An archaeological dig at the Nahal Qomem site in southern Israel uncovered a 5,500-year-old workshop that produced flint blades and other edged weapons, the first facility of its kind found in the region and dated to the Early Bronze Age. Archaeologists linked the operation to the Canaanites and said its output likely made the settlement a major production center.
Conducted ahead of new housing construction, the excavation revealed a settlement that spanned more than half a square kilometer. Hundreds of underground pits served as storage rooms, work areas, ritual spaces, and even dwellings, indicating a community active from the Chalcolithic period through the Early Bronze Age.
Large flint cores, weapon components, and harvesting tools were recovered, showing how residents relied on flint for cutting, butchering, and agriculture. The uniform shape of the blades suggested specialized production.
“An advanced industry was revealed at the site, requiring an extremely high level of expertise,” said Dr. Jacob Vardi, who led the investigation with Dudu Biton.
“Only exceptional individuals knew how to manufacture the Canaanite blades. This is clear evidence that already from the beginning of the Bronze Age, the local society here was organized and complex, and had professional specialization,” said Vardi.
“The waste fragments, the debitage, were not scattered outside the site—perhaps to better protect and preserve the professional knowledge within the group of experts,” Vardi added.
Excavation directors Dr. Martin David Pasternak, Shira Lifshitz, and Dr. Nathan Ben-Ari noted that craftsmen used a crane-like device to apply precise pressure on flint, yielding blades with consistent edges. “The beginnings of urbanization and specialization in crafts in Israel led to the establishment of large settlements and catalyzed the creation of new social structures,” said Pasternak.
“Today, we understand that this site served as a center, from which Canaanite blades were distributed across broad regions in the Levant,” Vardi said.
Written with the help of a news-analysis system.