< home # store # services # articles # game # app #contact >

Sparus aurata does appear in Levantine archaeological sites from very early periods
Even into the late pleistocene and early holocene. But broader evidence begins later in the bronze age and onward.

Significant long-distance trade is archaeologically documented after 3500 BP
Through isotope analysis of fish teeth. Between the Bardawil lagoon (northern Sinai), and, southern Levantine sites, lasting into the Byzantine period.

Distinctive shellfish-crushing adaptations made it a nutritious fish in coastal food economies
Transport of fish inland, (in later periods), suggests they were preserved (likely dried/salted). For distant consumption.

Prehistoric fishing likely involved: Hooks and line: bone/shell hooks found at epipalaeolithic and early neolithic contexts;
Nets and traps: indirect evidence such as net weights, and ethnographic analogy, suggests nets/traps were common in coastal fishing elsewhere; and,
Spears/harpoons: for larger fish (seen in other regional contexts).

Bone fish hooks and grooved stones interpreted as sinkers from 15 to 12 thousand years ago appear at sites like Jordan River Dureijat
At Atlit-Yam (PPNC), a submerged Neolithic settlement off the Carmel coast, bone fishing hooks and other gear were also recovered,

Fish were eaten fresh, dried, smoked, or cooked over hearths
Standard prehistoric foodways for highly perishable foods. They likely accompanied cereals, bread, legumes, animal fats, and local herbs/spices where available.

Sparus aurata likely inhabited Mediterranean coastal waters and lagoons in large numbers, as they do today. Check it out with some more neolithic architecture.

Bibliography: Guy, SV., Thomas, T., Irit, Z. et al. Tooth oxygen isotopes reveal Late Bronze Age origin of Mediterranean fish aquaculture and trade. Sci Rep 8, 14086 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-32468-1

Bar-Yosef, Daniella. Marine Resources in the Early Neolithic of the Levant: Their Relevance to Early Seafaring.

Pedergnana A, Cristiani E, Munro N, Valletta F, Sharon G. Early line and hook fishing at the Epipaleolithic site of Jordan River Dureijat (Northern Israel). PLoS One. 2021 Oct 6;16(10):e0257710. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257710. PMID: 34613991; PMCID: PMC8494375.

Rosenberg, Danny & Agnon, Marva & Kaufman, Daniel. (2016). Conventions in fresh water fishing in the prehistoric southern Levant: The evidence from the study of Neolithic Beisamoun notched pebbles. Journal of Lithic Studies. 3. 457-478. 10.2218/jls.v3i3.1639.

Lernau O, Shapiro J, Paz S, Greenberg R. Fishing, fish consumption, urbanism and migrants at Tel Bet Yerah, 3200–2700 BC. Antiquity. 2021;95(382):885-899. doi:10.15184/aqy.2021.70