The Acheulian site of Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov

Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov (GBY) is located in the southern Hula Valley, which, in turn, is located in the northernmost segment of the Dead Sea Rift, part of the Great African Rift System. This region is an integral part of the “Levantine Corridor,” a land bridge connecting Africa and Europe, through which the diffusion and biotic exchange of many organisms took place in prehistoric times. The Hula Valley has preserved data of a phenomenon of great importance in human history: archaeological evidence recording hominin diffusion/migration out of Africa and into Eurasia. The unique sedimentological and hydrological conditions prevailing in the Hula, along with extensive and intensive tectonic activity, resulted in the complex and minimal exposure of Plio-Pleistocene geological formations. One of these, the Benot Ya‘akov Formation, has revealed many unique hominin artifacts, fossil bones, and a multitude of organic remains. Its examination has significantly contributed to our understanding of the paleoecological conditions that prevailed in the region, as well as enabling a comparison between the paleoecological systems of the Early and Middle Pleistocene in Africa and the Levant, areas in which hominins were active already in very early prehistory.