A new study at the Zinman Institute of Archeology at Haifa University has revealed Sickle blades dating back 23 thousand years. They predate the earliest sickle blades found so far by thousands of years.
Five flint blades dating to 23 years ago were identified following a unique study as blades that were used to harvest wheat, making them the earliest sickle blades discovered to date in the world, thousands of years earlier than the sickle blades found so far, according to a new study conducted at the Zinman Institute of Archeology at the University Haifa. "The findings we found under the microscope indicate not only that our ancestors before 23 A thousand years ago, tools began to be used to harvest wheat and barley, but they knew even then that they should harvest the wheat when it was still half-ripe in order not to lose grains," said Dr. Iris Gruman-Yaroslavsky, head of the Laboratory for the Study of Signs of Use at the University of Haifa, one of the authors of the study .
At the end of the 23s, Prof. Danny Nadel from the University of Haifa uncovered the Ohlo II site - a camp of fishermen-gatherers-hunters dating to the end of the Upper Paleolithic period, about XNUMX thousand years ago. The camp is under the waters of the Kinneret, and was only exposed thanks to a sharp drop in the water level in those years. His burial under water provided excellent preservation conditions for the remains of the camp, including arbors, bonfires and a human grave. Among other things, hundreds of thousands of flint items were found, including a wide variety of knives, points and scrapers. Five blades with a special luster were identified among the tools. Such a shine is usually evidence that the item was used as a cutting tool. However, in order to know exactly what caused the formation of that shine, special microscopic tests were needed that are done in laboratories for the study of signs of use.
About three years ago, such a laboratory was opened at the Zinman Institute of Archeology at the University of Haifa under the leadership of Dr. Gruman-Yaroslavsky, and now Prof. Nadel along with Prof. Ehud Weiss from Bar Ilan University were able to join it to solve the issue of the shine on the flint knives.
The findings also surprised the researchers. At a 100x magnification, Dr. Gruman-Yaroslavsky began to clearly identify unique signs of grain harvesting. The surface was very smooth and shiny like a mirror. We found the unique topography of such a harvest, a kind of smoothed and rounded bumps. Within those 'bumps' we found shapes that we call 'comet star shapes', with their tails formed as a result of the one-way harvesting movement - as opposed to sawing, for example, or sanding. Along with other characteristics, it was clear to us that this was a tool that was used as a sickle to harvest grain," she said.
How big was the surprise that it was the Magi? According to Prof. Nadel, to this day the earliest evidence of the common use of sickles for grain harvesting was from the Natufian period, about 8,000 years later. Finding sickle blades of this type in such an early period significantly changes our knowledge of the technology and economy of the people of that time.
It also turned out that the microscopic signs of use indicate that the shovels were used to harvest grains that are not yet fully ripe. According to the researchers, this means that the harvesters realized that using a sickle at the stage of ripe oats can cause the kernels to fall and scatter, therefore harvesting ripe wheat will result in the loss of kernels. It was also found that at least two of the five blades were connected on the other side to handles, so that the harvesters actually used a sickle made of a wooden butt and a flint blade.
In order to definitively confirm the observations, the researchers performed a "historical reconstruction". They made flint tools similar to the archaeological tools and used them to harvest semi-dry wild wheat. After a few hours of harvesting, the tools were examined under the microscope and the marks proved - indeed, these are the same wear patterns as identified on the 23 thousand year old tools.
"At the Uholo II site there is a wealth of findings, among others thousands of flint vessels, with only five of them being identified so far as sickle blades. It is possible to reconstruct the life of the camp 23 thousand years ago. The people subsisted by fishing, hunting and gathering a very wide variety of fruits and edible seeds. Previous studies of the botanical remains from the site proved that the local people grew grains, such as wheat and wild barley, and used stones Grinding the grains. The new find adds to our knowledge of the grain collection phase and the level of sophistication and abilities of the people of that time," the researchers concluded.
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Without a doubt one of the oldest realities I've heard of
Wow crazy!
23 years must be worth a lot of money!!
23 thousand years under the waters of the Sea of Galilee... that's a lot of time!
Does this mean that the Neolithic period actually began 12,000 years earlier than is commonly thought today?