Latest news with #northernIsrael
The Guardian
6 days ago
- Science
- The Guardian
Even Neanderthals had distinct preferences when it came to making dinner, study suggests
Nothing turns up the heat in a kitchen quite like debating the best way to chop an onion. Now researchers have found even our prehistoric cousins had distinct preferences when it came to preparing food. Archaeologists studying animal bones recovered from two caves in northern Israel have found different groups of Neanderthals, living around the same time, butchered the same animals in different ways. 'It means that within all the Neanderthal population, you have several distinct groups that have distinct ways of doing things, even for activities that are so related to survival,' said Anaëlle Jallon, the first author of the research, from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Writing in the journal Frontiers in Environmental Archeology, Jallon and colleagues report how they studied cut marks on 249 bone fragments from between 70,000 and 50,000 years ago from Amud cave, and 95 bone fragments dating to between 60,000 and 50,000 years ago from Kebara cave. The caves are about 70km apart and both were occupied by Neanderthals during the winters. Both groups are known to have used similar flint-based tools. The team's analysis of the bones fragments – which were recovered from the caves in the 1990s – confirmed previous findings that burned and fragmented samples were more common in Amud cave, and that both groups had a similar diet featuring animals including mountain gazelles and fallow deer. But it also provided fresh insights, including that bones from larger animals such as aurochs were more commonly found at Kebara cave. However, Jallon noted it could be that the samples at Kebara were easier to identify, or that Neanderthals at Amud might have butchered such animals elsewhere. Jallon and colleagues carried out a detailed analysis of the cut marks on 43 and 34 bone samples from Amud and Kebara caves respectively, finding a number of differences in the cut marks between the two sites. While the researchers say some of the variation related to the type of animal – or body part – being butchered, these factors did not explain all of the differences. 'Even when we compare only the gazelles, and only the long bones of gazelles, we find a higher density of cut marks in [bones from] Amud, with more cut marks that are crossing each other, [and] less cut marks that are straight lines, but more [curved],' said Jallon. The team suggest a number of possible explanations, including that different groups of Neanderthals had different butchery techniques, involved a different number of individuals when butchering a carcass, or butchered meat in different states of decay. 'It's either, like, food preferences that lead to different ways of preparing meat and then cutting it, or just differences in the way they learn how to cut meat,' said Jallon. Dr Matt Pope, of University College London, who was not involved in the work, said the study added to research showing different Neanderthal groups had different ways of making tools, and sometimes used different toolkits. 'These aren't just cut marks being studied, these are the gestures and movements of the Neanderthal people themselves, as evocative to us as footprints or hand marks on a cave wall,' he said. 'Future research will help to discern between the alternative [explanations for the variations], but the study as it stands is a powerful reminder that there is no monolithic neanderthal culture and that the population contained multiple groups at different times and places, living in the same landscape, with perhaps quite different ways of life.'
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Did Neanderthals have 'family recipes'? Study suggests butchery practices in ancient groups
Their meticulous examination of cut-marks on the remains of animal prey revealed patterns that cannot be explained by differences in skill, resources, or available tools at each site. New research into the butchery practices of Neanderthals living in two nearby caves in northern Israel between 50,000 and 60,000 years ago suggests surprisingly distinct food preparation methods, hinting at the possibility of early cultural traditions being passed down through generations. Despite living only 70 kilometers apart and utilizing the same tools and prey, the Neanderthals of Amud and Kebara caves appear to have processed their food in visibly different ways, according to a study led by Anaëlle Jallon from the Institute ofArchaeology at Hebrew University. The study, published in Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology, involved collaboration with colleagues Lucille Crete and Silvia Bello from the Natural History Museum of London, under the supervision of Hebrew University's Prof. Rivka Rabinovich and Prof. Erella Hovers. Their meticulous examination of cut-marks on the remains of animal prey revealed patterns that cannot be explained by differences in skill, resources, or available tools at each site. 'The subtle differences in cut-mark patterns between Amud and Kebara may reflect local traditions of animal carcass processing,' stated Anaëlle Jallon, a PhD candidate at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the lead author. She added, 'Even though Neanderthals at these two sites shared similar living conditions and faced comparable challenges, they seem to have developed distinct butchery strategies, possibly passed down through social learning and cultural traditions." Were Neanderthal butchery techniques were standardized Jallon emphasized the unique opportunity these two sites present: 'These two sites give us a unique opportunity to explore whether Neanderthal butchery techniques were standardized. If butchery techniques varied between sites or time periods, this would imply that factors such as cultural traditions, cooking preferences, or social organization influenced even subsistence-related activities such as butchering.' Both Amud and Kebara caves were occupied by Neanderthals during the winters, leaving behind not just food remains but also burials, stone tools, and hearths. The two groups relied on similar diets, predominantly gazelles and fallow deer, and used identical flint tools. However, subtle distinctions emerged from the archaeological record. Neanderthals at Kebara appear to have hunted more large prey and more frequently transported large kills back to the cave for butchering, rather than processing them at the kill site. Further differences in bone remains provided clues: at Amud, 40% of the animal bones were burned and highly fragmented, potentially due to cooking or post-depositional damage. In contrast, only 9% of the bones at Kebara were burned, less fragmented, and believed to have been cooked. Additionally, bones from Amud showed less evidence of carnivore damage compared to those found at Kebara. To investigate these variations in food preparation, the research team meticulously examined cut-marked bones from contemporaneous layers at both sites, using both macroscopic and microscopic analysis. They recorded various characteristics of the cut-marks, hypothesizing that similar patterns would suggest consistent butchery practices, while differing patterns would point to distinct cultural traditions. The analysis revealed that while the cut-marks were clear, intact, and largely unaffected by later damage, and their profiles, angles, and surface widths were similar (likely due to the shared toolkits), the cut-marks at Amud were more densely packed and less linear in shape than those at Kebara. The researchers explored several hypotheses for these observed patterns. They ruled out explanations based on different prey species or bone types, as the differences persisted even when comparing only the long bones of small ungulates found at both sites. Experimental archaeology also indicated that the variations couldn't be attributed to less skilled butchers or more intensive butchering to maximize food yield. Instead, the evidence strongly suggested that the differing cut-mark patterns were a result of deliberate butchery choices made by each Neanderthal group. One compelling explanation proposed by the researchers is that the Amud Neanderthals might have been pre-treating their meat before butchering. This could involve drying the meat or allowing it to decompose, similar to how modern butchers hang meat. Decaying meat is known to be more challenging to process, which would explain the greater intensity and less linear nature of the cut-marks observed at Amud. Another possibility is that differences in group organization, such as the number of individuals involved in butchering a single kill, played a role. However, further research is needed to fully explore these intriguing possibilities. "There are some limitations to consider,' Jallon acknowledged. 'The bone fragments are sometimes too small to provide a complete picture of the butchery marks left on the carcass. While we have made efforts to correct for biases caused by fragmentation, this may limit our ability to fully interpret the data." She concluded, "Future studies, including more experimental work and comparative analyses, will be crucial for addressing these uncertainties — and maybe one day reconstructing Neanderthals' recipes.' Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hezbollah's Radwan Unit 'unfit' to carry out large-scale invasion into Israel
According to data collected by the Alma Center, the Radwan Unit was rendered unfit, at least temporarily, to launch a large-scale invasion into northern Israel. Since Hezbollah joined the Israel-Hamas war and until the ceasefire on November 27, 2024, Hezbollah suffered a 'fatal blow,' Tal Beeri, Head of the Research Department at the Alma Center for the Study of Security Challenges in the North, wrote in an analysis published Wednesday. The analysis, titled "Radwan Unit: The elimination of its operatives teaches about attempts to return to the South Litani and rebuild operational readiness," focused on IDF operations against the Radwan unit during the war and the organization's conduct since the ceasefire. Beeri estimated that after the attacks, the Radwan Unit was rendered unfit, at least temporarily, to carry out its central mission of launching a large-scale invasion into northern Israel. 'Even the chance of a more limited invasion, of 'only' dozens or 'only' a few hundred operatives, is extremely low," he wrote. Since the ceasefire, according to the data collected by the center, 108 Hezbollah operatives have been documented and confirmed as killed from open sources. Of these, 13 operatives, about 12%, were from the Radwan Unit. Beeri noted that this is a high percentage relative to the size of the unit within the total military force of Hezbollah, adding that "All 13 operatives of the Radwan Unit who were killed since the ceasefire were eliminated in the area south of the Litani River ('Area 1701')." "The first confirmed killing of an operative from the Radwan Unit, according to open-source materials, occurred on March 4, 2025,' Beeri wrote, adding that the unit began making its return to the area south of the Litani River 'no later than three months after the ceasefire began." "It seems that in the first months following the ceasefire, and in light of the damage done to it, the Radwan Unit lowered its profile and may have physically distanced itself from southern Lebanon, with an emphasis on the area south of the Litani River," he explained. The analysis detailed the process of rebuilding and regaining strength that the unit has begun implementing, explaining that operatives have begun carrying out recovery and rebuilding actions, 'including re-establishing their presence in southern Lebanon in general, and south of the Litani in particular. 'It seems that this renewed presence and activity began to be detected by Israel's intelligence collection sensors. As is known, intelligence collection sensors are not airtight, and accordingly, counteraction efforts are not airtight either." Beeri's analysis of the findings showed the Radwan Unit's repeated attempts to return and operate in southern Lebanon, 'largely in a covert manner." "As part of building its updated operational plans, the Radwan Unit is focusing on building readiness for carrying out targeted terrorist operations against the IDF's presence in southern Lebanon or for infiltrating into Israel,' he added. 'From details gathered from various reports about the eliminations of Radwan operatives in southern Lebanon, it is clear that the Radwan Unit is 'recalculating its course' and rebuilding its operational plans to be prepared to execute them." According to Beeri, such actions could manifest in "an attempt to infiltrate a specific area of Israeli territory using small cells, carrying out an attack against IDF forces in Lebanon, and so on." He emphasized the importance of maintaining the IDF's presence along the border, as well as stating that the deployment of the Lebanese Army didn't provide any real deterrence or control. "Recently, it was reported that the Lebanese Army is deployed in about 80% of the area south of the Litani River. However, it cannot be concluded that they control the entire area where they are deployed,' Beeri stated, adding that it was 'highly doubtful' that the Lebanese Army could deter the Radwan Unit in southern Lebanon. Beeri concluded by calling for the preservation of security capabilities in the border communities. "Alongside the IDF's preparation in southern Lebanon, it is necessary to preserve the ability of the border communities to defend themselves, maintaining the readiness of their response units as a last line of defense in situations where a small number of terrorists might infiltrate into the community."
National Post
24-06-2025
- Politics
- National Post
Opinion: If RCMP is probing Israel for war crimes, it has no morality
As the sun shines over the ghost town of Metula which abuts the Israel-Lebanon border, blue jacaranda petals softly fall from their trees to blanket its missile-torn streets in a vibrant lavender hue. It is a scene of heartbreaking juxtaposition — nature's relentless beauty blooming against the backdrop of human devastation, where time stands still in an eerie dance between lush abundance and complete war-torn destruction. Article content Article content 'Most of them will return,' David Azoulay, the mayor of Metula, told our group on our recent tour — speaking of his 2,000 evacuated residents — 'because this is our home. We will rebuild and pull through.' These words come from a man who slept on the floor of his tiny subterranean office for months after October 7, as his town was mercilessly shelled by Hezbollah in a devastating campaign entirely unprovoked by Israel, one that obliterated over 60 per cent of the city's buildings and homes and forced the evacuation of an entire community. Article content Article content Article content Once-beautiful family homes now lie in piles of rubble, with all that remains of everyday life found in the charred remnants of furniture and melted appliances. Yet here, rolling up their sleeves, the people of Metula are rebuilding their city piece by piece, determined to breathe life back into what was once a vibrant community in northern Israel. Article content Amidst rising tensions with Israel, Canada's premier law enforcement agency, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), is preparing the ground for an investigation into potential war crimes related to the Israel-Hamas conflict. Should the target of the investigation be the state of Israel, or Israeli Canadians who served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), it would expose a moral blindness so profound it borders on the obscene. Article content Article content Perhaps, Ottawa needs reminding that Hamas set the region ablaze in its barbarous rampage on October 7, forcing Israel into a seven-front war of survival against the Iranian regime's genocidal Islamist terror proxies. Inexplicably, the RCMP didn't disclose any plans to prosecute Hamas for murdering eight Canadians. While Canada launched a thunderous campaign for its Ukraine investigation — complete with hotlines, dedicated webpages, airport signage, and breathless media interviews — the Israel-Hamas war probe has skulked in shadows, acknowledged only when pressed by journalists. Article content
BBC News
18-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Iran missile strikes: Father's anger exposes divide in Israeli society
"I am so angry," says Kasem Abu al-Hija, Saturday, four of his family members were killed when an Iranian missile struck their home in northern Israel, collapsing the concrete building on top of clothes, children's toys and body parts were blown into the road, witnesses whole street was plunged into darkness when the missile hit. Rescuers managed to locate their bodies by following trails of four victims were named as Kasem's daughter Manar Khatib, 45, his two granddaughters, Shada, 20 and Hala, 13, and their aunt, Manal Khatib, had managed to make it to the two reinforced safe rooms in the house that they shared - but the ballistic missile hit it lived in Tamra, an Arab-majority town in northern Israel. Minutes after their deaths, a video emerged online. It showed the Iranian missiles streaking through the sky overhead. As they descend on Tamra, a voice can be heard shouting, in Hebrew: "On the village, on the village.""May your village burn," a group of others then say, singing, whooping and clapping. "They sang about what happened to my family," says Kasem, softly, surrounded by relatives at a video - which shows Israelis singing a common anti-Arab chant often sung by ultranationalist Jews - has been widely condemned in Israel, with President Isaac Herzog calling it "appalling and disgraceful".But there are more reasons that Kasem and the wider community in Tamra are angry about what - as is the case with many Arab-majority communities in Israel - there are no public bomb shelters for its 38,000 comparison, the nearby Jewish-majority town Karmiel, population 55,000, has 126 public of Tamra have long raised the alarm over the disparity. Situated in Israel's north, about 10km (6 miles) east of the city of Haifa and 25km (16 miles) south of the border with Lebanon, the town has been vulnerable to rockets fired by the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah. In October 2024, a rocket fired by the group seriously injured one woman. Across Israel, about a quarter of the population have no access to a proper shelter. But in non-Jewish local authorities the figure is almost half, according to a 2018 report by Israel's State Comptroller, the most recent data available. "For many decades, Arab local authorities have received lower state funding across various areas, including emergency preparedness," says Lital Piller of the Israel Democracy Institute, a think shelters do exist, she says, "they are few, poorly maintained, and often not suited for prolonged stays".The BBC has approached Israel's Ministry of Defense for comment. Israeli Arabs - many of whom prefer to be called Palestinian citizens of Israel - make up a fifth of the country's population. By law, they have equal rights with Jewish citizens, but they routinely complain of state discrimination and being treated as second-class citizens. Following the Gulf War of 1990-91, when Iraqi missiles hit Tel Aviv and Haifa, the Israeli government mandated that all new residential buildings must contain a reinforced safe room, or Mamad, as they are known. But Arab communities often face tough planning restrictions, which leads to unregulated construction and homes being built without them, activists 40% of Tamra's homes have their own safe room, local authorities say, leaving the majority of residents having to run to neighbours' homes to share. In many cases, due to the short warning period, this is not possible."The gaps are enormous," says Ilan Amit, of the Arab-Jewish Center for Empowerment, Equality, and Cooperation (Ajeec), which works to build shelters in Arab communities. "I live in Jerusalem. Every building has a bomb shelter. Every neighbourhood has a public bomb shelter."As dark falls in Tamra, residents' phones light up simultaneously with a screeching alert: "You must stay near a protected area."Sirens soon follow, and residents - fresh from the trauma of Saturday's strike - panic. Mothers gather their children and people run up the street shouting. Several families cram into the safe room of one house. Some cry, some smile, others twitch nervously. One man closes his eyes and prays. Boom after boom is heard shelter issue is even more pronounced in Israel's Arab bedouin communities - many of which live in villages in the Negev Desert that are not recognised by the Israeli government, so do not have shelters built for them. The only victim of the April 2024 escalation in hostilities between Israel and Iran was a young girl from one such community who was seriously injured and spent a year in hospital after fragments from an Iranian missile struck her of shelters is also a prevalent issue in some of Israel's poorer Jewish communities in areas like the south of Tel Aviv. A new survey conducted by Hebrew University found that 82.7% of Jewish Israelis support the attack on Iran - but 67.9% of Arab Israelis oppose it. Further to that, 69.2% of Arab Israelis reported feelings of fear over the strikes - with 25.1% expressing despair."Arab society feels neglected and left behind," says Amit. "There are huge gaps in education and employment. There are huge gaps in shelters, in the existence of shelters."Adel Khatib, a municipal official from Tamra, says: "In the days since this happened, you can feel the anger.""We don't get the basic needs," says Khatib. "Most of the Arab communities, they don't have community centres or buildings for culture, activities."According to official Israeli statistics, in 2023, 42.4% of the Arab population lived below the poverty line - more than double the proportion in Israel's general have been attempts in recent years to close these gaps. In 2021, Israel's previous government brought in a five-year development plan for Arab society. "We were in the middle of a huge leap in social economic development, narrowing gaps in education, higher education, and employment," says Israel's current right-wing governing coalition, the most hardline in its history, has slowly reduced funding for that plan - redirecting the money of these cuts came as the government adjusted budgets to fight the ongoing war in Gaza, which began in response to the Hamas-led cross-border attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. "This government has been simply putting, you know, sticks in the wheels of this five-year plan, not making it possible to implement broad parts of it," Amit adds."For the past year and a half, Arab society found itself between a rock and a hard place in the sense that on one hand, they're suffering from the policies of the current government, and on the other hand, they're seeing their brothers and sisters in Gaza and in the West Bank suffering because of the war," he says. Outside the ruins of the family home, Mohamed Osman, 16, a neighbour, says: "Everyone is angry and sad."Speaking of Shada, 20, he says: "She studied her entire life. She wanted to be the best. Her father is a lawyer, and she wanted to be like him. All of those dreams, just disappeared."They were the best picture of a happy family…When I imagine them, I imagine the pieces of them that I saw."At a vigil ahead of the funeral, dozens of community members gather, greeting one another with handshakes, sharing coffee and tea, and mourning quietly."The bombs do not choose between Arabs or Jews," says Kasem. "We must end this war. We must end it now."Photographs by Tom Bennett
