Ancient fish hook suggests sharks were hunted off Israel's coast 6,000 years ago

[admin]

Researchers unearthed the "shark hook" at a newly discovered village buried under a known archaeological site. Experts say it could be one of the first of its kind made in the area.

Ancient fish hook suggests sharks were hunted off Israel's coast 6,000 years ago : Read more

 

[Chrispa]

This is not a shark hook. It is not even a fish hook. Copper/alloys are too soft and would bend easily under the weight of a fish. There is no attachment groove or eye to hold a line - it would simply fall off as soon as a fish fought back. There is no barb. The hook is too wide - look at any early bronze age hooks, they have a much more inturned point. Also 6k years ago there would have been plenty of big fish around, so nobody would target ammonia filled shark. It is more likely a hook to hang something over a fire. BTW - Isreal didn't exist 6k years ago

 

[billposer]

The Greenland Shark is full of ammonia, but most shark species are not and are quite edible. In the 1980s shark was sold in supermarkets in Boston as a cheap substitute for swordfish. Shark is not eaten much in Israel today because it is not kosher, but shark was eaten in ancient times in Israel and is still eaten today in countries such as Greece. And BTW, although no state of Israel existed 6k years ago, as the current state and ancient civilization associated with the area, "Israel" is a good identifier for the region.

 

[arean]

This is not a shark hook. It is not even a fish hook razai set . Copper/alloys are too soft and would bend easily under the weight of a fish. There is no attachment groove or eye to hold a line - it would simply fall off as soon as a fish fought deskpro back.

 

[Chrispa]

The Greenland Shark is full of ammonia, but most shark species are not and are quite edible. In the 1980s shark was sold in supermarkets in Boston as a cheap substitute for swordfish. Shark is not eaten much in Israel today because it is not kosher, but shark was eaten in ancient times in Israel and is still eaten today in countries such as Greece. And BTW, although no state of Israel existed 6k years ago, as the current state and ancient civilization associated with the area, "Israel" is a good identifier for the region.

The point is that this hook would not be capable of catching any fish, not how various communities have over-exploited the local resources resulting in having to eat shark

 

[billposer]

The post to which I responded made three points: (a) about whether the hook is a fish hook; (b) about whether anyone would fish for shark; (c) about calling the area "Israel". The first one may be correct - I am not an expert on fish hooks. I responded to the second and third points.

 

[Stephan Gunther]

This is not a shark hook. It is not even a fish hook. Copper/alloys are too soft and would bend easily under the weight of a fish. There is no attachment groove or eye to hold a line - it would simply fall off as soon as a fish fought back. There is no barb. The hook is too wide - look at any early bronze age hooks, they have a much more inturned point. Also 6k years ago there would have been plenty of big fish around, so nobody would target ammonia filled shark. It is more likely a hook to hang something over a fire. BTW - Isreal didn't exist 6k years ago

"Shark was likely on the menu around 6,000 years ago in what is now Israel ." They aren't claiming modern Israel existed 6000 yrs ago. It looks like a fishing hook to me minus a barb.