Wood remains from Tel Nami,a middle bronze IIa and late bronze IIb port,local exploitation of trees and levantine cedar trade

Thirteen Middle Bronze Age IIa and four Late Bronze Age IIb (ca. 1950-1750 B.C. and thirteenth century, B.C., respectively)pieces of charcoal or water logged wood were found in the recent excavations of Tel Nami, a small port on the coast near Mount Carmel, Israel. These includedCedrus libani (cedar of Lebanon) (three samples), and local tree species that still grow today in the vicinity of the site—Pinus halepensis (Aleppo pine) (one sample),Olea europaea (olive tree) (five samples),Quercus calliprinos (kermes oak) (three samples),Quercus ithaburensis (Mt. Tabor oak) (four samples), andQuercus sp. (one sample). The discovery of Cedrus libani in a Middle Bronze Age IIa port is one of the earliest published examples of cedar wood from Israel. Together with other artifactual evidence for maritime trade from Tel Nami, this find suggests that a maritime trade in cedar wood existed along the Levantine coast.