Using archival maps and satellite imagery to as field guides, BOSTAN-TREE researchers are systematically surveying archaic orchards found across Israel in a quest to discover feral trees that continue to grow in-situ and study the features that typified the agricultural installations that supported them.

 

Background

 

The extensive journey to explore ancient agricultural systems and the cultures they supported across Israel is based on the understanding that the agricultural landscapes, along with the abundant remains of ancient orchards containing heritage fruit trees, reflects a unique sustainable cultural landscape that developed in the region over the past millennia.

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One of our basic research methods is to focus on fruit trees and vines in historical orchards by viewing them as living artefacts representing ancient agricultural systems. We define orchards as a traditional agricultural system wherein a variety of fruit trees and vines were grown in simultaneous diversity.

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Heritage trees developed in the country over hundreds of years, adapting to local physical and cultural conditions. As living remnants, the trees contain unparalleled qualitative data that, together with a variety of seemingly inert archaeological and bio-archaeological data, form the basis from which we can draw a detailed picture of ancient agricultural systems in the region. The living trees – usually an evolutionary descendant of longstanding lineages – contains high-quality geographical-historical and botanical information that is well preserved in-situ. Acting as ‘tree whisperers’, we aim to decipher the messages preserved in these archaic entities.

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One of the central questions we aim to resolve is how doe the main characteristics of the archaic orchards differ in various regions of Israel? We intend to learn the main features of the orchards as a foundation for fostering the sustainable application of ancient agricultural knowledge, aspects of agricultural heritage conservation, education, and more in contemporary contexts. We therefore are systematically documenting what we discover in the field, while tracing parallel historical sources that support a broader understanding of our discoveries. The challenge of using scientific tools to characterize historical orchards in Israel requires that we define and map the available qualitative and quantitative data, while also mapping the various components affecting the variability between data in the region, and the diverse factors we will encounter along the way. Considering these as a single unit with varying sub-categories, we seek to formulate a methodology for this undertaking and apply it in the field with the understanding that as we progress, the method will be refined and undergo further adaptations and updates.