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Ancient humans quarried Flint River to make weapon for run and butchering elephant up to 2 million years ago in what ’s now the Upper Galilee part of Israel , a Modern study finds .
The inquiry reply long - stand questions about why there were so many ancient quarries in the part , and find that they were located near weewee sources in all probability used by migrating elephant herds .
Prehistoric elephant hunting using spears. Early Homo erectus may not have used spears but may have driven the giant animals into pit traps where they could be killed with clubs and handaxes.
The study writer nominate thatHomo erectus — an other ancestor of modern world that hold out fromabout 1.89 million to 110,000 years ago — quarry flint at the site to make pecker for hunting and slaughter elephants until about 500,000 age ago , during the palaeolithic full point , or Old Stone Age .
" An elephant consumes 400 liters [ 105 gallons ] of water supply a sidereal day , on mean , and that ’s why it has ready movement paths , " study Colorado - authorMeir Finkel , an archaeologist at Tel Aviv University , said in a argument . " These are creature that bank on a casual provision of water , and therefore on water sources — the camber of lakes , river and current . "
The authors looked at the ancient migration routes of elephants — suggested by early studies that believe the landscape painting and fossilised ivory — and found that they stand for closely to the ancient quarry land site in the Upper Galilee area , according to the study print Feb. 21 in the journalArchaeologies .
The skull and a facial reconstruction ofHomo erectus.
The quarries are within walk distance of the major Paleolithic internet site at Gesher Benot Ya’aqov and Ma’ayan Baruch in the Hula Valley , between the Sea of Galilee and Israel ’s border with Syria and Lebanon .
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Sacred stone
The study author note that the prehistoric elephant hunting watch seemed to have consider the Flint River from particular outcrops specially suit for hunt their prey . Ancient human beings even left offerings at these rock outcrops , while leaving neighboring outcrops untouched .
" Hunter - gatherers assign great importance to the author of the stone — the quarry itself — imbuing it with potency and sanctitude , and hence also spectral adoration , " co - authorRan Barkai , a prof of archeology at Tel Aviv University , aver in the statement .
Barkai and his colleagues have studied the Flint River quarry and toolmaking sites in the Upper Galilee area for about 20 years . Earlier studies had shown that elephant were the primary food source in the region forHomo erectusby comparing the position of the ancient human sites with the ancient elephant migration routes .
" In many case , we discover elephant hunt and processing [ butchering ] land site at ' necessary crossover ' where a stream or river passes through a steep mountain pass , or when a way of life along a lakeshore is fix to the infinite between the shoring and a sight range , " Finkel say .
Because it was backbreaking to save an elephant carcass , especially with nearby predatory animals , ancient homo would n’t have had retentive to butcher a dead pachyderm . " Therefore , it was imperative to educate worthy cutting tools in large quantities in onward motion and nearby , " Finkel added .
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To support their possibility , the researchers practice their findings to those of early palaeolithic land site in Asia , Europe and Africa where elephant and mammoth were hunt down and to late sites where other animals — such as hippos , camel and gymnastic horse — were the prey .
" It appear that the Paleolithic ' holy trine ' [ weewee , raven animals and suitable rock ] bear true universally : Wherever there was water , there were elephants , and wherever there were elephants , human had to find oneself worthy rock outcrop to quarry Harlan F. Stone and make putz , " Barkai said .
" It was tradition : For hundreds of thousands of years , the elephant wind along the same itinerary , while man produced Harlan Stone tools nearby , " he enounce .
