Overview
- The peer-reviewed analysis in PLOS One measured Δ13C in 1,514 grape and olive seeds and woods from sites across the Levant and northern Mesopotamia.
- Grapevine samples averaged about 3.7‰ higher Δ13C than olive, reflecting species differences in water-use efficiency under stress.
- Mean Δ13C values track reconstructed average precipitation and regional gradients, revealing a gradual drying trend over the study period.
- Signals align with known Holocene events at approximately 4.2 and 3.2 kyr BP and with drought at the end of the e BronzBronze Age, supporting episodes of irrigation, including of olive trees.
- The dataset indicates sustained investment in viticulture, including irrigation in marginal zones, and an Iron Age concentration of sites in wetter areas above roughly 500 mm RAP.