Archaeologists in Israel have unearthed the earliest known evidence of war in the region dating back more than 7,000 years.
A study of hundreds of sling stones has revealed they are part of an ancient arsenal showing what the experts called the “earliest evidence of warfare in the Southern Levant.”
They said that the huge cache of smooth, rounded stones, made of limestone and dolomite, indicated the large-scale production of weapons for warfare.
Footage of the finds from two separate digs in ancient cities show row upon row of almost identical stones for use in slings, then the light artillery of warfare.
The ancient arms dumps emerged from the ruins of the ‘En Esur and ‘En Zippori archaeological sites, excavated by the Israel Antiquities Authority.
The authority said in a statement: “Israel Antiquities Authority research, recently published in the journal ‘Atiqot 111, has exposed the earliest evidence for warfare and organized arming in the Southern Levant, and specifically in the area of modern Israel.
“The research project has shown that there was mass production of weapons as long as about 7,200 years ago.”
It continued: “The research revealed that the hundreds of slingstones were almost identical.
“They were mostly manufactured from hard limestone/dolomite, and they were almost all uniform in size, with an average length of 52 mm, a width of about 321 mm, and an average weight of 60 g.”
Archeologists explained that the stones had been specifically chosen or crafted to create standard sized, reliable ammunition.
They said: “The stones, that were intended to be projected from a sling, are smoothed, with a specific biconical aerodynamic form, enabling exact and effective projection.”
They also said: “Similar slingstones have been found at other sites in the country, mainly from the Hula Valley and the Galilee in the north to the northern Sharon, but this is the first time that they have been found in excavations in such large concentrations.
“These stones are in fact, the earliest evidence of warfare in the Southern Levant.
“The similarity of the slingstones points to large-scale industrial production.
“The effort put into the aerodynamic form and the smoothing of the stones’ surface indicate that they were intended to be exact and deadly weapons.”
They added: “The large concentration of slingstones provides evidence for the more intensive preparations for warfare in the Early Chalcolithic period in our region, possibly between local powers.”
The sling ammo is a grim reminder that the region has been scarred by war since ancient times up to today’s war between Israel and Hamas.
Eli Escusido, Director of the Israel Antiquities Authority, said: “Yet again, archaeology teaches us that history does repeat itself.”
He added: “The IAA researchers’ understandings open a window to a deeper understanding of the life and relationships between groups of people in prehistoric periods.”
The research was carried out by Gil Haklay, Enno Bron, Dina Shalem, Ianir Milevski and Nimrod Getzov of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
The study has been published in the academic journal ‘Atiqot 111.
