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2016-06-17 03:52:56 • ID: 1433
Retouched tools from the Middle Paleolithic in Israel
At these sites our ancestors were engaged in large-game hunting and the habitual use of fire was demonstrated. In addition advanced raw-material-procurement strategies were performed. A nice demonstration for the unity of the "genus homo" between 700-200 k.a. BP!
Here I display a retouched broad and rather thick Levalloisian point (length 2,5 cm) from the Carmel region in Israel. Some people would call it even a Mousterian Point on a Levalloisian flake. Retouched short and broad Levalloisian points and scrapers are rare in Israel, postdating the “Tabun C” ensembles (Early Middle Paleolithic around 200-170 k.a.), where retouching was more common (e.g on Abu Sif knifes or Humallian points ).
It was therefore a surprise that a team of Israeli scientists reported the discovery of a Paleolithic occupation site near Nesher Ramla, Israel with highly curated / (formüberarbeiteten) tools. The carbonate bedrock in the area is characterized by surface depressions formed by gravitational sagging of the rock into underlying karst voids.
In one such depression, an 8 m thick sequence comprising rich and well-preserved lithic and faunal assemblages, combustion features, hundreds of manuports and ochre was discovered. The site presents evidence for human occupation or use during MIS 6/5 (190-70 k.a. BP). The lithic artifacts were of the Levallois-Mousterian tradition, and included Levallois cores, flakes, retouched Levallois and Mousterian points, and side-scrapers.
The Nesher Ramla industry lacks true laminar and elongated Levallois components, which are common during the early Middle Paleolithic in Israel. Instead the Nesher Ramla artifacts are dominated by short, broad Levallois flakes. The tool-kit is highly standardized and consists of only a few dominant types.
The lower levels of the site are characterized by a high frequency of carefully prepared side-scrapers, unknown from other open-air sites and from the vast majority of caves in the Levant. The presence of scraper rejuvenation flakes (Burin spall technique) is also unique in the Middle Paleolithic from the area and indicates on-site recycling and resharpening of side-scrapers.
Another unprecedented trait of the site are Naturally backed knifes, which are more common during the Yabrudian.
There are also examples of carefully retouched Mousterian points. Ironically the ensemble could easily confounded with a typical European Mousterian toolkit. This high reliance on curated tools has now to be explained.
Anyhow highly curated and heavily retouched Levallois-Mousterian tools are not uncommon from different regions in Israel, but they represent undatable surface findings outside from caves.
Nesher Ramla is the third Levantine Mousterian site in which remains of ochre have been found. Small chunks of ochre were found throughout the sequence. To date, only Skhul and Qafzeh have yielded ochre, both sites inhabited during roughly the same time as Nesher Ramla. The implication of pigment use have been described elsewhere in this blog
Explore the Israel Museum: https://www.imj.org.il/en/collections?departmente=46871
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