Fruits of Their Labour: Urbanisation, Orchard Crops, and Dental Health in Early Bronze Age Jordan

Abstract

The analysis of dental remains, which outlast most other tissues in the human body, provides insight into past diet, activity patterns and ancestry. The remains from Bab edh‐Dhra' represent the only skeletal sample available to assess the impact of agricultural intensification in the Early Bronze Age of the southern Levant (ca. 3500–2000 bce). This era ushered in a period of ‘urbanisation’, evidenced by fortified towns, planned roadways, developments in irrigation and growing population density. During this time, the cultivation, trade and consumption of orchard taxa (such as figs, grapes and olives) increased. This paper examines changes in the teeth associated with agricultural intensification involving orchard crops as well as grains. Dental caries, ante mortem tooth loss and dental wear are examined for Early Bronze IA (EBIA; 3500–3300 bce) and Early Bronze II–III (EBII–III; 3100–2300 bce) teeth from the site of Bab edh‐Dhra', located in modern‐day Jordan. Due to the commingling, general tooth groups (e.g. molars) and specific tooth types (e.g. lower left canine) were used to compare periods. Although age and sex could not be identified for every tooth, analyses of crania and os coxae showed no significant difference in demographic profiles of EBIA and EBII–III. No statistically significant increase was found over time in dental caries frequency; however, teeth for which the cause of pulp exposure could be determined suggested that caries increasingly led to exfoliation. Indeed, ante mortem tooth loss rose significantly with time, whereas dental wear decreased. In general, changes in oral health were consistent with an archaeological record of greater consumption of softer, stickier foods, such as fruits. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Status, kinship, and place of burial at Early Bronze Age Bab adh‐Dhra': A biogeochemical comparison of charnel house human remains

“…Alternatively, such nonlocals may be the result of the growth of the town as people immigrated from neighboring areas, and/or as part of exogamous marriage practices. Finally, while both EB II–III A22 and A55 isotope values contrasted with those of the Early EB II charnel house A56—whose members may have been more invested in pastoral practices, corroborating previous paleoethnobotanical (McCreery, , ) and bioarchaeological studies (Ullinger et al, ) at Bab adh‐Dhra'—the small sample size from A56 precludes any definitive conclusions regarding temporal shifts to subsistence strategies and social organization within the Early Bronze Age on the Dead Sea Plain. More data are required to further explore such questions.…”

“…Excavations and subsequent paleoethnobotanical analyses at Bab adh‐Dhra' have revealed that local populations relied heavily on wheat and barley throughout the EB IA and II–III, although by the latter period, fruits such as grapes and figs grew in importance as part the site's expanding local and regional economies (McCreery, , ). Enhanced dependence on a greater variety of cultigens like fruit was corroborated by Ullinger et al (), who found that while rates of carious lesions did not change over time, an increase in antemortem tooth loss and concomitant decrease in dental wear between the EB IA and II–III periods were indicative of the inclusion of a higher frequency of sticky, soft foods like fruit in the diet.…”

“…For human carbon isotope values ( n = 31; = −13.2 ± 0.5‰, 1σ; range: −14.1 to −11.8‰), the Early EB II charnel house A56 possessed the highest δ 13 C ap(VPDB) values (−12.5 to −11.8‰), while the later EB II–III range is restricted to lower values ranging between −14.1 and −12.6‰. This may suggest that C 3 resources became more important between the Early EB II and EB II–III periods, a pattern which fits with prior studies at the site emphasizing the increased importance of barley as well as cultivated fruits such as figs, grapes, and olives (McCreery, , ; Ullinger et al, ), while relying less on secondary products from herds grazing on a mixed C 3 –C 4 diet (Shahack‐Gross & Finkelstein, ; Shomer‐Ilan, Nissenbaum, & Waisel, ). While this could reflect a more mobile (likely semi‐sedentary) lifestyle with a greater emphasis on pastoralism during Early EB II than in the later EB II–III, such interpretations remain tentative given the small number of teeth available for sampling from charnel house A56.…”

“…Nearby EB IA cemeteries at Fifa and Safi were similarly unaccompanied by permanent settlement (Schaub & Rast, ), prompting continued debate as to whether EB IA peoples occupying the southern Levant were semi‐mobile pastoralists (Rast and Schaub, 2003) or more sedentary farmers (Bentley & Perry, ; McCreery, ). Ullinger, Sheridan, and Guatelli‐Steinberg () contended that investment in the mortuary landscape and the sizeable labor force needed to construct so many shaft tombs—coupled with the production of high‐quality ceramics and the cultivation of domesticated cereals and orchard crops—lends support for a more sedentary way of life that may have involved seasonal occupation of the site.…”

Continuity or conquest? A multi‐isotope approach to investigating identity in the Early Iron Age of the Southern Levant

“…Bronze and Iron Age Levantine households engaged in a variety of subsistence strategies spanning a continuum from agriculture to pastoralism (Falconer, ; Lev‐Tov et al, ; Stager, ). Domesticated plant species used by sedentary farmers primarily included C 3 cereals such as wheat and barley but were supplemented by legumes, orchard crops, and edible vine fruits like grapes (Falconer, ; Fall et al, ; Miller, ; Stager, ; Ullinger et al, ). Faunal economies relied chiefly on domesticated sheep and goat, with cattle, pigs, and horse represented in fewer numbers (Falconer, ).…”