Using dentist tools, archaeologists have uncovered evidence that Israel’s Tinshemet Cave was home to hominids who shared rituals, knowledge and perhaps lived in harmony some 100,000 years ago
Located in central Israel near the town of Shoham, Tinshemet Cave was used for thousands of years during the Middle Paleolithic period, between 130,000 and 80,000 years ago.
A recent analysis of rare finds at the site revealed that a group of hominids – human ancestors – shared hunting strategies, tool-making tips and ways of honoring the dead with complex and symbolic rituals.
“This is one of the most interesting sites to study the Paleolithic and human evolution in Israel,” Professor Yossi Zaidner of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem said in a telephone interview with The Times of Israel.
He published an academic paper on the subject on Tuesday.
“The site shows a culture rich in symbolic and ritual behaviors, especially related to burials.”
Scientists are still unsure what kind of hominids are buried in the cave, but the findings already reveal unique details about social life in prehistoric Israel.
“If we look at this cave together with other Middle Paleolithic sites in the region, we can understand how different hominids interacted in a way that has never been seen before,” Zaidner explained.
In the cave, archaeologists found many pieces of ochre (a type of natural pigment), animal bones and stone tools, which provide clues about how the inhabitants lived and died.
There were more than 7,500 fragments of ochre, of various colors and textures.
“We know that some pieces came from very distant places, which means that whoever buried their dead there traveled dozens of kilometers to bring the ochre,” Zaidner said.
He believes that although no skin or organic material remained, these pigments were used to decorate the bodies during burial rituals.
“It is clear that hominids chose pieces of ochre with special meaning,” he said.
The burials at Tinshemet, as well as those at the Qafzeh and Skhul caves in northern Israel, are among the oldest in the world and have some things in common: the use of ochre, the bodies placed in the fetal position (on their sides, with their legs and arms bent and head down), and objects such as animal bones, horns and basalt stones brought from far away that were placed in the tombs.
At least three groups of hominids lived in the region at this time, according to human remains and objects found at Tinshemet, Qafzeh, Skhul and Nesher Ramla (another Middle Paleolithic site).
They were groups of archaic humans resembling Neanderthals, pure Neanderthals and Homo sapiens.
“These groups intermingled and developed a similar culture, including hunting techniques and toolmaking,” Zaidner said.
“But biologically, it would have taken much longer for them to become similar.
So they had many differences in their bodies.”
More love, less war
“The relationship between Neanderthals and early modern humans has been a long-standing topic of debate,” said Professor Israel Hershkovitz of Tel Aviv University, who is leading the Tinshemet excavation with Zaidner.
“For years, the prevailing idea was that until 250,000 years ago, the world – or at least Africa and Eurasia – was divided between Homo sapiens and Neanderthals.
Israel was a kind of frontier.”
In this old version of the story, the sapiens moved north, invaded the Neanderthals’ territory, fought them, and eventually won, causing the Neanderthals to disappear.
“But the story we’re telling is different: The relationship between these groups was much more than just constant war,” Hershkovitz said.
“We already know from genetic evidence that Sapiens and Neanderthals interbred.
Now we’re going further and saying that they were exchanging knowledge all the time.” Tinshemet Cave was discovered in the 1940s, but excavations only began in 2017, led by Zaidner, Hershkovitz and Dr. Marion Prévost of Hebrew University.
The work is slow
“The sediments have turned into a kind of concrete, so we excavate very slowly.
Each season, we only remove about 5 centimeters, whereas in normal sites you can remove 40 or 50 centimeters,” explained Zaidner.
So far, researchers have found two complete skeletons, one of them possibly among the best preserved from the period ever discovered.
One skeleton was removed in a one-ton stone block and taken to Hershkovitz’s lab, where it is being carefully cleaned.
“We use tools like dentists use to clean teeth,” said Hershkovitz.
“We have to be very careful not to damage anything.”
For now, it’s unclear what kind of hominid the skeleton was.
“One thing I know for sure: It’s not a pure Neanderthal,” Hershkovitz said.
Archaeologists have already found five burials at Tinshemet and expect to find more, since only a small portion of the site has been excavated.
Is love blind
Hershkovitz believes it’s possible that hominids from different groups didn’t care – or even notice – that they were different from each other.
“Ultimately, I think these Middle Paleolithic hominids didn’t care about differences in appearance,” he said.
“We anthropologists pay attention to every detail of the body, but if you took a Neanderthal, put a suit on him, and dropped him in Tel Aviv, no one would notice.”
When asked whether Neanderthals and ancient humans could simply have lived together without forming separate groups, Hershkovitz said the question is almost philosophical.
“We tend to think of modern humans as always ready to wage war, and we imagine that Sapiens killed Neanderthals by force,” he explained.
“But I think this aggression only emerged after the agricultural revolution.
In the Middle Paleolithic, hominids may have been able to ignore differences and live in peace.”
Published in 03/13/2025 13h18
Text adapted by AI (Grok) and translated via Google API in the English version. Images from public image libraries or credits in the caption.
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