ABOUT 14,000 years ago the owner of an
ancient tool kit plonked it down near the
wall inside a small hut in what is now
Jordan.
It contained everything that could come in
handy on a trip to gather food: a sickle to
cut wild wheat, spearheads to hunt gazelle,
and even bead-making materials to while away
a few hours waiting for more prey to appear.
But it lay there, forgotten, for thousands of
years, until now. The collection of 36
objects has been unearthed and studied by
Australian archaeologist Phillip Edwards,
providing a rare insight into life for
prehistoric hunter-gatherers.
Dr Edwards, of La Trobe University, said the
implements had probably been carried in a
shoulder bag made of animal hide or twined
fibres.
"The most plausible explanation is that it
served as a tool kit for use on foraging
excursions," he said. But it was not known
whether the owner was male or female.
The ancient people of this region were known
as Natufians and built their earthen-floored
huts near sources of water, gathering wild
barley to eat as well as wheat.
The sickle in the tool kit was made of two
pieces of animal horn and 10 small stone
blades, which had been placed in two rows
according to their colour. This showed the
hunter-gatherers were interested in
appearance, not just utility, said Dr
Edwards, whose research is published in the
latest issue of the journal Antiquity.
The more than 20 sharp pieces of flint in the
tool kit could have been used to make spears
or arrows to kill the many animals in this
lush area of the Jordan Valley. The large
number of spares in the tool kit might have
allowed a lone hunter to re-arm while
pursuing an animal.
Other possible weapons in the tool kit
included a clutch of smooth pebbles. "The
smaller stones may have been used as
slingshot projectiles," Dr Edwards said.
But there may also have been some time for
handicrafts. The kit also contained five toe
bones from gazelles, which the Natufians used
to turn into beads by drilling holes in them
and cutting them to the same shape.
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