Israel. Los cazadores de la edad de piedra utilizaban amuletos

Tel Aviv, 29 ago (dpa) - Los pobladores de la edad de piedra del territorio que actualmente ocupa Israel usaban amuletos en forma de animal para atraer la caza, según creen expertos israelíes.

Los arqueólogos encontraron dos pequeñas figuras con forma de animal en yacimientos cercanos a Jerusalén, junto a los cimientos de una gran construcción circular de la misma época.

Los posibles amuletos datan de la edad de piedra, tienen 9.500 años de antigüedad y representan a un carnero y un venado.

Las investigaciones apuntan a que ya en aquella época exisitía alguna especie de creencia, apuntan los arqueólogos Anna Eirikh y Hamudi Chalailjin en un comunicado difundido el miércoles.

Al parecer, las figuras se utilizaban en algún tipo de ceremonia celebrada antes de las cacerías para atraer la suerte. Según señalaron los expertos, las tallas en piedra están fabricadas con gran detalle y la proporción es extremadamente exacta. elpais.cr

Link 2: Jerusalem Highway Work Yields Stone Age Discovery
Archeologists have discovered Stone Age figurines in excavations carried out prior to work to widen the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway.

Archeologists have discovered Stone Age figurines in excavations carried out prior to work to widen the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway.

Two figurines, which experts claim are 9,500 years old, were found in the Tel Motza area less than five miles south of Jerusalem. They are images of a ram and a wild bovine and point to the existence of a cultic belief in the region in the New Stone Age, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority.

“The figurines were found near a large round building whose foundations were built of fieldstones and upper parts of the walls were apparently made of mud brick," said directors of the excavation Anna Eirikh and Dr. Hamoudi Khalaily...

Link 3: Stone Age Figurines were Exposed in Archaeological Excavations at Tel Moza near Jerusalem
The two figurines – c. 9,500 year old – in the image of a ram and a wild bovine, point to the existence of a cultic belief in the region in the New Stone Age. They might have been used good-luck statues to ensure a successful hunt

The figurines were found in excavations of the Israel Antiquities Authority prior to widening Highway 1 by the National Roads Company

Two figurines from the New Stone Age (Pre-Pottery Neolithic B) were discovered in excavations the Israel Antiquities Authority is currently conducting at the Tel Moza archaeological site, prior to work being carried out on the new Highway 1 from Sha'ar HaGai to Jerusalem by the National Roads Company.

According to Anna Eirikh and Dr. Hamoudi Khalaily, directors of the excavation at the site on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, “The figurines, which are 9,000-9,500 years old, were found near a large round building whose foundations were built of fieldstones and upper parts of the walls were apparently made of mud brick. The first figurine, in the shape of a ram with twisted horns, was fashioned from limestone and is c. 15 cm in size...

Click here to download high resolution pictures of the figurines. Photographic credit: Yael Yolovitch, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.