Researchers determined a copper awl is the oldest metal object found in the Middle East to date.
The awl is believed to date back to the late sixth millennium or early fifth millennium, which is several hundred years earlier than researchers thought people first started using metal the University of Haifa reported.
The artifact was discovered in Tel Tsaf, a Middle Chalcolithic village on the Jordan River dating back to between 5,200 and 4,600 BCE. The site holds an array of historical artifacts such as large buildings made from mud bricks and silos in which wheat and barley were stored. The site also boasts ancient roasting ovens in the courtyards filled with animal bones.
The four-centimeter-long copper awl was found in the sealed grave of a 40-year-old woman inside a silo. The body wore a belt made from 1,668 ostrich-egg shell beads and was believed to have been someone of importance.
The chemical components of the awl were recently analyzed by by Prof. Sariel Shalev of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Haifa. The fact that it was made from copper is an important discovery because until now researchers thought people didn't start using metal until the Late Chalcolithic period (the second half of the fifth millennium); this finding moves back the time when metal was utilized by several hundred years.
The chemical analysis also revealed the material was from Caucasus, which is over 600 miles away from the Tel Tsaf site. Researchers already knew the village had long distance ties early on, but the instance of a new technology coming from so far away is unique.
"The appearance of the item in a woman's grave, which represents one of the most elaborate burials we've seen in our region from that era, testifies to both the importance of the awl and the importance of the woman, and it's possible that we are seeing here the first indications of social hierarchy and complexity," said Danny Rosenberg of the University of Haifa.
In the future the researchers will conduct an interdisciplinary research project to help confirm their findings.
