A 6,500 year old farming village has been uncovered in an archeological excavation in the fields of Moshav Menuha near Kiryat Gat (Israel). The dig, which is being carried out along the route of the national gas line, has unearthed pottery vessels, lithic tools, clay figurines of horned animals, as well as pig, goat, sheep bones, as well as the bones of larger herbivores.
     The inhabitants of the village chose to establish the settlement at the site due to the available source of water in the nearby Nahal Guvrin, said Pirhiya Nahshoni, who is leading the excavation on behalf of the Antiquities Authority. Nahal Guvrin is abundant in arable land, and has copious springs that also flow during the summer months. "It is apparent from the finds that the inhabitants were engaged in growing grain, as the sickle blades and grinding and pounding tools show, and also raised animals that supplied milk, meat and wool, as the spindle whorls attest," Nahshoni said.
     Archeologists theorize that settlement resident engaged in barter, based on the presence of non-indigenous basalt vessels and other lithic objects.

Source: Jerusalem Post (26 April 2006)