REHOVOT, ISRAEL—According to a statement released by The Friends of the Israel Antiquities Authority, Elisabetta Boaretto of the Weizmann Institute of Science and Omry Barzilai of the Israel Antiquities Authority have developed a new chronology for the occupation of the Boker Tachtit site, which is located in southern Israel’s Negev Desert. The study suggests that modern humans, as represented by the Emiran culture, and Neanderthals, as represented by the late Mousterian culture, crossed paths at the site some 50,000 years ago. Barzilai explained that the region would have been the edge of the areas inhabited by modern humans, who were centered in Africa, and Neanderthals, who lived in Europe and central Asia. Previous genetic studies have detected the mixing of the two populations. To read about Gaza wine production in the Negev during the Byzantine period, go to "Alcohol Through the Ages: Desert Wine."
