Israel

Did you know that a grain of sand can store how long ago it last saw light or experienced heat? That it spills ancient secrets? Examination of grains of sand found in the Qafzeh Cave in Israel refines the dating of early humans outside Africa. The sand revealed that anatomically modern humans lived in Israel earlier than previously believed. When quartz sand is buried for a longer period, it accumulates a luminescence signal that can reveal how long ago it was exposed to light or extreme heat. The use of luminescence analysis of quartz grains helps geologists, climatologists, and archaeologists to date events up to a few hundred thousand years ago with high accuracy. As they say, every grain of sand has a story to tell!