23,000 years ago, humans in Israel enjoyed a new bounty of food options
Changing climate seems to have expanded, rather than stressed, dietary resources in Sea of Galilee region

Date:
January 26, 2022
Source:
PLOS
Summary:
As climate shifted 23,000 years ago, humans in Israel experienced
a new abundance of food, according to a new study.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
As climate shifted 23,000 years ago, humans in Israel experienced a new abundance of food, according to a study published January 26, 2022 in the
open- access journal PLOS ONEby Tikvah Steiner of the Hebrew University
of Jerusalem and colleagues.


==========================================================================
The submerged archaeological site of Ohalo II, located on the southern
tip of the Sea of Galilee in Israel, preserves extensive evidence
of human occupation about 23,000 years ago. This was a time period
of global climate fluctuation, and also a time when humans notably
diversified their dietary habits. Some researchers have suggested this
diet shift was necessary due to decreasing food availability, while others suggest the change was an opportunistic one made possible by increasing
food abundance. In this study, Steiner, Nadel and colleagues from a multidisciplinary team from four Israeli and Spanish universities tested
these competing hypotheses via analysis of animal remains at Ohalo II.

The authors examined over 20,000 animal remains, including reptiles,
birds, and mammals, from well-preserved successive floors of a brush
hut at the site. The results show that the people of Ohalo II were
successfully hunting prime large game, while at the same time gathering
a wide variety of fish, other small animals, and plants.

According to the authors, this evidence does not indicate a drop
in food availability, but rather an abundance of multiple prey
sources. They suggest that while some animals were gathered for meat,
others might have been hunted for pelts (e.g.: foxes, hares) or shells
(e.g.: tortoises). From this study, it seems that fluctuating climate conditions did not create food stress, at least in this region, but
instead new dietary opportunities. The researchers hope that this work
at Ohalo II will serve as a model for similar investigations of human
diet changes at other locations and time periods.

The authors add: "The choice of a littoral habitat that could
be intensively exploited year-round may be an example of niche
selection. The availability of multiple food sources within a rich
habitat may have driven exploitation of myriad local resources,
rather than targeting mainly energetically-rich large prey." ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by PLOS. Note: Content may be edited
for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Tikvah Steiner, Rebecca Biton, Dani Nadel, Florent Rivals, Rivka
Rabinovich. Abundance or stress? Faunal exploitation patterns and
subsistence strategies: The case study of Brush Hut 1 at Ohalo II,
a submerged 23,000-year-old camp in the Sea of Galilee, Israel. PLOS
ONE, 2022; 17 (1): e0262434 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0262434 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/01/220126144030.htm

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