ABSTRACT
As a history student at the Hebrew University in the late 1950s the author was taught that two indicators allow for identifying a structure as Frankish. Nature’s correspondent concluded his report by observing that “unfortunately, present carbon-14 dating methods do not allow researchers to differentiate between olive oil and dragon blood.” The belief of Stephan Schulz, the eighteenth-century missionary, that Frankish mortar was exceptionally strong a belief many historians, himself included, have subscribed to should be looked at askance, for it turns out that not all Frankish mortar stands out for its resilience. Moreover, researchers, who have recently analysed both the mortar and the charcoal fragments encased in it, report an agreement between their radiocarbon dates. Casal des Plains is a Frankish castle erected in 1191 east of Jaffa, on the road leading to Jerusalem.
