Storage practices in the Levant during Bronze and Iron Ages: an archaeobotanical perspective

Abstract

Agriculture was central to the historical development of the Levant, with food storage ensuring year-round availability and managing seasonal, environmental, and climatic challenges. Additionally, studying storage practices reveals insights into production organization, surplus management, and socio-economic structures linked to urbanization and trade. While archaeological and archaeobotanical research has advanced our understanding of Levantine agriculture, a comprehensive archaeobotanical synthesis of Bronze and Iron Age storage remains lacking. This study examines how storage contexts can be identified archaeologically and archaeobotanically, what was stored, how practices varied regionally and chronologically, and which additional practices play a role. New material from underrepresented regions, such as Kamid el-Loz in the central Levant (Lebanon), expands the ADEMNES dataset. Data from 18 sites with identified storage contexts and 43 sites with non-storage contexts are synthesized to provide a region-wide analysis. Based on this study, key criteria for identifying storage contexts include the presence of storage facilities or containers if preserved, substantial in situ concentrations of charred plant remains, predominance of easily preserved crops, largely cleaned assemblages, and potential evidence of storage pests. Multivariate analysis, namely Principal Component Analysis (PCA), shows that storage context is the main factor shaping plant assemblages, followed by chronological, regional, environmental, and socio-economic factors. In conclusion, this study offers a more systematic understanding of Bronze and Iron Age Levantine food storage practices from an archaeobotanical point of view.