Humans living in the third millennium BCE manage to find sufficient quantities of meat in the arid desert regions through unique traps. A new study of the “desert kites” that are spread across the expanses of Israel’s Negev and Arava desert region, carried out by researchers from the University of Haifa, unearths them which has answered this ancient technique.

In the early 20th century, British pilots flying over the Middle Eastern deserts identified strange forms spreading over hundreds of meters, sometimes even over a few kilometers. The shapes looked like two long walls that meet at angles and at the meeting point of each wall was a round-shaped trench.

To the pilots, the shapes resembled kites, hence the name given to them: “desert kites.” A few such “kites” are known of in the deserts of Jordan, Syria, Israel, and Sinai. Archaeologists have suggested a number of theories as to the uses of these constructs, most supposing that they were used for hunting purposes, others suggesting that they served as cattle pens.

An interdisciplinary research group, funded by National Geographic, completed an encompassing survey of all eleven “kites” of the Negev and Arava, which included archaeological digs in four “kites”, detailed documentation by means of state-of-the-art measuring instruments, aerial and ground photography, and dating by means of two independent radiometric methods. 

The extensive study, which examined all eleven traps scattered from Givat Barnea in the north of the desert region to Eilat in the south, also exposed the thinking processes that were invested in planning each trap. 

 Dr. Bar-Oz stated the findings clearly show that these “kites” were used as mass hunting apparatus, dating back no later than the third millennium BCE. “When standing in one of these kites, it is astounding to see how it fits into the landscape and how the wild animals’ migration routes would converge into the hidden kite, Only then can one grasp how much energy and strategic understanding were invested in its construction.

The height of the walls which sometimes reached over one meter, and their thickness testify that the apparatus were intended for hunting not only gentle animals, such as deer, but also larger hoofed animals like wild ass and rams.

The kites’ branches can reach over 200 meters in length. At the base of each kite, the branches converge and end in a chasm or large trench. On some of the kites, an elevated stage was erected, probably in order to heighten the leaping wall and perhaps to hide the trench that was dug beneath it.

According to the researchers, the hunting method involved directing the indigenous wild animals alongside the walled branches of the kite toward its tip and its trench, where hunters awaited them.

Dr. Nadel noted the traps were placed in locations where animal migration routes were concentrated into bottlenecks. There is no doubt that this reflects that the prehistoric inhabitants of the desert had a lot of knowledge: they knew the cattle migration routes very well and knew where to place each of the traps most efficiently,” “We were not taken by surprise by the technological ability; humans in that period were very similar to us in their capabilities… We are definitely talking about wide-scope construction in a region that is challenging for survival.

The research was headed by a University of Haifa team: zooarchaeologist Dr. Guy Bar-Oz, archaeologist Dr. Daniel Nadel, and landscape ecologist Dr. Dan Malkinson. Also participating in the project were researchers from the Arava Institute, the Geological Institute in Jerusalem, the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, and Bar-Ilan University.

Photos pending

A 9,000 Year Old Hoard of Flint Blades was Exposed at the Movil Junction An exceptional hoard, which includes more than one hundred prehistoric blades and implements, was discovered in the excavations that are currently being conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority at the Yiftah’el antiquities site in the Lower Galilee.

The cache, which comprises eighty flint blades, eight arrowheads, three lumps of flint, two sickle blades and two bone implements, was apparently concealed in a pit that was dug in the floor of a building and dates to the Pre-pottery Neolithic Period B (9,000-8,700 YBP). The excavations are being carried out as part of the work initiated by the Israel National Roads Company and are being implemented by the Israel Antiquities Authority, prior to the construction of an interchange at the Movil Junction.

A preliminary examination of the cache has revealed that these tools were produced by expert flint knappers who lived at the site and were engaged in the industrial knapping of blades, some of which were intended for local consumption, but most were knapped with the aim of exchanging them for other goods. The knappers’ high degree of professionalism is evidenced by the technology which they employed – the blades were knapped utilizing a flint knapping technology referred to as naviform technology.

This technology was used to produce long, straight blades from lumps of flint that have two opposing striking platforms, while exploiting the flint bulbous in the most optimal manner. Dr. Hamoudi Khalaily, director of the excavation at the Yiftah’el site on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, stated “the hoard from Yiftah’el is unique, both from the standpoint of its contents and the number of items in it. The discovery of a number of arrowheads in different stages of preparation among the hoard’s components reflects the nature of it – a kind of domestic stockpile that was hidden away and meant for future use; that is to say, for bartering. If today we talk about hiding money under the mattress for use on a rainy day, then in the period prior to the invention of coins people accumulated products that they themselves would produce in order to exchange them for other items when they would need them”.
Dr. Khalaily added that “hoards of flint blades are a rarity in Neolithic sites. That notwithstanding, in recent years a number of flint hoards have been found at important sites in the southern part of the Levant. The first of these caches was discovered at the end of the 1960’s in Beida, Jordan, and consisted of approximately eighty blades and tools produced from indigenous flint that were hidden inside a wooden bowl. The discovery of such hoards in a limited number of Neolithic sites shows that these sites were central sites where a sophisticated social and economic system prevailed. Agricultural flourished for the first time during the Neolithic period, as did the first domestication of plants and animals. It was at this time when man’s existence changed from a nomadic one to one in which he resided in permanent settlements and modern society, technology and trade began to develop.

Dr. Khalaily adds “the discovery was facilitated by the group of veteran laborers employed by the Israel Antiquities Authority whose extensive experience in the delicate work of prehistoric excavations made the exposure of the hoard possible”.

photos pending by SM

During a routine archaeological inspection by the Antiquities Authority of the Ramot Rachel construction project in the Arnona neighborhood of Jerusalem, prehistoric remains were exposed that date to the Middle Paleolithic Age (200,000 – 50,000 BP).

During a routine antiquities inspection of the ongoing construction work at Ramot Rachel, Noha Sa’id-Aga, an archaeologist and inspector with the Antiquities Authority, uncovered a large concentration of stone tools that were used hundreds of thousands of years ago by prehistoric man. In the wake of the discovery an archaeological excavation was conducted there for more than a week during which hundreds of tools were collected that date to the Middle Paleolithic Age (200,000 – 50,000 BP).

The excavation directors, archaeologists Omri Barzilai and Michal Birkenfeld of the Antiquities Authority, report that the reason for the ancient settlement there was probably because of its proximity to flint outcrops from which man produced his tools. It is reasonable to assume that in this period man existed by hunting animals and gathering wild plants and did not permanently occupy one site; rather he wandered from place to place, in search of important resources such as water and food.

The discovery of such an ancient site in Jerusalem has excited the excavators because even though the city is rich in antiquities from different periods, only two other sites are ascribed to the Paleolithic period: one on ‘Emeq Rephaim Street and the other in the vicinity of Mount Scopus. The Antiquities Authority reports that the discovery of the site at Ramat Rachel joins these two and proves that the Jerusalem region was attractive to man, not only from the Biblical period onward, but during prehistoric periods as well. The Jerusalem region was an attractive place for man in prehistoric times too; in IAA excavations evidence was uncovered of prehistoric man’s existence at Ramat Rachel, in Jerusalem. – May 9, 2006. In conclusion, the discovery may be relative to the lifestyles of Adam and Eve up to the days of Noah.

Note: photos pending by SM