Researchers from the Sonia & Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology at Tel Aviv University (TAU) used a range of modern technologies, including drones, remote sensing, and 3D digital modeling, to generate the first objective, quantified analysis of the Roman siege system at Masada. Findings indicate that, contrary to a widespread myth, the Roman army’s siege… Read More
A new study from Tel Aviv University (TAU) has identified the earliest appearance worldwide of special stone tools used 400,000 years ago to process fallow deer. The tools, called Quina scrapers (after the site in France where they were first discovered), were unearthed at the prehistoric sites of Jaljulia and Qesem Cave. They are characterized… Read More
Archaeologists from Tel Aviv University (TAU) have identified a ceremonial link between extensive Paleolithic stone quarrying and tool-making sites and the migration routes of elephants, which early humans hunted and dismembered using the flint tools crafted at these quarrying sites. The research was led by Dr. Meir Finkel and Professor Ran Barkai of TAU’s Jacob… Read More
Research from Tel Aviv University (TAU) and three other Israeli universities will enable archaeologists to identify burnt materials discovered in excavations and estimate their firing temperatures. The new technique can determine whether a certain item, such as a mud brick, underwent a firing event even at relatively low temperatures, from 200°C (about 400°F) and higher…. Read More
A new study from the Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology at Tel Aviv University (TAU) has found that the extinction of large prey, upon which human nutrition had been based, compelled prehistoric humans to develop improved weapons for hunting small prey, driving evolutionary adaptations. The study reviews the evolution of hunting weapons from… Read More
A close analysis of the remains of a carp-like fish found at the Gesher Benot Ya’aqov archaeological site in Israel shows that the fish were cooked roughly 780,000 years ago, a collaborative study that included Tel Aviv University (TAU) researchers says. Until now, the earliest evidence of cooking dated to approximately 170,000 years ago. The… Read More
A joint study by Tel Aviv University (TAU) and the Hebrew University has accurately dated 21 destruction layers at 17 archaeological sites in Israel by reconstructing the direction and/or intensity of the earth’s magnetic field recorded in burnt remnants. The new data verify the biblical accounts of the Egyptian, Aramean, Assyrian, and Babylonian military campaigns… Read More
Researchers from Tel Aviv University (TAU) has found that the ancient copper industry at Timna three millennia ago was not managed in a sustainable manner, with overexploitation of local vegetation eventually leading to the disappearance of both the plants and the industry. Copper production was not renewed in this region until about a thousand years… Read More