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. Agriculture in this arid desert was made possible through rainwater runoff farming which reached its peak in the Byzantine period, as seen at sites like Elusa, Shivta and Nessana. In this photo: trash mounds on the outskirts of Elusa (a), Shivta (b), and Nessana (c), and inside Shivta (c), (d), and (e).
Credit
(a) Guy Bar-Oz (University of Haifa); (b-d) Yotam Tepper (Israel Antiquities Authority); (e) Ari Levy (University of Haifa)
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