Remains of a prehistoric building – the earliest ever discovered in the Tel Aviv region and estimated to be c. 7,800-8,400 years old – were exposed in the archaeological excavation recently carried out prior to the construction of an apartment building in Ramat Aviv, in north Tel Aviv. Ancient artifacts that are thought to be 13,000 and 100,000 years old were also discovered there.

According to archaeologist Ayelet Dayan, director of the excavation, “This discovery is both important and surprising to researchers of the period. For the first time we have encountered evidence of a permanent habitation that existed in the Tel Aviv region c. 8,000 years ago.”

Assaf Peretz, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Ayelet Dayan, excavation director on behalf of the IAA, showing finds from the excavation.

Other interesting finds that were uncovered include flint tools such as sickle blades, a point of a hunting tool from an earlier period, a fragment of a base of a basalt bowl as well as the hippopotamus bones, and teeth that probably belonged to sheep or goats.