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  Tabun cave Shown within Levant | |
| Location | Mount Carmel,Israel |
|---|---|
| Region | Levant |
| Coordinates | 32°40′13.80″N34°57′55.80″E / 32.6705000°N 34.9655000°E /32.6705000; 34.9655000 |
| Part of | Nahal Me'arot Nature Reserve |
| History | |
| Periods | Lower Paleolithic andMiddle Paleolithic |
| Cultures | |
| Associated with | Neanderthal |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 1929, 1967 |
| Archaeologists | Arthur Jelinek |
TheTabun Cave is anexcavated site located atNahal Me'arot Nature Reserve,Israel and is one of the Human Evolution sites atMount Carmel, which were proclaimed as having universal value byUNESCO in 2012.
Together with the nearby sites ofEl Wad cave,Jamal cave, andSkhul cave, Tabun is part of theNahal Me'arot Nature Reserve,[1] a national park andUNESCO World Heritage Site.[2]
The cave was occupied intermittently during theLower andMiddle Paleolithic (500,000 to around 40,000 years ago). In the course of this period,deposits ofsand,silt andclay of up to 25 m (82 ft) accumulated in the cave.Excavations suggest that it features one of the longest sequences of human occupation in theLevant.Dorothy Garrod led excavations in 1929 over 22 months that established the sequence of occupation of this and other sites in the area. It was during these excavations that a woman,Yusra, recruited from a local village, was credited with the discovery of theTabun 1 Neanderthal skull.[3]
The earliest and lowestdeposits in the cave contain large amounts of sea sand. This, andpollen traces found, suggests a relatively warm climate at the time. The meltingglaciers which covered large parts of the globe caused the sea level to rise and theMediterranean coastline to recede. The Coastal Plain was then narrower than it is today, and was covered withsavannah vegetation. The cave dwellers of that time usedhandaxes offlint orlimestone for killing animals (gazelle,hippopotamus,rhinoceros and wildcattle which roamed the Coastal Plain) and for digging out plant roots. As tools improved slowly over time, the hand axes became smaller and better shaped, and scrapers made of thick flakes chipped off flint cores were probably used for scraping meat off bones and for processing animal skins.[4]
The upper levels in the Tabun cave consist mainly ofclay andsilt, indicating that a colder, more humid climate prevailed as glaciers formed once more; this change yielded a wider coastal strip, covered by denseforests andswamps. The material remains from the upper strata of the cave are of theMousterian culture (about 200,000 - 45,000 years ago). Smallflint tools made of thin flakes predominate these levels, many produced using theLevallois technique. Tools typical of theMousterian culture feature elongated points, and include flakes of various shapes used as scrapers, end scrapers and otherdenticulate tools used for cutting and sawing.
Arthur Jelinek's 1967 to 1972 excavations of the cave yielded over 1,900 complete and partialbifaces. The bulk of thebiface assemblage can be attributed to the LateAcheulian andYabrudian industries.[5]
The large number offallow deer bones found in the upper layers of the Tabun cave may be due to the chimney-like opening in the back of the cave which functioned as a natural trap. The animals may have been herded towards it, and fell into the cave where they were butchered.[citation needed]
Several fossils were discovered at Tabun cave, including a nearly complete female skeleton (Tabun C1) and a mandible (Tabun C2). The taxonomic attributions of the two fossils are still[when?] discussed.[6][7][8][9][10]
Archaeologists also discovered 350,000-year-oldcobble at the Tabun cave, which was used by hominids forabrading surfaces.[11]
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According to Jacquetta Hawkes, Yusra acted as foreman in charge of picking out items before the excavated soil was sieved; over the years, she became expert in recognising bone, fauna, hominid and lithic remains and had spotted a tooth which led to the crushed skull. Hawkes remembered talking to Yusra about coming up to Cambridge. "She had a dream. She was very able indeed. Yusra would obviously have been a Newnham Fellow." The villages of Jeba and Ljsim were destroyed in 1948 and most members of the Palestinian team could not be traced.
herding at Tabun cave.
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