Projectile damage and point morphometry at the Early Middle Paleolithic Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel (Israel): Preliminary results and interpretations

Alla Yaroshevich; Yossi Zaidner; Mina Weinstein-Evron

doi:10.1007/978-94-017-7602-8_8

Projectile damage and point morphometry at the Early Middle Paleolithic Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel (Israel): Preliminary results and interpretations

Alla Yaroshevich^*, Yossi Zaidner, Mina Weinstein-Evron

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

17 Scopus citations

Abstract

This contribution presents analyses of projectile damage and morpho-metric characteristics of various point types from the Early Middle Paleolithic Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel. All the types present in the assemblage exhibit diagnostic impact fractures. Four types, i.e., Levallois points, Abu Sif points, Hummal points and the newly defined Misliya points appear to be the most frequently used as tips of hunting weapons. These four types differ in their morpho-metric characteristics, as well as in terms of the frequencies of diagnostic impact fractures. We suggest that the variability in points may reflect the use of different kinds of weapons, including composite projectiles – a possibility supported by the faunal evidence from Levantine MP sites and Misliya Cave, in particular. Whether the diversity in point types and sizes reflects use in different kinds of hunting weapons or variability within the same kind, the study can contribute significantly to our understanding of the technological and subsistence transformations associated with the emergence of the Middle Paleolithic in the Levant.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Study of Stone Age Weaponry
Editors	Radu Iovita, Katsuhiro Sano
Publisher	Springer
Pages	119-134
Number of pages	16
ISBN (Electronic)	9789401776028
ISBN (Print)	9789401776011
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7602-8_8
State	Published - 2016
Externally published	Yes

Publication series

Name	Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology
ISSN (Print)	1877-9077

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Acknowledgements In memory of Dan David, a dear friend and an enthusiastic supporter of the Misliya Cave Project. Misliya Cave is located in the Mount Carmel Nature Reserve, managed by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority. We thank Daniel Kaufman and Reuven Yeshurun for their comments and Reuven Kapul for preparing Fig. 8.4. Special thanks are given to Dr. Alex Berner and Larissa Popilevsky from the Electron Microscopy Centre at the Faculty of Materials Engineering, Technion, for the SEM analysis. The excavations at Misliya Cave are supported by the Dan David Foundation, the Leakey Foundation, the Irene Levi-Sala Care Archaeological Foundation and the Faculty of Humanities, 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.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.

Keywords

Blade technology
Early middle paleolithic
Hunting weapons
Impact fractures
Levant
Mount Carmel

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10.1007/978-94-017-7602-8_8

Cite this

Yaroshevich, A., Zaidner, Y., & Weinstein-Evron, M. (2016). Projectile damage and point morphometry at the Early Middle Paleolithic Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel (Israel): Preliminary results and interpretations. In R. Iovita, & K. Sano (Eds.), Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Study of Stone Age Weaponry (pp. 119-134). (Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7602-8_8

Yaroshevich, Alla ; Zaidner, Yossi ; Weinstein-Evron, Mina. / Projectile damage and point morphometry at the Early Middle Paleolithic Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel (Israel) : Preliminary results and interpretations. Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Study of Stone Age Weaponry. editor / Radu Iovita ; Katsuhiro Sano. Springer, 2016. pp. 119-134 (Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology).

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abstract = "This contribution presents analyses of projectile damage and morpho-metric characteristics of various point types from the Early Middle Paleolithic Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel. All the types present in the assemblage exhibit diagnostic impact fractures. Four types, i.e., Levallois points, Abu Sif points, Hummal points and the newly defined Misliya points appear to be the most frequently used as tips of hunting weapons. These four types differ in their morpho-metric characteristics, as well as in terms of the frequencies of diagnostic impact fractures. We suggest that the variability in points may reflect the use of different kinds of weapons, including composite projectiles – a possibility supported by the faunal evidence from Levantine MP sites and Misliya Cave, in particular. Whether the diversity in point types and sizes reflects use in different kinds of hunting weapons or variability within the same kind, the study can contribute significantly to our understanding of the technological and subsistence transformations associated with the emergence of the Middle Paleolithic in the Levant.",

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Yaroshevich, A, Zaidner, Y & Weinstein-Evron, M 2016, Projectile damage and point morphometry at the Early Middle Paleolithic Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel (Israel): Preliminary results and interpretations. in R Iovita & K Sano (eds), Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Study of Stone Age Weaponry. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology, Springer, pp. 119-134. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7602-8_8

Projectile damage and point morphometry at the Early Middle Paleolithic Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel (Israel): Preliminary results and interpretations. / Yaroshevich, Alla; Zaidner, Yossi; Weinstein-Evron, Mina.
Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Study of Stone Age Weaponry. ed. / Radu Iovita; Katsuhiro Sano. Springer, 2016. p. 119-134 (Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

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Yaroshevich A, Zaidner Y, Weinstein-Evron M. Projectile damage and point morphometry at the Early Middle Paleolithic Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel (Israel): Preliminary results and interpretations. In Iovita R, Sano K, editors, Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Study of Stone Age Weaponry. Springer. 2016. p. 119-134. (Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology). doi: 10.1007/978-94-017-7602-8_8

Projectile damage and point morphometry at the Early Middle Paleolithic Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel (Israel): Preliminary results and interpretations

Abstract

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