Archaeologists have uncovered an 8,000-year-old well, one of the oldest in the world, in the north of Israel. Archaeologists Yossi Garfinkel of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem says the well, discovered at the foot of the Golan Heights, is made of basalt and is 4.5 meters deep and 0.5 metres wide.
     It was found on the site of a well-known Neolithic settlement, near the Kibbutz of Sha'ar Ha Golan, south of the Sea of Galilee and not far from the Jordanian border. Dozens of ancient stylised clay statues, many of women, have been discovered on the site in the past 50 years. Mr Garfinkel says the well is one of the three oldest in the world. A 9,000-year-old well was discovered in Cyprus, while another thought to be 500 years younger was found at Atlit, on Israel's northern coast.

Source: ABCE News (4 August 2003)