Archaeological study

Ancient humans precisely navigated northern Israel to find right stones for tools, study suggests

Basalt seemingly held special importance at GBY, particularly for producing large cutting tools like handaxes and cleavers. 

 A microscopic view of buried basalt from Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov. This image shows olivine basalt recovered from the Eshel Ya‘aqov borehole, examined as a thin section under polarized light to reveal its minerals and texture. Image taken under cross-polarized light (XPL); scale bar = 0.5 mm.
A cave in the Qumran area of the Dead Sea region.

Inside the tragic, decades-long mystery of Qumran's lost Second Temple incense

A fragment of a 2,000-year-old Psalms Scroll from the Dead Sea Scrolls collection; illustrative.

One of the Dead Sea Scrolls' greatest mysteries may have finally been solved by Israeli researcher

A fragment of a 2,000-year-old Psalms Scroll from the Dead Sea Scrolls collection; illustrative.

New AI-powered research project aims to uncover the origins of the Dead Sea Scrolls


Ancient stone at Tel Eton may provide new proof of King Hezekiah’s religious reform, study suggests

The stone, known also as a massebah, was discovered during excavations of the First Temple era site, inside a large residence named by archaeologists as "Building 101," or the Governor's Residency.

Composite Aerial Photo of Building 101, Tel Eton, June 23, 2026.

New identification technique pushes back timeline of fire use to over a million years ago - study

Researchers explained that when bones exposed to high levels of heat are illuminated with specific light wavelengths, they light up with a distinctive glow.

Stages of Burning on Bones – white (#5 on right) is the most burnt while yellow-beige (on left #1) is unburnt.

Neanderthals' ancient toolkit included hammers, blades made from rhino teeth, study finds

Dental microwear analysis, which allows for the microscopic study of surface textures, confirmed that the marks were made after the animals' deaths, ruling out chewing or dietary wear and tear.

Rupert van Der Werff from Summers Place Auctions with a rare skeleton of a long-extinct woolly rhinoceros in Billingshurst, England, March 5, 2019; file photo.

Plaster-making technique attributed to Romans used at Motza some 8,000 years earlier, study shows

"The Pre-Pottery Neolithic B residents of Motza were surprisingly able to differentiate calcite and dolomite stones and used both in their plaster making," the study said.

A partial view of a settlement from the Neolithic Period (New Stone Age), discovered during archaeological excavations by the Israel Antiquities Authority near Motza Junction, about 5 km west of Jerusalem,  July 16, 2019; file photo.

Neanderthal tooth from Siberian cave shows signs of earliest-known invasive dental surgery - study

The molar showed that the Neanderthal who underwent the dental procedure was an adult, though the researchers do not know the individual's gender.

Views from five different angles of a molar of an adult Neanderthal individual, discovered at Chagyrskaya Cave in the Siberia region of Russia and dating to about 59,000 years ago, seen in this undated image released on May 13, 2026.

Central-Eastern Europe's oldest Neanderthal group identified by DNA taken from teeth - study

Notably, three of the teeth - two belonging to children and one to an adult - taken from different sediment layers within the cave, all shared identical mitochondrial DNA.

 Neanderthal communities in prehistoric Europe. How were they linked? (Illustrative)

Nearly 2,000-year-old 'souvenir cup' found in Spain names Hadrian's Wall's eastern forts - study

The cup is decorated with red, green, turquoise, and blue enamel, all arranged in geometric patterns, including fish scales and tower motifs that are believed to represent the wall itself. 

3D reconstruction of the Berlanga Cup.

World's oldest plague mass grave found beneath Roman racetrack in Jordan - study

According to the study, the grave predates the Black Death burial pits from medieval Europe by approximately 800 years.

People stand before the Roman-era South Gate, was built in honour of the Roman Emperor Hadrian on the occasion of his visit circa 130 CE, is pictured at the Roman ruins of Jerash in northern Jordan on April 29, 2026.

IAA reveals new study focused on ancient Jerusalem bullae in honor of Israel Excellence Week

According to the IAA, the study aims to examine Jerusalem's administrative systems from the First Temple period through the end of the Second Temple period.

Ancient bullae found in Jerusalem, May 1, 2026.

Evidence of what may be world’s oldest cremation found in Ethiopia, new study reveals

The burnt bone fragments were one of three Homo sapien fossils discovered in the sediment of the Faro Daba beds in the Dawaitoli Formation.

Furnace of the type to be installed in the Pere la Chaise crematorium, Paris, 1888.