Book contents
- Quaternary of the Levant
- Quaternary of the Levant
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- 1 The Quaternary of the Levant
- Part I: The Evolution of Current Landscapes and Basins
- Part II: Palaeoclimates
- Part III: Archaeology of Human Evolution
- 20 ‘Ubeidiya
- 21 Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov
- 22 Bizat Ruhama
- 23 Qesem Cave and the Acheulo-Yabrudian Cultural Complex of the Levant
- 24 Tabun Cave in the Carmel Culture Sphere
- 25 Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel
- 26 Hayonim Cave
- 27 Kebara Cave
- 28 Qafzeh Cave and Terrace
- 29 Palaeolithic Occupations in Nahal Amud
- 30 The Palaeolithic Sequence of Ksar ‘Akil, Lebanon
- 31 The Early Upper Palaeolithic of Manot Cave, Western Galilee
- 32 Mughr el-Hamamah
- 33 Ohalo II: A 23,000-Year-Old Fisher-Hunter-Gatherer's Camp on the Shore of Fluctuating Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee)
- 34 Eynan (Ain Mallaha)
- 35 Hilazon Tachtit Cave, a Late Natufian Burial Site in the Western Lower Galilee, Israel
- 36 The Palaeolithic Cultural Sequence of Dederiyeh Cave, Syria
- 37 Survey and Excavation of Stone Age Sites in Jordan's Wadi al-Hasa: 1979–2012
- Part IV: Palaeoecology
- Part V: Quaternary Geomorphology
- Part VI: Humans in the Levant
- Index
- Plate section
- References
21 - Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov
from Part III: - Archaeology of Human Evolution
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 May 2017
Book contents
- Quaternary of the Levant
- Quaternary of the Levant
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- 1 The Quaternary of the Levant
- Part I: The Evolution of Current Landscapes and Basins
- Part II: Palaeoclimates
- Part III: Archaeology of Human Evolution
- 20 ‘Ubeidiya
- 21 Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov
- 22 Bizat Ruhama
- 23 Qesem Cave and the Acheulo-Yabrudian Cultural Complex of the Levant
- 24 Tabun Cave in the Carmel Culture Sphere
- 25 Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel
- 26 Hayonim Cave
- 27 Kebara Cave
- 28 Qafzeh Cave and Terrace
- 29 Palaeolithic Occupations in Nahal Amud
- 30 The Palaeolithic Sequence of Ksar ‘Akil, Lebanon
- 31 The Early Upper Palaeolithic of Manot Cave, Western Galilee
- 32 Mughr el-Hamamah
- 33 Ohalo II: A 23,000-Year-Old Fisher-Hunter-Gatherer's Camp on the Shore of Fluctuating Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee)
- 34 Eynan (Ain Mallaha)
- 35 Hilazon Tachtit Cave, a Late Natufian Burial Site in the Western Lower Galilee, Israel
- 36 The Palaeolithic Cultural Sequence of Dederiyeh Cave, Syria
- 37 Survey and Excavation of Stone Age Sites in Jordan's Wadi al-Hasa: 1979–2012
- Part IV: Palaeoecology
- Part V: Quaternary Geomorphology
- Part VI: Humans in the Levant
- Index
- Plate section
- References
Summary
The Acheulian site of Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov is a rich archive of the palaeoecological setting of hominin behaviour in the Upper Jordan Valley. The site reflects numerous occupational episodes at the paleo-Lake Hula margins, documenting 105 years around 0.75 Ma. In its Large Flake Acheulian industry, the main tools, handaxes and cleavers, were made on basalt flakes. Study of the flint, basalt, and limestone artefact assemblages provides comprehensive understanding of the manufacturing process and sheds light on other behavioural patterns. These include the exploitation of fauna (particularly elephant, hippo, fallow deer, and fish) and flora (50 species of edible plants). Reconstruction of hominin behaviour illustrates the wide extent of their mobility on the landscape, expressed in the introduction of different rocks and animals into the site and removal of tools from them. It also enables understanding complex behaviour involved in the selection of different locales for tool production. The mammal bones provide additional evidence of sophisticated cognitive abilities, further supported by the occurrence of fire all along the occupational sequence.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Quaternary of the LevantEnvironments, Climate Change, and Humans, pp. 187 - 194Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2017
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