Assessing Plant Use in the Early Upper Paleolithic: Macrobotanical Results From Mughr el-Hamamah, Jordan

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Archaeogastronomy: Grocery Lists as Seen from a Multidimensional Perspective" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Mughr el-Hamamah (MHM) cave site, located on the Jordan Valley’s eastern flanks, contains a prehistoric layer associated with Early Ahmarian artifacts. AMS 14C dates bracket the Early Upper Paleolithic (EUP) occupation between ca. 45 and 39 ka cal BP and are comparable in age to Ahmarian-associated layers in Kebara and Manot Caves. Excavations at MHM have revealed a rich assemblage of carbonized wood, nutshell, and seeds. A comprehensive macrobotanical sampling plan was carried out during the 2017 excavation season to collect carbonized plant material. After samples were floated in the field, they were sorted and analyzed at the Center for the Analysis of Archaeological Materials (CAAM) at the University of Pennsylvania. Identification of the charred seeds and nutshell fragments from MHM provides detailed confirmation of the main botanical components of the EUP diet with an emphasis on edible legumes and pistachio nutlets, drawing an interesting comparison to the legume-rich assemblage from Neanderthal deposits at Kebara Cave, as well as other archaeological sites with preserved botanical material in the region.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Archaeogastronomy: Grocery Lists as Seen from a Multidimensional Perspective   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39391.0