Irit Zohar
Department Maritime Civilizations

E-mail address: zoharir@post.tau.ac.il

 

 


"Only a small part of what was once existed was buried in the ground; only a part of what was buried has escaped the destroying hand of time; of this part all has not yet come to light again; and we all know only too well how little of what has come to light has been of service for our science".
(O. Montelius 1888:5)

 		 

Irit Zohar is an adjunct lecturer, at the Department of Maritime Civilizations at the University of Haifa and is a research fellow of the Recanati Center for Maritime Studies. Irit is a zooarchaeologist, specializing in the analysis of fish remains. She received her BA in archaeology from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and her MA from the Department of Maritime Civilizations at the University of Haifa. She carries out her Ph.D. research at the Department of Zoology at Tel Aviv University.

As specialist of zooarchaeology Irit's MA thesis focused on exploitation of marine resources by the prehistoric inhabitants of the Israeli coast: the case of the gray triggerfish (Balistes carolinensis). Her PhD research focus on fishing activity at the Sea of Galilee by late Kebarean hunter-gatherers: ecological, economical and cultural implications.
In order to identify the fish remains recovered from archaeological sites a fish osteological reference collection (click for samples) is being set up, which includes fresh water fish , Mediterranean fish and Red Sea fish of different body size .
Irit's research includes study of taphonomic factors that influence fish remains; in particular ethnographic studies of present day fishfolk that still use traditional methods for fishing and fish long term preservation (click for samples).

Research Projects
-Fish remains recovered from coastal and inland sites(click for sample)].
-Fish utilization methods: Ethnographic study of recent fish folk vs. fish remains(click for smaples).
-Taphonomical history of fish remains.
-Environmental changes in aquatic habitats, as reconstructedfrom fish remains.
-Fishing methods (click for sample).
- Fish sampling (click for sample).
-Fish natural accumulation as opposed to cultural accumulation.
-Cyprinidae osteological characteristics
* Courses taught by Irit Zohar [LINK]
-Introduction to Ichtyology (3h)
-Fish remains from Archaeological Sites (3h)

Participation in Major Research Projects:
- Excavation of an Acheulian Site: Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, Upper Galilee.
- Excavation of a Kebaran sie Mount Carmel caves (Gamal & Tabun)
- Excavation of a Natufian/ Neolithic site at El-Wad terrace, Mount Carmel.
- Excavation of a PPNB submerged site at Atlit-Yam.
- Excavation of a submerged site at Neve-Yam.
- Excavation of PPte and burial: Ohalo II (19,000 B.P.), Sea of Galilee.
- Excavation of Kebaran site (19,000 B.P.) at Hefziba.
- Excavation at thNB (8,000 B.P.) burials from Kefar Hahoresh.
- Excavation of the M.B/L.B (3,000 B.P.) site at a coastal site of Tel Naami.
- Excavation of Early Arabic population burials from Beit-Shean
- Ethnographic research in Parita Bay, Panama: on Fish drying and salting butchering techniques, by local fishermen.
- Ethnographic research in Sinai on Fish drying and salting butchering techniques, by local Bedouin fishermen in Nabek.
- Excavation of fish natural assemblages along the shore of the Sea of Galilee.


List of Publications