Israeli Archaeologists Find How Early Humans Hunted Elephants In Paleolithic Era

Archaeologists from Tel Aviv University, Israel recently made a remarkable discovery regarding Paleolithic stone tools and elephant hunting. Research has found how early humans used to hunt elephants and how the needs for their hunting were met.

Dr Meir Finkel and Professor Ran Barkai spearheaded the research that indicated the strategic locations of ancient quarries and elephant migration routes. About two million years ago, in the Paleolithic era, Homo Erectus were heavily dependent on hunting to keep themselves alive. For hunting, they needed special weapons made out of stone tools to obtain food and thrive in their environment.

Elephants during Paleolithic times were enormous and dwarfed our ancestors. The Homo Erectus on the other hand were armed with their crafty stone tool weapons. Elephant hunting was a huge deal during those times as one elephant could solve the hunger problem of many for several days. Studies at Paleolithic archaeological sites such as Gesher Benot Ya’akov in Israel have shown that elephants were an important part of the diet of our prehistoric ancestors.

The research by Dr. Meir Finkel and Prof. Ran Barkai found that the ancient stone quarries were not random, but strategically placed near the elephant migration routes. The ancient humans required three things- water, food and stone. These quarries were located near water sources and the elephant migration routes. They found that elephant consumes 400 litres of water a day on average and hence they have a fixed movement path.

Just like other living beings, they too needed to be near water. The early humans might have observed this and picked up on their habit. The nearby stone quarry had another purpose as well. In the ancient times, there was no concept of refrigeration. Hence, as soon as they made a kill, they had limited time. A stone quarry nearby ensured that our ancestors were quickly equipped with the necessary tools.

Surprisingly, the trend of elephant migration routes and nearby stone quarries was observed across Europe, Asia and Africa. However, due to constant hunting, the elephants of the Paleolithic era faced extinction.