Experimental Barley Flour Production in 12,500-Year-Old Rock-Cut Mortars in Southwestern Asia.
Experimental archaeology at a Natufian site in the Southern Levant documents for the first time the use of 12,500-year-old rock-cut mortars for producing wild barley flour, some 2,000 to 3,000 years before cereal cultivation. Our reconstruction involved processing wild barley on the prehistoric thre...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2015-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4521830?pdf=render |
| _version_ | 1828382405360091136 |
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| author | David Eitam Mordechai Kislev Adiel Karty Ofer Bar-Yosef |
| author_facet | David Eitam Mordechai Kislev Adiel Karty Ofer Bar-Yosef |
| author_sort | David Eitam |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Experimental archaeology at a Natufian site in the Southern Levant documents for the first time the use of 12,500-year-old rock-cut mortars for producing wild barley flour, some 2,000 to 3,000 years before cereal cultivation. Our reconstruction involved processing wild barley on the prehistoric threshing floor, followed by use of the conical mortars (a common feature in Natufian sites), thereby demonstrating the efficient peeling and milling of hulled grains. This discovery complements nearly 80 years of investigations suggesting that the Natufians regularly harvested almost-ripe wild cereals using sickles hafted with flint blades. Sickles had been replicated in the past and tested in the field for harvesting cereals, thusly obtaining the characteristic sheen along the edge of the hafted flint blades as found in Natufian remnants. Here we report that Natufian wide and narrow conical mortars enabled the processing of wild barley for making the groats and fine flour that provided considerable quantities of nourishment. Dishes in the Early Natufian (15,000-13,500 CalBP) were groat meals and porridge and subsequently, in the Late Natufian (13,500-11,700 CalBP), we suggest that unleavened bread made from fine flour was added. These food preparing techniques widened the dietary breadth of the sedentary Natufian hunter-gatherers, paving the way to the emergence of farming communities, the hallmark of the Neolithic Revolution. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T04:32:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-770baf1d2bb34404816a396d97bcc306 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T04:32:19Z |
| publishDate | 2015-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-770baf1d2bb34404816a396d97bcc3062022-12-22T02:02:07ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032015-01-01107e013330610.1371/journal.pone.0133306Experimental Barley Flour Production in 12,500-Year-Old Rock-Cut Mortars in Southwestern Asia.David EitamMordechai KislevAdiel KartyOfer Bar-YosefExperimental archaeology at a Natufian site in the Southern Levant documents for the first time the use of 12,500-year-old rock-cut mortars for producing wild barley flour, some 2,000 to 3,000 years before cereal cultivation. Our reconstruction involved processing wild barley on the prehistoric threshing floor, followed by use of the conical mortars (a common feature in Natufian sites), thereby demonstrating the efficient peeling and milling of hulled grains. This discovery complements nearly 80 years of investigations suggesting that the Natufians regularly harvested almost-ripe wild cereals using sickles hafted with flint blades. Sickles had been replicated in the past and tested in the field for harvesting cereals, thusly obtaining the characteristic sheen along the edge of the hafted flint blades as found in Natufian remnants. Here we report that Natufian wide and narrow conical mortars enabled the processing of wild barley for making the groats and fine flour that provided considerable quantities of nourishment. Dishes in the Early Natufian (15,000-13,500 CalBP) were groat meals and porridge and subsequently, in the Late Natufian (13,500-11,700 CalBP), we suggest that unleavened bread made from fine flour was added. These food preparing techniques widened the dietary breadth of the sedentary Natufian hunter-gatherers, paving the way to the emergence of farming communities, the hallmark of the Neolithic Revolution.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4521830?pdf=render |
| spellingShingle | David Eitam Mordechai Kislev Adiel Karty Ofer Bar-Yosef Experimental Barley Flour Production in 12,500-Year-Old Rock-Cut Mortars in Southwestern Asia. PLoS ONE |
| title | Experimental Barley Flour Production in 12,500-Year-Old Rock-Cut Mortars in Southwestern Asia. |
| title_full | Experimental Barley Flour Production in 12,500-Year-Old Rock-Cut Mortars in Southwestern Asia. |
| title_fullStr | Experimental Barley Flour Production in 12,500-Year-Old Rock-Cut Mortars in Southwestern Asia. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Experimental Barley Flour Production in 12,500-Year-Old Rock-Cut Mortars in Southwestern Asia. |
| title_short | Experimental Barley Flour Production in 12,500-Year-Old Rock-Cut Mortars in Southwestern Asia. |
| title_sort | experimental barley flour production in 12 500 year old rock cut mortars in southwestern asia |
| url | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4521830?pdf=render |
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