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Oldest Human Remains Found Outside Tel Aviv

(Ynet News) Asaf Kamer - When work began to widen a highway outside of Rosh HaAyin near Tel Aviv 16 years ago, workers discovered the opening to a world frozen in time - a giant limestone cave which had been sealed for over 200,000 years. The Qesem Cave is one of the most important prehistoric sites in the world. Archaeology professor Ron Barkai of Tel Aviv University heads the digging at the cave. "It reflects an unknown stage in the history of humanity," he said. "They made flint knives alongside other large artifacts such as hand axes....These are the oldest examples of knives in the history of humanity. By comparison, Europe only started seeing humans using knives 30,000 years ago. These knives were created 400,000 years ago. What happened here in Israel 400,000 years ago predates the rest of the world by hundreds of thousands of years." Archaeologist Avi Gofer says, "The people who lived here were a huge revolution (in humanity). What these people did here is completely different than what other humans were doing; in terms of chiseling technology, behavior, hunting techniques, organization, use of fire, and much more." Professor Torsten Otmeier of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany, noted, "This site is approximately 400,000 years old...[and] represents one of the most important turning points in the evolution of mankind."
2016-09-02 00:00:00
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