Angela
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I don't think it's overstating this to say that the olive tree became indispensable to life in Southern Europe and to much of the Near East as well. Olive oil, until very recently, was used not only for cooking, but for oiling tools, putting on wounds, softening hair burned by the summer sun, moisturizing the skin, and given to the sick by the spoonful as castor oil was used. The wood was used in furniture and tool making, the dead branches for fuel, and the leaves for the animals.
Figs are also a blessing. Oh, to live again where I could sit and eat a basket of luscious fresh figs from the tree. Some prosciutto, cheese, bread, and a glass of wine wouldn't go amiss either.
In my area, the olive tree, and the chestnut tree brought by the Romans made life possible, if not easy, on our poor soil. Not forgetting, of course, the grape.
"This study provides one of the earliest examples of fruit tree cultivation worldwide, demonstrating that olive (Olea europaea) and fig (Ficus carica) horticulture was practiced as early as 7000 years ago in the Central Jordan Valley, Israel. It is based on the anatomical identification of a charcoal assemblage recovered from the Chalcolithic (7200–6700 cal. BP) site of Tel Tsaf. Given the site’s location outside the wild olive’s natural habitat, the substantial presence of charred olive wood remains at the site constitutes a strong case for horticulture. Furthermore, the occurrence of young charred fig branches (most probably from pruning) may indicate that figs were cultivated too. One such branch was 14C dated, yielding an age of ca. 7000 cal. BP. We hypothesize that established horticulture contributed to more elaborate social contracts and institutions since olive oil, table olives, and dry figs were highly suitable for long-distance trade and taxation."
"The late 8th/early 7th millennium BP site of Tel Tsaf, located at the Central Jordan Valley (Israel; Fig. 1), is significant not only because of its large size but also because of the presence of storage silos on a scale not previously unearthed in the Proto-historic Near East1,2. The material culture of the site is remarkably rich compared to contemporary sites in the region: dense concentrations of animal bones indicate large-scale feasts3; a unique and elaborate style of pottery decoration was common, consisting of red and black geometric designs on white slip4; a stone seal and some 140 seal impressions were found, including one vessel with two different seals5,6; two large concentrations of ostrich eggshell beads were found: ca. 900 in a courtyard and 1668 beads in a single grave4; some 100 stone beads were made of various green, red, and black minerals; additional imported substances and artifacts include raw greenstone chunks, Ubaid pottery from the northern Levant or Mesopotamia, obsidian from Anatolia, and Nilotic shells from Egypt4; a copper awl, the earliest in the Levant, was deposited as a grave good7."
"Evidently, agricultural production was practiced at a scale capable of filling these storage facilities. Barley and wheat were the primary cultivars, but lentils and peas comprised important parts of the diet as well8,13,14. Undoubtedly, an operation of such a large scale would have needed a sophisticated system of production, possibly including fertilizers, irrigation systems, and field management practices, such as incorporating fallow periods into the crop rotations8. In turn, these features suggest a high degree of social stratification and commerce1. As will be demonstrated in this study, this was the social and economic milieu that made the development of orchard economy at Tel Tsaf possible."
"Chalcolithic Tel Tsaf postdates the Wadi Rabah culture and predates the Ghassulian culture29, and is contemporaneous with Ubaid sites in northern Mesopotamia30. The chronology of the site indicates that occupation at Tel Tsaf began in the last quarter of the 8th millennium BP and ended in the first quarter of the 7th millennium BP (ca. 7200–6700 cal. BP30,31)."
"Five founder fruit trees established horticulture in the late prehistoric Levant44,45,46: olive (Olea europea), common fig (Ficus carica), grapevine (Vitis vinifera), date palm (Phoenix dactylifera), and pomegranate (Punica granatum). Of these, two—olive and fig—were found in the Tel Tsaf charred wood assemblage, offering a glimpse into the emergence of horticulture in the southern Levant."
https://www.archaeology.org/news/10641-220621-israel-fruit-trees
Figs are also a blessing. Oh, to live again where I could sit and eat a basket of luscious fresh figs from the tree. Some prosciutto, cheese, bread, and a glass of wine wouldn't go amiss either.
In my area, the olive tree, and the chestnut tree brought by the Romans made life possible, if not easy, on our poor soil. Not forgetting, of course, the grape.
"This study provides one of the earliest examples of fruit tree cultivation worldwide, demonstrating that olive (Olea europaea) and fig (Ficus carica) horticulture was practiced as early as 7000 years ago in the Central Jordan Valley, Israel. It is based on the anatomical identification of a charcoal assemblage recovered from the Chalcolithic (7200–6700 cal. BP) site of Tel Tsaf. Given the site’s location outside the wild olive’s natural habitat, the substantial presence of charred olive wood remains at the site constitutes a strong case for horticulture. Furthermore, the occurrence of young charred fig branches (most probably from pruning) may indicate that figs were cultivated too. One such branch was 14C dated, yielding an age of ca. 7000 cal. BP. We hypothesize that established horticulture contributed to more elaborate social contracts and institutions since olive oil, table olives, and dry figs were highly suitable for long-distance trade and taxation."
"The late 8th/early 7th millennium BP site of Tel Tsaf, located at the Central Jordan Valley (Israel; Fig. 1), is significant not only because of its large size but also because of the presence of storage silos on a scale not previously unearthed in the Proto-historic Near East1,2. The material culture of the site is remarkably rich compared to contemporary sites in the region: dense concentrations of animal bones indicate large-scale feasts3; a unique and elaborate style of pottery decoration was common, consisting of red and black geometric designs on white slip4; a stone seal and some 140 seal impressions were found, including one vessel with two different seals5,6; two large concentrations of ostrich eggshell beads were found: ca. 900 in a courtyard and 1668 beads in a single grave4; some 100 stone beads were made of various green, red, and black minerals; additional imported substances and artifacts include raw greenstone chunks, Ubaid pottery from the northern Levant or Mesopotamia, obsidian from Anatolia, and Nilotic shells from Egypt4; a copper awl, the earliest in the Levant, was deposited as a grave good7."
"Evidently, agricultural production was practiced at a scale capable of filling these storage facilities. Barley and wheat were the primary cultivars, but lentils and peas comprised important parts of the diet as well8,13,14. Undoubtedly, an operation of such a large scale would have needed a sophisticated system of production, possibly including fertilizers, irrigation systems, and field management practices, such as incorporating fallow periods into the crop rotations8. In turn, these features suggest a high degree of social stratification and commerce1. As will be demonstrated in this study, this was the social and economic milieu that made the development of orchard economy at Tel Tsaf possible."
"Chalcolithic Tel Tsaf postdates the Wadi Rabah culture and predates the Ghassulian culture29, and is contemporaneous with Ubaid sites in northern Mesopotamia30. The chronology of the site indicates that occupation at Tel Tsaf began in the last quarter of the 8th millennium BP and ended in the first quarter of the 7th millennium BP (ca. 7200–6700 cal. BP30,31)."
"Five founder fruit trees established horticulture in the late prehistoric Levant44,45,46: olive (Olea europea), common fig (Ficus carica), grapevine (Vitis vinifera), date palm (Phoenix dactylifera), and pomegranate (Punica granatum). Of these, two—olive and fig—were found in the Tel Tsaf charred wood assemblage, offering a glimpse into the emergence of horticulture in the southern Levant."
https://www.archaeology.org/news/10641-220621-israel-fruit-trees