In a mortal mystery that beckons age-old tragedies such as Antigone and Haimon
or Romeo and Juliet, the 8,500- year-old skeletal remains of a young woman and
an older man have been discovered at the bottom of a Neolithic well in the
Jezreel Valley.
Excavators discovered the well during an Antiquities
Authority dig at Enot Nisanit in the Western Jezreel Valley – ahead of the
enlargement of the Yogev Junction at Road 66 by the National Roads
Company.
Archeologists estimate that the well was built approximately
8,500 years ago, and the young woman found at its bottom was around 19 years
old. The Antiques Authority has not yet determined the exact age of the man, but
he is estimated to be about 30 or 40, Yotam Tepper, the excavation director,
told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.
Archeologists are left to ponder how
the man and woman had ended up at the bottom of the well – musing about such
possibilities as a tragic accident or even a vengeful murder.
“What is
clear is that after these unknown individuals fell into the well it was no
longer used for the simple reason that the well water was contaminated and was
no longer potable,” Tepper said.
The well was connected to an ancient
farming settlement, built of stones and bedrock, and at one point residents had
used it for their subsistence, Tepper explained. Two capstones to narrow the
opening had been set on top of the well, which measures about 8 meters deep and
1.3m. in diameter, he said.
Many artifacts found in the well, such as
flint sickle blades for harvesting, arrow heads and stone implements, are sure
indications that the people who quarried it were among the first farmers in the
Jezreel Valley, Tepper said.
Other discoveries in the well shaft, such as
animal bones, charcoal and other organic items, will allow future studies about
the domestication of plants and animals, as well as help determine the exact age
of the well, he explained.
“The well that was exposed in the Jezreel
Valley reflects the impressive quarrying ability of the site’s ancient
inhabitants and the extensive knowledge they possessed regarding the local
hydrology and geology, which enabled them to quarry the limestone bedrock down
to the level of the water table,” Tepper said. “No doubt the quarrying of the
well was a community effort that lasted a long time.”
Dr. Omri Barzilai,
head of the Prehistory Branch of the Antiquities Authority, stressed that wells
from the Neolithic period are “unique finds in the archeology of Israel, and
probably also in the prehistoric world in general.”
To date, the two
oldest wells in the world, outside Israel, were exposed in Cyprus, indicating
the onset of the “domestication phenomenon,” according to Barzilai.
“It
seems that ancient man tried to devise ways of protecting his drinking water
from potential contamination by the animals he raised, and therefore he enclosed
the water in places that were not accessible to them,” he
said.
Excavators at the Atlit Yam site in Israel previously exposed a
well 1,000 years older than those in Cyprus, he explained, “The exposure of
these wells makes an important contribution to the study of man’s culture and
economy in a period when pottery vessels and metallic objects had still not yet
been invented,” Barzilai said.
Whether the man and women at the well’s
bottom were the victims of sparring families, a crime of love, or a simple
accident, the well itself will be a valuable tool in examining an ancient
civilization.
“We are still studying the bones,” Tepper told the
Post.
“I’m not sure we’ll be able to give a good answer to that, because
this is the question – if it’s an accident or a murder, I don’t know. It’s an
open question at the moment,” he said.