Jun 24, 2009 | 5 Archeologists have uncovered surprisingly
sophisticated grain storage that predates plant domestication.
An excavation site near the Dead Sea in Jordan has revealed an
11,000-year-old granary, which even had elevated floors to
prevent rodent pilfering and to increase air circulation. The
stone and mud building was capped with a wattle roof (branches
or reeds woven around poles) was about 9.8 feet (3 meters) in
diameter. The findings, reported earlier this week in
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveal wild
barley as one of the ancient building's contents. Two nearby
structures also appear to have been used for food and grain
processing. People in the Early Natufian period (15,000 to
12,800 years ago) were fairly sedentary but appear to have
depended largely on the day-to-day availability of wild plants
and animals for food, rather than food stores. But by 11,000
years ago, people seem to have made great strides, building
silos and these more complex granaries. Mar 5, 2009 It'