Gilgal I
Encyclopedia
Gilgal I was an ancient village in the Jordan
Valley first excavated by Tamar Noy in 1979. It became further notable as a Neolithic
archaeological site in 2005 when Ofer Bar-Yosef of Harvard University and Mordechai E. Kislev and Anat Hartmann of Bar-Ilan University released details of their excavations. They showed caches of selectively propagated fig
seeds, stored together with wild barley
, wild oat
, and acorns in quantities too large to be accounted for even by intensive gathering
, at strata dateable c. 11,500 years ago.
Some of the plants tried and then abandoned during the Neolithic period in the Ancient Near East, at sites like Gilgal I, were later successfully domesticated in other parts of the world.
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
Valley first excavated by Tamar Noy in 1979. It became further notable as a Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
archaeological site in 2005 when Ofer Bar-Yosef of Harvard University and Mordechai E. Kislev and Anat Hartmann of Bar-Ilan University released details of their excavations. They showed caches of selectively propagated fig
Ficus
Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...
seeds, stored together with wild barley
Barley
Barley is a major cereal grain, a member of the grass family. It serves as a major animal fodder, as a base malt for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various health foods...
, wild oat
Oat
The common oat is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name . While oats are suitable for human consumption as oatmeal and rolled oats, one of the most common uses is as livestock feed...
, and acorns in quantities too large to be accounted for even by intensive gathering
Intensive gathering
Intensive gathering entails the tending-to of wild plants. Intensive gathering or "tending" methods include weeding, discouraging predators, pot-irrigation, and limited harvesting to ensure reproduction. The same system of methods is involved in cultivation, a process which additionally requires...
, at strata dateable c. 11,500 years ago.
Some of the plants tried and then abandoned during the Neolithic period in the Ancient Near East, at sites like Gilgal I, were later successfully domesticated in other parts of the world.
Literature
- Bar-Yosef, O. Gopher, A. Goring-Morris, A.N., Gilgal: Early Neolithic Occupations in the Lower Jordan Valley, The Excavations of Tamar Noy American School of Prehistoric Research Monograph Series 4Brill Academic Publishers, 2005.
- Noy, T. Kozłowski, S.K., A Basket of Flint Artefacts from House 11 at Gilgal I, Locus 37/42, Kozłowski and Gebel (eds.) 1996, Neolithic Chipped Stone Industries of the Fertile Crescent, and Their Contemporaries in Adjacent Regions, Studies in Early Near Eastern Production, Subsistence and Environment 3, ex oriente, Berlin, 271-288, 1996.
- Noy, T., Gilgal I - A Pre-Pottery Neolithic Site Israel - The 1985-1987 Seasons, Paléorient, 15/1, 11-18, 1989
- Noy, T., Stone Cup-Holes and Querns from Gilgal 1: a Pre Pottery Neolithic A Site in Israel, Paléorient, 5, 1979