Guy Bar-Oz

Built environments provide durable evidence for how ancient settlements were organized, expanded, and transformed over time. Yet quantitative approaches to documenting architectural variability are generally labor-intensive, limited to individual structures, or dependent on aggregate volumetric estimates. We present a scalable, machine-learning-based framework that shifts the unit of analysis to the individual building stone and combines two complementary datasets: low-altitude drone imagery of surface remains and close-range photographs of standing walls. Applied to the Late Antique settlement of Shivta in the Negev Desert, the method automatically digitized approximately 235,000 surface stones and 12,000 stones in 604 walls, quantifying stone size, shape regularity, and masonry arrangement across walls, households, insulae, and the settlement as a whole. Higher masonry scores cluster around churches and parts of the settlement boundary, while the spatial distribution of masonry variation reveals a previously unidentified earlier boundary and provides evidence for outward expansion from a southern core. Combined with architectural sequencing, these patterns indicate the use of larger and more regularly shaped stones during Shivta’s principal phase of growth. The framework combines analytical flexibility with demonstrated robustness, supporting broader application across diverse stone-built archaeological contexts while complementing architectural energetics and enabling settlement-wide and cross-site comparisons of construction practices and settlement change.

Societal Impact Statement: Grapes are more than an agricultural crop; they are a vital part of human history, economy, and culture. Yet the origins of many traditional varieties remain unclear. By studying the genetics of Cretan grapes, we discovered that they are a “genetic mosaic”—combining local lineages with those from the Southern Levant and Eastern Europe. This insight underscores how centuries of human travel and trade shaped the realm of viticulture. Understanding this historical pathway helps to protect these unique varieties and preserve their genetic diversity, contributing to the resilience of vineyards in the face of global climate change. Summary: Cultivated grapevines ( Vitis vinifera subsp. vinifera ) have a long‐standing Mediterranean history shaped by millennia of human‐mediated diversification. Crete, with viticulture roots dating back to the Minoan period, hosts some of the world's oldest vineyards and traditional landraces, yet their genomic origins remain a subject of debate. We investigated the genetic legacy of Cretan landraces by integrating new genomic data from Cretan and Israeli cultivars into a global grapevine dataset. Population‐level analyses ( F ₃ statistics, F _ST , PCA, and STRUCTURE) were employed to evaluate the genetic affinities of the pan‐Greek population—with a specific focus on Crete—relative to Southern Levantine and Eastern European lineages. Results reveal substantial genetic diversity in Cretan landraces, consistent with long‐term cultivation and selection. Cretan grapevine genomic profiles align with the broader pan‐Greek population, forming an ancestral continuum that connects Eastern European lineages with those of the Southern Levant. These shared genetic affinities, supported by population‐structure analyses, indicate that regional exchange, rather than insular isolation, was the primary driver of Cretan germplasm development. Notably, shared ancestry between Greek and Southern Levantine cultivars is consistent with previous archaeological and genomic evidence suggesting historical westward movement of grapevine material across the Eastern Mediterranean. Crete emerges as a unique genetic reservoir of grapevine genetic diversity and a hub for Mediterranean exchange, redefining traditional concepts of island insularity. The findings highlight the role of Cretan grapes as a biological and cultural crossroads in Mediterranean viticulture. Consequently, conserving these traditional landraces is crucial for cultural heritage and for ensuring grapevine resilience under climate change.

We analysed the spatio-temporal dynamics of Phoenix dactylifera (date palm) agrobiodiversity in the Negev desert, southern Levant, from the 3rd c. bce to the 10th c. ce . We applied linear measurements and Elliptic Fourier Descriptors to 2294 archaeological seeds from nine sites, and compared them with a modern reference collection of wild and cultivated Phoenix and previously published archaeological assemblages from Egypt and Libya. Seeds from the best-preserved assemblages were statistically indistinguishable in size from modern cultivated varieties and significantly larger than wild specimens. Across the Negev, 71% of seeds were assigned to the domesticated-type morphology, and shape analysis revealed a progressive shift from more rounded morphologies in the Hellenistic–Early Roman period (57% domesticated-type at Mezad Rahel) toward predominantly elongated forms in the Early Islamic period (> 75%). This shift did not narrow overall diversity: all 12 morphotypes defined from the modern reference were present in both the earliest and latest large assemblages. Regional differences were also marked: Arabah Valley sites showed broad morphotype diversity and exceptionally large seeds, consistent with active local cultivation. Negev Highlands sites, by contrast, showed reduced diversity and a concentration of highly elongated morphotypes associated with African cultivars, more consistent with the circulation of selected date types through trade networks. The Negev record forms part of a supraregional trajectory of morphological change also documented in Egypt and Libya, reflecting the progressive reshaping of cultivated date palm diversity under human management long after initial domestication.

Image analysis of pits and grains provide alternative routes for overcoming the invasive approach of genomic tools in the investigation of archaeological or modern plant material, which is only seldom a viable option due to the complex and laborious methodologies required. Nevertheless, any investigation of pit morphology and cultivar interpretation requires a high quality, comprehensive dataset for comparison. Such a benchmark dataset for the morphology of olive (Olea europaea) pits is presented in this paper, designed to facilitate similar research and establish a base for future investigations. The dataset was established by image analysis of pits of 18 olive cultivars that were photographed in both lateral and dorsal positions. A dedicated MATLAB® code was developed to extract the silhouettes of each pit and to calculate 16 morphometric traits of each view of the pit. Altogether, a total of 1008 photos of 504 pits of the 18 cultivars, together with their detailed morphometric description and statistical analysis are available here. These were used to test the accuracy of the dataset and the new approach in representing the different cultivars.

This article analyzes the scale, fluctuations and geographical distribution of olive (Olea europaea) cultivation in Palestine over 550 years, from the Late Mamluk period (1300–1517), through the Ottoman era (1517–1917), until the end of the British Mandate in 1947. Although olive oil played a dominant role in the diet and the local economy, there is currently no research that measures and quantifies the number of olive trees or the number of villages and towns that cultivated olive trees and produced olive oil. We reconstruct the agricultural landscape with its vast olive groves and examine the cultural history of olive tree farming, the growth of the olive oil industries and their economic role and importance. The earliest figures we have, that are from the year 1596, show that 400 villages cultivated 1,400,794 olive trees. By 1943, there were 6,053,367 olive trees that were cultivated by 644 villages. We found a strong correlation (R² = 0.96, p < 0.01) between the number of olive trees and the number of villages, indicating that olive oil demand and the olive oil industry align with population size. The research data derives from a variety of medieval local chroniclers, as well as diaries by European, North African and Middle Eastern travelers who provide descriptions of olive groves and the olive oil industry. Among the most important sources are the 1596 Ottoman tax registers. The tax registers are the first document that present clear-cut figures on the numbers of olive trees, olive presses and the names of the villages that cultivated olive groves. The main sources for the last period dealt with in this study are the British Mandate maps (1943), which display the acreage of the different crops across Palestine. The data from the maps is supplemented by two modern works on olive cultivation written by agronomists Assaf Goor (b. 1894) and Ali Nasouh (b. 1906) who were born in Palestine and employed by the British department of agriculture. The analysis of data shows that demands of local and oversea markets; the olive oil soap industry, which was based on the local olive oil; as well as competing agricultural crops like sugarcane, cotton and citrus, contributed to a complex economic structure. Olive tree cultivation did not depend on government investment. Olive groves in Palestine were rain fed, and, except for the harvest, they required relatively few working days a year. Hence, moderate policies (low taxation during periods of drought and low yields) adopted by enterprising local rulers and the central British government created a unique and relatively balanced relationship between rulers and farmers, which encouraged olive cultivation and led to a constant increase in the number of olive trees and the development of the olive oil industry.

Viticulture was a vital agricultural and economic activity during the Byzantine period, also in marginal regions like the Negev Desert. Innovative dryland farming techniques, such as runoff harvesting systems, terraces, and pigeon towers, enabled intensive grape cultivation and a thriving wine export economy. This study focuses on the resilience and adaptability of viticulture in the hinterland of Shivta, analyzing how climatic challenges like aridification and drought tested Byzantine water management strategies. The AGENTS model, developed in NetLogo, integrates various components to simulate viticulture dynamics in the Zetan watershed, calculating water availability, crop yields, and labor costs. The results show that higher runoff ratios improve yield efficiency, while excessive runoff ratios diminish productivity. Prolonged droughts significantly decrease wine production and extend recovery times beyond a decade. Wetter climatic scenarios slightly enhance yield efficiency but do not overcome structural limitations, highlighting the fragile nature of viticulture in the Negev desert. Overall, this study highlights the importance of effective water management in sustaining agriculture and the constraints that limited resilience in Shivta’s agricultural system. The modeling approach offers insights applicable to other regions and historical contexts facing environmental challenges.

In this study, we documented two relict traditional Palestinian orchards; one was abandoned following the 1948 war when the farmers were exiled to Lebanon and the second was tended by farmers up until the early 1970s. The orchards examined are located in two different Mediterranean phytogeographic regions, one in the hilly Upper Galilee and the other on the slopes of Mount Carmel in the hinterland of the Mediterranean coast. We found differences in the species composition and spatial layout of trees in each orchard which followed the dictates of the geographic settings, demonstrating the farmer’s knowledge of their environment. We discuss the importance of these orchards as part of the heritage horticultural systems of the region and explore possible measures that can be taken to preserve this unique historical arboricultural landscape and ways to empower local, traditional knowledge in promoting awareness for the conservation and preservation of heritage horticulture.