The "Neolithic Revolution" marks a crucial turning point in human prehistory. The domestication of plants and animals provided increased subsistence resources which, in turn, set the stage for the emergence of civilization and complex society as we know it today. This research project is significant because it has the potential to shed light on the factors which initiated this change.
Under the guidance of Professor Arlene Rosen, Monica Nicolaides will investigate the long-term patterns of Epipaleolithic (23,000-11,500 cal. BP) plant-use in the Eastern Levant, present day Jordan. During this period the region experienced extreme shifts in climate due to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Studies have rarely focused on the wide range of hunter-gatherer plant-use strategies and adaptations during this period, focusing instead on later cereal cultivation and the origins of agriculture. This is due, in part, to the poor preservation of plant remains at Epipaleolithic sites, with the exception of Ohalo II, Israel. To address this, Ms. Nicolaides will compare the more robust microscopic plant remains (phytoliths and starches) from nine sites in the eastern Levant and one site in Lebanon, to the well-preserved plant remains at Ohalo II. Given the temporal and regional breadth of the sites investigated this project provides a unique platform to consider the dynamic relationship between changing environment and hunter-gatherer plant-use in the past.
In spite of nearly 100 years of archaeological inquiry, the processes and timings of the transition, from cereal-gatherer to cereal-cultivator, remain unclear. Ohalo II places the initial dietary shift to grains 10,000 years earlier than previously recognized. Ms. Nicolaides' research will provide the first microbotanical analysis of both stone tools and sediments from Ohalo II. By integrating macrobotanical and microbotanical evidence, she will develop an innovative wild plant use model to study Epipaleolithic people-plant interactions. This research will present direct evidence for a defining moment in prehistory and will show how plant resources were managed, collected, processed and consumed. By exploring the diverse and sophisticated plant-collection strategies employed by Epipaleolithic peoples this dissertation will reconsider the way one sees hunter-gatherers in the prehistory of the Levant. It will not only expand understanding of Epipaleolithic plant-use, but more broadly, hunter-gatherer resilience and adaptation to changing environments. Importantly, this research will offer relevant insight for the current challenges of climate change.
This project will have a broad impact. The research contributes to several large international excavation projects that require technical and regional specialists from the United States, United Kingdom, Europe, Israel and Jordan to work together. These working relations engender a level of cooperation and allow collaborators to share their skills, methods and technical expertise. Importantly, the results of this project will be disseminated in peer-reviewed publications and the raw data will be distributed online for public use. This project will also contribute to the facilities and student experience at the University of Texas at Austin. It will leave a starch comparative collection, add to the existing phytolith comparative collection and provide undergraduate students with an opportunity to experience archaeobotanical research first-hand, while receiving basic microbotanical laboratory and identification training. In addition, the lab supplies purchased for this project will be left at the Environmental Archaeology Laboratory, at the University of Texas at Austin, a productive legacy to future student researchers.
