Atlit-Yam

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The site of Atlit-Yam is an ancient Neolithic settlement submerged under the waters of the Mediterranean sea, off the coast of the town called Atlit. The site was discovered in 1984 by marine archaeologist Ehud Galilee as he was searching for shipwrecks off the Carmel coast, and excavated and surveyed between the years 1985-2000. 

At the time the settlement was populated, between 8900-8300 years ago, the sea levels were much lower than they were today, due to a colder climate. The site contains a rich material culture, with evidence of the earliest water well ever discovered, as well as seven megaliths built around a local spring. The inhabitants ate a rich and varied diet which included farming, such as cultivated grains and domestic animals, together with fishing, hunting and gathering of the local plants in the surrounding swamp.