Definition: The archaeological site of Gesher Benot Ya'aqov is located in the northern Jordan Valley on the shore of an ancient lake. Paleomagnetic dating of this site makes it a Lower Paleolithic site, dated to approximately 790,000 years ago. It's not clear which species of hominin lived at this site, it could be Homo erectus, Homo ergaster, or perhaps archaic Homo sapiens.
Because Gesher Benot Ya'aqov was waterlogged, it has been discovered to have outstanding preservation of organic matter, particularly for a site of this antiquity, including identifiable bits of wood, bark, fruit and seeds. GBY also has numerous large basalt axes and cleavers.
Several of the wood fragments and seeds at Gesher Benot Ya'aqov were burned, leading some scholars to suggest that this site has evidence of controlled use of fire; if so, this would far and away be the oldest use of fire, nearly 400,000 years older than the next contender, Zhoukoudian, China.
Because Gesher Benot Ya'aqov was waterlogged, it has been discovered to have outstanding preservation of organic matter, particularly for a site of this antiquity, including identifiable bits of wood, bark, fruit and seeds. GBY also has numerous large basalt axes and cleavers.
Several of the wood fragments and seeds at Gesher Benot Ya'aqov were burned, leading some scholars to suggest that this site has evidence of controlled use of fire; if so, this would far and away be the oldest use of fire, nearly 400,000 years older than the next contender, Zhoukoudian, China.
Sources
Goren-Inbar, Naama, et al. 2004 Evidence of Hominin Control of Fire at Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, Israel. Science 304(5671):725-727.
Ronen, Avraham 2006 The oldest human groups in the Levant. Comptes Rendu Paleovol 5:343-351.
This glossary entry is part of the Dictionary of Archaeology. Any mistakes are the responsibility of Kris Hirst.
