Finding of trout (Salmo cf. trutta) in the Northern Jordan Valley (Israel) at the end of the Pleistocene: Preliminary results

Aurélia Borvon (1, 2) , Anne Bridault (3, 1) , Rebecca Biton (4) , Rivka Rabinovich (4) , Marion Prevost (4) , Hamudi Khalaily (5) , François Valla (3)

1 Archéologies environnementales
2 ONIRIS - École nationale vétérinaire, agroalimentaire et de l'alimentation Nantes-Atlantique
3 ArScAn - Archéologies et Sciences de l'Antiquité
4 HUJ - The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
5 IAA - Israel Antiquities Authority

Tens of thousands of fish bones were recovered from the Final Natufian (Late Epipaleolithic) layer of the site of Eynan/Ain Mallaha (Northern Israel) dated to the end of the Pleistocene. Almost a hundred of them were attributed to a Salmoninae, most probably a trout Salmo cf. trutta. This is the southernmost attestation of a Salmo species in the Near East, past and present. It is suggested that trout were present locally as small populations at least at the end of the Pleistocene.

Mots clés: Trout; Eynan/Mallaha; Hula Basin; Southern Levant; Final Natufian

Mots clés: Salmonidae

Domaines: Archéologie et Préhistoire; Etudes de l'environnement

Aurélia Borvon, Anne Bridault, Rebecca Biton, Rivka Rabinovich, Marion Prevost, et al.. Finding of trout (Salmo cf. trutta) in the Northern Jordan Valley (Israel) at the end of the Pleistocene: Preliminary results. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2018, 18 (18), pp.59-64. ⟨10.1016/j.jasrep.2018.01.008⟩. ⟨halshs-01850067⟩