Stone houses and artifacts dating back 7,000 years have been discovered in Jerusalem, demonstrating that the settlement existed even longer than  had been supposed. The houses showed various stages of building, indicating that they had been in use for centuries.

The discoveries are the oldest known remains of human habitation in Jerusalem. Previous discoveries from Chalcolithic-era Jerusalem had included pottery sherds and bones, but not signs of housing.

It had had been widely assumed that the Jerusalem area had been inhabited for 4,000 or 5,000 years.

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In Jerusalem specifically, however, at Abu Ghosh, Motza Junction, and the Holyland compound, Chalcolithic finds had been discovered, but they were sparse, probably because the city and its surroundings have been populated throughout, with constant cycles of building and destruction. Stones used in the walls of ancient homes would have been repurposed, for example - why quarry new ones if old ones will serve.

In the nearby City of David (by the Old City of Jerusalem), for instance, sherds from the Chalcolithic era had been found, but no dwellings.

Prehistoric Jerusalem simply got rolled over by  history, explains Ronit Lupo, director of the Shuafat excavation for the IAA. "On completion of the excavations at Shuʻfat, it is quite evident that there was a thriving settlement in the Jerusalem area in ancient times," she said, adding that the homes had been built to high standards that wouldn't have shamed more modern builders.