Discover the oldest artificial metal object in the Middle East

An excavated awl in Israel dating to 6,000 years is considered the oldest metal object ever.

The artifacts excavated at Tel Tsaf, an archaeological site in Israel near the Jordan River and the Israeli border with Jordan. This area was a village in the period from 5100-4600 BC, first discovered in 1950. Excavations here take place from 1970 until today.

The bronze awl at Tel Tsaf archaeological site, Israel.(Photo: PLoS ONE)

Tel Tsaf has large buildings made of mud bricks and many vaults, each containing between 15 and 30 tons of wheat and barley, an unprecedented scale in the ancient Near East. The village has many grills in the yard, all filled with burnt animal bones. In addition, scientists have unearthed many objects made from stone shells, a cup originating from Anatolia or Armenia, animal shells from the Nile-Egypt River, pottery from Syria and Mesopotamia. Previous research results show that this is a very rich ancient commercial center , Livescience said.

Archaeologists discovered a cone-shaped awl in a woman's tomb about 40 years old, the woman wrapped around a beaded hip waist made from ostrich eggshell. There are several large rocks surrounding the tomb inside a cellar, which is very special.

The copper awl is 4.1cm long; 5mm wide at the base and 1mm wide at the top. It was housed in a wooden handle, because the burlap was buried with the woman, so the researchers thought that this puncher belonged to her.

'This is one of the most complex graves we find. The appearance of objects inside the woman's grave shows the importance of the awl and the woman. We see here the first sign of complex social hierarchy, ' said Danny Rosenberg, an archaeologist from Haifa University, Israel.

Courtyard between buildings at Tel Tsaf archaeological site, Israel.(Photo: PLOS ONE)

This finding shows the first evidence of the use of metal in the ancient Near East, including bronze artifacts in Nahal Mishmar cave and gold ring in Nahal Qanah cave dating from 4500-3800. B.C. The chemical analysis of the puncher shows the origin of the puncher 1,000 km from the archaeological site, in the Caucasus region. The brass rod provides evidence that residents in the region knew how to use the earliest metal in the years 5,100 BC, many centuries earlier than previously thought.

"The grave also shows the complexity of people living in Tel Tsaf 7,000 years ago, people here have become acquainted with metallurgical technology for hundreds of years before copper items spread south to the Near East." , Rosenberg said.

The results of the study are published in PLoS ONE magazine.