| Carbonized seeds recovered from two rural Bronze Age villages (Tell Abu en-Ni'aj and Tell el-Hayyat) document changes in orchard agriculture over a 700 year period (ca. 2200 to 1500 BC). This period spans a major transition in urbanized life that occurred around 2000 BC (the transition from Early Bronze IV to Middle Bronze II). Ni'aj was occupied during Early Bronze IV (ca. 2300 to 2000 BC), a period of abandoned cities, small rural villages, and semi-nomadic pastoralism. Hayyat was occupied during Middle Bronze II (ca. 2000 to 1500 BC), a period of reurbanization characterized by walled cities and centralized political authority. This setting provides a unique opportunity to examine how rural communities in the Jordan Valley were affected by the rise and fall of ancient urbanized societies.;Carbonized seeds recovered from Tell Abu en-Ni'aj and Tell el-Hayyat (10,300 total seeds) reflect a remarkable degree of similarity between the two rural villages. The conspicuous presence of perennial cultigens at both Hayyat and Ni'aj suggests that sedentary agriculture was a basic element of rural continuity between Early Bronze IV and Middle Bronze II. Large quantities of carbonized fruit seeds were recovered from both villages. Viticulture was emphasized at Ni'aj, while olive cultivation was emphasized at Hayyat. Fig trees were cultivated around both villages, as evidenced by a sizable number of carbonized seeds. |
