 grid is shown in the lower part of the figure, along with identifying letters and numbers. Three layers and their relative positions are shown.

3 Materials and methods

3.1 Fieldwork and sample collection at the excavation site

A total of twenty samples, 100-600 g each sample, were collected from around the excavation site for this research. Three samples were taken from layer 3B, thirteen samples from layer 3C (three sample locations are shown in figure 5) and four samples from layer 4. These twenty samples were collected from each of the three section walls, except sample 831 in layer 4. That sample was taken from an unexcavated square in the middle of the excavation site, shown in figure 4, at similar height as sample 832 which was collected from the Southern section wall.

Figure 4 – Locations and numbers of the twenty samples analyzed in this study. The colors indicate from which layer each sample was taken (layers are marked on the left; 3B, 3C and 4).

Figure 5 - A view of a part of the Eastern wall section showing the identifying numbers of the sediment layers and the sampling locations of samples 815, 816 and 817.

3.2 Laboratory analysis

3.2.1 Weighing of samples

The sediment from the twenty samples was gently homogenized before preparing a sub-sample from each sample. The original weight of the twenty samples was variable, causing the weight of the sub-samples to be variable, as seen in table 1.

3.2.2 Wet sieving of sediments

The sub-samples were put in a beaker with water to get rid of lumps in the sediment to make it possible to sieve the material. Two sieves were stacked up, with 250 µm and 1000 µm pore sizes, with the 1000 µm sieve on top. The sediment was then poured into the 1000 µm sieve and gently washed with water. The smaller particles were washed to the 250 µm sieve. The 1000 µm sieve was removed and sediment on the 250 µm sieve was gently washed with water. After sieving the samples the material on the sieves was washed off with water into styrofoam and/or aluminum boxes and put in a drying oven at 50°C for at least one day.

3.2.3 Picking of mollusc shells

After drying, the samples that weighed over 300 g before sieving were split once in a sample splitter. Exceptions were made if the sample contained few shells and splitting was unnecessary. The sieve residues were then examined with a low-power binocular microscope and mollusc shells, bone fragments, flints and charcoals were picked out and put in boxes. Shells of different mollusc taxa were sorted and stored in separate boxes.

3.2.4 Assessment of mollusc shell preservation

The preservation state of Melanopsis and Theodoxus shells was determined by sorting the shells into four categories; 1. Exceedingly well preserved, 2. Well preserved, 3. Poorly preserved and 4. Fragments.

The Melanopsis shells were put in category 1 if both the apex and aperture regions were well preserved, in category 2 if one of these ends was damaged and/or it had holes in the shells, in category 3 if a larger part of the shell was missing and in category 4 if it was only a fragment of a shell, <50% of the shell, and it was not possible to determine if it represented a single individual. Shells that were <4-5 mm were not sorted by their preservation state.

The Theodoxus shells were put in category 1 if the shell was not broken at all, and the color was well preserved, in category 2 if the aperture was broken and/or the shell had a hole- or holes in it but the color was well preserved, in category 3 if a larger part of the shell was missing and/or the color was poorly preserved, and in category 4 if it was a fragment (<50%) and it was not possible to determine if it represented a single individual. All of the Theodoxus shells that were clearly visible without using binocular were categorized.

Figure 6 – A Melanopsis shell from preservation state category 1 – Exceedingly well preserved. Both ends, the tip of the shell and the aperture are well preserved, as well as the color of the shell.

Figure 7 - A Melanopsis shell from preservation state category 2 - Well preserved. One end, the aperture is damaged and the shell has a hole in it. The color is well preserved.

Figure 8 - Melanopsis shells from preservation state categories 3 – Poorly preserved (the larger shell on the figure) and 4 – Fragments (the smaller shell on the figure). The larger shell is missing a large part of the shell, and the color is poorly preserved and the smaller shell is less than 50% of a shell.

Figure 9 - A Theodoxus shell from preservation state category 1 - Exceedingly well preserved. The shell is not broken and the color is well preserved.

Figure 10 - A Theodoxus shell from preservation state category 2 - Well preserved. The aperture is broken but the color is well preserved.

Figure 11 - A Theodoxus shell from preservation state category 3 - Poorly preserved. A large part of the shell is damaged.

Figure 12 - A Theodoxus shell from preservation state category 4 - Fragments. The fragment is less than 50% of a shell. The preservation state of Melanopsis and Theodoxus shells from the same sample, 832, was compared (figure 19) and the results show that the preservation state of different taxa within the same sample are very similar. Therefore the preservation state of Melanopsis from each sample was used to determine the overall preservation state of the sample. The reason for Melanopsis being used rather than Theodoxus was that Melanopsis was abundant in every sample but Theodoxus was not.

3.3 Data presentation in tables and calculation of total shell numbers

Microsoft Excel was used to arrange the count data in tables. The samples that were weighed before sieving varied in sizes and the count data were normalized to a sub-sample size of 150 g. The average weight of the samples used for mollusc analysis was approximately 200 g. However, nine samples weighed less than 200 g (65-113 g) and a weight of 150 g was defined for the normalization of the mollusc count data to a standardized sample size. Although lower than average, this value ensures that count numbers for relatively small samples were not extrapolated in an unreliable way.

150 푔 ∗ 푛 = 푛푢푚푏푒푟 표푓 푠ℎ푒푙푙푠 푝푒푟 150 푔 푊 푠ℎ푒푙푙푠 푐표푢푛푡푒푑 W stands for weight in g, n stands for quantity and g stands for grams.

3.4 Preparation of figures

All figures of the excavation site were made in Corel Draw version X8.

4 Results

4.1 Recorded taxa and abundance of shells

The samples included eight taxa, three bivalves (Unio, Corbicula spp. and Pisidium spp.) and five gastropods (Melanopsis spp., Theodoxus spp., Heleobia, Bithynia and Valvata). Heleobia was the most abundant taxa with 2944 shells counted. Six taxa were found occurring in all of the samples; Heleobia, Melanopsis spp., Pisidium spp., Valvata, Bithynia and Theodoxus spp.

Corbicula spp. was the least abundant taxon in the samples, with 31 shells counted, occurring in only five samples of twenty. Like Corbicula, few shells of Unio were counted in the samples; only 37 shells occurred in the samples, but were found in 14 samples. The total number of shells that were counted was 6133 (table 1).

Table 2 shows the results after normalizing the data to a standardized sample size of 150 g.

Table 1 – Raw count numbers of mollusc taxa found in each sample. The weight of the sample before sieving is shown in grams.

Table 2 – Calculated number of shells in 150 g of each sample.

4.2 Assessment of shell preservation state

All of the Melanopsis spp. larger than 4-5 mm (908 shells) and Theodoxus spp. (362 shells) were assessed in terms of preservation state of the shells. The categories and quantities for Melanopsis are shown in table 3 and for Theodoxus in table 4.

Table 3 – Melanopsis shells from each sample sorted into categories based on their preservation conditions.

Table 4 – Theodoxus shells from each sample sorted into categories based on their preservation conditions.

4.3 Shell count and preservation state in samples from layer 3B

Melanopsis and Heleobia dominate the samples from the layer. On the South wall (sample 819) Valvata is also abundant. Figure 13 shows the distribution of the shells from the samples from the three section walls on a logarithmic scale.

The proportions of the preservation state of the shells in the samples from the layer decline from 77% of well or exceedingly well preserved shells at the Northern wall section, to 55% of well or exceedingly well preserved shells at the Southern wall section (figure 14).

Figure 13 – Number of shells in 150 g samples from layer 3B shown in a logarithmic scale.

Figure 14 – Proportions of the preservation state of Melanopsis in the three samples from layer 3B.

4.4 Shell count and preservation state in samples from layer 3C

The distribution of the shells from the samples from layer 3C are shown in figure 15. Melanopsis and Heleobia are abundant in all of the samples. Bithynia is also abundant in sample 800.

The proportions of the preservation state of the shells in the layer (figure 16) slightly increase from the North to the South with 51% of well or exceedingly well preserved shells at the Northern wall section and 61% of well or exceedingly well preserved shells at the Southern wall section.

Figure 15 – Number of shells in 150 g samples from layer 3C shown in a logarithmic scale.

Figure 16 - Proportions of the preservation state of Melanopsis in the 13 samples from layer 3C.

4.5 Shell count and preservation state in samples from layer 4

Samples 831 and 832 contain significantly more mollusc shells than the samples 128 and 357. The majority of shells is represented by Heleobia except in sample 128 which is dominated by Melanopsis shells (figure 17).

The majority (60-70%) of the shells in layer 4 are well or exceedingly well preserved and the preservation declines slightly from North to South (figure 18).

Figure 17 – Number of shells in 150 g samples from layer 4 shown in a logarithmic scale.

Figure 18 – Proportions of the preservation state of Melanopsis in the four samples from layer 4. The layer inclines from East to West on the Southern wall section above sample 832.

Figure 19 – Comparison of the proportions of the preservation state of Melanopsis and Theodoxus within the same sample in layer 4, sample 832.

5 Discussions

Four species of Theodoxus are currently found in the Northern part of Israel. Those species are: Theodoxus jordani ponsoti, Theodoxus jordani jordani, Theodoxus michonii and Theodoxus karasuna. With the equipment used in this study it is hard to see the difference between Theodoxus jordani jordani, jordani ponsoti and karasuna because all three species have similar black and white stripes. The Theodoxus michonii is easily recognizable by its black colour and it was abundant in most of the samples. The Theodoxus michonii currently lives in the northern

18 part of Israel, especially in the Golan Heights and the Galilee Mountains, and is not endangered (Milstein et al., 2012).

Seven species of Melanopsis are currently found in the Northern part of Israel. Those species are: Melanopsis buccinoidea, Melanopsis eremita, Melanopsis “saulcyi“, Melanopsis cerithiopsis, Melanopsis lampra, Melanopsis costata and Melanopsis meistoma. Melanopsis meiostoma, M. lampra and M. eremita are endangered in Israel and not currently found in the Jordan River area. Melanopsis buccinoidea, “saulcyi“, M. cerithiopsis and M. costata are all possible candidates for the taxa recorded in this study (Milstein et al., 2012).

Heleobia is currently found all over Israel. It is hard to distinguish their species and the Heleobia is commonly referred to as the species Heleobia phaeniciaca (Milstein et al., 2012).

Bithynia is common in the Northern part of Israel but like the Heleobia it is hard to distinguish their species. The currently most common species of Bityinia is Bithynia phialensis ((Milstein et al., 2012).

Corbicula has two species known in Israel. Corbicula consobrina, endangered today, and Corbicula fluminalis, which is common in the Jordan River and the Sea of Galilee. Due to the small number of Corbicula shells found in the samples from this study the two species were not documented (Milstein et al., 2012).

Valvata saulcyi is common all over Israel and in the Levant. The Valvata shells from the samples appeared to belong to the same species, Valvata saulcyi (Milstein et al., 2012).

Pisidum is common in the Northern part of Israel but the shells from the samples collected for this study were small and the species were not distinguished but referred to as Pisidium spp. (Milstein et al., 2012).

Unio is found in the Northern part of Israel. The most common Unio species in the Jordan River and the Sea of Galilee is Unio terminalis terminalis. The species frequency has decreased in the area over the last decades due to pollution of the streams and decreasing of the water level in the Sea of Galilee (Milstein et al., 2012).

Numbers of shells and taxa within sediment layers can potentially indicate the environmental conditions at the time of the sediment deposition, as all taxa have unique characteristics. For example, Melanopsis, and in fact all the shells that were found in the sediments from this research, are freshwater and/or brackish water molluscs, indicating low salinity in the former water body during the time of the shell formation. Melanopsis, Bithynia and Theodoxus usually live in a rocky habitat, while the other shells found represent mud-dwelling taxa. Both of the types found in the samples from this research, rock-dwelling taxa and mud-dwelling taxa, are usually living in shallow waters (Tchernov, 1975; Glöer and Pešić, 2012; Heller and Farstay, 1989; Millstein et al., 2012). All of the three layers observed in this research were consistently rich of Melanopsis and Heleobia, while the quantities of other shells, especially Corbicula and Pisidium, varied between samples.

Five of the eight taxa found in the samples from JRD collected for this study are found in the present Sea of Galilee: Unio sp., Corbicula fluminalis, Theodoxus jordani, Bithynia sp. and Melanopsis sp. That possibly indicates similar environment in the present Sea of Galilee and the JRD at the Early and Middle Epipaleolithic periods.

Unio shells were also very common in most of the samples, though the results do not show that. Almost all of the samples contained abundant fragments of Unio shells but it was impossible to count the number of individuals as the fragments were small and thin. As seen in figure 20, showing a part of layer 3B in the Northern wall section, Unio shells are abundant and well preserved, but the shells were very fragile and it proved to be hard to sample the shells without them breaking into small and thin fragments, as mentioned before. The results, therefore, do not reflect the original abundances of Unio shells due to their fragmentation during sampling, sample transport and sample treatment, unlike the results from other taxa which do not break into fragments as easily. The Unio shells were in some cases found as carapaces with both valves attached to each other. However, no shells in life position were found (when in life position the dorsal region of the shell points upwards) (Mischke, S., Oral communication, 19. September 2016). This possibly indicates that the shells died in a lake shore enviroment and were moved around, causing them to break, by wave motions in the water.

Figure 20 - A part of layer 3B from the Northern wall section. The red arrow points at an Unio carapace with both valves attached to each other in a non-life position.

Corbicula and Pisidium were the only taxa that were not found in every sample, except Bithynia that was found in every sample but sample 88. Samples 88 and 100 are from the top (88) and bottom (100) of the layer. The two samples, 88 and 100, might possibly have been contaminated by the layers above and beneath while collecting the samples due to unclear boundaries between the shell-layer and the mud-layers above and beneath. Sample 102 is from the very bottom of the layer, or maybe completely from the layer below (figure 4).

Two samples from layer 4, 831 and 832, are different from the rest of the samples in the layer and layers 3B and 3C. The shell quantities from samples 831 and 832 are significantly higher than from the other 18 samples collected for this research. Samples 128 and 357 show similar quantity trends as seen in layers 3B and 3C, while samples 831 and 832 show greater shell quantities. Layer 4 suddenly inclines from East to West at the Southern wall section, indicating something unusual from the other layers studied here. The difference between samples 831 and 832 and samples 128 and 357 suggests that the East-West inclining part of layer 4, including the sample location of 832, might possibly be a different layer. Knowing that sample 831, taken from the unexcavated (or not excavated as much as the rest of the site) square, was taken from the same height as sample 832 at the south wall makes it possible to assume that both of the samples, 831 and 832, come from the East-West inclining part of layer 4. The difference might indicate changes in the environment rather than representing a different layer, but only two samples were collected from the East-West inclining layer which makes it hard to determine what the results represent.

There is a significant shell quantity trend in layers 3B, 3C and samples 128 and 357 from layer 4 where Melanopsis and Heleobia (and Unio) are the most common taxa. That indicates that the ecological conditions of the layers during the time of the deposition of the sediment must have been similar for the different layers as there are no major differences between them.

The results of the preservation state assessment from the samples show no major differences between layers, apart from the preservation state increasing from either North to South or South to North. The preservation state of the shells from the layers is more than 50% well or exceedingly well preserved overall, and therefore it can be stated that the shells from the samples from the three layers are rather well preserved. The preservation state assessment possibly indicates that the movement of the water was not of high intensity, such as in rivers for example. The shells might have been transported along the shore of a lake, but not for a long time as they are rather well preserved as mentioned before, but may have been concentrated by wave action before being buried by new sediments.

The layers show similar preservation of the shells and share the same mollusc shell taxa. Therefore, for the approximately 4,000-5,000 years the three layers represent, the setting of the layers seems to be similar. However, other sediments are between the shell-rich layers which indicate different environmental conditions between the setting of the shell-rich layers.

6 Conclusions

The three layers studied for this research were rich of mollusc shell taxa that usually live in shallow freshwater or brackish water. The preservation state of the mollusc shells and their quantities indicate that the JRD was a margin of a lake where the shells were washed together and then buried relatively quickly in a near-shore position. With the information gathered in this study, the conclusion is that the JRD site must have been a shore of the ancient Hula Lake at the time of the sediment setting approximately 16,000-13,000 years ago.

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