The summer of 2025 turned out to be quite productive in the adventure category, even with an intensive two-week war with Iran disrupting the flow. A mere week after my nature trip with Adam Ota to the Sharon Beach Nature Reserve, I found myself on another adventure, and much closer to home. On one morning’s commute, I happened to notice that excavations were being renewed at the famous Qesem Cave, a groundbreaking archaeological site discovered in 2000 that sheds light on prehistoric life in the Levant. A quick Google search put me in contact with Dr Ella Assaf, director of the excavations on behalf of Tel Aviv University, and arrangements were made for me to join the team as a volunteer one day in mid-July. Thankfully, Qesem Cave is only approximately 7 kilometres from my house, and thus an easy drop-off for Bracha on her way to work.

Qesem Cave excavations

One wouldn’t necessarily expect such an important archaeological site to be flush up against busy Road 5, the main artery connecting the Mercaz (or, Central Israel) with the Shomron (Samaria), yet it is. The cave itself was discovered when roadworks were underway, and that led to the road taking a bit of a turn to avoid the ancient, protected site. Today, the cave is housed in a large steel cage where a small team can toil away comfortably – as long as the honking is kept to a minimum. Entering the complex from the east, I found a small team of archaeologists, students and volunteers working quietly. First, I was directed to Ella who greeted me and gave me a little tour of the site.

Looking down at an excavation shelf

While the term “cave” insinuates an underground cavern, Qesem Cave has been reduced to more of a pit. Construction on Road 5 had torn into the roof and initial chambers of the ancient cave, which had already been filled with soil thousands of years ago. Thus, what exists today is simply the excavated sections of the exposed cave interior, or the remains thereof.

Qesem Cave in 2001 (photo Gopher et al 2005*)

Research had learned that the cave was initially settled during the Lower Paleolithic, the stone tools aligning with the Acheulo-Yabrudian culture complex. Recent academic papers have focused on shaped stone balls being used as tools for smashing bones for marrow consumption – certainly an interesting pursuit. Unfortunately, with my academic interests focused on the medieval period, I frankly know little of prehistory and its culture beyond what I had learned in my BA coursework.

Back in the caves

After the short tour of the small dig site, it was time for some breakfast with the hardworking team. Having a gander at the table of food, I found bread, cheeses, cut vegetables, honey and jams, and some nice little borekas filled with either spinach or eggplant. I made myself a little plate and chatted with the friendly Tel Aviv University students as we feasted in unison. 

Ancient horse tooth scraped out of the earth

When breakfast fizzled out it was time for me to earn my keep. Ella handed me off to a young man who was working on sifting the excavated soil. Since I was volunteering on the last full day of the season, actual digging was kept at a minimum so that all of the finds could be properly processed. This being a prehistoric excavation, with soil that filled the cave so long ago, meant that each scoop of dirt might contain something important for research. So, doing our due diligence, we sifted buckets of dirt and picked our way through the larger pieces, pulling out bone fragments, shards of flint and the occasional tooth that belonged to a horse or similar ungulate species. It was an interesting experience, somewhat reminiscent of the sifting work we had done at the Tel es-Safi excavations in 2017 and 2018.

Time for some sifting and washing

After some time, I was redirected to assist a young woman who was washing stones and bones that had been extracted from the cave. Sitting uncomfortably on the uneven ground, we emptied buckets of dirty rocks into a large sieve and washed them in a bucket of muddied water. Working quickly, we did a preliminary cleaning and laid the stones and bones out to dry on newspapers. Some of the flint rocks were quite beautiful but it was one rock with a pattern of concentric circles that really caught our eye – alas, my geology knowledge is lacking.

Interesting find

Getting up from the artefact washing, we broke into a juicy watermelon – the quintessential summertime archaeological excavation snack. Upon having our fair share of the sweet fruit, I shifted back into a sifting role and enjoyed sitting in a chair once again. That went on for twenty minutes or so, and included a visit by some representatives of the Israel Antiquities Authority, until it was time to start packing up.

Quintessential excavation snack

Ella led a short tour for her diligent team, moving from dig site to dig site within the small cave’s confines and summarising the season’s efforts. With that we gathered up all of the relevant tools and supplies and made our way back to the parked cars along the 5. I nabbed a ride with one of the senior volunteers, who graciously dropped me off at Qesem Junction, where I took a bus back home.

*Gopher, A., Barkai, R., Shimelmitz, R., Khalaly, M., Lemorini, C., Hershkovitz, I. & Stiner, M., 2005, “Qesem Cave: An Amudian Site in Central Israel”, Journal of the Israel Prehistoric Society 35, p. 71.