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Stone artifacts painstakingly shaped into spheres were part of the daily lives of early humans for more than two million years. They have been unearthed by archaeologists in East Africa, humanity's ancestral home, and they litter prehistoric sites across Eurasia from the Middle East to China and India. Yet experts have been puzzled by their function since the early days of research into our evolutionary history. Now, an international team of archaeologists led by Tel Aviv University archaeologist researcher Ella Assaf, has produced evidence that these enigmatic artifacts were used for a very specific purpose: breaking the bones of large...

Tel Aviv University researchers, in collaboration with scholars from Spain, have uncovered evidence of the storage and delayed consumption of animal bone marrow at Qesem Cave near Tel Aviv, the site of many major discoveries from the late Lower Paleolithic period some 400,000 years ago. The research provides direct evidence that early Paleolithic people saved animal bones for up to nine weeks before feasting on them inside Qesem Cave... The researchers contend that the deer metapodials were kept at the cave covered in skin to facilitate the preservation of marrow for consumption in time of need. The researchers evaluated the...

Researchers found four teeth in the Qesem Cave near Rosh Ha'ayin (not far from Tel Aviv), and they were astonished at test results that conclude the fossils to be some 400,000-years-old. The significance of this is that it's possible that the origin of prehistoric man is in Israel, and not in East Africa. And an additional surprise is that prehistoric man was mainly vegetarian and not carnivorous. The cave is 10 meters deep and its surface area is approximately 300 square meters. Researchers have been sifting through it for some 15 years to discover remains from prehistoric times. The ancient...

Dietary change led to the appearance of modern humans in the Middle East 400,000 years ago, say TAU researchersElephants have long been known to be part of the Homo erectus diet. But the significance of this specific food source, in relation to both the survival of Homo erectus and the evolution of modern humans, has never been understood — until now. When Tel Aviv University researchers Dr. Ran Barkai, Miki Ben-Dor, and Prof. Avi Gopher of TAU's Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies examined the published data describing animal bones associated with Homo erectus at the Acheulian site...

In what Prof. Barkai describes as a "time capsule," the analysed calculus revealed three major findings: charcoal from indoor fires; evidence for the ingestion of essential plant-based dietary components; and fibers that might have been used to clean teeth or were remnants of raw materials. "Prof. Karen Hardy published outstanding research on the dental calculus of Neanderthals from El Sidron cave in Spain, but these dated back just 40,000-50,000 years—we are talking far earlier than this," said Prof. Barkai. "This is the first evidence that the world's first indoor BBQs had health-related consequences," said Prof. Barkai. "The people who lived...

Archaeology has long associated advanced blade production with the Upper Palaeolithic period, about 30,000-40,000 years ago, linked with the emergence of Homo Sapiens and cultural features such as cave art. Now researchers at Tel Aviv University have uncovered evidence which shows that "modern" blade production was also an element of Amudian industry during the late Lower Paleolithic period, 200,000-400,000 years ago as part of the Acheulo-Yabrudian cultural complex, a geographically limited group of hominins who lived in modern-day Israel, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. Prof. Avi Gopher, Dr. Ran Barkai and Dr. Ron Shimelmitz of TAU's Department of Archaeology and Ancient...

BINGHAMTON, NY – Eight small teeth found in a cave near Rosh Haain, central Israel, are raising big questions about the earliest existence of humans and where we may have originated, says Binghamton University anthropologist Rolf Quam. Part of a team of international researchers led by Dr. Israel Hershovitz of Tel Aviv University, Qaum and his colleagues have been examining the dental discovery and recently published their joint findings in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology. Excavated at Qesem cave, a pre-historic site that was uncovered in 2000, the size and shape of the teeth are very similar to those...

Minuscule flakes made from recycled flint were identified at the late Lower Palaeolithic site of Qesem Cave in Israel (Figure 1), dated to 400-200 thousand years ago (kya) (Barkai et al. 2003; Gopher et al. In press). Our ongoing research at this exceptionally well-preserved site indicates that it was repeatedly occupied by early hominins, ancestral to Homo sapiens and/or Neanderthals (Hershkovitz et al. In press), who left ample evidence of their lifestyle. Our analysis of the tiny flakes (Figure 2) suggests that they were used to cut meat. The occupants of Qesem Cave produced innovative flint tools, and in particular...

Structure in modern Rosh Ha'ayin was used during Assyrian, Persian and Hellenistic periods. Israeli archaeologists uncovered an ancient farmhouse in the area of modern day Rosh Ha'ayin, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced Monday. The structure is believed to be 2,800 years old, and consists of 23 rooms. "The farm, which is extraordinarily well-preserved, extends across an area of 30 meters by 40 meters and was built in the eighth century BCE, the time of the Assyrian conquest," IAA excavation director Amit Shadman said. "Farm houses during this period served as small settlements of sorts whose inhabitants participated in processing agricultural produce....

Summary: When did humans really begin to control fire and use it for their daily needs? Scientists discovered in the Qesem Cave, an archaeological site near present-day Rosh Ha'ayin, the earliest evidence -- dating to around 300,000 years ago -- of unequivocal repeated fire building over a continuous period. These findings help answer the question and hint that those prehistoric humans already had a highly advanced social structure and intellectual capacity.

Security forces thwarted a double suicide bombing in Rosh Ha-Ayin, according to information released by the IDF Monday evening. Acting on intelligence received, Egoz unit soldiers Monday morning arrested terror cell members in the West Bank town of Rafat and found 2 suicide belts – 10 KG each, reported Channel 1 news. The terrorists – Hamas members – were transporting the belts that were hidden in a school bag from Nablus to Elkana, where the security fence ends. The operation comes on the heels of arrests over the past day of three Hamas members in A-Zveiah, which is close to...

(IsraelNN.com) A gag order has been lifted permitting reporting the GSS (General Security Service/Shin Bet), police, and the army thwarted a Fatah Tanzim suicide bombing attack in Rosh HaAyin on Monday. The suicide terrorist, a resident of Balata, was escorted by a middle aged male and female, both Shechem residents and both parents of seven. The escorts were to draw attention away from the bomber until he crossed into Green Line pre-1967 Israel. The female carried the bomb belt in a bag since they realized security inspections for females are less rigorous. The three met near the Israeli Arab municipality...