Top

Published in:

2017 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

14. The Acheulo-Yabrudian – Early Middle Paleolithic Sequence of Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel

Authors : Mina Weinstein-Evron, Yossi Zaidner

Published in: Human Paleontology and Prehistory

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.

search-config

AI-assisted search

Off

Abstract

Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel was occupied between 250 and 160 ka. During this time the site was inhabited by bearers of the Acheulo-Yabrudian and Early Middle Paleolithic (Mousterian) techno-complexes. The Acheulo-Yabrudian industry is characterized by production of thick and wide flakes and shows no evidence of laminar or Levallois methods. The varied assemblage encompasses true bifaces, artifacts fully worked on one face and only partially on the other, unifaces and scrapers. All these morphological groups were produced using the same flaking and retouching modes. The emergence of the Early Middle Paleolithic is manifested by a technological break, marked by the disappearance of bifaces and thick-flake production technology and the introduction of blade manufacture using laminar and Levallois production methods, and Levallois points and triangular flakes. The mean TL ages of the Acheulo-Yabrudian assemblage indicate production of this cultural complex 257 ± 28 ka – 247 ± 24 ka. The mean TL ages of the Early Middle Paleolithic industries range from 212 ± 27 to 166 ± 23 ka. The pronounced differences in lithic technology together with TL chronology indicate that the transition from the Lower to the Middle Paleolithic in the Levant was rapid and may imply the arrival of a new population around 250 ka.

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 102.000 Bücher
über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Automobil + Motoren
Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
Finance + Banking
Management + Führung
Marketing + Vertrieb
Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 67.000 Bücher
über 340 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Finance + Banking
Management + Führung
Marketing + Vertrieb
Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

previous chapter Behavioral Differences Between Near Eastern Neanderthals and the Early Modern Humans from Skhul and Qafzeh: An Assessment Based on Comparative Samples of Holocene Humans

next chapter A 3-D Look at the Tabun C2 Jaw

Akazawa, T. (1979). Middle Paleolithic assemblages from Douara Cave. In K. Hanihara & T. Akazawa (Eds.), Paleolithic site of Douara Cave and paleography of Palmyra basin in Syria (pp. 1–30). Tokyo: University of Tokyo, The University Museum.

Albert, R. M., Bar-Yosef, O., Meignen, L., & Weiner, S. (2003). Quantitative phytolith study of hearths from the Natufian and Middle Palaeolithic levels of Hayonim Cave (Galilee, Israel). Journal of Archaeological Science, 30, 461–480.CrossRef

Alperson, N. (2001). Differential use of space by Mousterian hominids: Evidence for spatial patterning at Amud Cave, Israel. MA Thesis, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (in Hebrew).

Alperson-Afil, N., & Goren-Inbar, N. (2010). The Acheulian site of Gesher Benot Ya’aqov. Volume II: Ancient flames and controlled use of fire. Dordrecht: Springer.

Alperson-Afil, N., & Hovers, E. (2005). Differential use of space at the Neandertal site of Amud Cave, Israel. Eurasian Prehistory, 3, 3–22.

Bar-Yosef, O. (1998). The chronology of the Middle Palaeolithic of the Levant. In T. Akazawa, K. Aoki, & O. Bar-Yosef (Eds.), Neandertals and modern humans in Western Asia (pp. 39–56). New York: Plenum.

Bar-Yosef, O., & Meignen, L. (Eds.). (2007). Kebara Cave Mt. Carmel, Israel. The Middle and Upper Paleolithic archaeology. Part I. American school of prehistoric research bulletin 49. Cambridge MA: Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology.

Cabanes, D., Mallol, C., Exposito, I., & Baena, J. (2010). Phytolith evidence for hearths and beds in the late Mousterian occupations of Esquilleu Cave (Cantabria, Spain). Journal of Archaeological Science, 37, 2947–2957.CrossRef

Chazan, M., & Horwitz, L. K. (2006). Finding the message in intricacy: The association of lithics and fauna on Lower Paleolithic multiple carcass sites. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 25, 436–447.CrossRef

Copeland, L. (1983). The Paleolithic stone industries. In D. Roe (Ed.), Adlun in the Stone Age. The excavations of D. A. E. Garrod in the Lebanon 1958–1963 (pp. 89−365). Oxford: BAR.

Copeland, L. (1985). The pointed tools of Hummal Ia (El-Kowm, Syria). Cahiers de l’Euphrate, 4, 177–189.

Crew, H. L. (1976). The Mousterian site of Rosh Ein Mor. In A. E. Marks (Ed.), Prehistory and palaeoenvironments in the Central Negev, Israel, Vol. 1: The Avdat/Aqev area, Part 1 (pp. 75–112) Dallas: SMU Press.

Delage, C., Meignen, L., & Bar-Yosef, O. (2000). Chert procurement and the organization of lithic production in the Mousterian of Hayonim cave (Israel). Journal of Human Evolution, 38, A10–A11.

Garrod, D. A. E., & Bate, D. M. A. (1937). The Stone Age of Mount Carmel (Vol. I). Excavations at the Wadi Mughara, Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Goder, M. (1997). Technological aspects of the lithic assemblage of Layer B1 at Late Mousterian site of Amud Cave. MA Thesis, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (in Hebrew).

Goldberg, P., & Bar-Yosef, O. (1998). Site formation processes in Kebara and Hayonim Caves and their significance in Levantine prehistoric caves. In T. Akazawa, K. Aoki & O. Bar-Yosef (Eds.), Neandertals and modern humans in Western Asia (pp. 107–125). New-York: Plenum.

Goldberg, P., Miller, C. E., Schiegl, S., Ligouis, B., Berna, F., Conard, N. J., et al. (2009). Bedding, hearths, and site maintenance in the Middle Stone Age of Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 1, 95–122.CrossRef

Goren-Inbar, N. (1990). The Lithic assemblages. In N. Goren-Inbar (Ed.), Quneitra: A Mousterian site on the Golan Heights. Qedem 31 (pp. 61–167). Jerusalem: Institute of archaeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Goren-Inbar, N., Alperson, N., Kislev, M. E., Simchoni, O., Melamed, Y., Ben-Nun, A., et al. (2004). Evidence of hominin control of fire at Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, Israel. Science, 304, 725–727.CrossRef

Grün, R., & Stringer, C. (2000). Tabun revisited: Revised ESR chronology and new ESR and U-series analyses of dental material from Tabun CI. Journal of Human Evolution, 39, 601–612.CrossRef

Hauck, T. (2010). The Mousterian sequence of Hummal (Syria). Ph.D. Dissertation, Universität Basel.

Hauck, T. (2011). The Mousterian sequence of Hummal and its tentative placement in the Levantine Middle Paleolithic. In J.-M. Le Tensorer, R. Jagher & M. Otte (Eds.), The Lower and Middle Paleolithic of the Middle East and the neighboring regions (pp. 309–323). ERAUL 126. Liège: University of Liège.

Henry, D. O. (1998). Intrasite spatial patterns and behavioral modernity: Indications from the Late Levantine Mousterian rockshelter of Tor Faraj, Southern Jordan. In T. Akazawa, K. Aoki, & O. Bar-Yosef (Eds.), Neandertals and modern humans in Western Asia 9 (pp. 127–1420). New York: Plenum Press.

Henry, D. O. (2003). Neanderthals in the Levant: Behavioral organization and the beginnings of human modernity. London: Continuum.

Henry, D. O., Hietala, H. J., Rosen, A. M., Demidenko, Y. E., Usik, V. I., & Armagan, T. L. (2004). Human behavioral organization in the Middle Paleolithic: Were Neanderthals different? American Anthropologist, 106, 17–31.CrossRef

Hershkovitz, I., Smith, P., Sarig, R., Quam, R., Rodríguez, L., García, R., et al. (2011). Middle Pleistocene dental remains from Qesem Cave (Israel). American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 144, 575–592.CrossRef

Hovers, E. (2001). Territorial behavior in the Middle Paleolithic of the Southern Levant. In N. Conard (Ed.), Settlement dynamics of the Middle Paleolithic and Middle Stone Age (pp. 123–152). Tubingen: Kerns Verlag.

Hovers, E. (2006). Neandertals and modern humans in the Middle Paleolithic of the Levant: What kind of interaction? In N. J. Conard (Ed.), When Neandertals and moderns met (pp. 650–876). Tubingen: Kerns Verlag.

Hovers, E. (2009). The lithic assemblages of Qafzeh Cave. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Hovers, E., & Belfer-Cohen, A. (2013). On variability and complexity: Lessons from the Levantine Middle Paleolithic record. Current Anthropology, 54(S8), S337–S357.CrossRef

Hovers, E., Rak, Y., Lavi, R., & Kimbel, W. H. (1995). Hominid remains from Amud Cave in the context of the Levantine Middle Paleolithic. Paléorient, 21, 47–61.CrossRef

Jelinek, A. J. (1975). A preliminary report on some Lower and Middle Paleolithic industries from the Tabun Cave, Mount Carmel (Israel). In F. Wendorf & A. E. Marks (Eds.), Problems in prehistory: North Africa and the Levant (pp. 279–316). Dallas: SMU Press.

Jelinek, A. (1977). A preliminary study of flakes from the Tabun Cave, Mt. Carmel. In B. Arensburg & O. Bar-Yosef (Eds.), Eretz-Israel 13: Moshe Stekelis volume (pp. 87–96). Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society.

Jelinek, A. J. (1982). The Middle Palaeolithic in the southern Levant, with comments on the appearance of modern Homo sapiens. In A. Ronen (Ed.), The transition from Lower to Middle Palaeolithic and the origin of modern man (pp. 57–104). BAR International Series. Oxford: BAR.

Jelinek, A. J., Farrand, W. R., Hass, G., Horowitz, A., & Goldberg, P. (1973). New excavations at the Tabun Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel: A preliminary report. Paléorient, 1,151–183.

Karkanas, P., Shahack-Gross, R., Ayalon, A., Bar-Matthews, M., Barkai, R., Frumkin, A., et al. (2007). Evidence for habitual use of fire at the end of the Lower Paleolithic: Site formation processes at Qesem Cave, Israel. Journal of Human Evolution, 53, 197–212.CrossRef

Kaufman, D. (1999). Archaeological perspectives on the origins of modern humans: A view from the Levant. Westport CT: Bergin & Garvey.

Mallol, C., Cabanes, D., & Baena, J. (2010). Microstratigraphy and diagenesis at the Upper Pleistocene site of Esquilleu Cave (Cantabria, Spain). Quaternary International, 214, 70–81.CrossRef

Marks, A.E. (1988). Early Mousterian settlement patterns in the central Negev, Israel: Their social and economic implications. In M. Otte (Ed.), L’homme de Neandertal, Vol. 6: La Subsistance (pp. 115–126). ERAUL. Liège: University of Liège.

Marks, A. E., & Freidel, D. (1977). Prehistoric settlement patterns in the Avdat/Aqev area. In A. E. Marks (Ed.), Prehistory and paleoenvironments in the Central Negev, Israel, Vol. 2: The Avdat/Aqev Area, Part 2 (pp. 131–159). Dallas: SMU Press.

Marks, A. E., & Monigal, K. (1995). Modeling the production of elongated blanks from the early Levantine Mousterian at Rosh Ein Mor. In H. L. Dibble, & O. Bar-Yosef (Eds.), The definition and interpretation of Levallois technology (pp. 267–278). Monographs in World archaeology 23. Ann Arbor: Prehistory Press.

McCown, T. D. (1937). Mugharet es-Skhul: Description and excavations. In D. A. E. Garrod & D. M. A. Bate (Eds.), The Stone Age of Mount Carmel: Excavations at the Wady el-Mughara (Vol. I, pp. 91–112). Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Meignen, L. (1994). Paleolithique moyen au Proche-Orient: le phenomene laminaire. In S. Révillion, & A. Tuffreau (Eds.), Les Industries laminaires au paléolithique moyen (pp. 125–159). Dossiers de Documentation Archeologique 18. Paris: Editions CNRS.

Meignen, L. (1998). A preliminary report on Hayonim Cave lithic assemblages in the context of the near Eastern Middle Palaeolithic. In T. Akazawa, K. Aoki, & O. Bar-Yosef (Eds.), Neandertals and modern humans in Western Asia (pp. 165–180). New York: Plenum.

Meignen, L. (2011). The contribution of Hayonim Cave assemblages to the understanding of the so-called Early Levantine Mousterian. In J.-M. Le Tensorer, R. Jagher & M. Otte (Eds.), The Lower and Middle Paleolithic in the Middle East and neighboring regions (pp. 85–100). ERAUL 126. Liège: University of Liège.

Meignen, L., Bar-Yosef, O., Speth, J. D., & Stiner, M. C. (2006). Middle Paleolithic settlement patterns in the Levant. In E. Hovers & S. L. Kuhn (Eds.), Transitions before the transition: Evolution and stability in the Middle Paleolithic and Middle Stone Age (pp. 149–169). New York: Springer.CrossRef

Mercier, N., & Valladas, H. (2003). Reassessment of TL age estimates of burnt flints from the Palaeolithic site of Tabun Cave, Israel. Journal of Human Evolution, 45, 401–409.CrossRef

Mercier, N., Valladas, H., Frojet, L., Joron, J. L., Ryess, J. L., Weiner, S., et al. (2007). Hayonim Cave: A TL-based chronology for this Levantine Mousterian sequence. Journal of Archaeological Science, 34, 1064–1077.CrossRef

Munday, F. (1976). Intersite variability in the Mousterian of the Avdat/Aqev area. In A. E. Marks (Ed.), Prehistory and paleoenvironments in the central Negev, Israel, Vol. I: The Avdat/Aqev Area, Part 2 (pp. 113–140). Dallas: SMU Press.

Neuville, R. (1951). Le paléolithique et le mesolithique du désert du Judeé. Archives de Musee de Paleontologie Humaine memoire 24. Paris: Masson et Cie.

Olami, Y. (1984). Prehistoric Carmel. Israel Exploration Society, Jerusalem and M. Stekelis Museum of Prehistory, Haifa

Rink, W. J., Richter, D., Schwarcz, H. P., Marks, A. E., Monigal, K., & Kaufman, D. (2003). Age of the Middle Palaeolithic Site of Rosh Ein Mor, Central Negev, Israel: Implications for the age range of the early Levantine Mousterian of the Levantine corridor. Journal of Archaeological Science, 30, 195–204.CrossRef

Rust, A. (1950). Die Hohlenfunde von Jabrud (Syrien). Neumünster: Karl Wachholtz.

Shahack-Gross, R., Ayalon, A., Goldberg, P., Goren, Y., Ofek, B., Rabinovich, R., et al. (2008). Formation processes of cemented features in karstic cave sites revealed using stable oxygen and carbon isotopic analysis: A case study at Middle Paleolithic Amud Cave, Israel. Geoarchaeology, 23, 43–62.CrossRef

Shahack-Gross, R., Berna, F., Karkanas, P., Lemorini, C., Gopher, A., & Barkai, R. (2014). Evidence for the repeated use of a central hearth at Middle Pleistocene (300 ky ago) Qesem Cave, Israel. Journal of Archaeological Science, 44, 12–21.CrossRef

Shea, J. J. (2003). The Middle Paleolithic of the East Mediterranean Levant. Journal of World Prehistory, 17, 313–394.CrossRef

Shimelmitz, R., & Kuhn, S. L. (2013). Early Mousterian Levallois technology in unit IX of Tabun Cave. PaleoAnthropology, 2013, 1–27.

Shimelmitz, R., Barkai, R., & Gopher, A. (2011). Systematic blade production at late Lower Paleolithic (400−200 kyr) Qesem Cave, Israel. Journal of Human Evolution, 61, 458–479.CrossRef

Shimelmitz, R., Kuhn, S. L., Jelinek, A. J., Ronen, A., Clark, A. E., & Weinstein-Evron, M. (2014). ‘Fire at will’: The emergence of habitual fire use 350,000 years ago. Journal of Human Evolution, 77, 196–203.CrossRef

Speth, J. D. (2004). Hunting pressure, subsistence intensification and demographic change in the Levantine Late Middle Palaeolithic. In N. Goren-Inbar & J. D. Speth (Eds.), Human palaeoecology in the Levantine corridor (pp. 149–166). Oxford: Oxbow Press.

Speth, J. D. (2006). Housekeeping, Neandertal-style: Hearth placement and midden formation in Kebara Cave (Israel). In E. Hovers & S. L. Kuhn (Eds.), Transitions before the transition: Evolution and stability in the Middle Palaeolithic and Middle Stone Age (pp. 171–188). New York: Springer.CrossRef

Speth, J. D., & Clark, J. (2006). Hunting and overhunting in the Levantine Late Middle Palaeolithic. Before Farming, 3, 1–42.CrossRef

Stiner, M. C. (2005). The faunas of Hayonim Cave, Israel: A 200,000 record of Paleolithic diet, demography and society. American School of Prehistoric Research Bulletin 48. Cambridge: Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University.

Stiner, M. C., Munro, N. D., & Surovell, T. A. (2000). The tortoise and the hare: Small-game use, the broad-spectrum revolution, and Paleolithic demography. Current Anthropology, 41, 39–73.

Valladas, H., Mercier, N., Hershkovitz, I., Zaidner, Y., Tsatskin, A., Yeshurun, R., et al. (2013). Dating the Lower-Middle Paleolithic transition in the Levant: A view from Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel. Journal of Human Evolution, 65, 585–593.CrossRef

Wadley, L., Sievers, C., Bamford, M., Goldberg, P., Berna, F., & Miller, C. (2011). Middle Stone Age bedding construction and settlement patterns at Sibudu, South Africa. Science, 334, 1388–1391.CrossRef

Weiner, S., Schiegl, S., & Bar-Yosef, O. (1995). Recognizing ash deposits in the archaeological record: A mineralogical study at Kebara and Hayonim caves, Israel. Acta Anthropologica Sinica, 14, 340–351.

Weiner, S., Goldberg, P., & Bar-Yosef, O. (2002). Three-dimensional distribution of minerals in the sediments of Hayonim cave, Israel: Diagenetic processes and archaeological implications. Journal of Archaeological Science, 29, 1289–1308.CrossRef

Weinstein, M., Lamdan, M., & Goren-Hitin, I. (1975). An Upper Acheulean industry at Tirat-Carmel. Journal of the Israel Prehistoric Society, 13, 36–49.

Weinstein-Evron, M. (2015). The case of Mount Carmel: The Levant and human evolution, future research in the framework of world heritage. In N. Sanz, (Ed.), Human Origin Sites and the World Heritage Convention in Eurasia,. World Heritage Papers, 41, HEADS (Human Evolution: Adaptations, Dispersals and Social Developments), (4, Vol. 1, pp. 72–92). Paris: UNESCO.

Weinstein-Evron, M., & Tsatskin, A. (1994). The Jamal Cave is not empty: Recent excavations in the Mount Carmel Caves, Israel. Paléorient, 20, 119–128.CrossRef

Weinstein-Evron, M., Bar-Oz, G., Zaidner, Y., Tsatskin, A., Druck, D., Porat, N., et al. (2003a). Introducing Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel: A new continuous Lower/Middle Paleolithic sequence in the Levant. Eurasian Prehistory, 1, 31–55.

Weinstein-Evron, M., Beck, A., & Ezersky, M. (2003b). Geophysical investigations in the service of Mount Carmel (Israel) prehistoric research. Journal of Archaeological Science, 30, 1331–1341.CrossRef

Weinstein-Evron, M., Tsatskin, A., Bar-Oz, G., Yeshurun, R., Shahack-Gross, R., Weiner, S., et al. (2012). A window onto Early Middle Paleolithic human occupational layers: The case of Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel. PaleoAnthropology, 2012, 202–228.

Wojtczak, D. (2011). Hummal (Central Syria) and its eponymous industry. In J.-M. Le Tensorer, R. Jagher, & M. Otte (Eds.), The Lower and Middle Paleolithic in the Middle East and neighbouring regions. (pp. 289–308). ERAUL 126. Liège: University of Liège.

Yaroshevich, A., Zaidner, Y., & Weinstein-Evron, M. (2016). Evidence of hunting weapon variability in the Early Middle Paleolithic of the Levant. A view from Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel. In R. Iovita, & K. Sano (Eds.), Multidisciplinary approaches to the study of Stone Age weaponry (pp. 119–134). Dodrecht: Springer.

Yeshurun, R., Bar-Oz, G., & Weinstein-Evron, M. (2007). Modern hunting behavior in the early Middle Paleolithic: Faunal remains from Misliya Cave, 316 Mount Carmel, Israel. Journal of Human Evolution, 53, 656–677.CrossRef

Zaidner, Y., & Weinstein-Evron, M. (2014). Making a point: The early Mousterian toolkit at Misliya Cave, Israel. Before Farming, 2014, 1–23.

Zaidner, Y., Druck, D., Nadler, M., & Weinstein-Evron, M. (2005). The Acheulo-Yabrudian of Jamal Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel. Journal of the Israel Prehistoric Society, 35, 93–116.

Zaidner, Y., Druck, D., & Weinstein-Evron, M. (2006). Acheulo-Yabrudian handaxes from Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel. In N. Goren-Inbar & G. Sharon (Eds.), Axe age: Acheulian toolmaking—From quarry to discard (pp. 243–266). Oxford: Equinox Publishers.

Title: The Acheulo-Yabrudian – Early Middle Paleolithic Sequence of Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel
Authors: Mina Weinstein-Evron
Yossi Zaidner
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Book: Human Paleontology and Prehistory
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-46644-6

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-319-46646-0

Copyright Year: 2017
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46646-0_14