Flora in the Latin East: Archaeobotanical Remains from Crusader Arsur

Abstract

Archaeobotanical analysis in Crusader-period sites in the Southern Levant is rare, and the plant finds from Arsur (Apollonia-Arsuf ) add new data to the scarce Crusader botanical material. The fills of refuse from one cesspit from the 12th and 13th centuries CE have revealed mineralised plant finds seldom uncovered in the Southern Levant. Together with the carbonised plant material from other loci of Crusader-period contexts, this plant assemblage forms a comprehensive picture of the diet of the site inhabitants. The analysis of Crusader crop material shows a diet of typical Southern Levantine character that was based on the cultivation and use of indigenous crops also known from other contemporaneous sites.

Keywords:

• Palestine
• Latin East
• Crusader
• Apollonia
• Arsuf
• Arsur
• Cesspit
• Archaeobotanical remains

Disclosure statement

The authors report that there are no competing interests to declare.

Supplementary material

Supplementary data for this article can be accessed online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03344355.2023.2246822

Notes

1 The archaeobotanical research was conducted within the framework of a joint Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)-funded project, titled ‘Die kreuzfahrerzeitliche Stadt Apollonia/ Arsur in Israel: Struktur–Kulturadaption–Stadt-Umland-Beziehungen’, co-directed by Barbara Scholkmann (University of Tübingen) and Oren Tal (Tel Aviv University).

2 Data from the Israel Meteorological Service (http://www.ims.gov.il/) for Tel Aviv.

3 Several comparisons can be found in Boas 2017: 65 and 77, e.g., on the topic of oil production in houses, as well as an increased production of olives and oil in the 12th century CE.

4 The covered channels from the Early Islamic period at Ramla bear similarities, but are much narrower (Tal and Taxel 2008: 91–99).

5 Sewers were usually built under streets or pavements and were not so elevated. This could be an indication that the construction was not carried out by local inhabitants.

6 Cisterns associated with canals are known from Early Islamic Ramla, e.g., Locus 590 (Tal and Taxel 2008: 85–86, Fig. 6.3a–b).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Andrea Orendi

Andrea Orendi: Department of Archaeological Sciences, Archaeobotany Laboratory, University of Tübingen, and ArchaeoConnect GmbH, August-Bebel-Straße 16, 72072 Tübingen;email: [email protected]

Elisabeth Yehuda

Elisabeth Yehuda: Research Fellow, Department of Israel Studies, University of Haifa; email: [email protected]

Annette Zeischka-Kenzler

Annette Zeischka-Kenzler: Ceramic Museum Westerwald, 56203 Höhr-Grenzhausen, Germany;email: Zeischka-[email protected]

Oren Tal

Oren Tal: The Jakob M. Alkow Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures, Tel Aviv University