Unique 7,200-year-old clay model silo forces rethink of how society evolved

A 7,200-year-old model of a grain silo unearthed at Tel Tsaf in the Jordan Valley. (courtesy)

Discovered at Tel Tsaf in the Jordan Valley, one-of-a-kind vessel testifies to earliest agricultural rituals known in the ancient Near East

A unique 7,200-year-old clay silo model, the earliest evidence of ritual food storage, has been discovered during archaeological excavations at the prehistoric settlement of Tel Tsaf in Israel’s Jordan Valley.

The one-of-a-kind pottery vessel testifies to a previously undiscovered religious — and perhaps even political — side of food storage for this era in the ancient Near East, according to the international team of archaeologists from the University of Haifa and the German Archaeological Institute, Berlin.

Decorated with red balls, the small clay silo is the only such vessel discovered anywhere and from any period, archaeologist Professor Danny Rosenberg of the Zinman Institute of Archaeology at the University of Haifa told The Times of Israel on Wednesday.

“It’s really uncommon and doesn’t look like any vessel we have,” said Rosenberg. [...] The Times of Israel / Link 2 / Link 3


Actualización. The Connection between an Unusual Pottery vessel and the Development of the Elites - University of Haifa