Ohalo

Ohalo is the common designation for the archaeological site Ohalo II in the vicinity of the Sea of Galilee, and one of the best preserved hunter-gatherer archaeological sites of the Last Glacial Maximum, having been radiocarbon dated to around 19,400 BP. The site is significant for several findings which are the world oldest: the earliest brushwood dwellings, the earliest evidence of human bedding and evidence for the earliest small-scale plant cultivation, some 11,000 years before the onset of agriculture. The numerous fruit and cereal grain remains preserved in anaerobic conditions under silt and water are also exceedingly rare due to their general quick decomposition.

Ohalo II is the name given to the archaeological site located on the southwest shore of the Sea of Galilee in Israel’s Rift Valley. The site consists of the remains of six charcoal rings where brushwood dwellings had been during the upper paleolithic. The huts are oval in shape and average between 9 and 16 feet long. They were simple in design, were constructed of tree branches and brushwood, and "probably only took a few hours to make." Hearths were located outside the huts.

In addition to the huts, the site also contains a grave and an area that was probably used as a refuse dump. The site is littered with a treasure trove of artifacts, including flints, animal bones, and remnants of fruit and cereal grains. Hundreds of species of birds, fish, fruits, vegetables, cereal grains, and large animals have been identified at the site. These finds have greatly expanded our knowledge of Upper Paleolithic hunting and gathering practices.

At the time hunter-gatherers settled down at Ohalo II, the Sea of Galilee was newly formed and may have been attractive to many bands of people. After Ohalo II had been occupied for a relatively short amount of time, probably only a few generations, the village burned to the ground. Whether the burning was intentional or accidental is unknown. But what may have been tragic for its ancient inhabitants turned out to be a boon for archaeologists: at the same time as the village was destroyed, water levels at the Sea of Galilee rose and buried the site. Fortunately,

...calm, relatively deep water covered the site, and the immediate deposition of fine clay and silt layers began. Together, the water sediments sealed the site and protected the remains in situ for millennia. Since then, the rate of decomposition has been extremely low in the submerged anaerobic conditions and the preservation of organic material has been excellent.

This submersion (likely in combination with the charring) slowed the growth of bacteria in organic plant remains, preventing their destruction and preserving them through millennia on the lake bottom. It is possible that the rise in sea level that made preservation possible at Ohalo II was either caused by increase in global temperature at the end of the Ice Age or by an earthquake that changed the course of the water flowing into the Sea of Galilee. The site was discovered in 1989, when an extended drought caused a 9-meter drop in water levels in the Sea of Galilee.

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Wikipedia