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prehistoric

The Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa. (Michael Chazan at the University of Toronto)
June 17, 2026, 5:31 am
In African cave, Israeli and international scientists find signs of earliest use of fire
Evidence of burns was detected on fossilized bones deep in the Wonderwerk Cave, setting back the clock for intentional use of fire from 1 million years ago to close to 1.8 million
By Rossella Tercatin
Excavations conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority and the University of Haifa in a prehistoric cave near Fureidis in Northern Israel. (Emil Aladjem/Israel Antiquities Authority)
June 12, 2026, 4:19 pm
‘A time capsule’: Israeli cave sealed for millennia sheds light on obscure prehistoric clan
A site near Fureidis, south of Haifa, was occupied by early humans around 300,000 years ago, right before Home Sapiens and Neanderthals emerged in the region
By Rossella Tercatin
Botanical motifs from an excavation at Arpachiyah, Iraq, now in the British Museum. (Yosef Garfinkel)
December 20, 2025, 11:30 am
Study of prehistoric botanical art in the Levant suggests ancient man could do math
Analysis by Hebrew University researchers shows 8,000-year-old Halafian pottery sherds bearing symmetry and numerical patterning in images of trees, flowers and shrubs
By Sue Surkes
Graphic showing the entrance to the ritual area found in the Manot Cave. 1, 2 and 3 indicate rows of stalagmites separating area from the rest of the cave. (courtesy/PNAS open access/CC- BY)
December 10, 2024, 4:26 pm
Earliest worship: Evidence of 35,000-year-old prehistoric rites found in northern Israel
Researchers hail discovery of ritual complex at Manot Cave as ‘a global breakthrough,’ marking the oldest such findings in the Levant
By Gavriel Fiske
Archaeologists excavate a room at Tsaf where researchers discovered remains of 7,000-year-old cotton fibers. (Courtesy University of Haifa)
December 18, 2022, 4:43 pm
7,000-year-old fibers in Jordan Valley oldest known evidence of cotton in Near East
Team from University of Haifa, US and Germany studies sediments under a microscope to identify remains of cotton fibers, pointing to Tel Tsaf’s important role as a global trade hub
By Melanie Lidman
Extinct species of cave bear excavated in Devil's Cave, near Pottenstein, Germany. (Ra'ike, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons)
May 10, 2022, 12:34 pm
Big brains helped large mammals survive extinction, study shows
Behavioral flexibility, thanks to large brain-to-body ratio, gave species evolutionary advantage in face of climate change and human hunters
By Sue Surkes
The top (a), rear (b), bottom (c) and front (d) view of the vertebra discovered at the 'Ubeidiya site. (Courtesy/Dr. Alon Barash)
February 2, 2022, 12:04 pm
Scientists find oldest evidence of humans in Israel — a 1.5 million-year-old bone
An ancient vertebra from an archaic hominin species child gives ‘unambiguous’ evidence of migrations out of Africa, Israeli researchers say
By Luke Tress
Tel Tsaf rounded silos. (Boaz Garfinkel/Hebrew University)
June 10, 2021, 8:45 pm
7,000-year-old seal impression marks prehistoric site as early trade hub
A twice-stamped little ancient blob of clay discovered in Tel Tsaf — alongside other evidence — leads researchers to deduce a millennia-old complex mercantile exchange
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Replica of a horse painting from a cave in Lascaux (CC via Wikipedia)
April 8, 2021, 11:11 pm
Israeli study: Prehistoric cave painters may have been hallucinating
Paper published in Time and Mind journal claims cavemen entered hallucinogenic states due to lack of oxygen in potential effort to ‘maintain their connectedness with the cosmos’
By ToI Staff
Human brain development and eating habits (Dr. Miki Ben-Dor)
April 4, 2021, 5:20 pm
For 2 million years, humans ate meat and little else — study
Tel Aviv University researchers says Stone Age humans were apex predators, only moved to more plant-based diet 85,000 years ago
By ToI Staff
A bone fragment discovered near Ramle, Israel with deliberate etchings on that may be the earliest-known use of symbols. (Marion Prévost)
February 4, 2021, 3:38 am
Scientists: Bone carving found in Israel could be earliest human use of symbols
Israeli and French researchers claim six etchings on 120,000-year-old aurochs bone must be deliberate and likely symbolized spiritual connection of hunter and prey
By ToI Staff
Flint chopping tools from the Revadim prehistoric site, east of Ashdod. (Courtesy Prof. Ran Barkai/Tel Aviv University)
January 21, 2021, 3:41 pm
Early humans used prehistoric tool to chop bones, eat the marrow: Israeli study
Tel Aviv University researchers solve mystery of sharp-edged devices, found in many areas and known to have been in use for over 2 million years
By Stuart Winer
Copper slag found at the Neveh Noy excavation in Beersheba. (Anat Rasiuk/Israel Antiquities Authority)
October 4, 2020, 12:21 am
6,500-year-old metalworkers: Humanity’s 1st smelting furnaces found in Israel?
Scientific study of traces of copper furnaces near Beersheba shows necessity was not the mother of invention, but rather human intellectual curiosity — and the desire to show off
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
100,000-year-old tools uncovered at a flint-knapping site outside Dimona in Israel's Negev Desert. (Emil Aladjem/Israel Antiquities Authority)
August 4, 2020, 2:19 pm
Paleolithic flint tools are 1st ‘breadcrumbs’ of modern man’s trail to Israel
Migration route from Africa given new clarity by 100,000-year-old tools discovered outside Dimona in the Negev Desert made by unusual flint-knapping technique
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
160,000-year-old clam shell fossils from Misliya Cave in Israel's Carmel Mountains (Oz Rittner)
July 9, 2020, 8:55 pm
World’s 1st necklace? Prehistoric painted shells, once on twine, found in Israel
Experiments on 160,000-year-old clam shell fossils in northern caves indicate they are earliest examples of shell beads strung for display on the human body, Israeli scientists say
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
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