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

Hélène Valladas; Norbert Mercier; Israel Hershkovitz; Yossi Zaidner; Alexander Tsatskin; Reuven Yeshurun; Laurence Vialettes; Jean Louis Joron; Jean Louis Reyss; Mina Weinstein-Evron

doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2013.07.005

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

Hélène Valladas^*, Norbert Mercier, Israel Hershkovitz, Yossi Zaidner, Alexander Tsatskin, Reuven Yeshurun, Laurence Vialettes, Jean Louis Joron, Jean Louis Reyss, Mina Weinstein-Evron

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

72 Scopus citations

Abstract

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 ~160ka (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 ~250ka 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.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	585-593
Number of pages	9
Journal	Journal of Human Evolution
Volume	65
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2013.07.005
State	Published - Nov 2013
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors are grateful to CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique – France) and CEA (Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives – France) for supporting the analytical work. The Misliya Cave project is supported by the Dan David Foundation , the Irene Levi-Sala Care Archaeological Foundation , the Leakey Foundation and the Faculty of Humanities – the University of Haifa . Israel Antiquities Authority permit numbers for the Misliya Cave excavations: G-16/2001, G-39/2002, G-14/2003, G-29/2004, G-12/2005, G-12/2006, G-4/2007, G-54/2008, G-52/2009, G-50/2010. Figures were drawn by Anat Regev-Gisis. The Israel Science Foundation (grant no. 1104/12 ). LSCE reference: 5003.

Keywords

Early Middle Paleolithic
Human migration
Middle East
Thermoluminescence (TL) dating

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10.1016/j.jhevol.2013.07.005

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title = "Dating the Lower to Middle Paleolithic transition in the Levant: A view from Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel",

abstract = "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 ~160ka (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 ~250ka 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.",

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author = "H{\'e}l{\`e}ne Valladas and Norbert Mercier and Israel Hershkovitz and Yossi Zaidner and Alexander Tsatskin and Reuven Yeshurun and Laurence Vialettes and Joron, {Jean Louis} and Reyss, {Jean Louis} and Mina Weinstein-Evron",

note = "Funding Information: The authors are grateful to CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique – France) and CEA (Commissariat {\`a} l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives – France) for supporting the analytical work. The Misliya Cave project is supported by the Dan David Foundation , the Irene Levi-Sala Care Archaeological Foundation , the Leakey Foundation and the Faculty of Humanities – the University of Haifa . Israel Antiquities Authority permit numbers for the Misliya Cave excavations: G-16/2001, G-39/2002, G-14/2003, G-29/2004, G-12/2005, G-12/2006, G-4/2007, G-54/2008, G-52/2009, G-50/2010. Figures were drawn by Anat Regev-Gisis. The Israel Science Foundation (grant no. 1104/12 ). LSCE reference: 5003.",

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

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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