Chemical ‘time-machine’ to tie Israel’s ancient people with modern land
“Israel has many archaeological sites which are really important for understanding human evolution."
By ROSSELLA TERCATINAerial photo of Tell es-Safi/Gath.(photo credit: PROF. AREN M. MAEIR/THE TELL ES-SAFI/GATH ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECT/BAR-ILAN UNIVERSITY)
Rocks and soil collected all over Israel will help researchers shed light on the mysteries of its remote past, thanks to a specific chemical element that will act as the equivalent of a time-machine, connecting its ancient inhabitants with the modern land.Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, announced this past week that a group of international Earth scientists have completed the mapping of samples from across the country.“Israel has many archaeological sites which are really important for understanding human evolution,” Flinders University Research Associate Dr. Rachel Rudd and a co-author of a paper recently published in the journal Earth System Science Data told The Jerusalem Post via email.“The results of this study will allow archaeologists to better understand these sites by adding another method of analysis.”The crucial element that the scientists considered is strontium, which is found in many natural materials in a variety of forms called isotopes and makes its way to the body through water and food.The goal is therefore to be able to compare strontium isotopes found in the ancient remains with those in rocks and soil.“Strontium isotope mapping has uses in many fields as a geochemical tracer – including archaeology, forensic science, ecology and food sciences,” Rudd pointed out.“In archaeology, we can look at research questions involving landscape movement. The analysis of animal remains may give us an insight into the hunting behavior of the hominin groups occupying these sites – were they hunting locally or further away?”Therefore, using the dataset from this project, the researchers will be able to determine whether specimens from archaeological sites were local or not.“Determining the exact origin of humans and animals will always be more difficult, but this data will allow us to learn a lot more about these specimens,” Rudd added.The results of the research have already been used to analyze remains that have been uncovered at Tell es-Safi/Gath, a settlement in the Judean foothills overlooking the southern coastal plain of Israel, which is prominently featured in the Bible, including as the city of origin of David’s giant foe Goliath.“We also hope to apply these methods to other archaeological sites in Israel in the future, to understand human and animal mobility in the landscape,” Rudd concluded.
