OHALO II Location: Sea of Galilee/Tiberias -212 m below sea level Early Epipaleolithic = Kebaran 14C dates ca. 23,000 cal. BP Excavated by Dani Nadel (1989-1990) Extraordinary organic preservation Brush huts Plant remains and wood Skeleton Dani Nadel Dani Nadel, Barcelona 2012 Galilee sea level Ohalo aerial Ohalo photo (Belitsky&Nadel) Ohalo II Photos from Belitzky and Nadel Geoarchaeology 17/5/453-464 (2002) Brush hut map UP-Ohalo Ohalo dates Nadel and Herskovitz 1991 (Current Anthropology) Ohalo map Ohalo site plan Locus 1 is the brush hut Ohalo dist figs 23,24 Ohalo grass bed Ohalo brush hut Ehud Weiss - Ohalo Grass seeds were principal food, along with acorns, almonds, pistachios, olives, raspberries, figs and grapes. Some wild wheat and barley. Small grass seeds require much labor to harvest and process – low return on labor. “The first proof that the broad spectrum hypothesis applies to plants as well as to animals,” according to Wilma Wetterstrom. Ohalo plant dates Ohalo plants Kislev et al 1992 (Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology) Baking Bread? •Starch grains found on grinding stone in hut at Ohalo. •Grains are of Hordeum (barley) •Basalt stone supported on floor with pebbles •Stone-paved, oven-like hearth •Did they bake dough on hot stones? •Baking increases nutritive value of grain Starch Grains on Ohalo Stone Ohalo starch grains Ohalo grd stone Piperno et al Nature 2004 Ohalo hearth-oven Harvard Gazette 2004 Avian fauna •Most birds are waterfowl •Environment was lakeside/marshy •Large birds – ducks, geese, swans - dominate •16 families, 40 genera, 68 species •Grebes are the most abundant can be snared or netted in the water •Autumn and spring harvesting predominate •Most bones burned (roasted) Tachybaptus ruficollis (grebe) Tachybaptus ruficollis (little grebe) Ohalo bird feeding Ohalo bird nesting Simmons and Nadel (1998) International Journal of Osteoarchaeology Hunted Animals •Lots of fish – Lots of Cyprinidae •Fish bones found in “piles” on floors •Some fish were very small – probably netted •Gazella gazella most common •Also Dama, Vulpes and Cervus elaphus Ohalo-fish Density and Distribution of fish vertebrae on house floor. May have been kept in bags. Nadel et al. Current Anthropology (1994) Wooden objects •No remains of hunting, gathering or fishing equipment such as bows, arrows, spears or hooks •8 wooden objects at Ohalo II. •Pencil-shaped pieces with longitudinal shavings •Incised bone object in grave Wooden Objects Ohalo wood V Ohalo wood IV Ohalo object III Nadel et al, 2006 (Journal of Human Evolution) Ohalo incised bone Kebaran lithics (Nigel) Examples of Kebaran lithics from various sites Ohalo skeleton Ohalo man bones Left and right humeri Ohalo II Man •Complete skeleton of man, mid-30s •Same flexed burial position as Ein Gev female, the only other complete skeleton of the period •Lower ribs have ossification and calcification due to chronic osteomylitus (infection as result of trauma) •Scapula, clavicle and humerus on right side are massive and robust and show degenerative wear •Right and left radius and ulna were “normal” size •He suffered from two conditions: osteomylitus of the chest wall, and an adult onset of Erb-Duchenne brachial plexus palsy involving the upper left arm (Herhskovitz et al. Journal of Osteoarchaeology (1993). Nadel et al. Current Anthropology 1994 Ohalo fibers Fibers most likely came from species of Typha, Juncus, Cyperus, Scirpus, Sparganium and Phoenix dactylifera Net bags, fishing or birding nets, and rope/string are likely products