The prehistoric site was discovered in May 1959 near the tell, south of the Yavne’el stream (Wadi Fidjdjas), by a member of Kibbutz Afikim who was levelling the ground for agriculture with a bulldozer. Excavations at the site began in 1960, led by Moshe Stekelis, assisted by zoologist Georg Haas, geologists Leo Picard and Nachman Shulman and several archaeology students, including Ofer Bar-Yosef and Naama Goren-Inbar. After Stekelis’ death in 1967, Bar-Yosef and Goren-Inbar conducted the excavations. Prehistoric remains starting from about 1.7 Mya (million years ago), more recently redated biochronologically to 1.5 Mya, were discovered in the excavations, within about 60 layers of soil within which were found human bones and remains of ancient animals. These include some of the oldest remains found outside Africa, and more than 10,000 ancient stone tools
