The first use of olives in Africa around 100,000 years ago

doi:10.1038/s41477-022-01109-x

. 2022 Mar;8(3):204-208.

doi: 10.1038/s41477-022-01109-x. Epub 2022 Mar 22.

The first use of olives in Africa around 100,000 years ago

L Marquer^{1

2}, T Otto³, E Ben Arous^{4

5

6}, E Stoetzel⁴, E Campmas⁷, A Zazzo⁸, O Tombret^{4

8}, A Seim^{9

10}, W Kofler⁹, C Falguères⁴, M Abdeljalil El Hajraoui¹¹, R Nespoulet⁴

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Botany, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria. Laurent.Marquer@uibk.ac.at.
² Research Group for Terrestrial Palaeoclimates, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany. Laurent.Marquer@uibk.ac.at.
³ Laboratoire écologie fonctionnelle et environnement, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Toulouse, France.
⁴ Histoire Naturelle de l'Homme Préhistorique (HNHP, UMR 7194), Sorbonne Universités, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, CNRS, UPVD, Paris, France.
⁵ PanEv Lab, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human Evolution (MPI-SHH), Jena, Germany.
⁶ Centro nacional de investigación sobre la evolución humana (CENIEH), Burgos, Spain.
⁷ UMR 5608 TRACES du CNRS, Université Toulouse Jean Jaurès, Toulouse, France.
⁸ Archéozoologie, Archéobotanique: Sociétés, Pratiques et Environnements (AASPE, UMR 7209), Sorbonne Universités, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Paris, France.
⁹ Institute of Botany, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
¹⁰ Chair of Forest Growth and Dendroecology, Institute of Forest Sciences, Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
¹¹ Institut National des Sciences de l'Archéologie et du Patrimoine, Rabat, Morocco.

PMID: 35318448
DOI: 10.1038/s41477-022-01109-x

The first use of olives in Africa around 100,000 years ago

L Marquer et al. Nat Plants. 2022 Mar.

. 2022 Mar;8(3):204-208.

doi: 10.1038/s41477-022-01109-x. Epub 2022 Mar 22.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Botany, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria. Laurent.Marquer@uibk.ac.at.
² Research Group for Terrestrial Palaeoclimates, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany. Laurent.Marquer@uibk.ac.at.
³ Laboratoire écologie fonctionnelle et environnement, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Toulouse, France.
⁴ Histoire Naturelle de l'Homme Préhistorique (HNHP, UMR 7194), Sorbonne Universités, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, CNRS, UPVD, Paris, France.
⁵ PanEv Lab, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human Evolution (MPI-SHH), Jena, Germany.
⁶ Centro nacional de investigación sobre la evolución humana (CENIEH), Burgos, Spain.
⁷ UMR 5608 TRACES du CNRS, Université Toulouse Jean Jaurès, Toulouse, France.
⁸ Archéozoologie, Archéobotanique: Sociétés, Pratiques et Environnements (AASPE, UMR 7209), Sorbonne Universités, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Paris, France.
⁹ Institute of Botany, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
¹⁰ Chair of Forest Growth and Dendroecology, Institute of Forest Sciences, Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
¹¹ Institut National des Sciences de l'Archéologie et du Patrimoine, Rabat, Morocco.

PMID: 35318448
DOI: 10.1038/s41477-022-01109-x

Abstract

The olive tree was an iconic plant for most of the past Mediterranean civilizations, for which it had important economic value. Here we report the earliest use of fruits and wood from olive trees in Africa so far, around 100,000 years ago. These findings suggest the presence of olive trees on the Atlantic coast of Morocco during most of the last glacial period, and the use of olives by the early Homo sapiens for fuel management and most probably for consumption.

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References

1. Goren-Inbar, N. et al. Evidence of hominin control of fire at Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, Israel. Science 304, 725–727 (2004). - DOI
1. Liphschitz, Gophna, R., Hartman, M. & Biger, G. The beginning of olive (Olea europaea) cultivation in the Old World: a reassessment. J. Archaeol. Sci. 18, 441–453 (1991). - DOI
1. Jennings, R. P. et al. New dates and palaeoenvironmental evidence for the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic occupation of Higueral de Valleja Cave, southern Spain. Quat. Sci. Rev. 28, 830–839 (2009). - DOI
1. Carrión, Y., Ntinou, M. & Badal, E. Olea europaea L. in the North Mediterranean Basin during the Pleniglacial and the early–middle Holocene. Quat. Sci. Rev. 29, 952–968 (2010). - DOI
1. Kuhn, S. L. et al. Radiocarbon dating results for the early Upper Paleolithic of Klissoura Cave 1. Eurasian Prehistory 7, 37–46 (2010).

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[1] Goren-Inbar, N. et al. Evidence of hominin control of fire at Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, Israel. Science 304, 725–727 (2004). - DOI

[2] Goren-Inbar, N. et al. Evidence of hominin control of fire at Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, Israel. Science 304, 725–727 (2004). - DOI

[3] Liphschitz, Gophna, R., Hartman, M. & Biger, G. The beginning of olive (Olea europaea) cultivation in the Old World: a reassessment. J. Archaeol. Sci. 18, 441–453 (1991). - DOI

[4] Liphschitz, Gophna, R., Hartman, M. & Biger, G. The beginning of olive (Olea europaea) cultivation in the Old World: a reassessment. J. Archaeol. Sci. 18, 441–453 (1991). - DOI

[5] Jennings, R. P. et al. New dates and palaeoenvironmental evidence for the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic occupation of Higueral de Valleja Cave, southern Spain. Quat. Sci. Rev. 28, 830–839 (2009). - DOI

[6] Jennings, R. P. et al. New dates and palaeoenvironmental evidence for the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic occupation of Higueral de Valleja Cave, southern Spain. Quat. Sci. Rev. 28, 830–839 (2009). - DOI

[7] Carrión, Y., Ntinou, M. & Badal, E. Olea europaea L. in the North Mediterranean Basin during the Pleniglacial and the early–middle Holocene. Quat. Sci. Rev. 29, 952–968 (2010). - DOI

[8] Carrión, Y., Ntinou, M. & Badal, E. Olea europaea L. in the North Mediterranean Basin during the Pleniglacial and the early–middle Holocene. Quat. Sci. Rev. 29, 952–968 (2010). - DOI

[9] Kuhn, S. L. et al. Radiocarbon dating results for the early Upper Paleolithic of Klissoura Cave 1. Eurasian Prehistory 7, 37–46 (2010).

[10] Kuhn, S. L. et al. Radiocarbon dating results for the early Upper Paleolithic of Klissoura Cave 1. Eurasian Prehistory 7, 37–46 (2010).

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The first use of olives in Africa around 100,000 years ago

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The first use of olives in Africa around 100,000 years ago

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Abstract

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