The <i>Avdat in Late Antiquity Project</i>: uncovering the Early Islamic phases of a Byzantine town in the Negev Highlands

Bucking, Scott; Fuks, Daniel; Dunseth, Zachary C.; Schwimer, Lior; Erickson-Gini, Tali

doi:10.15184/aqy.2022.46

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Archaeological coprolites from Avdat were retrieved in the 2016 excavation of the Avdat in Late Antiquity Project by Scott Bucking and Tali Erickson-Gini, which yielded hundreds of dung pellets (Bucking 2017; Bucking and Erickson-Gini 2020; Bucking et al 2022; Erickson-Gini 2022). The particular coprolite assemblage used in this study was preserved by desiccation and comes from a sealed collapse layer dated to the late-medieval, or local Late Islamic period (Table 1, Figure 1) by whole sheep/goat dung pellet (UBA-47071, 418 ± 22 BP, 1σ 1445–1470 cal CE; following acid-only pretreatment).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Minimally Destructive Radiocarbon Dating of Caprine Dung

Fuks,

O’Neill-Munro,

Reimer

et al. 2023

Radiocarbon

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Archaeological dung pellets are time capsules of ancient herbivore diets and gut flora, informing on past agropastoral activity, ecology, and animal health. Improving multi-proxy approaches is key to maximizing this finite archaeological resource. Through experiments with standard pretreatments used in radiocarbon (14C) dating, we address a fundamental problem in maximal multi-proxy analysis: How to chronometrically date individual caprine pellets while conserving as much as possible for additional analyses? We applied acid-alkali-acid (AAA) or acid-only pretreatments to 37 samples of ancient and recent sheep/goat dung pellets from sites in the Negev desert, Israel, measuring weight-loss due to pretreatment. Shavings of outer surfaces and remaining inner pellets of four pairs were dated and compared. We found that (i) sample-specific factors affect pretreatment survivability, including preservation quality and initial sample size; (ii) given sufficient start weight, AAA can be used to pretreat sheep/goat coprolites; (iii) 100 mg appeared a desirable minimum sample weight before pretreatment; and (iv) shavings of coprolites’ outer surface produced 14C dates equivalent to dates obtained from inner coprolites. Whereas standard coprolite analysis protocols discard shavings removed from outer surfaces to avoid contamination, our findings indicate their efficacy for 14C dating. This offers an important addition to workflows for multi-proxy coprolite analysis.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Minimally Destructive Radiocarbon Dating of Caprine Dung

Fuks,

O’Neill-Munro,

Reimer

et al. 2023

Radiocarbon

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“…Here, we report the results of target-enriched genome-wide sequencing on DNA extracted from ancient grape pips found in a sealed stone-built room in the ancient settlement of Avdat (Oboda) in the Negev Highlands ( 23 ). The architectural style in the compound is Byzantine and affronts a cave dwelling space featuring Early Christian monastic wall paintings.…”

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confidence: 99%

Ancient DNA from a lost Negev Highlands desert grape reveals a Late Antiquity wine lineage

Cohen

Baciliéri

Ramos‐Madrigal

et al. 2023

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

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Recent excavations of Late Antiquity settlements in the Negev Highlands of southern Israel uncovered a society that established commercial-scale viticulture in an arid environment [D. Fuks et al. , Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 117 , 19780–19791 (2020)]. We applied target-enriched genome-wide sequencing and radiocarbon dating to examine grapevine pips that were excavated at three of these sites. Our analyses revealed centuries long and continuous grape cultivation in the Southern Levant. The genetically diverse pips also provided clues to ancient cultivation strategies aimed at improving agricultural productivity and ensuring food security. Applying genomic prediction analysis, a pip dated to the eighth century CE was determined to likely be from a white grape, to date the oldest to be identified. In a kinship analysis, another pip was found to be descendant from a modern Greek cultivar and was thus linked with several popular historic wines that were once traded across the Byzantine Empire. These findings shed light on historical Byzantine trading networks and on the genetic contribution of Levantine varieties to the classic Aegean landscape.

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The Avdat in Late Antiquity Project: uncovering the Early Islamic phases of a Byzantine town in the Negev Highlands

Cited by 2 publications

References 11 publications

Minimally Destructive Radiocarbon Dating of Caprine Dung

Minimally Destructive Radiocarbon Dating of Caprine Dung

Ancient DNA from a lost Negev Highlands desert grape reveals a Late Antiquity wine lineage

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