The remains found inside the oldest brush hut in the world at Ohalo II, near the Sea of Galilee, reveal its inhabitants had a diverse diet. A team of Israeli archaeologists, including Prof. Dani Nadel (School of Archaeology and Maritime Cultures), studied six brush huts, oval in shape and dating back to the Last Glacial Maximum. Their analysis of 20,000 faunal remains found at Brush Hut I indicates that its prehistoric inhabitants fished and ate a wide variety of birds and animals, as well as wild wheat, oats and barley. Studying the ‘garbage’ remains found on the floor of Brush Hut I led them to conclude that the consumption habits of the people living in it were driven by abundance rather than stress. The research was published in PLOS.
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*Excavating the floor of Brush Hut 1 at the Ohalo site. Credit: Dani Nadel