Prehistoryc. 700,000 years ago · Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, Jordan Rift Valley, northern Israel
700,000-year-old elephant tooth from Israel points to lush home of early humans
Isotopes, tooth wear and pollen from nearby sediments point to wetlands, rivers and woodland in the Jordan Rift Valley, on a passage between Africa and Eurasia.
In brief 3 key points
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- Elephant molar found beside stone handaxes at a site in northern Israel.
- Isotopes and pollen point to wetlands, rivers and woodland where early humans lived.
- The link to human migration is the team's interpretation.
A fossil elephant tooth nearly 700,000 years old points to a rich, well-watered environment for early humans in northern Israel. The evidence suggests woodland, open grassland, marshes and rivers. The molar comes from Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, a Stone Age site in the Jordan Rift Valley, where it lay beside stone handaxes and cleavers.
Hannah Farrell, a PhD candidate at the University of Haifa, led the study. It is published in Quaternary Science Reviews. The team studied a large elephant molar and fragments of tusk from the site, whose name means Daughters of Jacob Bridge. It lies just south of today's Hula Valley.
Prof. Gonen Sharon of Tel-Hai University of Kiryat Shmona in the Galilee excavated the site with colleagues. The elephant remains were found with handaxes and cleavers made of basalt, a volcanic rock. These tools belong to the Acheulian tradition, a way of shaping large stone tools such as handaxes. It is one of the oldest and most widespread stone tool technologies in human history.
Reading the environment from a tooth
The fossils belonged to Palaeoloxodon antiquus, the straight-tusked elephant. It was one of the largest land mammals of the Ice Age. The researchers treated its tooth as a record of the world the animal lived in, because teeth can keep chemical clues about diet and surroundings.
The team combined several techniques. They used CT scans, 3D reconstruction, microscopic study of tooth wear, isotope geochemistry and pollen analysis. CT imaging showed the fossil's internal structure. The chemical and microscopic evidence helped build a picture of the habitat.
The results point to a long-lasting mix of woodland, open grassland, marshes, flowing rivers and shallow water. Carbon isotope measurements suggest the elephant lived with a dependable water supply. Pollen from nearby sediments came from a range of wetland plants. They include reeds, sedges, willow, tamarisk and aquatic plants.
A stable refuge between Africa and Eurasia
The Hula Valley lies in the Levantine Corridor, a natural passage connecting Africa and Eurasia. Ancient humans and animals moved along it. The researchers think the area was a relatively stable ecological refuge. In their view it kept its habitats and resources over long periods.
Its rivers, wetlands, forests and grasslands would have offered water, plants and animals to groups travelling through. The team suggests that habitats like this may help explain how early human groups moved through the region and adapted to changing conditions. That link to migration is their interpretation of the environmental evidence.
“Understanding how humans and animals responded to environmental change hundreds of thousands of years ago helps us better understand the forces that shaped our species.”
Prof. Gonen Sharon, Tel-Hai University of Kiryat Shmona in the Galilee
“The availability of water, vegetation, and animal resources shaped where humans and wildlife could survive. The wetlands, rivers, and woodlands of the Hula Valley helped sustain life along one of the world's earliest migration corridors, offering a rare opportunity to understand the ecological conditions that supported both animals and human populations nearly 700,000 years ago.”
Prof. Gonen Sharon, Tel-Hai University of Kiryat Shmona in the Galilee
The study brought together specialists from several Israeli universities. Cheryl A. Makarewicz carried out the isotope work and Nimrod Marom the archaeozoology, both at the University of Haifa. Minji Jin and Dafna Langgut of Tel Aviv University studied the pollen.
Sources (1)
Peer-reviewed paperfrom University of Haifa, Tel-Hai University of Kiryat Shmona in the Galilee and Tel Aviv University
Paper: Hannah Farrell, Gonen Sharon, Minji Jin, Dafna Langgut, Cheryl A. Makarewicz, Nimrod Marom. Elephant dental remains from the Acheulian site at North Bridge Acheulian–Gesher Benot Ya'aqov: hominin behavior and environmental implications. Quaternary Science Reviews, 2026; 392: 110277. DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2026.110277
Edited by Guiseppe Weijermars
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