Overview

• Excavation at the Nahal Qomem site revealed long, uniform flint blades, large cores and shaping stones across a dense field of underground pits.
• IAA prehistorian Dr. Jacob Vardi reports advanced production using a pressure device akin to a crane and controlled retention of waste to guard know-how.
• Researchers interpret the site as a centralized production center that supplied Canaanite blades across the Levant.
• The discovery is described as the first workshop of its kind identified in southern Israel.
• Artifacts will be displayed at the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein National Campus in Jerusalem, as coverage notes debate over biblical-era claims versus the IAA’s 5,500-year dating.