These are the remains of the earliest building ever found in Tel Aviv, according to Israel's Antiquities Authority.
Located on the northern bank of the Yarkon River, the building consists of at least three rooms and it is believed to be about 8,000 years old, when humans went from a nomadic existence of hunting to living in permanent settlements.
"This discovery is both important and surprising," archaeologist Ayelet Dayan, director of the excavation, said in the statement. "For the first time we have encountered evidence of permanent habitation that existed in the Tel Aviv region 8,000 years ago."
The archaeologists also uncovered other finds: a fragment of a base of a basalt bowl, pottery shards and animal remains, including hippopotamus bones and teeth that probably belonged to sheep or goat.
Abundant flint tools, such as sickle blades, as well as numerous flakes left over from the chipping of these implements, suggest that an ancient tool-making industry was thriving at the site.
Flint implements ascribed to earlier periods were also discovered, including a point of a hunting tool from the Middle Paleolithic period or about 100.000 years ago.
Photo: Assaf Peretz, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority
Tags: Archaeology, History, Near East and Middle East Archaeology
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