New evidence for the processing of wild cereal grains at Ohalo II, a 23 000-year-old campsite on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, Israel

2012/12/01 by Dani Nadel, Dolores R. Piperno, Irene Holst +2 · 4 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Social Sciences · Arts and Humanities · #Archaeology and ancient environmental studies #Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology #Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies

paper · doi:10.1017/s0003598x00048201

openalex publication_date 2012/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22

Abstract

Traces of starch found on a large flat stone discovered in the hunter-fisher-gatherer site of Ohalo II famously represent the first identification of Upper Palaeolithic grinding of grasses. Given the importance of this discovery for the use of edible grain, further analyses have now been undertaken. Meticulous sampling combined with good preservation allow the authors to demonstrate that the Ohalo II stone was certainly used for the routine processing of wild cereals, wheat, barley and now oats among them, around 23 000 years ago.

Citations

• Changes in starch grain morphologies from cooking
• 19,000-Year-Old Twisted Fibers From Ohalo II

Cited by

• The Origin of Cultivation and Proto-Weeds, Long Before Neolithic Farming
• Composite Sickles and Cereal Harvesting Methods at 23,000-Years-Old Ohalo II, Israel
• Versatile use of microliths as a technological advantage in the miniaturization of Late Pleistocene toolkits: The case study of Neve David, Israel
• Ohalo II [wikipedia]