agriculture (Zohary & Speigel-Roy, 1975; Zohary &. Hopf, 1988). ..... Brun, Eds) Oil and Wine Production in the Mediterranean Area. Bulletin de Correspondence ...
Journal of Archaeological Science (1997) 24, 1141–1150
Evidence for Earliest Olive-Oil Production in Submerged Settlements off the Carmel Coast, Israel Ehud Galili Marine Archaeology Branch, Israel Antiquities Authority, P.O. Box 180, Atlit 30350, Israel
Daniel Jean Stanley Deltas-Global Change Program, Paleobiology, E-206 NMNH, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C. 20560, U.S.A.
Jacob Sharvit Marine Archaeology Branch, Israel Antiquities Authority, P.O. Box 180, Atlit 30350, Israel
Mina Weinstein-Evron The Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, Haifa 31905, Israel (Received 29 May 1996, revised manuscript accepted 7 January 1997) Thousands of crushed olive stones with olive pulp are concentrated in pits at the Kfar Samir prehistoric settlement off the Carmel coast south of Haifa. Observations at this site, and at other Late Neolithic to Early Chalcolithic offshore settlements in this region, record an olive-oil technology that began along the Carmel coastal plain as early as 6500 years ago. This is about 500 years earlier than previously held. These new finds help define the technology of olive-oil production and refine the chronological definition of cultural units along the southern Levant coast during the 7th millennium , a time of major transition between the end of the Neolithic and beginning of the Chalcolithic. ? 1997 Academic Press Limited
Keywords: CARMEL COAST, ISRAEL, SUBMERGED SETTLEMENTS, LATE NEOLITHIC, OLIVE-OIL EXTRACTION.
Introduction
P
rehistoric sites on the sea floor off Israel’s Mediterranean coast are now being exposed for the first time in thousands of years as a result of sand quarrying, construction, altered nearshore erosion (Nir, 1982; Galili, Weinstein-Evron & Ronen, 1988) and River Nile modification (Stanley & Warne, 1993). Ongoing underwater archaeological excavations detailing these now-submerged coastal settlements in the southern Levant (Galili & Weinstein-Evron, 1985; Galili, Dahari & Sharvit, 1993; Galili et al., 1993) are recovering remarkably well-preserved finds, including organic remains. Of special interest is new evidence for ancient olive-oil production, a technology previously believed to have begun in the Levant, further to the east of the submerged sites and at a later period (Eitam, 1987, 1993; Neef, 1990; Epstein, 1993).
Wild olive (Olea europaea L.) occurs widely in the Mediterranean basin, where it is a prominent and economically important crop. However, only isolated remains of olive branches or olive stones have been found in settlements of the Palaeolithic (Liphschitz, 1986, 1987; Liphschitz et al., 1991; Kislev, Nadel & Carmi, 1992) and Neolithic periods (Liphschitz, 1986; Runnels & Hansen, 1986; Hadjisavvas, 1992; Galili et al. 1993). Fruit-tree domestication, including the olive, became established after the Neolithic grain agriculture (Zohary & Speigel-Roy, 1975; Zohary & Hopf, 1988). Olive domestication is generally attributed to the Chalcolithic in the 6th millennium . Of the various fruits, olives are not eaten raw, and hence it is expected that widespread exploitation of olive fruit began with development of techniques for olive-oil extraction (Kislev, 1994–1995). There are indications of olive-oil extraction at some Late Chalcolithic sites
1141 0305–4403/97/121141+10 $25.00/0/as970193
? 1997 Academic Press Limited
1142 E. Galili et al. 50 km (b)
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Figure 1. (a) Map showing the study area of Israel’s northern coast. (b) Submerged prehistoric sites off the Carmel coast examined in this study. (c) Positions of installations at the Kfar Samir site discussed in text (sea-floor depth, in m below m.s.l).
in Samaria (Eitam, 1993), the Jordan Valley (Neef, 1990), and the Golan Heights (Epstein, 1993), and more ample evidence for younger Bronze Age olive-oil extraction in the Levant (Liphschitz et al., 1991) and other areas of the eastern Mediterranean (Zohary & Speigel-Roy, 1975; Zohary & Hopf, 1988). In this paper we present new evidence for the use of olives in the Late Neolithic–Chalcolithic period, preceding former evidence by some 500 years.
The Finds Pertinent to olive-oil extraction technology is a remarkable abundance of prehistoric remains, recently discovered in a narrow, almost continuous submerged belt that parallels the Carmel coast, from Haifa to south of Atlit (Figure 1(b)). This 15 km-long stretch lies just seaward of the present shoreline, and is about 400 m wide. Submerged settlements in this sector include Atlit-Yam, a Pre-Pottery Neolithic site dated to the 8th millennium (Galili et al., 1993), and five
Late-Pottery Neolithic to Early Chalcolithic sites (belonging to a cultural phase locally called Wadi Rabah) dating from the 7th millennium (Table 1). The five Wadi Rabah sites, now at water depths of 1–5 m, are from north to south (Figure 1(b)): Kfar Samir, Kfar Galim, Tel Hreiz, Megadim and Neve-Yam (Wreschner, 1983; Galili & Weinstein-Evron, 1985; Galili, Weinstein-Evron & Ronen, 1988; Galili, Weinstein-Evron & Zohary, 1989; Galili & Schick, 1990; Galili & Sharvit, 1994–1995). Besides the assemblages of the Wadi Rabah cultural stage, some remains of the early 7th millennium Lodian culture (Table 1) have recently been recorded at the Neve-Yam site south of Atlit (Figure 1(b)). Neither individual nor concentrated olive stones are observed at the older Pre-Pottery Neolithic Atlit-Yam site (Galili, Weinstein-Evron & Zohary, 1989). In marked contrast, abundant olive stones are scattered in and between installations at four of the Wadi Rabah sites (Kfar Samir, Kfar Galim, Megadim, Tel Hreiz). There are small areas (mostly 1–2 m2) that locally comprise thousands of remarkably well-preserved olive stones embedded in mud deposits.
Evidence for Earliest Olive-Oil Production 1143 Table 1. Prehistoric periods and cultural units (8th–6th millennia ) in the southern Levant(modified after Gopher, 1993) and 14C dates of Kfar Samir site. Circled numbers refer to dated olive stones
Periods and cultural units
Radiocarbon dated samples (in uncalibrated years BP)
Ghassulian
Chalcolithic
5000
5500
17
1
20 18 19
2
3
6000
4 7 8
9
10 11 12
6500 14
Lodian
13 15
7000 Yarmoukian
Pottery Neolithic
Wadi Rabah
5 6
16
7500
The installations where olives are found include pits (Figure 1(c), installations 4–10; Figure 2(a)–(c)) and water wells (to >2 m deep) constructed with undressed stones and tree branch fragments (Figure 1(c), installations 3, 113; Figures 2(d) & 3(a) & (b)). Also documented are paved floors, hearths, stone basins (Figure 4), concave mortars and grinding tools of diverse lithologies, flint artefacts, potsherds, baskets made of woven reed (Figure 5), mat fragments, wooden bowls (Figure 6) and animal bones. Strong winter storms of 1993–1994 removed a >1 m thick cover of sand, resulting in fortuitous exposure at the Kfar Samir site of four installations filled with crushed olive stones and pulp concentrate (Figures 2(a) & 7(a, b)). Two types of olive-filled installations are observed. The first type (Figure 1(c), installation 6) is an unlined circular pit, 60 cm in diameter and 50 cm deep, dug in stiff mud and containing abundant olive stones and dark brown organic matter that cover a layer of limestone pebbles at the base of the pit. The content is embedded in alternate layers of olives
(whole, crushed and pulp) and soft organic clay (Figures 2(a) & 7(a, b)). The pit also contains small water-logged reeds, tree-branch fragments and straw. The second type, also an unlined pit dug in stiff mud, ranges from approximately 50 to 100 cm in diameter and up to 50 cm in depth, and is filled with plant remains, mainly olive stones (Figure 1(c), installation 7), and two others found approximately 300 m further south. One-third of the content (c. 27 liters) of pit No. 6 was recovered for analysis. Approximately half of this material consists of water-logged olive stones and associated organic matter identified as olive pulp, while the remainder is mainly soft mud. Fragments of olive-fruit epidermis and pulp were identified also through microscopic analysis. Similar epidermis tissues are observed in modern wastes of olive-oil extraction. About 73% of the olive stones are crushed, showing sharp edges (Figure 8(c)); the remaining stones are whole and in an excellent state of preservation (Figure 8(b)). Fills at the other three installations containing abundant olive remains also reveal that most olive stones are crushed. This mix of olive stones and pulp in fills of Kfar Samir pits is interpreted as waste from oil extraction. Such material, which is today found in the Levant, is commonly called by the Arabic term ‘‘jift’’, which probably derived from the ancient Hebrew term ‘‘gefet’’ (Mishnah, Sabbath 3: 2). Similar finds, younger than those at Kfar Samir, have been identified in some Chalcolithic sites in the Jordan valley (Neef, 1990). Pollen analyses of fossil and recent ‘‘gefet’’ sediments were conducted to reconstruct the vegetation of the area surrounding the sites, and to determine possible human impact. Pollen counts of two samples from Kfar Samir, together with a recent ‘‘gefet’’ sample are given in Table 2. The recent ‘‘gefet’’ was taken from an active olive-pressing installation at Daliyat al Carmel, some 15 km south-east of Kfar Samir, at an elevation of 400 m (Figure 1). In all samples, olive pollen is very abundant, ranging from some 23 to 35% in the fossil samples, to as high as 43% in the recent Daliyat al Carmel sample. This is taken to represent the proximity of olive trees to the oil-extraction sites. Other pollen types include Pinus halepensis (1·6–2·7%), Quercus calliprinos (up to 1·6%), Chenopodiaceae (26–43%), Lamiaceae (1·4–3·7%) and large amounts of Convolvulus sp. pollen (up to 18%) in the fossil spectra, while in the recent samples Ceratonia siliqua (15·3%), Apiaceae (6·7%), Liliaceae (5·5%), Asteraceae (3·1%) and Fabaceae (2·4%) are more abundant. Altogether, the fossil spectra are more varied than the recent one. The dominant types are typically Mediterranean with some local variations. Detailed 14C dating of the Kfar Samir finds was aimed at establishing the chronological framework of this new evidence. Results of the 14C determinations are summarized in Table 3, where both uncalibrated and calibrated dates are listed. Uncalibrated dates are used in the discussion from this point on, since a
1144 E. Galili et al.
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
Dark hard clay
Limestone pebbles
Olive pulp with clay
Flat paving stones
Soft grey clay
Wooden branches
Olive stones and pulp
Untrimmed stones
Figure 2. Schematic depiction of various installations discovered at submerged Kfar Samir site off the Carmel coast: (a) Round pit (diameter=60 cm) with pebbles at base, filled with thousands of olive stones and pulp, a few small tree branches and straw (installation No. 6). (b) Round pit (diameter=45 cm) with stone paving at base and filled with soft mud, some olive stones, reeds, mat fragments and straw (installation Nos. 4, 8). (c) Round pit (diameter=120 cm) lined with untrimmed stones and filled with soft mud, some tree branches and olive stones (installations Nos. 5, 9, 10). (d) water well (opening 80#100 cm and >200 cm deep) constructed with alternate layers of tree branches and stones, and filled with soft mud, animal bones, potsherds, flint artefacts, and several dozen olive stones (installations Nos. 3, 113). Installations of type (b) and (c) were also found at Kfar Galim, Tel Hreiz and Megadim sites; type (d) was also recorded at the Kfar Galim site.
Evidence for Earliest Olive-Oil Production 1145
Figure 5. Woven reed fragment found associated with olive stones (scale=20 cm).
Figure 3. Water well constructed from waterlogged tree branches and stones. (a) Before excavation (bar scale=15 cm). (b) After excavation showing alternate layers of tree branches and stones (bar scale=150 cm).
Figure 4. Diver examining stone basin, probably used for crushing olives.
calibrated chronological framework of cultural units in the Levant has not yet been established. This enables comparison of our data with other existing uncalibrated dates for various cultural entities in the region. Twenty dates were obtained from samples 1–20, recovered at the site (Table 3). Ten samples
Figure 6. Wooden bowl from Kfar Samir site.
(2–5, 7, 11, 17–20) of olive stones and pulp provide dates ranging from 6500&70 to 5630&55 years . Four additional samples from this site are dated within this same time range: a small tree-branch fragment from pit No. 6 (sample 6) recovered with
1146 E. Galili et al.
Figure 7. Installation No. 6 from Kfar Samir. (a) Before excavation. (b) After partial excavation, showing the limestone pebbles in its bottom (bar scale=20 cm).
the above-dated olive stones and pulp; a woven mat fragment from pit No. 8 (sample 9; Carmi & Segal, 1990, 1992, 1994–1995) found with some undated olive stones; and two small tree-branch fragments from installations No. 5 and No. 9 (samples 8 & 10; Carmi, 1987). In addition to the 10 above dates, six other samples from this site were dated: five treebranch fragments (1, 12–15; cf. Carmi, 1987), and a bowl carved from a carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua) trunk (sample 16, Carmi & Segal, 1990). Five of these dates are older, by 50–200 years, than the olive stones recovered at the site (Table 3). The radiocarbon dates indicate that olive extraction at Kfar Samir started as early as c. 6500 years .
Discussion and Conclusions
Figure 8. (a) Mix of crushed olive stones and pulp, identified as waste from olive oil extraction (‘‘gefet’’), from installation No. 6. (b) Well-preserved whole olive stones. (c) Crushed olive stones, with sharp edges. (Bar scale=1 cm.)
The in situ association of concentrated broken olive stones and pulp, found in the Kfar Samir installations, provides conclusive evidence for olive-oil extraction at the site. Olive stones had already been crushed and broken when originally placed in these structures, and were not abraded by marine erosion after they were deposited in the pits. This is indicated by: (a) the well-preserved unbroken olive stones found together
with broken, sharp-edged olive stones, (b) the presence of soft olive pulp and preservation of this material within undisturbed mud in the pits, and (c) the phenomenon of alternate layers of olive stones, pulp and clay in a symmetrical circular pit, which demonstrates that the finds were not disturbed by marine erosion.
Evidence for Earliest Olive-Oil Production 1147 Table 2. Pollen spectra (percentages) of fossil and recent waste from olive-oil extraction (‘‘gefet’’) Sample Pollen type Quercus calliprinos Quercus ithaburensis Rhus sp. Pistacia sp. Pinus halepensis Olea europaea Rosaceae Ceratonia siliqua Tamarix sp. Eucalyptus sp. Poaceae Chenopodiaceae Plantago lanceolata Euphorbiaceae Asteraceae, Asteroidae Asteraceae, Cichorioideae Artemisia monosperma Centaurea sp. Lamiaceae Apiaceae Dipsacaceae Fabaceae Liliaceae Polygonaceae Sacropoterium spinosum Ranunculaceae Convolvulus sp. Rubiaceae Primulaceae Scrophulariaceae Ephedra sp. Total counted
Recent Fossil K. Samir (a) K. Samir (b) Mt Carmel 0·74 0·15 0·59 0·45 1·63 23·48 0·15 0·00 0·74 0·00 9·66 26·15 0·15 0·89 0·15 0·30 0·00 0·15 3·71 1·93 2·08 0·00 0·00 0·30 0·30 5·50 17·98 1·34 1·49 0·00 0·00
1·63 0·27 0·27 0·82 2·72 35.33 2·99 0·00 0·00 0·00 2·17 42·93 1·09 0·27 0·54 0·00 0·27 0·00 1·36 2·72 0·82 0·00 1·09 0·00 1·09 0·54 0·82 0·00 0·00 0·00 0·27
0·60 0·00 0·00 0·00 0·00 43.30 1·90 15·30 0·00 6·10 1·80 3·70 0·00 0·00 3·10 0·00 1·20 0·00 1·80 6·70 0·00 2·40 5·50 0·00 1·20 0·60 0·00 0·00 0·00 0·60 4·20
673
368
164
The remarkable preservation of olive stones and associated matter was enabled by a combination of the stiff clay in which the pits were embedded and the protective layer of sand that had covered the pits for thousands of years until recent exposure (Galili & Nir, 1993). Many of the diverse artefacts found at Kfar Samir and at other submerged Carmel coast sites may have been used specifically for the production of olive oil: stone basins (Figure 4), concave mortars, grinding and chopping tools are all suitable for crushing olives. Comparable tools attributed to olive-oil industry have been recovered in somewhat younger Chalcolithic sites in the Golan Heights (Epstein, 1993). Installation No. 6 at Kfar Samir is similar to round rock-cut Chalcolithic features in Samaria, which are particularly well-suited for olive-oil extraction (Eitam, 1993). Limestone pebbles at the bottom of pit No. 6 (Figure 2(a)) may have been used to drain liquids pressed from the crushed olives. Also of note are woven mats (Figure 5) and reeds, associated with olive stones, in various pits at Kfar Samir. Straw and reed fragments, such as those found in pit No. 6, are interpreted as plant strainers placed under crushed olives and on top of pebbles used in the pressing process. Baskets similar to the one
found at Kfar Samir (Figure 5) are still being used today for pressing olives. The pressing basket is called ‘‘eqel’’ in Hebrew (a term which appears in the Mishna) and ‘‘quffe’’ (basket) in Arabic (Avitsur, 1994: 99–101). Two methods for domestic olive-oil extraction were used in antiquity, both requiring the crushing of the fruit (Eitam, 1993): (a) pouring hot water on the crushed olives to float off the oil (‘‘washed oil’’ method termed in Hebrew ‘‘shemen rahuttz’’; Stager, 1983), and (b) separating the oil by simply pressing the crushed olives (‘‘crushed oil’’ method termed ‘‘shemen katit’’, Exhodus 27: 20). Our finds indicate that oil extraction at the Carmel coast settlements was accomplished by one of these methods. In the installations at Kfar Samir, however, the content of the pits reaches the surface, leaving no room for pouring hot water onto the crushed olives. It is conceivable that at some stage marine erosion had abraded the surface layer of the site clay, removing the upper part of the structure that could have contained water. Furthermore, waste of olive-oil extraction was sometimes used as fuel for heating and cooking fires (Neef, 1990; Epstein, 1993), therefore the possibility that the pits were used for storage, rather than extraction, has been considered also. However, the limestone pebbles in the bottom of pit No. 6, the remnants of strainers and the absence of charred olive stones at the site suggest that it had been used for oil extraction. Archaeobotanical and palynological data indicate that the olive tree has been present in the flora of this region during most of the Quaternary (e.g. Liphschitz et al., 1991; Zohary & Speigel-Roy, 1975; Horowitz, 1979). Wild olives were common in western Galilee and Mount Carmel in antiquity, and remain so today (Liphschitz, 1987; Zohary & Hopf, 1988). It is difficult to distinguish between olive stones of wild forms and those of cultivated varieties (Neef, 1990; Liphschitz et al., 1991; Zohary & Hopf, 1988). Nevertheless, it was recently suggested by Kislev (1994–1995), based on metric comparisons between the Kfar Samir olive stones and those of recent (domesticated and wild) specimens, that the Kfar Samir olives had been picked from the wild. As already mentioned, the pollen spectra from both recent and fossil sediments are very rich in olive pollen. The exceptionally high ratios of olive pollen in the fossil spectra, compared with previously analysed spectra from the Mount Carmel area (Horowitz, 1979), including the submerged sites (Galili & WeinsteinEvron, 1985; Galili et al., 1993), may indicate the proximity of olive stands or orchards to the olive-oil extraction installations. The abundance of olive pollen in the recent sample taken from an oil-pressing installation, located near the olive groves that supply the fruits, supports this view. The recent Mount Carmel spectrum exhibits high ratios of Ceratonia siliqua, trees of which grow in the close vicinity. The fossil samples, however, exhibit relatively high Chenopodiaceae levels, which suggest a nearby saline, coastal environment
1148 E. Galili et al. Table 3. Radiocarbon dates from the submerged Kfar Samir site; samples 2–5, 7, 17–20 and 11 are dated olive stones and pulp (BETA=Beta Analytic Inc., Miami, Florida, U.S.A.; PTA=Pretoria Lab., South Africa; RT=Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel). Calibration was carried out according to Stuvier & Reimer (1993) Sample No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Lab. ref.
Material
Location (Figure 1(c))
Uncalibrated date (yrs. )
Calibrated date (yrs. )
BETA-82851 BETA-82845 BETA-82843 BETA-82846 BETA-82847 BETA-82848 BETA-82844 BETA-82849 RT-855 RT-682B BETA-82715 RT-682A PTA-3820 PTA-3821 BETA-82850 RT-1360 RT-1929A RT-1898 RT-1930 RT-1929
Tree branch Olive stones Olive stones Olive stones Olive stones Tree branch Olive stones Tree branch Woven mat Tree branch Olive pulp Tree branch Tree branch Tree branch Tree branch Wooden bowl Olive stones Olive stones Olive stones Olive stones
Water well 113 Installation (pit) 6 Installation (pit) 7 Installation (pit) 6 Installation (pit) 6 Installation (pit) 6 Installation (pit) 7 Installation (pit) 9 Installation (pit) 8 Installation (pit) 5 Installation (pit) 6 Installation (pit) 3 Installation (pit) 5 Water well 3 Installation (pit) 10 200 m south of Installation no. 7 Installation (pit) 7 Installation (pit) 6 Installation (pit) 6 Installation (pit) 7
5860&140 6080&70 6100&60 6210&150 6210&80 6230&80 6290&60 6350&90 6420&120 6470&130 6500&70 6670&160 6830&80 6830&160 6940&60 7260&80 5630&55 5790&55 5870&70 5630&55
5055–4435 5215–4815 5215–4855 5435–4790 5290–4935 5305–4950 5320–5070 5440–5070 5567–5088 5503–5307 5530–5280 5716–5675 5748–5632 5780–5580 5940–5665 6165–5999 4719–4569 4719–4569 4835–4625 4516–4367
(Galili & Weinstein-Evron, 1985). This indicates the proximity of the olive trees to the recently discovered oil-extraction installations at Kfar Samir. To date, it is not possible to differentiate palynologically between wild and domesticated olives. The occurrence of ruderal plants (Dipsacaceae) and, especially, of Ranunculaceae and Convolvulus sp. pollen, may indicate some kind of human interference. Many Convolvulaceae are weeds, like the two common Convolvulus species (C. arvensis and C. betonicifolius). The Chenopodium-type pollen, quite abundant within the Chenopodiaceae, may also represent weedy plants. This may suggest an initial stage of management of olive (wild or domesticated) trees, which would not yet be discernible in the metric properties of olive stones. The olive trees that supplied the fruits for oil extraction at Kfar Samir could thus have grown on the nearby western slopes of the mountain, the alluvial trough which separates it from the kurkar ridge adjacent to the site, or on the ridge itself. Stands of wild olives can be found today on the coastal ridge east of Atlit-Yam (Galili & Weinstein-Evron, 1985). We suggest that readily available wild olive trees, along with ample fresh water supply from wells, contributed to the initiation of olive-oil technology on the Carmel coastal plane. Moreover, the positioning of sites immediately adjacent to the coast also may have contributed to the exploitation of the wild olive trees. We assume that availability of salt and/or salt water just to the west of the settlements may have been used in the preparation of edible olives. Information available for the Neolithic in Israel (Gilead, 1988; Gopher, 1993; Gopher & Gophna, 1993; Kuijt & Bar-Yosef, 1994) serves as a base with which to interpret archaeological material discovered
at the submerged Carmel coastal sites where olives were found. A recent study of such prehistoric settlements to the east of the study area has refined knowledge of the chronology of cultural entities (Yarmukian, Lodian, Wadi Rabah, Ghassulian), from the end of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic to the Early Chalcolithic; a time-span ranging from the 8th to the 7th millennium (Table 1). Of the four entities, many of the offshore finds can be attributed to the Wadi Rabah culture, and are comparable to Wadi Rabah inland sites. This culture spans most of the 7th millennium, but only a limited number of radiocarbon dates is available for these inland sites (Gopher & Gophna, 1993). The submerged Carmel coast settlements where olive remains are discovered were initially attributed to the first half of the 7th millennium (Gopher & Gophna, 1993). However, on the basis of the new radiocarbon dates from Kfar Samir presented here (Table 3), it now appears that the Wadi Rabah culture prevailed along the Carmel coast during most of the 7th millennium and almost to its very end. Our study indicates that olive-oil production started by the mid-7th millennium in coastal settlements, positioned along the Carmel promontory between Haifa and Atlit, and almost 1000 years after abandonment of the older Pre-Pottery Neolithic Atlit-Yam settlement. No direct evidence for olive-oil extraction has yet been reported from inland Wadi Rabah sites of the Levant, and hence the submerged Carmel settlements provide the earliest known record for this activity. Human dwellings are not found at the sites where olive oil was extracted, and the studied coastal sector is thus interpreted as a type of ‘‘special industry’’ zone, which included olive-oil extraction. It is likely
Evidence for Earliest Olive-Oil Production 1149
that the now-submerged installations were used by populations living in settlements positioned east of the shore, on adjacent coastal kurkar ridges and on Mount Carmel’s western slopes. Carmel coast settlements, inevitably affected by rising sea level during the Early to Mid-Holocene (Galili, Weinstein-Evron & Ronen, 1988; Stanley & Warne, 1993), were in time displaced landwards to higher ground on the adjoining coastal plain. We postulate that olive-oil production, which began along the Carmel coast in the Late Neolithic, had by Chalcolithic time shifted inland to other areas of the southern Levant. During the Bronze Age this activity then spread to the west (Simmonds, 1976; Liphschitz, 1986; Gilead, 1988) and became dispersed along increasing stretches of the Mediterranean basin margins.
Acknowledgements The manuscript was reviewed by D. Eitam, A. N. Ellis, S. L. Soter, and E. Wright. We thank the Israel Antiquities Authority, U.S. National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Short-Term Visitor Program and National Geographic Society for funding the project, Prof D. Zohary for his assistance during the early phase of this study, Prof A. Gopher for his useful remarks, S. Ben Yehuda for assistance in editing the manuscript, J. Galili for underwater photographs and C. Bassan for olive stone photographs.
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