JERUSALEM, ISRAEL—An 11,000-year-old flint and limestone quarry has been discovered in central Israel by a team from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. “Humans became more dominant and influential in there terrestrial landscape and Kaizer Hill quarry provides dramatic evidence to the alteration of the landscape,” archaeologist Leore Grosman said in a press release. At the time the quarry was in use, people were shifting from hunting and gathering to farming, and, according to Grosman and colleague Naama Goren-Inbar, this shift in practice was accompanied by a change in the attitude to the use of the surrounding land. “The ancient people at the time carved the stone with flint working tools (for example axes). This suggestion differs from the commonly held view, which considers all features defined as cup marks to be devices that were primarily involved in a variety of grinding, food preparation, social or even symbolic activities,” the researchers concluded. To read about a discovery in Jordan dating to this period, go to "Neolithic Community Centers."
