ByMIRIAM SELA-EITAM

JULY 19, 2026 07:29

Updated: JULY 19, 2026 07:32

Prehistoric hominins in the old Galilee area navigated their terrain with great accuracy to identify particular stone origins for tool making, based on fresh research findings.

The Gesher Benot Ya'akov location (GBY), a key prehistoric area in Israel, goes back roughly 780,000 years. It holds several Acheulian hominin habitations near the ancient Lake Hula shores in the north of the country.

Digs at the location led by study co-author Professor Naama Goren-Inbar from the Hebrew University have earlier revealed stone implements crafted from flint, limestone, and basalt. Signs of fire use, plant use, animal handling, and fish eating have also turned up at the location.

Basalt appeared to carry special value at GBY, above all for crafting large cutting implements such as handaxes and cleavers.

Prior work has indicated that producing these implements was no easy feat: hominins needed to pick large basalt slabs, reduce them into huge cores, detach large flakes, and then refine those flakes into finished handaxes.

This work demanded foresight, technical ability, and thorough understanding of basalt traits.

What was the origin of the tool materials?

The fresh study aimed to pinpoint exactly where that basalt originated.

Through matching the chemical markers of basalt tools against samples taken from nearby basalt flows, including material from the Eshel Ya'akov borehole that reaches buried basalt layers, researchers matched many artifacts to sources within roughly a kilometer of the site.

Notably, some implements matched chemically to basalt sources that no longer appear on the surface. These sources may have been covered over time or worn away by long periods of tectonic movement, the study noted.

Varying basalt applied to varying implements

In addition, the chemical tests showed that the implements differed in kind.

Some cleavers appear to have come from basalt sources unlike those used for most handaxes and giant cores.

Per the study, early hominins actively searched for basalt with particular traits suited to specific implements.

Moreover, while the giant cores linked consistently to basalt found nearby or now hidden under the site, some cleavers found seem made from basalt that fails to match any of the local sampled sources.

Even more striking, the pattern of selective sourcing shows up again across multiple archaeological layers at GBY, covering tens of thousands of years, indicating it was not a single event but a practice handed down through generations.

Overall, the results depict early hominins as much more than random collectors of any stone nearby.

Ancient hominins seem to have held detailed mental maps of their area, grasped how the landscape around them shifted, and used that insight with intent, selecting the suitable stone for the suitable implement at the suitable moment.

The full results appeared in the journal Scientific Reports in early June, under the title Geochemical basalt investigation reveals procurement strategy at the Acheulian site of Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, Dead Sea Transform, Israel.

The work was headed by Dr. Tzahi Golan and Dr. Yoav Ben Dor of the Geological Survey of Israel, along with Prof. Naama Goren-Inbar of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who has led digs at the site for many years.