17.09.2025

Bronze and Iron Age farmers in the Near East demonstrated ecological expertise in the cultivation of wine and olives

Farmers in the Near East more often applied irrigation to wine grapes than to olive trees during times of climatic change in the Bronze and Iron Ages, according to new research. Archaeobotanists who analysed the charred remains of ancient plant samples found that irrigation was used to maintain grape cultivation in regions of prioritised viticulture. Their findings provide evidence of the importance of wine production for cultural and economic purposes during that period. The research, led by the University of Tübingen, Germany, and involving Durham University, UK, is published in the journal PLOS One.

The team looked at over 1,500 seed and wood charcoal samples from grape and olive plants from the Early Bronze Age to the Iron Age (5,000 to 2,600 years before today). The samples originate from areas in present-day Türkiye, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Israel.

“We have found that comparing the stable carbon isotope values in the remains—meaning the non-radioactive forms of carbon that do not decay over time—allows us to draw conclusions about how much water was available to the plants during their growth. In addition, it allows us to infer how humans ensured high plant productivity in alignment with environmental parameters,” says lead author Dr. Simone Riehl from Institute for Archaeological Sciences, at the University of Tübingen and the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment. 

Dr. Katleen Deckers from the Institute for Archaeological Sciences adds: “This is the first study to use stable carbon isotopic measurements on olive and grape wood charcoal remains to draw conclusions about their former cultivation management. The study shows that these measurements accurately reflect the moisture conditions to which the plants were exposed.”

During the Early Bronze Age evidence of water stress matched seasonal variations in moisture. During later periods there was greater variability in water stress, while the presence of grapes and olives in drier regions indicated more widespread use of irrigation. 

The analysis also showed evidence for intensive irrigation of grape crops since the Middle Bronze Age, as well as the presence of cultivated grapes in areas poorly-suited to growing the fruit, whereas the more robust olive yards were rarely irrigated. This suggests that ancient farmers took full account of the varying requirements of their crops through sophisticated cultivation methods, confirming the findings of previous archaeological research.

Research senior author Professor Dan Lawrence, in the Department of Archaeology, Durham University, says: “Olive and grape were key crops, providing both food for locals and exportable commodities which facilitated trade between the Levant and Mesopotamia, and beyond with Egypt, Türkiye and the wider Mediterranean.”

The research demonstrated how farmers in the Near East, thousands of years ago, made decisions about which crops to plant and how to manage them, weighing the risk of harvest failure against the effort required for irrigation and the expected demand for their products. “It reminds us that people in the past were just as smart as people today, and that seemingly modern issues like resilience to climate change and the need to allocate resources carefully have long histories,” says Lawrence.

The research was funded by the European Research Council through the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, the German Research Foundation and the Fritz Thyssen Foundation.

According to a press release from Durham University

Publication: 

Simone Riehl, Katleen Deckers, Ishiba Hinojosa-Baliño, Darren R. Gröcke & Dan Lawrence: Fluctuations of viti- and oleiculture traditions in the Bronze and Iron Age Levant, PLOS One. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0330032