Ancient fish hook suggests sharks were hunted off Israel’s coast 6,000 years ago

Shark was probably on the menu round 6,000 years in the past in what’s now Israel, based on researchers who uncovered a big copper fishing hook in a beforehand unknown historical village.

Archaeologists unearthed the “shark hook” throughout a 2018 survey alongside the Mediterranean coast on the outskirts of Ashkelon, a metropolis that was constructed on high of an historical seaport of the identical title and dates again so far as historical Egypt. Byzantine and Roman constructions had beforehand been found on the web site, which sits round 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) from the ocean. However the brand new excavations revealed components of a village that date again round 6,000 years to the Chalcolithic interval, often known as the “Copper Age,” which lasted between 4500 B.C. and 3500 B.C. within the area (opens in new tab).