Abstract
Excavations at Yavne-Yam yielded remains of fishing equipment. The finds included 12 complete, unmarked weights, which were cast in a stone or pottery mold; 24 lead droplets and shapeless lumps; 35 fragments of square-sectioned bronze nails—their heads flat and round, or pointed and thickened. Other metal artifacts in the assemblage include a bronze ring and a bronze sewing needle, possibly for sails. The lead weights and industrial waste were discovered together with coins dating from the second to the first half of the fourth century CE; therefore, the assemblage was dated to the Late Roman period. The variety of the weights and their light mass indicate that they were used with a small fishing net or a fishing rod. It seems that a workshop for the production of lead weights and fishing hooks operated at the site. This is the earliest evidence of production of fishing hooks from bronze nails in secondary use.
Keywords
coastal plain, harbor, rod fishing, workshop, hook manufacture, fish, economy, numismatics
Recommended Citation
Sharvit, Jacob and Planer, Dror
(2015)
"A Roman-Period Fishing Station at Yavne-Yam (North) (Hebrew, pp. 49–58; English summary, p. 118*–119*),"
'Atiqot: Vol. 81, Article 7.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.70967/2948-040X.1577
Available at:
https://publications.iaa.org.il/atiqot/vol81/iss1/7
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