Oldest human remains found outside Tel Aviv

Source: Ynet News | August 27, 2016 | Asaf Kamer

Located outside of Rosh HaAyin and Tel Aviv, Qesem Cave was accidentally discovered during road work 16 years ago; since then, the cave has revealed a wealth of information on early humans, and helps shed light on the evolution of humanity.

When work began to widen route 5 outside of Rosh HaAyin 16 years ago, workers discovered something incredible; the opening to a world frozen in time.

A powerful controlled explosion designed to demolish a giant limestone boulder blocking the path of the road exposed the entrance to a giant limestone cave which had been sealed for over 200,000 years.

This 200,000 year old time capsule contained within it rare artifacts from a critical point in the evolution of humanity, and turned the cave, now called “Qesem Cave,” into one of the most important pre-historic sites in the world.

Archaeology Professor at Tel Aviv University Ron Barkai is the head of digging at Qesem Cave. He discussed the international significance of the finds found there.

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“This cave has been unusually well preserved,” Gofer says. “The people who lived here were a huge revolution (in the history of 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. In other words, there was an explosion of change (at Qesem Cave), and a lot of innovations.”

One of the major discoveries at Qesem Cave which changed history books was the discovery of the oldest evidence of the consumption of cooked meat.

Qesem Cave (Photo: Ron Barkai, Tel Aviv University)

Qesem Cave (Photo: Ron Barkai, Tel Aviv University)

Professor Torsten Otmeier of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany, comes with his students to help excavate in the cave every year and spoke about some of his findings.

“This site is approximately 400,000 years old. If you look at what (the early humans) did here, on their hunting strategies, the way they made their tools and how they prepared their food, it points to one of the most important changes in the history of mankind. Before this era, early humans acted in a completely different manner. (This site) represents one of the most important turning points in the evolution of mankind.”

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