A glimpse of an ancient agricultural ecosystem based on remains of micromammals in the Byzantine Negev Desert.

ABSTRACT: It is widely believed that Byzantine agriculture in the Negev Desert (fourth to seventh century Common Era; CE), with widespread construction of terraces and dams, altered local landscapes. However, no direct evidence in archaeological sites yet exists to test this assumption. We uncovered large amounts of small mammalian remains (rodents and insectivores) within agricultural installations built near fields, providing a new line of evidence for reconstructing anthropogenic impact on local habitats. Abandonment layers furnished high abundances of remains, whereas much smaller numbers were retrieved from the period of human use of the structures. Digestion marks are present in low frequencies (20% of long bones and teeth), with a light degree of impact, which indicate the role of owls (e.g.

SUBMITTER: Fried T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5792933 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature