The Stone Age

The history of Palestine dates back to the earliest days of human civilisation – and still remains a hotly debated topic.

Tiny grains of corn were all archaeologists needed to place Palestine as one of the oldest sites of farming in the world. As early as 9000BC, emmer wheat was being sown in Stone Age settlements and, today, fossilised husks can still be found in Jericho .

The first archaeological work to examine the Stone Age in Palestine was carried out between 1929 and 1934 by Dorothy Garrod, who excavated caves on Mount Carmel . Her work proved that Palestine had links with Europe at that stage.

In the new Stone Age (7000BC) animals were domesticated, pottery manufactured and crops cultivated.

By 3000BC the region – with a climate and fertile terrain similar to that of California - was not only being extensively farmed but it also formed a strategic hub for traders.

We know that the earliest ancestors of today's Palestinians, the Canaanites, were sophisticated city dwellers who occupied the region from 3000BC. They had trading links with Africa, Asia and Europe . Ports, including Gaza , saw spices and luxury goods passing through their docks and across the Mediterranean to the major cities of the world.

But Palestine 's strategic position also made it a natural battleground for the great powers of the ancient world.

Ethnically diverse invaders such as the Amorites, the Hittites and the Hurrians posed a constant challenge to the Canaanite's struggle for autonomy. But the success of the Canaanites in keeping out the invaders, together with a culturally rich society, swelled their numbers to an estimated 200,000 people.

In the 4th millennium, the Ghassulians, whose origins remain unclear, emigrated to Palestine . This group of people is known as Ghassulians because their pottery and flints were found in settlements at Tulaylat al-Ghassul in the Jordan Valley .