Abstract
A salvage excavation at the Lower Paleolithic site of Kefar Menahem West in the interior of the Israeli coastal plain yielded a flake industry devoid of handaxes and their byproducts. The archeological finds covering an area exceeding 2000 m2, are found at the contact of two distinct sedimentological units: Quartzic Brown and hamra (red clay loam paleosols). The absence of handaxes hamper placing the site within the relative chronology of the Lower Paleolithic record of the Levant. New paleomagnetic analysis coupled with optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and thermally transferred optically (TT-OSL) dating yielded a chronological range between 780 and 460 ka for the archeological occupation. The techno-typological similarities with Late Acheulian assemblages together with possible variations in the mode of occupations by early hominids at the site, both suggest that the KMW should be conceived as part of the Late Acheulian variability.
Original language | American English |
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Pages (from-to) | 350-362 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports |
Volume | 10 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1 Dec 2016 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The Kefar Menachem West dating project was supported by the Ruth Amiran Fund for Archaeological Research in Eretz-Israel , the Institute of Archaeology , Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Ashkelon Academic College . AMB was supported by Fulbright postdoctoral fellowship award in the University of Connecticut. AMB wish to thank Adler, D., and Hartman, G., for their advice and help in the final stages of this manuscript writing. AMB wishes to thank E. Hovers., Y, Goldsmith., M, Goder-Goldberger., N, Goren-Inbar., O. Marder., M. Ullman, R. Yeshurun and Y. Zaidner for their help during this project. OA wishes to thank H. Zhevelev for conducting statistical analysis. The authors wish to thank the three anonymous reviewer for their helpful and constructive comments.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Elsevier Ltd
Keywords
- Acheulian
- Dating
- Middle Pleistocene
- Paleomagnetism
- TT-OSL