A rare manufacturing workshop for Canaanite blades — distinct flint tools primarily used for agricultural tasks — has been uncovered at Nahal Qomem, near the southern Israel city of Kiryat Gat, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced on Monday.

“This is the first time a Canaanite workshop has been uncovered in its full context,” Dudu Biton, an IAA expert on flint tools and Canaanite blades, told The Times of Israel by phone. “It’s truly extraordinary.”

Dating to the Early Bronze Age, approximately 5,500 years ago, the site features hundreds of subterranean pits, some of which are lined with bricks.

The sheer quantity of artifacts, along with the flint cores used to produce them, offers invaluable insight into the early stages of urbanization and the rise of trade specialization in ancient Israel.

“Canaanite blades and cores had been uncovered in other sites across Israel, but only isolated ones and out of context,” said Biton. “This time, however, we’ve discovered not just a few, but hundreds of them, along with the full range of materials related to their production.”

The site was first identified around two years ago during preparatory work for a new neighborhood in Kiryat Gat.

“I remember when Martin [Pasternak], the head of the excavation, sent us a photo of three flint cores — we couldn’t believe that all three had been found in the same location,” Biton recalled. “Then more and more began to surface, and the site just kept........

© The Times of Israel