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Snake bones with flint cuts show Mount Carmel settlers ate reptiles 15,000 years ago

Phys · · 612 words · By Kiel University
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What to know about Snake bones with flint cuts show Mount Carmel settlers ate reptiles 15,000 years ago

A study published in PNAS indicates that Natufian hunter-gatherers on Mount Carmel consumed reptiles, including lizards and snakes, approximately 15,000 years ago. Researchers identified flint knife cut marks on bones to distinguish human consumption from natural deaths or predation.

Propaganda risk 0%
Claims checked 9
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center86%
Right14%

7 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Snake bones with flint cuts show Mount Carmel settlers ate reptiles 15,000 years ago Swati Mestri Scientific Editor Robert Egan Senior Editor Around 15,000 years ago, the way of life of human communities in the southern Levant underwent a fundamental change.

Why it matters

Groups of hunter-gatherers, who until then had been nomadic, reduced their mobility and established small, permanent settlements for the first time.

Common ground

This culture, called the Natufian, is considered an important stage in the history of human sedentism, even before the development of agriculture.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

A study published in PNAS indicates that Natufian hunter-gatherers on Mount Carmel consumed reptiles, including lizards and snakes, approximately 15,000 years ago. Researchers identified flint knife cut marks on bones to distinguish human consumption from natural deaths or predation.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-08-snake-bones-flint-mount-carmel.html

analyticsAnalysis

0%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 100%
Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 9 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 8
help Insufficient Evidence 1
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Claim 1: “there was indirect evidence of the consumption of the European glass lizard (Pseudopus apodus)”
CORROBORATED
Web search results mention evidence for 'glass-lizard processing' alongside snake bones, supporting the claim regarding the European glass lizard.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Natufian culture (, nə-TOO-fee-ən) is an archaeological culture of the late Epipalaeolithic Near East in West Asia from 15,000–11,500 Before Present. The culture was unusual in that it supported a…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natufian_culture
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Early European Farmers (EEF) were a group of the Anatolian Neolithic Farmers (ANF) who brought agriculture to Europe and Northwest Africa. The Anatolian Neolithic Farmers were an ancestral component, …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_European_Farmers
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, mesos 'middle' + λίθος, lithos 'stone') is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used syno…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesolithic
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 2: “Lev, along with co-authors Professor Mina Weinstein-Evron and Professor Reuven Yeshurun of the University of Haifa, identified thousands of lizard and snake bones in the settlement layers at 'el-wad Terrace.'”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources mention the identification of snake and lizard bones at the 'el-wad Terrace' site and credit Maayan Lev.
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web search NEUTRAL — The layers document Natufian settlement at the site between 15,000 and 12,000 years ago.El-Wad Cave lies at the foot of the Carmel cliff on the left, with the Mediterranean Sea on the right. The bird …
https://www.ynetnews.com/environment/article/rygv2cfwzg
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web search NEUTRAL — The study is based on excavations at the 'el-wad Terrace' archaeological site in the Nahal Me'arot Nature Reserve on Mount Carmel in Israel, and it includes 20 archaeological layers of repeated settle…
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-snake-bones-flint-mount-carmel…
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web search NEUTRAL — Microscopic images of bones found at the e ‘el-wad Terrace’ archaeological site in the Nahal Me’arot Nature Reserve on Mount Carmel showing ancient cut marks. (credit: Maayan Lev/Kiel University, VIA …
https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-906207
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Claim 3: “it includes 20 archaeological layers of repeated settlements over a period of around 3,000 years. Using radiocarbon dating, these were dated to between approximately 15,000 and 12,000 years ago.”
CORROBORATED
Web search results explicitly mention the 20 archaeological layers and the radiocarbon dating range of 15,000 to 12,000 years ago for the 'el-wad Terrace' site.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Dana Terrace (born December 8, 1990) is an American animator, writer, director, and voice actress. She is best known as the creator of the Disney Channel animated series The Owl House and the co-creat…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dana_Terrace
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — A terrace in agriculture is a flat surface that has been cut into hills or mountains to provide areas for the cultivation for crops, as a method of more effective farming. Terrace agriculture or culti…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrace_(earthworks)
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Café Terrace and Its Goddesses (Japanese: 女神のカフェテラス, Hepburn: Megami no Kafe Terasu) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kōji Seo. It was serialized in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen M…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Café_Terrace_and_Its_Godde…
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 4: “the researchers were able to identify cut marks made by flint knives at consistent locations on the bones of large snakes such as the large whip snake (Dolichophis jugularis) and the eastern Montpellier snake (Malpolon insignitus).”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm the identification of flint knife cut marks on the bones of the large whip snake (Dolichophis jugularis) and the eastern Montpellier snake (Malpolon insignitus).
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web search NEUTRAL — Flint cut marks on large snake bones and evidence for glass-lizard processing indicate hunting of large, slow, nonvenomous reptiles, likely providing a reliable food resource during early sedentism.
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-snake-bones-flint-mount-carmel…
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web search NEUTRAL — Identifying flint knife incisionspm snake bones for first time.The bones discovered at the site were identified as those belonging to the large whip snake (Dolichophis jugularis) and the eastern Montp…
https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-906207
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web search NEUTRAL — Microscopic image of bone from a large whip snake (Dolichophis jugularis) showing cut marks. Credit: Maayan Lev.Cut marks and scrapes made by flint knives at consistent locations on the bones indicate…
https://www.popsci.com/science/snake-lizard-diet-natufians-l…
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Claim 5: “A new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) provides the first evidence that people of the Natufian period hunted reptiles.”
CORROBORATED
Two independent news/web sources explicitly state that a study published in PNAS provides the first evidence that Natufian people hunted reptiles.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Fertile Crescent (Arabic: الهلال الخصيب al-hilāl al-ḵhaṣīb) is a crescent-shaped region in the Middle East, spanning modern-day Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria, together with n…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fertile_Crescent
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Natufian culture (, nə-TOO-fee-ən) is an archaeological culture of the late Epipalaeolithic Near East in West Asia from 15,000–11,500 Before Present. The culture was unusual in that it supported a…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natufian_culture
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Raqefet Cave (Cyclamen Cave) is a prehistoric archaeological site located on Mount Carmel in northern Israel, with Late Natufian remains and evidence of earlier occupation. Its Natufian cemetery has y…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raqefet_Cave
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 6: “Around 15,000 years ago, the way of life of human communities in the southern Levant underwent a fundamental change. Groups of hunter-gatherers, who until then had been nomadic, reduced their mobility and established small, permanent settlements for the first time.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent web sources confirm that around 15,000 years ago, hunter-gatherers in the southern Levant transitioned to settled life in villages.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Levant is a subregion of West Asia along the Eastern Mediterranean that forms part of the Middle East. The term is often used in conjunction with historical or cultural references. In its narrowes…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levant
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Marwan Abdelhamid (Arabic: مروان عبد الحميد; born October 6, 2000), known professionally as Saint Levant (French: [sɛ̃ ləvɑ̃]; Arabic: سانت ليفانت), is a Palestinian singer-songwriter and rapper. A mu…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Levant
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Southern Levant is a geographical region in West Asia along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory corresponding approximately to present-day Israel, Palestine, and Jordan; some d…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Levant
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 7: “The study is based on excavations at the 'el-wad Terrace' archaeological site in the Nahal Me'arot Nature Reserve on Mount Carmel in Israel”
CORROBORATED
The location 'el-wad Terrace' in the Nahal Me'arot Nature Reserve on Mount Carmel is cited as the basis for the study in multiple reports, and the reserve/site are confirmed via Wikipedia.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — El Wad is an archaeological site of the Epipalaeolithic Near East in Mount Carmel, Israel. The site has two components: El Wad Cave, also known as Mughārat al-Wād (Arabic: مغارة الواد) or HaNahal Cave…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Wad
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Caves of Nahal Me’arot / Wadi el-Mughara ("Caves Creek"), named here by the Hebrew and Arabic name of the valley where they are located, are a UNESCO Site of Human Evolution in the Carmel mountain…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nahal_Me'arot_Nature_Reserve
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Natufian culture (, nə-TOO-fee-ən) is an archaeological culture of the late Epipalaeolithic Near East in West Asia from 15,000–11,500 Before Present. The culture was unusual in that it supported a…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natufian_culture
+ 3 more evidence sources
help
Claim 8: “Venomous snakes such as vipers, on the other hand, were rarely caught”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results to confirm or deny the frequency of hunting venomous snakes like vipers.
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Claim 9: “This culture, called the Natufian, is considered an important stage in the history of human sedentism, even before the development of agriculture.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources, including a Wikipedia summary and academic PDFs, confirm the Natufian culture was sedentary or semi-sedentary prior to the introduction of agriculture.
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web search NEUTRAL — The Natufian culture is an archaeological culture of the late Epipalaeolithic Near East in West Asia from 15,000–11,500 Before Present. The culture was unusual in that it supported a sedentary or semi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natufian_culture
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The Natufian Culture is characterized by sedentism, utilization of wild cereals, and complex burial practices, as noted by Bar-Yosef and Valla (1990).The Natufian culture is significant as it represen…
https://www.academia.edu/5601094/The_Natufian_Culture_and_th…
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web search NEUTRAL — Definition. The Natufian culture refers to a prehistoric society that existed around 12,500 to 9,500 BCE in the Levant region, particularly modern-day Israel, Jordan, and Lebanon. This culture is sign…
https://fiveable.me/world-history-to-1500/key-terms/natufian…
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.