23,000-Year-Old Settlement & Earliest Cultivation: Ohalo II | Ancient Architects

There’s an archaeological site in Northern Israel, situated on the southwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee and it’s one of the most fascinating and important ancient sites that hardly anyone has ever heard of.
It’s one of the best-preserved hunter-gatherer sites of the Last Glacial Maximum, yes, we’re talking about a site 23,000 years old.
It’s called Ohalo II, and it wasn’t a mere seasonal camp, it was a permanent settlement, occupied throughout the year - and for many generations, which, in the current state of knowledge, is somewhat unique for a site so old.
But it’s what was discovered at the site that makes it so incredible. It contains two things that today, with the current level of research, can be called the ‘world’s oldest’.
Firstly, it has the world’s oldest brush dwellings, but also, and most importantly, it contains evidence of the world’s oldest small-scale plant cultivation, some 11,000 years before the onset of agriculture in the Fertile Crescent.
Watch this video to learn more about Ohalo II, a settlement 11,000 years older than Göbekli Tepe, and the evidence for ice age farming - and planting the seeds of civilization.
All images are taken from the below sources, Google Images and Google Earth for educational purposes only. Please subscribe to Ancient Architects, Like the video, and please leave a comment below. Thank you.
Contents:
0:00 Introduction to Ohalo II
2:18 Archaeology of Ohalo II
6:14 The Ohalo II Settlement
12:00 World's First Cultivation of Plants
12:17 Proto-Weeds Discovery
13:45 Wild and Domestic Crops
15:20 Stone Sickles
16:29 Life After Ohalo II
18:43 Conclusion
Link to the Joe Rogan Podcast 2136: • Joe Rogan Experience #...
Sources:
www.cambridge.org/core/books/...
journals.plos.org/plosone/art....
www.cambridge.org/core/journa...
www.researchgate.net/publicat...
www.researchgate.net/publicat...
www.persee.fr/doc/paleo_0153-...
www.researchgate.net/publicat...
library.biblicalarchaeology.o...
journals.ed.ac.uk/lithicstudie...
www.researchgate.net/publicat...
novoscriptorium.com/2019/08/3...
www.researchgate.net/publicat...
journals.plos.org/plosone/art...
europepmc.org/article/med/150...
johncwillman.weebly.com/blog/...
www.timesofisrael.com/ancient...
www.researchgate.net/publicat...
watch/?v=593...
#ancientarchitects #iceage #2136

[@AncientArchitects]

Join me on a tour of Ancient Turkey this October with Anyextee of Adept Expeditions! See sites including Hattusa, Çatalhöyük, Karahan Tepe and Gobekli Tepe! Use code ‘Ancient Architects’ to get $200 off now. Limited spaces available. Visit: adeptexpeditions.com/tours/turkey-tour-2024/

[@kp6215]

I wish I could my passion.

[@kp6215]

Lake Tan under water.

[@kp6215]

Thatched roofs with glasses placed into bedding. Go to Lake Tan under the sea with huge balsalt .

[@claudiaxander]

Awesome! Cheers.

[@MelvinCruz]

When you will appear in a program with Graham Hancock, @unchartedx and Randal Carlson talking about this themes? What about the pre dinástic pottery that they are investigating with advanced methods and shown so much data that baffles engineers?

[@billharm6006]

Completely new to me. A perfect example of why I love your channel.

[@AncientArchitects]

Thank you

[@alexandersheridan2179]

Same. I watch tons of stuff like this, but never heard of this one til now!

[@stephennicolay1940]

Good point

[@Zebred2001]

It's also useful to remember that in relatively recent historic times Canadian west-coast and American pacific northwest peoples achieved a fairly high concentration of population, plank-house villages, large ocean-going canoes, highly stylized art and basketry and social stratification without agriculture because they inhabited a very marine-rich ecosystem.

[@dunnobagels]

Do you have any recommendations of places up there to read about? Besides Fort Rock.

[@MichaelWinter-ss6lx]

Mainstream assumes they had no agriculture, but traces have even been found on remote Pacific islands.

[@Auggies1956]

One source I saw last year claimed the Polinisesians populated Hawaii, Tahiti, and New Zealand from that area.

[@stephennicolay1940]

Tell us this source then

[@floridaman4073]

Grew up in the PNW and was taught about this in school. They were into aquaculture not agriculture. Different side of the same coin.

[@JonnoPlays]

I learned on PBS recently that humans domesticated marijuana plants thousands of years before domestication of cereals. Early man had their priorities sorted in the correct order IMHO.

[@AncientArchitects]

Haha - love it

[@traildoggy]

Early Man? More like Early Rastaman.

[@taseenrahman1553]

PBS was using outdated information, they thought agriculture started 10,000k as most people did till this archeological site doubled agricultural prehistory!!!

[@AF-tv6uf]

"It's OK to believe in Pleistocene agriculture as long as they were growing pot" -Anthropologists

[@loke6664]

Sadly, it isn't exactly true. genetic studies shows that the cannabis type used for plant fibers were first grown around 7000 BCE and the type you get high from is from 5000 BCE. That is far older then one would think but it still doesn't beat different serials. 7000 BCE is when genetics think people started to grown corn as well though. Beer though is earlier. One of the archaeologists in Ohalo 2 actually claimed signs of beer brewing but both the others at the site and other experts disagree with that. They probably just made gruel.

[@timn6864]

There's an excavated site in Australia called Narwala Gabarnmung that dates twice as old as that, and is well worth a look at

[@BrianDrinkwater]

I’ve had a look. No comparison to this site.

[@CensorshipGenesis]

In the Iberian Peninsula. I.e. Portugal and Spain, there are sites dating back to 40.000 years ago. And younger also. In what "Humans" are concerned. And if I'm updated enough, it goes back to the "Homo Heidelbergensis" and Homo Neanderthalensis. It's rather interesting. ;-) The interesting detail on this video is the "agriculture" and beginnings of sedentarism! Half way to someone seating with the TV remote control on their hands. LOL 😂 😂

[@carolgebert7833]

That’s just a camp site with art. This Israeli site is evidence for proto-agriculture. No comparison.

[@samperry8386]

@@carolgebert7833 Yeah, but they were Neanderthals... Completely different race with it's own understanding of the world. In that sense there is no comparison, but you can't compare them, its like comparing sharks with cod.

[@philbarker7477]

Considering just how low sea levels were then one can only imagine how many such communities there were in that area/ shoreline at that time.

[@MM-yl9gn]

Exactly! I would love to know where the flint was mined, if there is any indication of trade networks as this could be a "work camp" exporting meal for flint etc as it likely would be a highly specialized center of early agriculture, not everyone in the region would have a "village garden" and could have traded salt etc. Perhaps a trading hub? Maybe surrounding villages would have dedicated some of their population to work part of the year there cultivating the grain and salting the meat to send back to the villages? Extremely intriguing!

[@Yarblocosifilitico]

Indeed. It's baffling that historians and archeologists don't account for this. Fishing seems to have been the initial drive for settling down, and most of it would be on the ancient coastlines

[@CensorshipGenesis]

@@Yarblocosifilitico- "historians and archeologists don't account for this". That's probably one of the most ridiculous claims one could spew out! For Christ sake do you guys even consider the "detail". That's precisely the people who brought this knowledge to your screens?" Historians and archeologists, not the ridiculous Hancock's and co. These are the people who are sweating it out on the field. Looking (and finding). So fairy tale inventor's. Like the previously mentioned, can make a carrier based on lies and BS! Jeez!

[@viracocha03]

None, according to Flint Dibble...

[@barrywalser2384]

Why isn’t this site better known? The information there is amazing. Thanks Matt!

[@johnwilson5637]

Fake in order to help the Israeli government prove 'they' have deep roots to the land.

[@hgu123454321]

Can you imagine the political repercussions of the oldest human civilisation being in that precise location? Everyone would try to claim it as evidence for some wild claim of current ownership. Better to just keep it quiet...

[@chikato7106]

Because archeologists like Flint Dibble go and spread bullshit and say this is impossible.

[@Yarblocosifilitico]

@@chikato7106 Exactly. It throws a big wrench in their established theories, and as much as they claim to be open minded and rigorously scientific, they don't want to relearn all that they were so certain they already knew

[@CensorshipGenesis]

@@chikato7106 - What stupidity of a claim! Are you guys for real?! It's EXACTLY men like Flint Dibble that bring you this information, served on a plate. For Christ sake stop the ridiculous claims! Are you guys playing on the Hancock & co. liars team? It surely looks like! Sad really.🤐

[@VocalChainsStudio]

Thank you for another amazing post! Neanderthal had flutes and BBQ 40,000+ years ago. I understand discoveries are necessary to establish scientific consensus, but it still seems wild to me that anyone would be surprised by homo sapien ingenuity 20,000+ years ago. People are smart.

[@williewonka6694]

Once there is music and barbecue, what else do we need?

[@Six_Gorillion]

@@williewonka6694 beer

[@judod97]

last time i checked it was just probably a flute,how is it a flute for sure now? However,there is possibility Neanderthal individuals played music,i believe that. Depends on how u define music tho

[@luvanime1986]

They have found remains of homo sapiens in SW Ethiopia I believe dating back in an average range around 200,000 years old (though I don't remember the exact range of dates sited). One of my son's friends is doing archeology in college and I've talked with him a few times, but this activity at 20,000 doesn't ring too special to me as somewhere in my memories, I thought they had found an early type of farming in Northern Africa and someone here mentioned Australia as well earlier in human history.

[@texanfilms]

Def not consensus that it’s a flute, most experts think not

[@muehahahaha]

As someone who studied archaeology it is amazing to me how most online only talk about a dozen sites when there are litteral thousands of incredible archeological sites

[@laurah1020]

Great video, as always, Matt! Thank you for sharing your research with us. Such an interesting find. I recall when large scale farming (agriculture) was discovered associated with Gobleki Tepe, everyone wondered where it originated. "How could large scale agriculture have appeared out of nowhere?" was echoed by most at the time...Now they have found a group of people who practiced "local" farming, and it may actually answer the question...it came from local practices of smaller groups. It seems the logical conclusion, then, that if larger groups gathered and needed to be supported, perhaps large scale agriculture for the masses was employed. I suspect if they are able to find more small villages from 23k years ago, they will also find local farming co-located. Does make me wonder if the folks of Ohalo II were survivors from the latest catastrophe that wiped everyone (and their technologies) out...and also whether larger collections of people existed, living together, during that time period, (or earlier), and if so, what kind of "farming" might be associated with those discoveries... :) Ohalo II was quite a serendipitous discovery!!

[@tendopain2585]

Graham Hancock somewhere doing backflips Edit: if you can’t tell this is a joke idk what to tell you

[@AncientArchitects]

😂

[@dunnobagels]

Why would he? No lost technology here.

[@YellowKing1986]

@@dunnobagels Of course but it shows how little we still know about technological timeline.

[@ikkan86]

​@dunnobagels it contridicts what Mr Dibble said on the JRE. He was convinced that agriculture began after the iceage.

[@bluebird3281]

@@dunnobagels If they had techniques that were more advanced at Ohalo 2 than people nearby had ten thousand years later. I think that would qualify as a lost technology. I doubt the tribe called themselves the Anunnaki but It does count as lost tech.

[@duboisdvoleur]

The domestication of animals was the decisive step. Dogs made herding possible, and horses enabled those herders. I am pleased to see that the evolution of grains is no longer seen as "accidental" but as a result of human evolution and development.

[@clay-tw5gc]

I find it interesting that people were living at this site at about the same time as the people were living in White Sands, New Mexico twenty two or so thousand years ago. So far, only footprints have been found at White Sands but no signs of huts, tools etc.

[@James-pq5pi]

The exact thought I had!

[@marcv2648]

This makes me realize that there were so many technological advances that had to happen in order to produce a settlement like Gobekli Tepe compared to a settlement like Ohalo II. Major changes in construction especially. All those changes probably relied on improved tools, and food production that could support a much larger population in Gobekli Tepe than Ohalo II.

[@dropnoelfield295]

The "great explosion of agriculture " always bothered me. A gradual increase of learned practices makes much more sense. Good stuff, as always. Thanks mate 👍

[@CensorshipGenesis]

On cultures that could have perfectly decent communication access. It's not surprising at all. We must remember that Europe, Africa and Asia. Are for all effect physically connected. So a game changing discovery like that. Would first be showing simultaneously on different sites. And second spread like wild fire. ;-) The expression "explosion" tend to shadow the important detail. That this is an event spreading over several thousands of years. ;-) A curious example is that the "system" haven't been adopted world wide. With pockets in remote places like Australia. Still remaining in a Paleolithic stage until the 20th Century!

[@abrahammagdalena5821]

We we as aa as we weZ we as we dfm

[@ericapierce1594]

Orangutans in Africa have been seen rubbing herbs onto their wounds. Of course everything develops slowly, even in science today.

[@davidwhiren817]

The Lavant & the regions that surround it , are the gift that just keeps on giving , so wonderful !!! With an eye to the future , I will continue to watch what is discovered from there !!! Thank you for your channel , you give us history buff's a place to land !!!

[@SamWelbourneGuitar]

Amazing. 23k years since settling began.. at least! Wow 😮

[@gregorysagegreene]

What a window into deepest time and forebears figuring out stuff long before we forgot they had.

[@loke6664]

Thanks, Matt. I have read about the site before as well as a 19 000 years old site also in Israel but they had like 2 pictures only and it was a bit more bare boned articles. It is an interesting topic. BTW, have you consider making a vid about El Mirador? It was a massive pre classical Mayan city with a huge pyramid (La Dante, 72 meters high) and is older and more advanced then expected as well as it had a massive population of maybe 100 000 people around 2500 years ago. It is also one of those super interesting sites you don't hear or read much about for some reason.

[@Romanball5677]

Can you please talk about china pyramids about them next

[@AncientArchitects]

Soon!

[@JonnoPlays]

I'd like to see more on this subject too. The information online is dubious and fact finding is more tedious than it should be due to all the click bait.

[@Kiyoone]

👍

[@87mrreynolds]

@@AncientArchitectsor the Chinese caves please 🙏

[@Infotokev]

Thank you - its hard to make too many conclusions without including China

[@debbralehrman5957]

This is Truly Amazing. Once again you bring so many newer discoveries not talked about much. Thanks 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼🌹

[@kwennemar]

WOW! People have been people for so long we forgot when we became people.

[@iwitnessedit6713]

its crazy how our history keeps getting older.

[@Yarblocosifilitico]

is it though? I find the 'millions and millions of years just hunter-gathering' theory much crazier.

[@CensorshipGenesis]

It's not crazy at all. In fact the only reasoning for saying it's getting older is lack of knowledge of current state of affairs! Many old sites have been located and identified decades ago. What is in fact almost surprising is that the number of sites and it's acknowledgement. Has increased exponentially due to newer technologies like lidar, internet and so on! That's the true difference. Reaching the common guy like you or me. ;-)

[@jayc1139]

@@CensorshipGenesis Don't forget that, the older something is, the less likely it's going to be well preserved...IF at all. So many natural disasters and geographical shifts could've destroyed countless settlements that humans could've made the past 200k years. It's unfortunate but at least there's places like these still surviving.

[@Angel-Azrael]

Keeps getting older because anything mainstream history pre ww2 is mostly a lie and a fabrication.

[@markmurphy8078]

❤😂🎉

[@Babbajune]

There is always something new being discovered. So intriguing is the age of this culture. Thank you for your great coverage! ❤❤

[@missfriscowin3606]

You say Ohalo 2…I hear a hollow tomb. Took me half the video to clear that up. 😂.

[@sidcymraeg]

Never heard of this site. Wow. Thanks Matt for another fantastic well researched video.

[@katep23]

Utterly fascinating and amazing! Thank you.

[@AncientArchitects]

I thought so too. Cheers

[@assifmirza130]

Great video Matt. There is a clear line from Ohalo II, through Natufian culture 15,000bp, Karahan and Gobekli Tepe 11000bp through to the advent of full agriculture some 8000 years ago. No need to hypothesise aliens and lost high tech societies.

[@AncientArchitects]

Yes, you can see gradual evolution through the ice age, all the way through to the Neolithic.

[@philswede]

Greetings from Sweden! Awesome! Thanks for the timely upload!

[@AncientArchitects]

Love Sweden. Ibrahimovic 💪

[@jonlannister345]

I was wondering if something like this would show up when I was listening to that podcast. It seemed a little bit of a stretch to write off agriculture before the point when grasses started becoming less brittle, considering it would take a long time for them to change, and even longer if they were usually grown in a more natural environment mixed in with wild grasses. Seems agriculture must stretch back thousands of years further than the first known evidence of the evolutionary adaptations of plants caused by mass agriculture. Sometimes agriculture is barely even recognizable as such. The way many modern hunter gatherers plant farms barely makes an impact; they remove inedible plants and concentrate edible, but take such a hands off approach they don't have much impact on the way the plants grow. It doesn't leave any evidence other than concentrations of certain plants in certain areas. Medieval europeans used to tend to forests in a similar way, leaving no evidence except by observing high concentrations of fruit and nut trees in certain areas.

[@AncientArchitects]

Great comment and thanks for watching

[@MajiSylvamain]

This is wonderful, there is a much clearer picture of our ancestors journey to developing agricultural technology. 🐱🐈👍

[@douginorlando6260]

The sunken floor with a wooden floor makes a lot of sense. The sunken floor creates some extra head room. The wooden flooring is flater than a stone or dirt floor, avoids getting soaked by some water leaking inside, must be warmer than laying the grass bedding on rocks, and is cleaner than dirt. I bet the bedding included fur skins sewn together on top of any grass mattress. Since they lived in these huts and climate was colder during the ice age than today, staying warm was a major effort. These huts could have had animal skins over them as the outer layer for water proofing and for extra warmth inside. The nets make for great food source. Dried smoked fish can be stored as a reserve supply. Animals for food could have been penned. Fruits from trees makes lots of sense too. (Which fruits? Apples? figs?). This kind of diet was probably the norm anywhere any of these food sources were available they would be used. They must have also used boats for net fishing. I wonder if they had domesticated dogs. Fruit trees could have been planted nearby instead of journeying to a natural fruit grove once they realized it was a good food source.

[@DeDunking]

Gobekli Tepe didn't cause the people to become sedentary, Halo II did. Just like the early 2000s. "There's nothing new under the sun" - some book or old guy idk

[@AncientArchitects]

Love Halo!

[@DeDunking]

@@AncientArchitects Spent many a night playing Halo 2 online. Before that, the house parties with 3 XBOX's and Halo 1... the screams from across the house... Pure nostalgia!

[@STRAKAZulu]

As a Halo fan, that was peak.

[@lepterfirefall]

Them pesky forerunners....

[@Alarix246]

Some old guy you say? It was the Bible story Ecclesiastes: "I was the teacher, the king... actually, I will quote you here the story in one of the most beautiful songs: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mqnWoqR3lrCIjJIsi=-kG9nNJaMnmOmqBr It is all there, although not the very sentence you mentioned. But it's in the Bible. But, don't think I am religious. Just read the Bible very well when I was 9-10 years old and it leads me all my life though I'm an atheist... it's perfect prehistory book.

[@dougalexander7204]

Fascinating. Thank you for presenting your thoughts on a site so important yet obscure. 😊

[@synisterfish]

Great episode, Matt. Cheers!!

[@Hipsterhandyman]

I love at the end where the author shows a quick rundown of ancient sites, displaying their location, period and a few small, yet striking, artifacts.

[@AncientPresence]

Thank you for always sharing such insightful content ~ We had no idea about this place!

[@rogergriffin9893]

Great post. I hadn't heard of this sight until your post. Very detailed and informative. Thank You.

[@skelious]

TY this was a great episode.

[@MrDamian235]

This is awesome was just looking around yesterday on a video about ohalo II not much out there if anything. So when i seen this today i couldn't have been happier A beautiful 20 min video on OhaloII Thanks so much Matt Was incredibly insightful ❤ Very insightful

[@megansfo]

I think agriculture started slowly, with medicinal plants or even herbs grown in small numbers. A few original plants would have been "volunteers," growing from seed dropped by birds or blown in by wind, etc. This is very common even today, The idea of large fields of grain would have come later.

[@tobiastho9639]

It could also be more of a permaculture, all growing mixed together so the plants benefit from each other. Mono crops have more advantages when you got a Scythe and more division of labor thrug some sort of payment methot.

[@Yarblocosifilitico]

Definitely

[@oldernu1250]

Hunters followed game. Game are grain. Follow the leader.

[@Ck-zk3we]

It also started with people manipulating the environment to foster the growth of certain plants. Like nut and fruit bearing trees for example or burning to create fields for grasses to grow.

[@_moodrings_]

Believe we started harvesting wild growth first. Einkhorn was the first we domesticated that we know of and that’s likely because wild wheat grew abundantly. Especially around the Tas Tepeler sites & the rest of the Fertile Crescent. We watched what nature did and then replicated it.

[@mre4321]

Absolutely. Fantastic!!!

[@ShortbusMooner]

Oh! Hope we hear more about it! 👍

[@RT-mn2pb]

Quite surprising how well preserved the remains were. Thank you, nice presentation.

[@tokos4273]

Great video once again. I always learn about new stuff here. ❤

[@margaretknight2207]

Thank you for bringing us this this fantastic presentation, I greatly appreciate your dedication!

[@evrenselfrekans]

I saw Göbeklitepe on site, majestic structures built on a hill overlooking the entire valley, the figures carved into the rocks fascinate people. When I closed my eyes, I imagined tribes gathering on this hill and performing ceremonies accompanied by prayers. It is a structure far outside the classical understanding of history and is definitely a must-see place. I also had wonderful dreams during the days I was there.

[@bgates1128]

Fascinating! Thanks for production and posting.

[@justajo2]

What an amazing new find. Thank you!

[@AncientArchitects]

Cheers

[@charlesblake1735]

Wow, what an amazing devlopment. Humans are far more clever than we give ourselves credit for. Thank-you for this report.

[@1123thumper]

Grass bedding survives - just amazing.

[@jwebb3337]

Great video! Love your channel!

[@mayarosebudd3528]

You are so adorable! I’m so impressed with your ability to put fact with store telling ❤❤

[@ashleysmith3106]

What amazes me is NOT the evolution of hunter-gatherers; but the lack of such here in Australia. There were still Palaeolithic tribes existing in Central Australia until a little over half a century ago ! Yet Australia is larger than Europe, with landscapes ranging from Alpine to Mediterranean, tropical rain forest to desert; giving every opportunity to become sedentary in certain areas, yet none did so. The only records we have of building is of stone eel-traps and coastal fish-traps; the dwellings are reminiscent of those in this video. I wish there were more research and more papers available on Australian Archaeology and Aboriginal development over the last 50-60 thousand years !

[@puraLusa]

Maybe the amount of dangerous venomous animals made humans not so sedentary. It can't be easy to survive next to the kind of species that awaits u inside shoes, etc.

[@pttpforever]

I feel much the same way about North America. We'll never know how much archaeological evidence has been built over and purposely destroyed or buried and crushed by floods and earthquakes. It also seems to me that people don't make changes to their lives unless they have to in order to live. And let's remember, many cultures today still place a lot less emphasis on the material advancements we discover archaeologically than modern Western cultures.

[@douginorlando6260]

Maybe when people settled next to the sea and rivers to make fishing convenient, the crocs found people to be a convenient food source.

[@jancrosby6677]

I wouldn't be so confident about 50 - 60 thousand years...there is new data suggesting less far back than that originating more like 45 thousand years from sub continent (India). Popular archaeology and pop politics disseminate much pseudo science.

[@brianc8916]

Considering they were cut off from the rest of the world for about 40 thousand years, why would they need to change anything if it was working for them? Besides the ice age diminishing their population and forcing them into certain less harsh areas more, what exactly would a hunter-gatherer lifestyle lack for them? They also had a huge dessert in the middle for most of that time as well, while they frequently would live in the desert and make use of the desert, they didn't cross it freely for about the last 30,000 years. South-west aboriginals and north-east aboriginals already have noticeably diverging DNA between each other. Basically, there was no external pressure that warranted them a need for a sedentary lifestyle, at least not permantely, when a hunter-gatherer lifestyle already provided them with all their needs for tens of thousands of years.

[@elihinze3161]

Another fantastic video! This is mind blowingly old for such development

[@michaeldavid6832]

If sedentary humans were the most advanced, then the most advanced settlements would be those near the coastlines which once existed but are now out in the ocean. We have only discovered the most recent of the most accessible settlements since the sea levels rose. Settlements would always be near large bodies of water -- for obvious reasons... the oceans being the most bountiful. There would be no exception to this -- inland hunter-gatherers must frequently be on the move as they exhaust an area into scarcity. Given that fact, it stands to reason that oceanside settlements would've been the first to yield agriculture -- as long as there was a steady supply of fresh water as well -- a river that empties into the ocean. One immediately understands why Egypt is a standout -- those 2 conditions being met in abundance. It stands to reason that the most advanced settlements would always be at these junctures of freshwater rivers dumping into the ocean. Unfortunately for humanity, every last one of those types of settlements was drowned -- no exception. When the oceanside rises, it does so everywhere. If the seas rose fast enough it would've drowned most of the people who were the earliest cultivators -- or they would've died of starvation as the environment became chaos and no longer applicable to their prior skills. It would've been a global cataclysm destroying all record of societies capable of cultivating plants... along with most species of plants which had been selectively bred and domesticated. My money would be on the location of the coastline which intersects with the Nile when the sea level was most low and stable. We haven't found the earliest agriculture date by far. For that, we'd have a better chance diving the oceans. In current year, such a place will never be found anywhere above sea level. The depths of the oceans are where our ultimate history will be revealed. Maybe vastly more of it than anyone can even imagine. After all, what were we doing for the 280,000 years before the earliest settlements we know of for homo sapiens? Were we just repeating the same nomad pattern everywhere across the globe -- never experimenting with new ways of living? That's implausible.

[@MM-yl9gn]

Think about iodine and intelligence too! Shell middens...hmmm...River ways being the fastest route of transportation/trade/technological advancement/cultural exchange. Just fascinating and so much fun to think about and explore!

[@chetingerx]

Fascinating! Flint Dibble presentation on agriculture was too. Although he didn't finished it during the JRE podcast. It made me curious. Recently I've read beer fermentation could precede bread making. ¿Could it be?

[@tomcollins5112]

It sounds like they lived an abundant life, even though they were primitive by modern standards. Gosh, I wish I could go back in time and talk to those people.

[@SB-qm5wg]

What an incredible find.

[@AncientArchitects]

And there are so many free PDF papers on the internet - all linked in the description! Great reads!

[@axax7668]

Nice one Matt!

[@AncientArchitects]

Cheers

[@WilliamHarbert69]

Fascinating. Thanks.

[@greeneyeddevil1]

Great presentation, it is exciting to see the timeline pushed back yet again.

[@Saga05061982]

Thanks for the news and the links

[@katakalyptica]

Your Channel is an enlightenment

[@AncientArchitects]

Thank you!

[@francisgruber3638]

nicely done. thank you

[@yoursoulisforever]

Wow! Thank you for this! I have one BIG question. How did they keep the hut floors from filling with water during heavy rain? Why make a depression in the rock. Why not just make a ring of rocks that can hold out the rain water, especially in heavy rain when water flowed over the ground? I would love to know the answer to this. Anyway, thank you again. This is awesome news!

[@michaelneal6589]

Thank you

[@eskanderx1027]

Great stuff! 👍🏻

[@Bay0Wulf]

Thanks for making this presentation.

[@reverie6034]

Wow. Truly astounding!!! Thank you Matt! I have neither the time or patience to listen to the Joe Rogan thing, but I feel like I got the best of it (maybe more) from you! 👏👏👏

[@zemog1025]

Outstanding presentation.

[@AncientArchitects]

Cheers

[@contiflex]

You always provide us with interesting videos, thanks.

[@Tomee66666]

❤ nice work brother, keep'm coming😊

[@moranmike36]

Great video! Thank you!

[@AncientArchitects]

Glad you liked it!

[@susanmetz1916]

Very informative. Thank you

[@DonnaCsuti-ji2dd]

Very interesting thank you for sharing this

[@whartonoutdoors7493]

This site does not surprise me. TY for spotlighting it.

[@user-cr2lh3ry2v]

Well done

[@eevilauntie]

What a stunning site! And I really enjoy your meticulous presentation style, keep up the good work!

[@AncientArchitects]

Thank you

[@historybuff7491]

Thank you for the info. I know there is no way to prove this, so hard for the scientist to state it, but it seems like the huts would have been woven together or lashed in a "shell" or frame work before the outer layer of brush was put on it. I am bias living in a house, I'm sure, but it seems it needs more so it can withstand some weather like storms, or winds.

[@MM-yl9gn]

Obviously, it was warm and dry. If cold, they would have been forced to have a dwelling capable of an inside fire and if wet, would have destroyed the dwelling during the rainy season. Also, it would be interesting if the surrounding area was excavated as the domesticated crop would be nearby revealing more of the story.

[@phantomhaze767]

This blew my mind. Thank you.

[@johnwebber750]

Oh, where is it now? Just kidding. 🙃

[@eclecticjon1019]

Another great video. I had never heard of this place before 👍

[@AncientArchitects]

Cheers

[@wout123100]

becauwe you prbably never read any archeological mag. or follow their news....sheeesh...

[@eclecticjon1019]

@@wout123100 I'm sorry, do we know each other?

[@afternoobtea914]

Very interesting indeed.

[@UkuleleBobbyKemp]

Wow! That was a fantastic presentation Matt - gotta be some of your best work mate! 🙏 Thanks so much for passing this knowledge on in such an entertaining way!... Bobby 🐭

[@AncientArchitects]

Thank you so much mate!

[@robbleeker4777]

As usual, this was an other amazing video.

[@AncientArchitects]

Thank you 🙏

[@user-gz2qh1ie8d]

Very interesting!

[@gregwilson825]

Remarkable!

[@dangkoen]

Fascinating

[@cynthiaahern9081]

So interesting ❤

[@kiminnehalem8669]

Great post!! I know everyone is down on Graham Hancock, but his persistent questioning, and the need of academia to refute, seems to bring really interesting information to light and to a wider audience. I don't subscribe to his theories, but I do think that there is value in his storytelling in that he makes the subject of ancient history and archaeology accessible and interesting. I enjoy his alternative timelines because of just this!! If he wouldn't have been putting himself out there, willing to debate his theories, we may not have heard of this amazing site. We don't have to believe in ancient aliens, or lost ancient civilizations, but I welcome the light he shines (however rose-colored) on this, often, daunting and dry subject. Thank so much for your wonderful presentations. I look forward to each new discovery.

[@jasonvoigt6575]

I agree also, Graeme Hancock's definitely highlighted ancient intercontinental seafaring..

[@wout123100]

i am sorry but i lost him when he starts telling outright lies

[@anzacman5]

​@@wout123100you mean ideas you don't agree with. Get it right.

[@JamesMartland65]

No, they are ideas and narratives that he refuses to abandon despite being shown hard facts that disprove them for DECADES. Nonetheless, he’s the reason I got in to this whole area of knowledge in the first place, and the reason the topic gets airtime with Rogan. So overall a massive positive effect.

[@Eye_of_Horus]

@@wout123100same. Outright lies and lies by omission. Leaves out details that disprove what he’s saying repeatedly.

[@SensiProductionzBlindDogVideos]

Beautiful job bro🙂

[@susytomable]

Thank you.

[@musiqueetmontagne]

Fantastic video, thank you so much for the detail too, puts more meat on the bones. I had heard of this site but I'm just a very interested but casual observer and wondered why it isn't mentioned much. I'm unfortunately lead to believe it's possibly because of the site's location, one not popular with many academics, especially ones from our universities. I've spent a bit of time in the Holy-Land and marveled at the sites there from such a huge range of dates. Once again, thank you for this video...

[@18Macallan]

Thank you sir!👍

[@AncientArchitects]

Cheers 👍

[@Poppy_69]

Funny thing is today we can barely build a house that lasts longer than 30 years 😢

[@AlbertaGeek]

What a dumb thing to say.

[@bikedoc4145]

Great job bringing us this new info! Is not kind of weird that they have only found 1 grave? It looks as if this site could have been used for a good amount of time.

[@sitindogmas]

wow! good stuff! ✌️

[@willtricks9432]

This is new old news, great study going on.

[@kevinmurphy65]

this is amazing.

[@mygoditzfullofstarz]

Excellent video. And you are right in that Ohalo does seem to get overlooked. Have you read After the Ice: A Global Human History 20,000-5000 BC by Steven Mithen. Its quite old now but the first book that delves into the subject of the. earliest settlements Prof Mithen is a leading light on the subject and highly respected.