Arensburg, B.

Bar-Yosef, Ofer

Goldberg, P.

Laville, H.

Meignen, L.

Rak, Y.

Tchernov, E.

Tillier, A.-M.

Vandermeersch, B.

Current Anthropology

Bar-yosef, Ofer

Harvard University - DASH

 New Data on the Origin of Modern Man in the Levant  (Article begins on next page)The Harvard community has made this article openlyavailable.Please share how this access benefits you. Your storymatters.Citation Bar-Yosef, O., B. Vandermeersch, B. Arensburg, P.Goldberg, H. Laville, L. Meignen, Y. Rak, E. Tchernov, andA.-M. Tillier. 1986. New Data on the Origin of Modern Manin the Levant. Current Anthropology 27, no. 1: 63-64.Published Version doi:10.1086/203389Accessed February 19, 2015 4:04:09 PM ESTCitable Link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:12211572Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University'sDASH repository, and is made available under the terms andconditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth athttp://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of-use#LAAREPORTS New Data on the  Origin  of  Modern Man in the  Levant' by  0.  BAR-YOSEF,  B.  VANDERMEERSCH,  B.  ARENSBURG,  P. GOLDBERG,  H.  LAVILLE,  L.  MEIGNEN,  Y.  RAK,  E. TCHERNOV, and A.-M.  TILLIER Institute  of  Archaeology,  Mt. Scopus, Hebrew  University, Jerusalem  91905,  Israel (Bar-Yosef,  Goldberg)ILaboratoire d'Anthropologie,  Universite  de Bordeaux  I, 33405 Talence, France (Vandermeersch)/Department  of  Anatomy  and An- thropology,  Sackler  School of  Medicine, Tel-Aviv  Univer- sity,  Ramat  Aviv  69978,  Israel  (Arensburg,  Rak)lInstitut  de Quaternaire,  Universite  de Bordeaux I,  33405 Talence, France  (Laville)/Centre  de  Recherches Archeologiques, Sophia Antipolis,  06565 Valbonne,  France (Meignen)/De- partment  of  Zoology,  Hebrew  University,  Jerusalem  91904, Israel (Tchernov)/Laboratoire  de Paleontologie  des Ver- tebres,  Universite  de  Paris VI,  4 Place  Jussieu,  75006  Paris, France  (Tillier).  5 iv 85 The origin  of  modern  man  in  the  Near East has  been  a contro- versial  subject  since  the  discoveries  of  human  remains  by  Gar- rod,  McCown,  and  Neuville  in  the  caves  of  Tabuin,  Skhtul,  and Qafzeh,  respectively  (Garrod  and Bate 1937,  McCown and Keith 1939, Neuville 1951). Recent excavations  at Tabuin (1967-72) by  Jelinek  (1982a) and at Qafzeh (1965-1979) by Vandermeersch  (1981)  refocused  attention  on this  issue. The new  excavations  at Tabuin  provided  a detailed  stratig- raphy  for  the  Mousterian  sequence  and some  portion  of  the earlier  deposits.  This enabled  Farrand  (1979)  to  suggest  a re- construction  of  the  paleoenvironmental  events  that  were  re- sponsible  for  the  accumulation  of  this  remarkably  thick  (ca. 20  m)  sequence.  One of  the  key  interpretations  was  the  correla- tion  of  the  lowermost  part  of  the  sandy  sequence  (which  con- tained  Acheulian  and "Acheulo-Yabrudian"  assemblages  re- cently  named  the  Mugharan  tradition  by  Jelinek)  with  the  Last Interglacial,  or  Isotope  Stage  5. On the  basis  of  this  suggestion, Jelinek  (1981,  1982a,  b)  plotted  the  results  of  his  metrical  lithic analysis,  which  showed  a gradual  decrease  in  the  thickness  of the  flakes  that  accelerated  markedly  between  the  Early  and Late  Mousterian.  Consequently,  Jelinek  suggested  "an orderly and continuous progression of industries . . . paralleled by a morphological  progression  from  Neanderthal  to  modern  man" (Jelinek  1982a: 1374). At  Qafzeh,  originally  excavated  by  Neuville  and  M. Stekelis (1933-35)  and  recently  by  Vandermeersch  (1965-79),  the  large collection  of  skeletal  remains  emanating  from  the  lower  portion of  the  Mousterian  sequence  has  been  assigned  to  Homo  sapiens sapiens  (Vandermeersch  1981). The age of  these  deposits  re- mains controversial  (Bar-Yosef and Vandermeersch  1981). Paleontological  analyses  of  the  microvertebrates  by  Tchernov (1981)  indicate  close  affinities  of  the  levels  that  contained  the burials  with the Upper Acheulian  levels of Oumm-Qatafa (Neuville  1951,  Haas in Neuville 1951,  Tchernov  1968)  and greater  similarity  to  Tabuin  D than  to  Tabuin  C and B. These levels  have been ascribed  to a single  biozone  that  Tchernov calls the  "Lower Mousterian."  Preliminary  micromorpholog- ical analyses  at Qafzeh  yield  the  same conclusion  (Goldberg 1980).  At  Hayonim  Cave (western  Galilee),  the  transition  from the  "Lower Mousterian"  to the "Upper Mousterian"  is also documented  (Tchernov 1981). Jelinek  (1982a) rejects the 1?B  1986  by  The  Wenner-Gren  Foundation  for  Anthropological  Re- search,  all  rights  reserved  001  1-3204/86/2701-0003$1.00. Vol.  27 *No. 1 *February  1986 chronological  correlation  of  Qafzeh  and Tabuin,  arguing  that the  presence  of  two  archaic  rodents  (Mastomys  batei  and  Ar- vicanthis  ectos)  in  the  hominid-bearing  layers  at Qafzeh  is  ex- plainable  by  the  proximity  of  this  site  to  the  "refugium"  of  the Jordan  Valley.  However,  both  these  rodents  occur  in  Layer  E at Tabuin  (with  the  Mugharan  tradition),  and Mastomys  was noted  in the  lower  part  of  Layer  E (Mousterian)  at Hayonim Cave  (Tchernov  1968, 1981). Another  important  issue  is  the  overall  absolute  dating  of  the Mousterian  and Acheulo-Yabrudian  sequence  in the  Levant. While  Farrand  (1979)  maintained  an incipient  age of  the  Last Interglacial,  U/Th  dates for  the  Acheulo-Yabrudian  in Zut- tieyeh  Cave, Wadi Amud,  Israel (Schwarcz,  Goldberg,  and Blackwell 1980),  and el Kowm, Syria  (Henning  and Hours 1982), indicated  ages on the  order  of  140,000  to 150,000  B.P. Moreover,  reinterpretation  of  the  stratigraphic  sequence  of  Ta- buin  indicates  the  possibility  that  Unit  XIV (Layer  G?) ante- dates  the  Last Interglacial  (Bar-Yosef  and Goren  1981). Under  the  circumstances  it seemed  logical  to try  to clarify these  problems  by  excavating  a site  which  exhibited  both  good preservation  of  charcoal,  animal  bones,  and human  remains and  a long  cultural  sequence.  The obvious  choice  was Kebara Cave, which  is  situated  ca. 13  km  south  of  Tabuin  at  about  the same  altitude,  overlooking  the  Mediterranean  shoreline  some  3 km  to the  west.  Previous  excavations  at Kebara, mainly  by Stekelis  (1953-65),  had  demonstrated  the  potential  of  this  site. Although  Stekelis  never  reached  bedrock,  his  excavations  re- vealed  an Upper  Palaeolithic  and  a Mousterian  sequence.  Fol- lowing  his untimely  death, refinements  in the stratigraphy made  by  two  of  us  (O. B.-Y. and E. T.) led  to  the  publication of  the  lithic  industries  by  T. Schick,  of  the  Mousterian  infant remains  by  Smith  and Arensburg  (1977),  and of  the  mamma- lian remains by Davis  (1977) and Tchernov (1968, 1981). De- spite  the  abundance  of  charcoal  remains,  most  of  the  radiocar- bon  dates  (obtained  in 1969)  are  aberrant,  possibly  because  the samples  were  collected  from  sections  exposed  for  over  15  years (Schick and Stekelis 1977). Our reexcavation  of  the  cave involved  a multidisciplinary team  covering  the  fields  of  prehistory,  physical  anthropology, geology,  zoology,  and botany.  It was made possible  by the support  of  the  French  Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs,  the  Perma- nent  French  Mission  of  the  CNRS in  Jerusalem,  the  Institute of  Archaeology,  Hebrew  University,  and the  Israel Explora- tion  Society. To date, three  seasons (Fall 1982, 1983, and 1984) of  what  is hoped to be a long-term  project  have been com- pleted.  During  these  seasons,  we have accomplished  the  fol- lowing: The exposed  stratigraphy  (after  removal  of  most  of  the  Epi- Palaeolithic  and Upper Palaeolithic  layers  by Turville-Petre and Stekelis)  was subdivided  into  the  generalized  lithological units 1-12, each containing  a  series of lenticular  layers, hearths,  and other  geological  or archaeological  features.  For the  most  part,  it  was possible  to  trace  these  units  over  much  of the  exposed,  older  sections. Units 1-3  contain an Upper Palaeolithic  industry  with blades  and some  scrapers.  These layers  are tilted  to the  east and southeast,  toward  a sinkhole  (or sinkholes?)  into  which most  of  the  underlying  Mousterian  layers  were  collapsed.  Al- though  the sinkhole  was never reached,  the dip of these Mousterian  layers  is as much  as 20-25?. Units  4-6 contain  both  Upper  Palaeolithic  and Mousterian artifacts  and exhibit  a number  of  features  interpreted  as the result  of  water  activity,  including  distinct  bedding,  phosphatic concretions,  and local breccification.  The net  effect  is to ob- scure the contact  between  these and the overlying  Upper Palaeolithic  sediments. Units  7-12  are  clearly  Mousterian,  and the  preservation  of these  deposits  is much  better  than  that  of  the  later  ones. All units  are  characterized  by  a dominance  of  fine-grained  silts  and clays,  with  some sand, all containing  a large  component  of 63 This content downloaded from 128.197.26.12 on Fri, 10 Jan 2014 09:29:58 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditionsanthropic  debris  such  as bones,  hearths,  white  ashy  deposits, and  abundant  lithics.  Considerable  disturbance  of  the  deposits is represented  by  apparent  rodent  holes  and karstic  activity, which  caused the  partial  collapse  and tilting  of  the  layers  to- ward  the  rear  of  the  cave. The lithic  industry  of  the  Mousterian  levels  excavated  thus far  exhibits  the  same  general  characteristics  as previously  de- scribed  (Schick  and Stekelis  1977,  Jelinek  1982b).  Debitage products  are  always  dominant,  indicating  that  knapping  took place  inside  the  cave. Most  of  the  blanks  were  produced  by  the Levallois  unipolar  method.  Cores  were  peripherally  prepared, with  cortex  left  on  one  face  and  flakes  or  blades  removed  from the  other.  A difference  was  noted  between  Units  7-9, in  which flakes  are more  abundant,  and Units  10-12, in which  blades are. The  industry  of Kebara  was  previously  classified  as "Mousterian  2-3" (Jelinek  1982b)  or "Mousterian  Phase 3" (Copeland 1975),  a stage  generally  characterized  by  the  pres- ence  of  broad,  short  Levallois  points,  numerous  racloirs,  and  a few  pieces  of  Upper  Palaeolithic  types.  Copeland  (1975)  distin- guishes  an older  phase within  this  Late Mousterian  in which Levallois  points  are  accompanied  by  narrow,  thin  flakes,  with an increase  in  blades. On the  basis  of  the  material  (from  only two seasons)  so far  analysed,  it seems  that  the  exposed  se- quence  fits  these  two  phases,  the  earlier  in  Units  12-10  and  the later  in  9-7. During the 1983 season, while the deepest test pit of Stekelis's  excavation  was being  extended,  a Mousterian  burial was found  in the  uppermost  portion  of  Unit 12 (fig.  1). The skeleton  lay  on  its  back  in  a shallow  pit,  with  its  right  hand  on its  chest  and  its  left  hand  on  its  abdomen.  The  jaw, with  all  its teeth,  rested  on its  base, and all the  cervical  vertebrae  were found  in  their  original  places.  The skull  was  missing  except  for L2ObM  0 L2Od lo  1  CM\  \ I  ~  ~~~  J FIG. 1. Mousterian  burial  from  uppermost  portion  of  Unit  12 at  Ke- bara. 64 the  right  upper  third  molar.  A large  part  of  the  postcranial skeleton  was in  place. Most  of  the  lower  extremities,  including the  right  thigh  bone  and the  remainder  of  the  legs,  were  miss- ing.  The left  femur  (badly  preserved  owing  to  weathering)  was slanted  at an angle  of  450 from  the  main  axis,  cropping  at the section  of  the  deep  sounding.  Its  poor  condition  explains  why  it passed  unnoticed  by  Stekelis  when  he excavated  this  test  pit. Most  of  the  bones  present  were  in  a remarkably  good  state  of preservation.  The  characteristics  of the skeleton  indicate affinities  with  the  Tabuin,  Amud,  and Shanidar  group  rather than  with  the  Qafzeh-Skhuil  one. Preliminary  analysis  of  the lithic  industry  from  Kebara would  place  it  in  the  "Mousterian 2-3"  as defined  by  Jelinek  at  Tabuin  (Jelinek  1982b).  Thus,  the association  of the hominid  types  and their  lithic  techno- typological  contexts  remains  problematical. Further  seasons  of  excavation  are  planned  for  Kebara  Cave. A program  of  relative  dating  using  paleontology  and stratig- raphy  as well  as absolute  dating  by  thermoluminescence  and 14C  accelerator  methods  is  under  way.  Such  efforts  may  permit us  to  place  the  Kebara human  remains  in  a firm  chronological context  with  respect  to  other  skeletal  material. References  Cited BAR-YOSEF, O.,  and N.  GOREN.  1981. 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VANDERMEERSCH, B.  1981.  Les hommes  fossiles  de Qafzeh  (Israel). Paris:  CNRS. CURRENT  ANTHROPOLOGY This content downloaded from 128.197.26.12 on Fri, 10 Jan 2014 09:29:58 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

New Data on the Origin of Modern Man in the Levant

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New Data on the Origin of Modern Man in the Levant

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