Columbarium Towers and Other Structures In the Environs of Shivta

Hirschfeld, Yizhar; Tepper, Yotam

doi:10.1179/033443506788991514

Cited by 7 publications

(16 citation statements)

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“…Against this background, we discuss a unique archaeological context dated to the 6 th century CE, in which catastrophic mortality in a pigeon tower allowed excellent preservation of numerous bone specimens from a single pigeon flock, including articulated individuals and a complete skull. The pigeon tower has been part of an intensively cultivated hinterland of the desert Byzantine settlement of Subeita (present day Shivta, western Negev, Israel; Fig 1 )[ 7 ], which specialized in viticulture for production of the world-famous Gaza wine. It has been suggested [ 8 ] that the numerous pigeon towers dotting the settlement’s immediate vicinity supplied fertilizer for the region’s prohibitively poor soil, and have therefore served as a crucial component of Shivta’s agricultural system.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pigeons at the edge of the empire: Bioarchaeological evidences for extensive management of pigeons in a Byzantine desert settlement in the southern Levant

Marom¹,

Rosen²,

Tepper³

et al. 2018

PLoS ONE

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Metric data of 6th century CE pigeons from the Negev Desert, Israel, are employed to test competing hypotheses on flock management strategies: that directed selection for size or shape took place under intensive management; or, alternatively, that stabilizing selection was a stronger determinant of size and shape under extensive management conditions. The results of the analysis support the second hypothesis by demonstrating that the Byzantine Negev pigeons were like wild pigeon (Columba livia) in shape, albeit small-sized. The inferred extensive management system is then discussed in the context of pigeon domestication and human micro-ecologies in marginal regions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pigeons at the edge of the empire: Bioarchaeological evidences for extensive management of pigeons in a Byzantine desert settlement in the southern Levant

Marom¹,

Rosen²,

Tepper³

et al. 2018

PLoS ONE

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“…During the period of economic decline in the Negev Highlands, contracting viticulture around 550 CE coincides with evidence for the termination of dovecotes used as a source of fertilizer at Shivta and Sa'adon (26,38,40). The archaeology of Shivta also suggests Late Byzantine decline, which preceded Islamic resettlement on a much smaller scale (28,48).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…Previous evidence for local viticulture in the Late Antique Negev includes monastic texts (especially fourth to sixth centuries CE), the Nessana papyri (sixth to seventh centuries CE), and several large Byzantine winepresses (9,24,25). Grape pip finds have also been reported in archaeobotanical assemblages from Nessana and the dovecotes of Shivta (23,(26)(27)(28). Recent largescale excavation of midden deposits at the sites of Elusa-the Byzantine urban center of the Negev, Nessana, and Shivta (Figs.…”

Section: Viticulture On the Margins Of The Byzantine Empirementioning

confidence: 85%

The rise and fall of viticulture in the Late Antique Negev Highlands reconstructed from archaeobotanical and ceramic data

Fuks

Bar-Oz

Tepper

et al. 2020

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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The international scope of the Mediterranean wine trade in Late Antiquity raises important questions concerning sustainability in an ancient international economy and offers a valuable historical precedent to modern globalization. Such questions involve the role of intercontinental commerce in maintaining sustainable production within important supply regions and the vulnerability of peripheral regions believed to have been especially sensitive to environmental and political disturbances. We provide archaeobotanical evidence from trash mounds at three sites in the central Negev Desert, Israel, unraveling the rise and fall of viticulture over the second to eighth centuries of the common era (CE). Using quantitative ceramic data obtained in the same archaeological contexts, we further investigate connections between Negev viticulture and circum-Mediterranean trade. Our findings demonstrate interrelated growth in viticulture and involvement in Mediterranean trade reaching what appears to be a commercial scale in the fourth to mid-sixth centuries. Following a mid-sixth century peak, decline of this system is evident in the mid- to late sixth century, nearly a century before the Islamic conquest. These findings closely correspond with other archaeological evidence for social, economic, and urban growth in the fourth century and decline centered on the mid-sixth century. Contracting markets were a likely proximate cause for the decline; possible triggers include climate change, plague, and wider sociopolitical developments. In long-term historical perspective, the unprecedented commercial florescence of the Late Antique Negev appears to have been unsustainable, reverting to an age-old pattern of smaller-scale settlement and survival–subsistence strategies within a time frame of about two centuries.

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“…In the structure 6 dovecote from Shivta, two rooms out of three were completely exposed and were excavated down to bedrock. Shards of sixth century CE cooking pots and lids found on the living surface suggest that this structure was also built in the Byzantine period [ 32 ]. Structure B of Sa'adon did not yield further dateable material.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The site of Shivta is located on a low ridge bonded by two wadies (Zeitan and Qorhah). Adjacent to this site, a round-shaped dovecote (structure 6) was excavated in 2000–2004, yielding a thick layer of debris which was associated with the stage of human use of the structure [ 32 ]. This was indicated by large amounts of pigeon ( Columba livia ) bones and dung [ 33 , 34 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A glimpse of an ancient agricultural ecosystem based on remains of micromammals in the Byzantine Negev Desert

Fried¹,

Weissbrod²,

Tepper³

et al. 2018

R. Soc. open sci.

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It is widely believed that Byzantine agriculture in the Negev Desert (fourth to seventh century Common Era; CE), with widespread construction of terraces and dams, altered local landscapes. However, no direct evidence in archaeological sites yet exists to test this assumption. We uncovered large amounts of small mammalian remains (rodents and insectivores) within agricultural installations built near fields, providing a new line of evidence for reconstructing anthropogenic impact on local habitats. Abandonment layers furnished high abundances of remains, whereas much smaller numbers were retrieved from the period of human use of the structures. Digestion marks are present in low frequencies (20% of long bones and teeth), with a light degree of impact, which indicate the role of owls (e.g. Tyto alba) as the principal means of accumulation. The most common taxa—gerbils (Gerbillus spp.) and jirds (Meriones spp.)—occur in nearly equal frequencies, which do not correspond with any modern Negev communities, where gerbils predominate in sandy low-precipitation environments and jirds in loessial, higher-precipitation ones. Although low-level climate change cannot be ruled out, the results suggest that Byzantine agriculture allowed jirds to colonize sandy anthropogenic habitats with other gerbilids and commensal mice and rats.

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Columbarium Towers and Other Structures In the Environs of Shivta

Cited by 7 publications

References 1 publication

Pigeons at the edge of the empire: Bioarchaeological evidences for extensive management of pigeons in a Byzantine desert settlement in the southern Levant

Pigeons at the edge of the empire: Bioarchaeological evidences for extensive management of pigeons in a Byzantine desert settlement in the southern Levant

The rise and fall of viticulture in the Late Antique Negev Highlands reconstructed from archaeobotanical and ceramic data

A glimpse of an ancient agricultural ecosystem based on remains of micromammals in the Byzantine Negev Desert

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