Response to Comment on "A Middle Pleistocene Homo from Nesher Ramla, Israel".

Marom and Rak claim, on the basis of a few mandibular features, that the Nesher Ramla (NR) Homo is a Neanderthal. Their comments lack substance and contribute little to the debate surrounding the evolution of Middle Pleistocene Homo. Limitations and preconceptions in their study prevented them from achieving resolution beyond a dichotomous interpretation of the NR as either a Neanderthal or a modern human.

Complexity and sophistication of Early Middle Paleolithic flint tools revealed through use-wear analysis of tools from Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel.

The Early Middle Paleolithic (EMP) is a less-studied phase of the Levantine Middle Paleolithic, attributable to the small number of sites discovered. Drawing on the dense archaeological accumulations at Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel, the present study seeks to trace EMP daily activities and behavioral patterns through the prism of use-wear analysis. The emergence of the laminar and Levallois technologies that form the EMP toolkit is investigated to reveal other dimensions of tool novelties. Through microscopic analyses, integrated with experimentation, the most outstanding aspect revealed in this study is the extensive evidence of hafting, which included the use of binding together with various techniques for tool design. A unique treatment was identified, never reported before, entailing the abrasion of cortical surfaces and protruding dorsal ridges. Other aspects include the clear preference for pointed tools as a leading morphological trend and the use of retouch as a mean to create durable working edges and facilitate grip arrangements. The analysis demonstrates the venue of use-wear to trace a wide variety of practices, including consumption-related (processing hunted game and edible plants) and craft-related (hide processing, woodworking, and perhaps stone working) activities that otherwise hardly leave a trace in the archaeological record. By exploring these features, the research provides important insights into early hominin behavior and way of life during the EMP, emphasizing the novelties brought by the earliest Homo sapiens out of Africa.

On holes and strings: Earliest displays of human adornment in the Middle Palaeolithic.

Glycymeris shell beads found in Middle Palaeolithic sites are understood to be artifacts collected by modern humans for symbolic use. In Misliya Cave, Israel, dated to 240-160 ka BP, Glycymeris shells were found that were neither perforated nor manipulated; nevertheless, transportation to the cave is regarded as symbolic. In about 120 ka BP at Qafzeh Cave, Israel, modern humans collected naturally perforated Glycymeris shells also for symbolic use. Use-wear analyses backed by experiments demonstrate that the Qafzeh shells were suspended on string, thus suggesting that the collection of perforated shells was intentional. The older Misliya shells join a similar finding from South Africa, while the later-dated perforated shells from Qafzeh resemble other assemblages from North Africa and the Levant, also dated to about 120 ka BP. We conclude that between 160 ka BP and 120 ka BP there was a shift from collecting complete valves to perforated ones, which reflects both the desire and the technological ability to suspend shell beads on string to be displayed on the human body.

The emergence of the Levallois technology in the Levant: A view from the Early Middle Paleolithic site of Misliya Cave, Israel.

The Early Middle Paleolithic (EMP) lithic assemblage of Misliya Cave, dated to 240-150 ka, is associated with one of the earliest occurrences of Homo sapiens outside Africa. Our research provides a detailed technological study of the lithic assemblage of stratigraphic unit 5-6c of the site, using the chaîne opératoire approach, to characterize the technological behavior of the early H. sapiens. Our results indicate that both Levallois and laminar volumetric concepts were used. The Levallois reduction strategy involved preparing subtriangular cores with steep distal edges that allowed producing a series of triangular/subtriangular Levallois blanks using a unidirectional convergent method. Laminar débitage constitutes a semirotating/rotating method. The results of our study and comparisons with other Levantine sites indicate that the EMP represents a distinct entity within the Levantine Middle Pleistocene record that can be distinguished by the earliest occurrence of a full-fledged Levallois technology in the region, laminar technology, and a distinct tool kit dominated by elongated retouched points. The level of core management involved in producing convergent Levallois products and in preparing laminar cores points to a major conceptual change from the preceding Acheulian and Acheulo-Yabrudian. This suggests a break in knapping strategies between the Lower and the Middle Paleolithic. The finding of a H. sapiens maxilla at Misliya Cave in association with the EMP industry supports the hypothesis that the introduction of the Levallois technology in the Near East was associated with an early dispersal of H. sapiens from Africa. A comparison between the Levantine EMP and other regional records indicates that different Levallois methods were routinely used by hominins from the beginning of the Middle Paleolithic and the Middle Stone Age.

Site occupation dynamics of early modern humans at Misliya Cave (Mount Carmel, Israel): Evidence from the spatial taphonomy of faunal remains.

Space use in Middle Paleolithic (MP) camps has been suggested as a source of information on the intensity and repetition of occupations and, by extension, of demographics. In the Levant, clear evidence for differential intrasite use and maintenance was important in viewing the late MP Neanderthal sites as base camps inhabited for a significant duration, relative to the Early MP (EMP). We test this model with the rich faunal assemblage from the EMP (>140 ka) site of Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel. Excavations in Misliya yielded a large and diverse lithic assemblage, combustion features, and a modern human maxilla, together with a large archaeofaunal assemblage that we use as a spatial marker. We analyzed the distribution of bone items with variable taphonomic properties (anthropogenic, biogenic, and abiotic bone-surface modifications) in a hearth-related context, both by comparing grid squares and point patterns. Both analyses are largely congruent. They indicate repeated and consistent use of the site's space that includes hearth-related consumption activities and peripheral activities further away, albeit with little evidence for site maintenance. Thus, the Misliya results display a mixed signal of clear around-the-fire pattern and differential space use in the EMP that is reminiscent of the much later MP sites in the Levant, but without the more elaborate camp maintenance. More case studies and detailed proxies are needed before we can fine-tune our understanding of camp structure in the Levantine MP and its bearing to site occupation dynamics.

New insights into early MIS 5 lithic technological behavior in the Levant: Nesher Ramla, Israel as a case study.

Interpreting human behavioral patterns during the Middle Paleolithic in the Levant is crucial for better understanding the dispersals and evolution of Homo sapiens and their possible interactions with other hominin groups. Here, we reconstruct the technological behavior, focusing on the centripetal Levallois method at Nesher Ramla karst sinkhole, Israel. Nesher Ramla karst sinkhole is dated to the Marine Isotope stages (MIS) 6 and 5 and represents one of the oldest occurrences of the centripetal Levallois reduction strategy in the Near East. The Levallois centripetal technology is often seen as a marker of human dispersals and adaptations in the Middle Paleolithic/Middle Stone Age of Africa and the Near East. This technology is documented in East African sites as early as 300 kya and in the Levant as early as 130 kya. However, the degree of similarity between African and Levantine centripetal technology and whether it originates from the same source remain under debate. In this paper, we focus on describing the lithic organization at Unit III of Nesher Ramla (dated to MIS 5), which is dominated by the centripetal Levallois method in association with other reduction sequences. Both preferential and recurrent centripetal Levallois modes were used at the site to produce oval and rectangular flakes. Other minor reduction sequences include unidirectional convergent method for Levallois points production and a specific method for the manufacture of naturally backed knives. The lithic data from Unit III of Nesher Ramla is further used in inter-site comparisons suggesting that the mid-Middle Paleolithic sites in the Near East possess common technological characteristics, especially the use of the centripetal Levallois method as predominant reduction strategy. This trend differs from what is usually observed in Africa and Europe, where the centripetal Levallois method is modestly represented during MIS 5 and is accompanied by other, more dominant, reduction strategies.

The bulb retouchers in the Levant: New insights into Middle Palaeolithic retouching techniques and mobile tool-kit composition.

In this paper we describe two assemblages of flint retouchers or "bulb retouchers" retrieved from Nesher Ramla and Quneitra, two Middle Palaeolithic, open-air sites in the Levant. The site of Nesher Ramla yielded the largest assemblage of bulb retouchers (n = 159) currently known, allowing a detailed investigation of this poorly known phenomenon. An extensive experimental program and use-wear analysis enabled us to characterize the different sets of traces related to the retouching activity and to identify different motions applied by the knappers in the course of this action. In both sites, blanks used as bulb retouchers were almost exclusively retouched items, with a special emphasis on convergent morphotypes in Nesher Ramla. The use of retouched items as bulb retouchers is a common trait over different time spans and geographical areas. Our data suggests that bulb retouchers were versatile, multi-purpose tools with a long use-life, transported over long distances as components of the hunter-gatherer mobile tool kit. The high frequencies of bulb retouchers within some archaeological units of Nesher Ramla appear to be connected to the highly curated nature of the lithic assemblages, in turn reflecting a high mobility of the human groups that produced them.

Response to Comment on "The earliest modern humans outside Africa".

Our original claim, based on three independent numerical dating methods, of an age of ~185,000 years for the Misliya-1 modern human hemi-maxilla from Mount Carmel, Israel, is little affected by discounting uranium-series dating of adhering crusts. It confirms a much earlier out-of-Africa Homo sapiens expansion than previously suggested by the considerably younger (90,000 to 120,000 years) Skhul/Qafzeh hominins.

The earliest modern humans outside Africa.

To date, the earliest modern human fossils found outside of Africa are dated to around 90,000 to 120,000 years ago at the Levantine sites of Skhul and Qafzeh. A maxilla and associated dentition recently discovered at Misliya Cave, Israel, was dated to 177,000 to 194,000 years ago, suggesting that members of the Homo sapiens clade left Africa earlier than previously thought. This finding changes our view on modern human dispersal and is consistent with recent genetic studies, which have posited the possibility of an earlier dispersal of Homo sapiens around 220,000 years ago. The Misliya maxilla is associated with full-fledged Levallois technology in the Levant, suggesting that the emergence of this technology is linked to the appearance of Homo sapiens in the region, as has been documented in Africa.

A series of Mousterian occupations in a new type of site: the Nesher Ramla karst depression, Israel.

We report the discovery of a new type of hominin site in the Levant, inhabited during MIS 6-5. The site, found within a karst depression at Nesher Ramla, Israel, provides novel evidence for Middle Paleolithic lifeways in an environmental and depositional setting that is previously undocumented in the southern Levant. 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. Here we focus on the geological and environmental setting and present optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages for the 8 m sequence, aiming to place the site within a firm chronological framework and determine its significance for a more complete reconstruction of cultural developments in the Levantine Middle Paleolithic. To that end, preliminary results of the lithic and faunal studies are also presented.

Dating the Lower to Middle Paleolithic transition in the Levant: a view from Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel.

The transition from the Lower to the Middle Paleolithic in the Levant is a crucial event in human evolution, since it may involve the arrival of a new human population. In the current study, we present thermoluminescence (TL) dates obtained from 32 burnt flints retrieved from the late Lower Paleolithic (Acheulo-Yabrudian) and Early Middle Paleolithic (Mousterian) layers of Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel. Early Middle Paleolithic industries rich in Levallois and laminar products were assigned mean ages ranging from ~250 to ~160 ka (thousands of years ago), suggesting a production of this industry during MIS 7 and the early part of MIS 6. The mean ages obtained for the samples associated with the Acheulo-Yabrudian (strengthened by an isochron analysis) indicate a production of this cultural complex ~250 ka ago, at the end of MIS 8. According to the Misliya TL dates, the transition from the Lower to the Middle Paleolithic in the site took place at the limit MIS 8/7 or during the early part of MIS 7. The dates, together with the pronounced differences in lithic technology strongly suggest the arrival of a new population during this period.

Adaptive flexibility of Oldowan hominins: secondary use of flakes at Bizat Ruhama, Israel.

The lithic assemblage of the Early Pleistocene site of Bizat Ruhama, Israel demonstrates the earliest evidence for systematic secondary knapping of flakes. The site, dated to the Matuyama chron, is one of the earliest primary context Oldowan occurrences in Eurasia. According to the experimental replication of the stone-tool production sequence, the secondary knapping of flakes was a part of a multi-stage operational sequence targeted at the production of small (<2 cm) flakes. This sequence included four stages: acquisition of chert pebbles, production of flakes, deliberate selection of flakes of specific morphologies, and their secondary knapping by free-hand or bipolar methods. The results suggest that flakes with retouch-like scars that were produced during this sequence and which commonly are interpreted as shaped tools are unintentional waste products of the small flake production. The intentional manufacture of very small flakes at Bizat Ruhama was probably an economic response to the raw material constrains. Systematic secondary knapping of flakes has not yet been reported from other Early Pleistocene sites. Systematic secondary knapping for small flake production became increasingly important only in the lithic industries of the second half of the Middle Pleistocene, almost a million years later. The results from Bizat Ruhama indicate that Oldowan stone-tool production sequence was conceptually more complex than previously suggested and offer a new perspective on the capabilities for invention and the adaptive flexibility of the Oldowan hominins.

Lower Paleolithic hominin ecology at the fringe of the desert: Faunal remains from Bizat Ruhama and Nahal Hesi, Northern Negev, Israel.

The Southern Levant is a pivotal area for the study of hominin paleoecology during the Lower Paleolithic, because of its location on the out-of-Africa dispersal route and its significant ecological diversity. Important information has been gained by archaeofaunal studies, which usually reveal that exploitation of diverse Mediterranean environments with woodlands, marshes and lake margins, represents a dominant subsistence strategy for Lower Paleolithic hominins. Here, we present new taxonomic and taphonomic data from two sites in the southern coastal plain of the Southern Levant, at the fringe of the Negev Desert: Bizat Ruhama (Early Pleistocene) and Nahal Hesi (Middle Pleistocene). The sites preserve anthropogenic faunas, with the former signaling a marrow-exploitation strategy, perhaps related to scavenging from carnivore kills, and the latter showing evidence for primary access to fleshed ungulate carcasses. The species composition of these Northern Negev sites is unique for the Levantine Lower Paleolithic in that these sites lack typical woodland and riparian species, probably indicating an open, relatively uniform environment with patchy water sources and trees, much like this semiarid region today. Bizat Ruhama and Nahal Hesi are among the only Levantine Lower Paleolithic faunas associated with such a setting, thereby widening the known spectrum of environments exploited by hominins in the region. It is suggested that the two sites, coupled with the nearby Late Pleistocene evidence, reflect a largely stable semiarid environment on the northwestern fringe of the Negev Desert throughout much of the Pleistocene.