‘Atiqot - Publications of the Israel Antiquities Authority

‘Atiqot 81 (2015) ISBN 2948-040X

A Roman-Period Fishing Station at Yavne-Yam (North) (Hebrew, pp. 49–58; English summary, p. 118*–119*)
Jacob Sharvit and Dror Planer
Keywords: coastal plain, harbor, rod fishing, workshop, hook manufacture, fish, economy, numismatics
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.