Plant use in the Bronze and Iron Ages at Tell es-Sâfi/Gath

The long history of settlement at Tell es-Sâfi/Gath provides an opportunity to study changes in vegetation and its use in different cultures and periods, as well as aspects relating to local biodiversity over time. These changes may shed light on the local development of agriculture, on cultural changes, on ancient human migrations, and foreign influences. Analyzing archaeological data from several time periods and cultures within the same landscape offers new directions in the study of past cultures, and the origins of their formation (Frumin et al. 2015; Frumin 2017). In the case of the appearance of Philistine culture, which occurred partly through migration, this type of data enables analysis of invasion events using archaeological data, with the aim of reconstructing changes in diet, land use, and in regional and interregional linkages associated with a specific migrant culture.