Nahal Hemar Cave
Archeological cave site in Israel / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Nahal Hemar Cave is an archeological cave site in Israel, on a cliff in the Judean Desert near the Dead Sea and just northwest of Mount Sodom.[1][2][3][4]
Coordinates | 31.1392°N 35.2939°E / 31.1392; 35.2939 |
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Type | cave |
History | |
Cultures | Pre-Pottery Neolithic |
Site notes | |
Excavation dates | 1983 |
Archaeologists | Ofer Bar-Yosef, David Alon |
The excavations here are considered to be one of the most conspicuous Pre-Pottery Neolithic assemblages ever found in the Levant.[5] The find consisted of wooden artifacts, fragments of baskets and plaster assemblages. The objects found in the cave included rope baskets, fabrics, nets, wooden arrowheads, bone and flint utensils including a sickle and weaving spatulae, and decorated human skulls.[5] There were also ceremonial masks similar to other neolithic masks found inside a 30-mile radius of the Judean Desert and Judean Hills[6] and unusual so-called "Nahal Hemar knives."[7]
Many of the fabric pieces found were dated from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period, placing them in the 7th millenium BC. The flax fiber items were processed and spun into yarn, and archaeologists divided these items into four groups: yarns, nalbinding (looping), knotted netting, and twining. The fabrics contained nalbinding assemblages, which are an early form of looping or single-thread-looping crochet rather than the modern crochet.[8] With these dates, Nahal Hemar Cave is noted as the earliest known place of crochet.
The trove was found covered in what was thought to be asphalt from nearby construction projects. Closer analyses revealed it was in fact an ancient glue that dated to around 8310–8110 years ago. It was collagen-based, possibly deriving from animal skins and may have served to waterproof the objects or as an adhesive. Similar glue was previously identified in Egypt, but that found in Nahal Hemar was twice as old.[4]