The vitality of fruit trees in ancient Bedouin orchards in the Arid Negev Highlands (Israel): Implications of climatic change and environmental stability

Byzantine—Early Islamic resource management detected through micro-geoarchaeological investigations of trash mounds (Negev, Israel)

“…We propose that this dung management strategy represents a decline in large-scale local agriculture superimposed atop the already gradually eroding regional market system. At Nessana, the disposal of potentially valuable fertilizer implies there was little incentive to ensure the profitability of agriculture beyond domestic needs, which we see as a community-scale response to disruption and restructuring within the commercial agriculture sector paired with the expansion of village-tethered herding in the heartland [ 20 , 26 , 44 , 86 , 89 ]. Recent research is now indicating that agropastoral practices were likely not heavily influenced by climate change or pronounced environmental degradation [ 20 , 37 ].…”

“…Bedrock is primarily marine carbonate rocks covered by thick loess deposits (aeolian sediment) [ 25 ]. The region is currently arid, yet precipitation is variable, with annual lows of 30 mm and highs reaching 180 mm [ 26 ]. The mean annual temperature is 19°C, with average monthly temperatures ranging from 8°C in January to 26°C in August [ 27 , 28 ].…”

“…Recent stable isotope analyses of sheep and goat teeth from the Negev also indicate unchanging forage quality through the Byzantine and Early Islamic periods, which is suggestive of climatic stability [ 37 ]. Lithosols, reg soils, and calcic soils have been forming across the region since at least the end of the Pleistocene [ 26 , 38 ]. Calcic soil formation indicates annual precipitation below 200 mm [ 38 ].…”

“…The precipitation levels and soil/sediment quality of the region were unfavorable for high yield direct rain-fed agriculture during Late Antiquity [ 26 ]. Estimated precipitation was below the optimal quantity required to cultivate large crops of wheat, barley, and fruit (i.e., ~ 250–400 mm annually) [ 41 ].…”

“…Despite suboptimal conditions, upward of 30,000 acres of terraced fields, orchards, and vineyards were established during the Byzantine period [ 20 , 42 ]. Such large-scale agriculture could only be sustained through extensive human transformation and maintenance of the landscape [ 20 , 26 , 41 , 43 , 44 ]. Farming was successful under harsh environmental conditions because of innovations in environmental niche engineering, specifically the development of landscape terracing, runoff water/sediment harvesting systems, and sustainable fertilizer production [ 19 , 20 , 24 , 45 – 56 ].…”