The fauna from Mughr el-Hamamah, Jordan: Insights on human hunting behavior during the Early Upper Paleolithic.

As a corridor for population movement out of Africa, the southern Levant is a natural laboratory for research exploring the dynamics of the Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic transition. Yet, the number of well-preserved sites dating to the initial millennia of the Early Upper Paleolithic (EUP; ∼45-30 ka) remains limited, restricting the resolution at which we can study the biocultural and techno-typological changes evidenced across the transition. With EUP deposits dating to 45-39 ka cal BP, Mughr el-Hamamah, Jordan, offers a key opportunity to expand our understanding of EUP lifeways in the southern Levant. Mughr el-Hamamah is particularly noteworthy for its large faunal assemblage, representing the first such assemblage from the Jordan Valley. In this paper, we present results from taxonomic and taphonomic analyses of the EUP fauna from Mughr el-Hamamah. Given broader debates about shifts in human subsistence across the Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic transition, we also assess evidence for subsistence intensification, focusing especially on the exploitation of gazelle and the use of small game. Taphonomic data suggest that the fauna was primarily accumulated by human activity. Ungulates dominate the assemblage; gazelle (Gazella sp.) is the most common taxa, followed by fallow deer (Dama mesopotamica) and goat (Capra sp.). Among the gazelle, juveniles account for roughly one-third of the sample. While the focus on gazelle and the frequency of juveniles are consistent with broader regional trends, evidence for the regular exploitation of marrow from gazelle phalanges suggests that the EUP occupants of Mughr el-Hamamah processed gazelle carcasses quite intensively. Yet, the overall degree of dietary intensification appears low-small game is rare and evidence for human capture of this game is more equivocal. As a whole, our results support a growing body of data showing gradual shifts in animal exploitation strategies across the Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic transition in the southern Levant.

The dentition of the Early Upper Paleolithic hominins from Ksâr 'Akil, Lebanon.

There are scant human remains associated with Early Upper Paleolithic (EUP) industries. The rock shelter at Ksâr 'Akil, Lebanon, is one of the few circum-Mediterranean archaeological sites with EUP artifacts and associated fossils attributed to Homo sapiens. The skull and post-crania of the juvenile 'Egbert' (Ksâr 'Akil 1) from the EUP levels (conservatively dated from ∼43 to 39 ka) have been lost; the partial edentulous maxilla of 'Ethelruda' (Ksâr 'Akil 2) from the Initial Upper Paleolithic levels has only recently been rediscovered, leaving an isolated deciduous molar (Ksâr 'Akil 3) from Levantine Aurignacian strata. A fourth individual was found adjacent to Ksâr 'Akil 1 in 1938, but never described, and is apparently also lost. New archival research at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography uncovered photographs and radiographs of Ksâr 'Akil 1 and photographs of the fourth individual (which we designate Ksâr 'Akil 4). These new photographs and radiographs allow a comparative dental analysis of both individuals. Radiographs confirm an age of 7-8 years for Ksâr 'Akil 1 and photographs of Ksâr 'Akil 4 suggest a similar, if not slightly younger, age. Compared to other fossil H. sapiens, the teeth of Ksâr 'Akil 1 and Ksâr 'Akil 4 are remarkably modern. The upper deciduous third premolars lack a hypocone and metacone; the upper deciduous fourth premolars of Ksâr 'Akil 1 have reduced hypocones and both individuals have upper fourth premolars and first molars with square (as opposed to skewed) occlusal outlines, resulting from a hypocone that is smaller than, or equal in size to, the metacone. The lower first permanent molars of Ksâr 'Akil 1, and possibly Ksâr 'Akil 4, are four-cusped, which is a rare trait among Paleolithic and recent H. sapiens.

A technotypological analysis of the Ahmarian and Levantine Aurignacian assemblages from Manot Cave (area C) and the interrelation with site formation processes.

For more than a century, prehistoric research has focused on cave sites and rock shelters, mostly because of good preservation of organic remains associated with stratified anthropogenic layers. Manot Cave in the Western Galilee, Israel offers the possibility of studying prehistoric assemblages in pristine condition because of the collapse of the cave entrance some 30 thousand years ago. Nine years of excavations have uncovered an Early Upper Paleolithic archaeological sequence. Area C, situated at the bottom of the talus, was exposed to fast and slow depositional and postdepositional processes affecting sediment accumulation. The central part of area C was selected for this study, as it was least disturbed. Following a technotypological analysis, and taking postdepositional processes into consideration, the assemblages were defined and assigned to the Levantine Aurignacian, and Ahmarian traditions. The two archaeological horizons are separated by a mixed horizon within which indicative artifacts of both traditions alternately appear. The Ahmarian assemblage, dated to 46-42 ka cal BP, fits within the northern Mediterranean Ahmarian sites, which technotypologically differs from and is currently dated earlier than the southern desert region Ahmarian sites. The main technotypological characteristics of the assemblage from the Levantine Aurignacian Horizon, dated to 38-34 ka cal BP, are comparable to those from Manot Cave area E layers V-VI, and Ksâr 'Akil levels VII-VIII. Yet, several technotypological elements seem more compatible with the unnamed assemblage from Ksâr 'Akil levels XI-XIII and possibly layer IX from area E.

Early Upper Paleolithic subsistence in the Levant: Zooarchaeology of the Ahmarian-Aurignacian sequence at Manot Cave, Israel.

The Early Upper Paleolithic period in the Levant is essential in the studies of the establishment of modern human communities outside Africa, and corresponding archaeological evidence may be used to shed light on human ecology, economy and demography. Specifically, cultural differences between two Early Upper Paleolithic entities, the Early Ahmarian and the Levantine Aurignacian, raise the question of differing adaptations. In this article we use archaeofaunal remains from the Early Upper Paleolithic sequence at Manot Cave (Western Galilee, Israel), to track human hunting patterns, carcass transport and processing within the Early Ahmarian (46-42 ka) and Levantine Aurignacian (38-34 ka) phases. We test two hypotheses: 1) the Ahmarian and Aurignacian represent adaptations to different environments; and 2) the two entities differ in mobility patterns and site use. Our multivariate taphonomic analysis showed subtle differences in depositional processes between the two phases and demonstrated a primarily anthropogenic complex. In both phases, human subsistence was based on two ungulate species, mountain gazelle (Gazella gazella) and Mesopotamian fallow deer (Dama mesopotamica), with some contribution from birds, tortoises and small mammals. Among the gazelles, it appears that female herds were targeted, and that hunting took place close to the cave. The results of the research show great similarity in environmental exploitation between the Ahmarian and Aurignacian phases concerning prey spectrum and choice, carcass transport and processing. These patterns occupy a middle position between the Middle Paleolithic and the late Epipaleolithic of the region. Despite this, there are also several significant differences between the phases such as increased exploitation of small game (especially birds) and faster accumulation and higher densities of material in the Aurignacian. This may indicate greater occupation intensity during the Aurignacian compared to the Ahmarian, and thus could explain the outstanding character of this entity in the Levant.

Site formation processes at Manot Cave, Israel: Interplay between strata accumulation in the occupation area and the talus.

Manot Cave contains important human fossils and archaeological assemblages related to the origin and dispersal of anatomically modern humans and the Upper Paleolithic period. This record is divided between an elevated in situ occupation area and a connecting talus. We, thus, investigated the interplay between the accumulation of the sediments and their associated artifacts in the occupation areas and the translocation of part of these sediments and artifacts down the talus. We examined the lithostratigraphy of two excavation locations in the occupation area (areas E and I), and two in the talus (areas C and D). We also assessed the diagenetic processes that have affected all these areas. A linear array of stalagmites and stalactites separates the occupation area from the talus, demarcating a major topographic barrier between the two. We infer that during human occupation, sediment accumulation of soil, wood ash, and bone was rapid and that some sediments with their associated artifacts overflowed the barrier and translocated down the talus. During periods of nonoccupation, the ash in the occupation area partially dissolved owing to the release of acid from the degrading bat and bird guano, and the layer thicknesses decreased. The south side of the talus (area C) has a normally stratified archaeological record, with the older archaeological materials underlying the younger materials. This suggests that the barrier between the occupation area and area C was relatively shallow and allowed a fairly continuous sediment accumulation in the talus. In the central part of the talus (area D), the stratigraphy is complex and shows mixing, presumably owing to the steep underlying bedrock topography and the mixing that occurs when sediments move down a steep slope. Finally, the distribution of secondary phosphates is consistent with the location of a main cave entrance to the south of the Paleolithic occupation area.

Variability in Early Ahmarian lithic technology and its implications for the model of a Levantine origin of the Protoaurignacian.

This paper re-examines lithic technological variability of the Early Ahmarian, one of the early Upper Palaeolithic cultural entities in the Levant, which has often been regarded as a precursor of the Protoaurignacian (the early Upper Palaeolithic in Europe) in arguments for the occurrence of a cultural spread in association with the dispersal of Homo sapiens from the Levant to Europe. Using quantitative data on several lithic techno-typological attributes, we demonstrate that there is a significant degree of variability in the Early Ahmarian between the northern and southern Levant, as previously pointed out by several researchers. In addition, we suggest that the technology similar to the southern Early Ahmarian also existed in the northern Levant, i.e., the Ksar Akil Phase 4 group (the KA 4 group), by introducing new Upper Palaeolithic assemblages from Wadi Kharar 16R, inland Syria. We then review currently available stratigraphic records and radiocarbon dates (including a new date from Wadi Kharar 16R), with special attention to their methodological background. As a result, we propose alternative chronological scenarios, including one that postulates that the southern Early Ahmarian and the KA 4 group appeared later than the northern Early Ahmarian with little or no overlap. On the basis of the alternative scenarios of chronological/geographical patterns of the Early Ahmarian variability, we propose four possible relationships between the Protoaurignacian and the Early Ahmarian, including a new scenario that the appearance of the Protoaurignacian preceded those of similar technological entities in the Levant, i.e., the southern Early Ahmarian and the KA 4 group. If the last hypothesis is substantiated, it requires us to reconsider the model of a Levantine origin of the Protoaurignacian and its palaeoanthropological implications.