Qafzeh Cave

Qafzeh Cave, also known by other names, is a prehistoric archaeological site located at the bottom of Mount Precipice in the Jezreel Valley of Lower Galilee south of Nazareth.

[1][2] Important remains of prehistoric people were discovered on the site - some of the oldest examples in the world, outside of Africa, of virtually anatomically modern human beings.

Excavations of the site began in 1932, led by Moshe Stekelis and René Neuville,[citation needed] but were interrupted due to a collapse.

[5] In 1936, during the Arab rebellion in Palestine, the British blew up the cave because it was being used as a hideout by gangs associated with the rebels.

[8] He had been placed in a rectangular grave carved out of the bedrock, with his arms folded alongside his body and his hands placed on either side of his neck.

[13][14] An additional important find was the remains of ochre that were found on human bones, and, also, 71 pieces of ochre that were associated with burial practices, which indicates that ceremonial funerary rites that included symbolic acts which held special meaning had already been common around 100,000 years ago.

"[17] The stone tools discovered at the site - side scrapers, disc cores and points - were of the Levallois-Mousterian type.