December 13th 2024.
A unique collection of "pearl caves" containing archaeological artifacts has been discovered in an ancient tunnel in Israel. These "cave pearls" are a type of speleothem, mineral deposits formed by moving water within caves. Unlike more well-known speleothems like stalactites and stalagmites, cave pearls are typically round in shape and detached from the cave walls, floors, or ceilings. They are usually found in shallow pools of water in limestone caves, where layers of calcite build up around a nucleus, often a fragment of rock or piece of mud.
A recent study published in Archaeometry reveals that 50 cave pearls have been unearthed in an ancient tunnel located in the Jerusalem Hills of Israel. What makes this discovery particularly fascinating is that 14 of the pearls contain pottery nuclei, with two of them appearing to come from ceramic lamps, and two containing plaster nuclei. This is the first time that researchers have documented finding archaeological artifacts inside cave pearls.
The team made this remarkable find while investigating the Jwoeizeh spring tunnel in the Jerusalem hills. This spring tunnel is a man-made structure designed to extract water from perched aquifers and is thought to be one of the oldest and longest in the southern Levant area. It is believed to date back to the early 7th or 8th century BC and may have been part of a royal mansion.
Interestingly, the research team was not specifically searching for cave pearls, but stumbled upon them while surveying the area in 2017. The pearls were found in a sealed segment of the tunnel, which spans about 23 feet and was filled with soil and debris. Along with the pearls, the team also found an intact oil lamp thought to date back to the 3rd or 4th century AD. Most of the pottery nuclei have been dated to the Hellenistic period, while the plaster nuclei have been dated to the same period or earlier.
One of the pottery samples, however, appears to be even older and may date back to the Persian or Babylonian periods, or possibly even the Iron Age. This discovery suggests that the tunnel underwent reconstruction during the Hellenistic period, with oil lamps being used as a source of light. It also provides evidence of the tunnel's origins, as lead author Azriel Yechezkel from Tel Aviv University explains, "Our research supports our understanding that the tunnel was first constructed in the Iron Age and provides the first analytical dating of artifacts found in the pearls, proving that the tunnel went through a reconstruction phase during the Hellenistic period."
[This article has been trending online recently and has been generated with AI. Your feed is customized.]
[Generative AI is experimental.]
