CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 41Archaeology and ancient environmental studiesAncient Egypt and ArchaeologyAncient Mediterranean Archaeology and History

Isotopic Evidence for Early Trade in Animals between Old Kingdom Egypt and Canaan

Open access
Arnold, Elizabeth R., Hartman, Gideon, Greenfield, Haskel J., Shai, Itzhaq, Babcock, Lindsay E., Maeir, Aren M.·2016·PLOS ONE
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0157650PMC PMC4913912
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

Isotope data from a sacrificial ass and several ovicaprines (sheep/goat) from Early Bronze Age household deposits at Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel provide direct evidence for the movement of domestic draught/draft and husbandry animals between Old Kingdom Egypt (during the time of the Pyramids) and Early Bronze Age III Canaan (ca. 2900-2500 BCE). Vacillating, bi-directional connections between Egypt and Canaan are known throughout the Early Bronze Age, but here we provide the first concrete evidence of early trade in animals from Egypt to Canaan.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1371/journal.pone.0157650

Cites

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Plant material is generally accepted to be ideal for forming a bioavailable strontium baseline.

    “Although plant material is generally accepted to be ideal for forming a bioavailable strontium baseline [49–51], exportation of modern botanical samples were not within the purview of this study.”

    From Who were the Hyksos? Challenging traditional narratives using strontium isotope (87Sr/86Sr) analysis of human remains from ancient Egypt (2020) · cites this paper as [50]

    Materials and Methods (‘Modern reference collection and processing’) uses modern plants as a bioavailable-strontium baseline, but says they are suitable when plant and invertebrate ratios are highly correlated, as in the Levant. The Results (‘Mapping local bioavailable 87Sr/86Sr ratios’) also notes soils for which plant measurements require calibration or cannot represent all soils. The paper therefore supports using plants as a baseline, not the broader claim that they are generally accepted as ideal. (LLM, conf=0.85)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

No references could be resolved yet.

Research works printed but not linked: 43

  1. [1]Stager LE. The periodization of Palestine from Neolithic through Early Bronze times. Chronol Old World Archaeol. 1992; 1: 22– 41.
  2. [2]Bard KA. An introduction to the archaeology of ancient Egypt. John Wiley & Sons; 2015
  3. [5]Ben-Tor A. The Relations between Egypt and the Land of Canaan during the Third Millennium BC in Essays in honour of Yigael Yadin. J Jew Stud Lond. 1982; 33(1–2): 3– 18.
  4. [6]Stager LE. Port power in the early and the Middle Bronze Age: The organization of maritime trade and hinterland production. Stud Archaeol Isr Neighboring Lands Mem Douglas Esse Orient Inst Univ Chic Stud Anc Orient Civiliz. 2001; 59: 625– 638.
  5. [11]Shai I, Greenfield HJ, Brown A, Albaz S, Maeir A. The importance of the donkey as a pack animal in the Early Bronze Age southern Levant: A view from Tell es-Safi/Gath. Z Dtsch Palastina-Ver. in press;
  6. [13]Ben-Tor A. The trade relations of Palestine in the Early Bronze Age. J Econ Soc Hist Orient Journal Hist Econ Soc Orient. 1986; 1– 27.
  7. [15]Russell N. Social zooarchaeology: Humans and animals in prehistory. Cambridge University Press; 2011.
  8. [16]Kimura B, Marshall FB, Chen S, Rosenbom S, Moehlman PD, Tuross N, et al Ancient DNA from Nubian and Somali wild ass provides insights into donkey ancestry and domestication. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2011; 278(1702): 50– 57. PMC2992715 20667880
  9. [17]Rossel S, Marshall F, Peters J, Pilgram T, Adams MD, O’Connor D. Domestication of the donkey: Timing, processes, and indicators. Proc Natl Acad Sci. 2008; 105(10): 3715– 3720. 10.1073/pnas.0709692105 18332433 PMC2268817 · DOI
  10. [18]Al-Ajlouny F, Douglas K, Khrisat B, Mayyas A. Laden Animal and Riding Figurines from Hirbet ez-Zeraqon and Their Implications for Trade in the Early Bronze Age. Z Dtsch Paläst-Ver. 2012; 128(2): 99– 120.
  11. [19]Grigson C. Camels, copper and donkeys in the early iron age of the southern levant: timna revisited. Levant. 2012; 44(1): 82– 100.
  12. [21]Maeir A. Safi (Tel es-); Safit (Tell) In: Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land. 2nd Edition London: Continuum; 2001 p. 445.
  13. [22]Maeir A. Notes and News: Tell es-Safi. Isr Explor J. 2003; 53(3): 237– 46.
  14. [23]Maeir A. Tell es-Safi/Gath I: The 1996–2005 Seasons. Harrassowitz: Wiesbaden; 2012 (AAT; vol. 69).
  15. [24]Greenfield HJ, Shai I, Maeir A. Being an “ass”: an Early Bronze Age burial of a donkey from Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel. Bioarchaeology East. 2012; 6: 21– 52.
  16. [25]Sapir Y, Shmida A, Fragman O. Constructing Red Numbers for setting conservation priorities of endangered plant species: Israeli flora as a test case. J Nat Conserv. 2003; 11(2): 91– 107.
  17. [26]Hartman G, Richards M. Mapping and defining sources of variability in bioavailable strontium isotope ratios in the Eastern Mediterranean. Geochim Cosmochim Acta. 2014; 126: 250– 264.
  18. [27]Copeland SR, Sponheimer M, de Ruiter DJ, Lee-Thorp JA, Codron D, le Roux PJ, et al Strontium isotope evidence for landscape use by early hominins. Nature. 2011; 474(7349): 76– 78. 10.1038/nature10149 21637256 · DOI
  19. [28]Bocherens H, Mashkour M, Billiou D, Pellé E, Mariotti A. A new approach for studying prehistoric herd management in arid areas: intra-tooth isotopic analyses of archaeological caprine from Iran. Comptes Rendus Académie Sci—Ser IIA—Earth Planet Sci. 2001 1 15; 332(1): 67– 74.
  20. [29]Hoppe KA, Stover SM, Pascoe JR, Amundson R. Tooth enamel biomineralization in extant horses: implications for isotopic microsampling. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol. 2004; 206(3): 355– 365.
  21. [30]Balasse M. Reconstructing dietary and environmental history from enamel isotopic analysis: time resolution of intra-tooth sequential sampling. Int J Osteoarchaeol. 2002; 12(3): 155– 165.
  22. [31]Bar-Matthews M, Ayalon A. Mid-Holocene climate variations revealed by high-resolution speleothem records from Soreq Cave, Israel and their correlation with cultural changes. The Holocene. 2011; 21(1): 163– 171.
  23. [32]Singer A. The soils of Israel. Springer Science & Business Media; 2007
  24. [33]Herut B, Starinsky A, Katz A. Strontium in rainwater from Israel: sources, isotopes and chemistry. Earth Planet Sci Lett. 1993; 120(1): 77– 84.
  25. [36]Buzon MR, Bowen GJ. Oxygen and carbon isotope analysis of human tooth enamel from the New Kingdom site of Tombos in Nubia. Archaeometry. 2010; 52(5): 855– 868.
  26. [37]Bryant JD, Froelich PN. A model of oxygen isotope fractionation in body water of large mammals. Geochim Cosmochim Acta. 1995; 59(21): 4523– 4537.
  27. [38]Hartman G. Impacts of environmental deterioration on the carbon isotope values of modern vegetation and gazelles in the southern Levant: Predicting the severity of the Younger Dryas. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol. 2012; 321: 55– 64.
  28. [39]Escudero A, Mediavilla S, Heilmeier H. Leaf longevity and drought: avoidance of the costs and risks of early leaf abscission as inferred from the leaf carbon isotopic composition. Funct Plant Biol. 2008; 35(8): 705– 713. 32688824
  29. [40]Hartman G, Danin A. Isotopic values of plants in relation to water availability in the Eastern Mediterranean region. Oecologia. 2010; 162(4): 837– 852. 10.1007/s00442-009-1514-7 19956974 PMC2841277 · DOI
  30. [42]Vogel JC, Fuls A, Danin A. Geographical and environmental distribution of C3 and C4 grasses in the Sinai, Negev, and Judean deserts. Oecologia. 1986; 70(2): 258– 265. 28311667
  31. [43]Bailey C, Danin A. Bedouin plant utilization in Sinai and the Negev. Econ Bot. 1981; 35(2): 145– 162.
  32. [44]Hartman G. Reconstructing Mid-Pleistocene paleovegetation and paleoclimate in the Golan Heights using the δ 13 C values of modern vegetation and soil organic carbon of paleosols. J Hum Evol. 2011; 60(4): 452– 463. 10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.08.001 20889184 · DOI
  33. [45]Bernhardt CE, Horton BP, Stanley J-D. Nile Delta vegetation response to Holocene climate variability. Geology. 2012; 40(7): 615– 618.
  34. [46]Thompson AH, Richards MP, Shortland A, Zakrzewski SR. Isotopic palaeodiet studies of ancient Egyptian fauna and humans. J Archaeol Sci. 2005; 32(3): 451– 463.
  35. [47]Cerling TE, Harris JM. Carbon isotope fractionation between diet and bioapatite in ungulate mammals and implications for ecological and paleoecological studies. Oecologia. 1999; 120(3): 347– 363. 28308012
  36. [48]Iacumin P. Bocherens H, Mariotti A. Longinelli A. An isotopic palaeoenvironmental study of human skeletal remains from the Nile Valley. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol, 1996; 126(1): 15– 30.
  37. [49]Gat JR, Dansgaard W. Stable isotope survey of the fresh water occurrences in Israel and the northern Jordan Rift Valley. J Hydrol. 1972; 16(3): 177– 211.
  38. [51]Eissa TAF, Palomino OM, Carretero ME, Gómez-Serranillos MP. Ethnopharmacological study of medicinal plants used in the treatment of CNS disorders in Sinai Peninsula, Egypt. J Ethnopharmacol. 2014; 151(1): 317– 332. 10.1016/j.jep.2013.10.041 24184194 · DOI
  39. [52]Ingraham NL, Criss RE. The effect of vapor pressure on the rate of isotopic exchange between water and water vapor. Chem Geol. 1998; 150(3): 287– 292.
  40. [53]Kohn MJ, Schoeninger MJ, Valley JW. Herbivore tooth oxygen isotope compositions: effects of diet and physiology. Geochim Cosmochim Acta. 1996; 60(20): 3889– 3896.
  41. [54]Buzon MR, Simonetti A. Strontium isotope (87Sr/86Sr) variability in the Nile Valley: identifying residential mobility during ancient Egyptian and Nubian sociopolitical changes in the New Kingdom and Napatan periods. Am J Phys Anthropol. 2013; 151(1): 1– 9. 10.1002/ajpa.22235 23440634 · DOI · Paper page
  42. [58]Shai I, Greenfield HJ, Regev J, Boaretto E, Eliyahu-Behar A, Maeir AM. The Early Bronze Age Remains at Tell eṣ-Ṣāfi/Gath: An Interim Report. Tel Aviv. 2014; 41(1): 20– 49.
  43. [59]Shai I, Chadwick J, Welch E, Katz J, Greenfield HJ, Maeir A. The Early Bronze Age Fortifications at Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel. Palest Explor Q. 2016; 148(1): 42– 58.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Arnold, E. R., Hartman, G., Greenfield, H. J., Shai, I., Babcock, L. E., & Maeir, A. M.
Affiliations
  • Grand Valley State University (US)
  • University of Connecticut (US)
  • University of Manitoba (CA)
  • Ariel University (IL)
  • Bar-Ilan University (IL)
Corresponding author
Arnold, Elizabeth R.
ORCID
Venue
PLOS ONE
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Published
2016-06-20
Volume
11
Issue
6
Pages
e0157650
ISSN
1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0157650
PMC
PMC4913912
OpenAlex
W2460447737
Cited by
41
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 1
FWCI
3.05
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • ScholarWorks - GVSU (Grand Valley State University) (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (895-2011-1005)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Archaeology and ancient environmental studies
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Ancient Egypt and Archaeology
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History
Keywords
animal husbandry, livestock trade, Old Kingdom, Tell es-Safi/Gath, sacrificial animals, draft animals, sheep and goats, isotopic analysis, human-animal relations, ancient trade networks
MeSH terms
Animals, Archaeology, Carbon Isotopes, Commerce, Egypt, Geography, Isotope Labeling, Mandible, Oxygen Isotopes, Strontium Isotopes, Tooth

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review