Grape pips reveal collapse of ancient economy in the grip of plague and climate change (IMAGE)
Caption
A team of archaeologists from Bar-Ilan University and the University of Haifa has discovered new and compelling evidence for a significant economic downturn on the fringe of the Byzantine Empire in the aftermath of a major pandemic in the mid-6th century CE. The research reconstructs the rise and fall of commercial viticulture in the middle of Israel's arid Negev desert using evidence about life during that period found in an unexpected place: the trash. For the present study, nearly 10,000 seeds of grape (a), barley grains (b), and wheat grains (c) were retrieved and counted from 11 trash mounds at three sites.
Credit
Daniel Fuks
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