The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) reported that a 500,000-year-old fossilized tusk was unearthed within the framework of their work with Tel Aviv University and Ben-Gurion University. “This is the largest complete fossilized tusk ever found in a prehistoric site in the Near East,” said Avi Levy, an Israel Antiquities Authority Prehistory Specialist. The 2.5-metre-long tusk of an elephant known as Palaeoloxodon antiquus is under investigation.
Officials said the giant elephant species found appeared in the region about 800,000 years ago and went extinct 400,000 years ago.