Atlit-yam

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Atlit-yam

Atlit Yam is a submerged Neolithic village off the Levant coast of Atlit in Israel , which was partially exposed and rediscovered in 1984 after a strong storm.

Atlit-Yam, located 200 to 400 m off the coast, represents 6900 to 6300 BC. BC represents the earliest evidence of mixed subsistence farming on the Levantine coast. The Neolithic B settlement of around 10 hectares is now 8.0 to 12.0 m below sea level in the Bay of Atlit at the mouth of the Oren River. In the Neolithic , the coastline was about a kilometer to the west. The settlement may have fallen victim to a tsunami triggered by Etna . It could also have been abandoned before due to the salinity of the well.

The eastern Mediterranean coast is straight with no islands or bays. In the coastal plain there are several kurkar (sandstone ridges) parallel to the shore. Some are partially submerged and form islands and discontinuous reefs about 150 to 600 m offshore.

  • Atlit-yam

  • map

  • Round stone setting

  • Fountain

  • Stone structure

  • Basalt bowl

  • Goat horns

  • Reconstruction of the sanctuary

  • skeleton

The archaeologists found fish stocks left behind, which could indicate an escape. In addition to a row of rectangular houses and a well 5.5 m deep and 1.5 m in diameter, the archaeologists discovered a semicircle 2.5 m in diameter made up of seven megaliths, between 1.0 and 2.1 m high, around one (possible) source. To the west of it was a series of rock slabs 0.7 to 1.2 m in length. Another structure, apparently serving ritual purposes, was found in the form of three oval stones surrounded by furrows depicting schematic, anthropomorphic figures. The oldest traces of tuberculosis were discovered on the corpses of a woman and a child . Some men had severe ear damage, which could indicate fatal diving. The animal bones come from wild animals, but grain stocks have apparently also been established.

Ten burials were discovered in and around the houses. The lithic finds include axes, arrowheads and sickle blades.

literature

  • Ehud Galili, Y. Nir: The submerged pre-pottery Neolithic water well at Atlit-Yam, northern Israel, and its palaeoenvironmental implications. In: The Holocene , Volume 3, 1993, pp. 265-270.
  • Ehud Galili, Jacob Sharvi: Submerged Neolithic water-wells from the Carmel coast of Israel. In: Landschaftsverband Rheinland, Rheinisches Amt für Bodendenkmalpflege (Hrsg.): Wells of the Neolithic Age. International symposium in Erkelenz, October 27th to 9th, 1997 (= materials for the preservation of monuments in the Rhineland. Volume 11). Rudolf Habelt, Bonn 1998, pp. 31–44.
  • Ker Than: Ten-Story Tsunami Thrashed Mediterranean 8,000 Years Ago. Fox News. Retrieved December 20, 2005.
  • Jeff Hecht: How Etna's Neolithic Hiccup Set Off a Tsunami. New Scientist. Retrieved December 20, 2005.
  • Jo Marchant: Deep Secrets: Atlit-Yam, Israel. In: New Scientist. 40, 41. ISSN 0262-4079. Retrieved November 28, 2009.

Web links

Commons : Atlit-Yam  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 32 ° 42 ′ 39 ″  N , 34 ° 56 ′ 6.5 ″  E