Has there ever been anything in your life which turned out to be nothing of what you originally thought of? If so, then this phenomenon also turned out to be the case when archaeologists recently discovered the true purpose of a crescent-shaped stone monument in northern Israel.

Lunar monument located near the Sea of Galilee. Until recently, it was thought to be a portion of the walls of an old city.

The monument, which is located approximately 8 miles northwest of the Sea of Galilee, is measured at 150 meters (or 492 feet) in length with a height of 7 meters (about 23 feet) and a volume of 14,000 cubic meters (nearly 500,000 cubic feet). It is known to the locals of the area in Arabic as “Rujum en-Nabi Shua’ayb,” but it is also known by the name “Jethro’s Cairn”, a probable link to the Druze prophet Jethro who is mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible. Along with the stone formation’s impressive size, it has also been dated based on pottery found in the structure as being built between the years 3050 and 2650 BC, making it older than the Great Pyramids of Egypt and Stonehenge in the United Kingdom.

Depiction of the Mesopotamian moon god Sin. The monument is thought to be devoted to the moon god by the inhabitants of nearby Bet Yerah.

Past work by archaeologists led many to the conclusion that the monument was once the part of a city wall, but recent work done by Hebrew University doctoral student Ido Wachtel has yielded no evidence of a nearby city. Rather than being city fortifications, Wachtel posits that the structure served as a symbolization for the ancient Mesopotamian moon god Sin, with the lunar crescent shape of the monument being one of Sin’s symbols. He supports this claim by also stating that a nearby ancient town named Bet Yerah (Hebrew for “house of the moon god”) is only a day’s journey from the structure, a distance which allows the monument to possibly serve as the town’s borders. As Wachtel wrote in a presentation to the International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, “The proposed interpretation for the site is that it constituted a prominent landmark in its natural landscape, serving to mark possession and to assert authority and rights over natural resources by a local rural or pastoral population.”

In terms of how the monument was built, Wachtel estimates that the job would have taken approximately 200 workers many months to complete, also keeping in mind the fact that those workers had to tend to their crops as well. The town of Bet Yerah, known in Arabic as “Khirbet Kerak,” was believed to have been thriving during the monument’s construction, with the inhabitants had good trade relations with early Egyptian rulers.

Nevertheless, an aerial view of the landscape displays a breathtaking site, one which now can be seen as a sacred location to those who once lived there. In addition to being a symbolic dedication to an ancient deity, the monument also serves as a potent symbol displaying Bet Yerah’s economic power at the time of its construction. Overall, the monument, although still leaving some unanswered questions, has served as a long-lasting reminder of Bet Yerah’s spiritual and cultural strength.

More Reading On This Topic Can Be Found At:

http://www.inquisitr.com/1478762/archaeologists-find-massive-5000-year-old-lunar-monument-in-israel/

http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/massive-5000-year-old-monument-dedicated-moon-god-found-near-sea-galilee

Works Cited

Sabloff, Jeremy A. “Chapter Five: Why Cities?” Archaeology Matters: Action Archaeology in the Modern World. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast, 2008. 71-72. Print.

Jarus, By Owen. “Massive 5,000-Year-Old Stone Monument Revealed in Israel.” LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 15 Sept. 2014. Web. 15 Nov. 2014. <http://www.livescience.com/47835-massive-5-000-year-old-stone-monument-revealed-in-israel.html>.

Haaretz. “5,000-year-old Moon-shaped Stone Structure Identified in Northern Israel – Archaeology.” Haaretz.com. N.p., 16 Sept. 2014. Web. 15 Nov. 2014. <http://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/1.616140>.

Image 1: http://www.jspacenews.com/5000-year-old-moon-shaped-monument-found-israel/

Image 2: http://www.inquisitr.com/1478762/archaeologists-find-massive-5000-year-old-lunar-monument-in-israel/

Although technically considered to be “number two,” scientists have made a discovery using 50,000 year old fecal matter considered to be number one in its field. The discovery, made in a cave site at El Salt in Alicante, Spain, proves that the Neanderthals which inhabited that region did not eat only meats but they ate their veggies as well.

The cave site of El Salt during excavation.

The Neanderthals, which are Homo Sapiens (a.k.a. modern humans) close yet extinct relatives, were our ancestors long thought to be dim-witted and solely meat-eaters. Yet, these beliefs were proven wrong when geoarchaeologist Ainara Sistiaga led a study into the caves in southern Spain and subsequently found the fossilized feces, known also as “coprolites.”

Surprisingly enough, when Sistiaga first led the investigation into the caves at El Salt, what researchers were originally looking for was chemical traces regarding what it was that Neanderthals used to cook with. “I thought they were cooking in there, so I was looking for lipids from cooking,” says Sistiaga to USA Today. As the research at the site continued, however, the poop samples were found unexpectedly on the top layer of a hearth which dates back to around 50,000 years ago. “I was quite surprised we found these samples in a place where they would eat,” says Sistiaga. “We think they were deposited after they stopped using the fire pit.”

Before these samples were recovered, many believed that the Neanderthals who lived that long ago only ate the meat of various animals which they had hunted down. Many of the previous studies relating to Neanderthal diet relied upon fossilized stomach content and the remains on food between their teeth. However, out of the samples of fecal matter recovered, two have contained cholesterol-related compounds which are consistent with that of various plants-based foods. What does this mean exactly? It means that our early human ancestors were actually well-balanced when it came to their diets.

A close-up of what scientists say is a miniature sample of Neanderthal poop. Fossilized or petrified excrement are known as “coprolites.”

In addition to revealing the presence of plant foods in Neanderthal diet, analysis of the preserved poop showed evidence of parasites, including those such as hookworms and pinworms. The numbers in which these parasites were present correspond with what scientists say would make modern humans very sick.

Overall, this new evidence has begun to shed some light on the diets of many Neanderthals long ago. As Paleontologist Erik Trinkaus of Washington University in St. Louis told National Geographic, this study of petrified excrement is the first to provide direct chemical evidence that our Neanderthal ancestors ate their vegetables along with their meat. However, it is important to remember that evidence provided by fecal residues represents only short-term information on the diets of those who left them, but as time goes on, more discoveries will undoubtedly lead to more definitive proof regarding how and what our distant relatives ate.

More Reading On This Topic Can Be Found At:

http://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/.premium-1.604951

http://www.livescience.com/46529-poop-fossils-reveal-neanderthals-ate-plants.html

Works Cited

Renfrew, Colin, and Paul G. Bahn. “Fecal Material.” Archaeology Essentials: Theories, Methods, and Practice. New York, NY: Thames & Hudson, 2010. 202-03. Print.

Sullivan, Gail. “World’s Oldest Poop Suggests Neanderthals Weren’t Meatheads.” Washington Post. The Washington Post, 26 June 2014. Web. 28 Sept. 2014.

Vergano, Dan. “What Discovery of Oldest Human Poop Reveals About Neanderthals’ Diet.” N.p., 25 June 2014. Web. 28 Sept. 2014. news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/06/140625-neanderthal-poop-diet-ancient-science-archaeology/

Image 1: news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/06/140625-neanderthal-poop-diet-ancient-science-archaeology/

Image 2: http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/06/25/human-poop-neanderthals/11105791/