A major archaeological discovery emerged from the Sea of Galilee recently as sealevel fell in the wake of a brutal drought. The receding water revealed the well-preserved remains of the oldest brush huts ever found. The rudimentary homes are 19,400 years old. The prehistoric campsite in Israel's Jordan Valley contained the dirt-packed foundations of six huts, a grave, several hearths, and an area believed to have been used as a garbage dump. Preservation, because it was submerged under water for millennia, was incredible considering its age, said archaeologist Dani Nadel of the University of Haifa.
Radiocarbon dating shows the huts to be among the oldest surviving structures in the world.
The floor of one hut yielded a unique array of artifacts, including chipped stone tools, animal bones, and burned fruit and seeds. Excavations near another of the structures revealed the grave of an adult male who was buried with a carved gazelle bone. No postholes were found. Early humans may have developed a fondness for oysters on the half shell, say scientists studying stone tools found within fossil reefs near Africa s Red Sea coast. The stone tools, dated to approximately 125,000 years ago, are the earliest evidence of hominids living in a coastal environment and indicate a significant change in early human behavior that helped our ancestors adapt to a changing climate, according to a report in this week s Nature.