Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T07:06:28.619Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Pleistocene amphibians and squamates from the Upper Jordan Rift Valley, Gesher Benot Ya’aqov and Nahal Mahanayeem Outlet (MIS 20–18 and MIS 4/3)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 October 2018

Rebecca Biton ,
Salvador Bailon ,
Naama Goren-Inbar ,
Gonen Sharon  and
Rivka Rabinovich
Rebecca Biton*
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, National Natural History Collections, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9190501, Israel; and Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi di Torino, 10125Turin, Italy
Salvador Bailon
Affiliation:
UMR 7209 Archéozoologie, Archéobotanique: Sociétés, pratiques et environnements, Sorbonne Universités, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, CNRS, CP55, 75005Paris, France; and UMR 7194 Histoire naturelle de l’Homme préhistorique, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, UPVD, CNRS, 75013Paris, France
Naama Goren-Inbar
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9190501, Israel
Gonen Sharon
Affiliation:
Prehistory Laboratory, Tel Hai College, East Campus, Upper Galilee, Israel1220800
Rivka Rabinovich
Affiliation:
National Natural History Collections, Institute of Earth Sciences, Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9190401, Israel
*
*Correspondence to: Rebecca Biton; Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus Campus, Jerusalem 9190501, Israel. E-mail address: [email protected] (R. Biton).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The Acheulian site of Gesher Benot Ya’aqov (GBY) and the Mousterian site of Nahal Mahanayeem Outlet (NMO) are open-air sites situated on the bank of the Upper Jordan River at its southern estuary in the Hula Valley, Israel. Both sites were deposited on the shore of a paleo-Lake Hula, a shallow body of water that persisted throughout a considerable part of the Pleistocene as a fresh-water lake. Most of the amphibian and squamate taxa recovered are aquatic species related to the natural biota of the Hula Valley, alongside some terrestrial species. Twelve amphibian and squamate taxa were recovered at each site. Most of the species recovered from the archaeological contexts do not differ from extant Hula Valley amphibians and squamates, with the exception of a varanid (Varanus sp.) recovered at GBY and the possible presence of the eastern fourlined ratsnake (cf. Elaphe sauromates). The snake’s presence could indicate slightly cooler conditions during human occupation at NMO. A noteworthy continuity in species presence is observed throughout the many archaeological horizons as well as in comparison to the current Hula basin fauna. This suggests a surprising similarity in environmental conditions over a significant portion of the Quaternary in this region.

Keywords

AmphibiansSquamatesSouthern LevantHula ValleyUpper Jordan RiverPleistoceneQuaternary
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 91 , Issue 1 , January 2019 , pp. 345 - 366
Copyright
Copyright © University of Washington. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Aharonovich, S., Sharon, G., Weinstein-Evron, M., 2014. Palynological investigations at the Middle Palaeolithic site of Nahal Mahanayeem Outle, Israel. Quaternary International 331, 149–166.Google Scholar
Almogi-Labin, A., 2011. The paleoclimate of the Eastern Mediterranean during the transition from early to mid-Pleistocene (900 to 700 ka) based on marine and non-marine records: an integrated overview. Journal of Human Evolution 60, 428–436.Google Scholar
Almogi-Labin, A., Bar-Matthews, M., Ayalon, A., 2004. Climate variability in the Levant and northeast Africa during the Late Quaternary based on marine and land records. In: Goren-Inbar, N., Speth, J. D. (Eds.), Human Paleoecology in the Levantine Corridor. Oxbow Books, Oxford, pp. 117–134.Google Scholar
Almogi-Labin, A., Bar-Matthews, M., Shriki, D., Kolosovsky, E., Paterne, M., Schilman, B., Ayalon, A., Aizenshtat, Z., Matthews, A., 2009. Climatic variability during the last ~90ka of the southern and northern Levantine Basin as evident from marine records and speleothems. Quaternary Science Reviews 28, 2882–2896.Google Scholar
Alperson-Afil, N., Goren-Inbar, N., 2016. Acheulian hafting: proximal modification of small flint flakes at Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, Israel. Quaternary International 411, 34–43.Google Scholar
Alperson-Afil, N., Goren-Inbar, N., 2010. The Acheulian Site of Gesher Benot Ya’aqov: Ancient Flames and Controlled Use of Fire. Springer, Dordrecht, Netherlands.Google Scholar
Alperson-Afil, N., Sharon, G., Kislev, M., Melamed, Y., Zohar, I., Ashkenazi, S., Rabinovich, R., et al., 2009. Spatial organization of hominin activities at Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, Israel. Science 326, 1677–1680.Google Scholar
Andrews, P., 2006. Taphonomic effects of faunal impoverishment and faunal mixing. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 241, 572–589.Google Scholar
Ashkenazi, S., Klass, K., Mienis, H. K., Spiro, B., Abel, R., 2009. Fossil embryos and adult Viviparidae from the Early–Middle Pleistocene of Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, Israel: ecology, longevity and fecundity. Lethaia 43, 116–127.Google Scholar
Ashkenazi, S., Motro, U., Goren-Inbar, N., Biton, R., Rabinovich, R., 2005. New morphometric parameters for assessment of body size and population structure in freshwater fossil crab assemblage from the Pleistocene site of Gesher Benot Ya’aqov (GBY), Israel. Journal of Archaeological Science 32, 675–689.Google Scholar
Avery, D.M., 1988. Micromammals and paleoenvironmental interpretation in southern Africa. Geoarchaeology 3, 41–52.Google Scholar
Bailon, S., 1997. La grenouille rousse (Rana temporaria). Une source de nourriture pour les habitants de Chalain 3. In: Petrequin, I. (Ed.), Les Sites Littoraux Néolithiques de Clairvaux-les-Lacs et de Chalain (Jura). Tome 2. Chalain station 3: 3200-2900 av. J.-C. Éditions de la Maison des sciences de l’homme, Paris, pp. 711–716.Google Scholar
Bailon, S., 1999. Différenciation ostéologique des anoures (Amphibia, Anura) de France. In: Desse, J., Desse-Berset, N. (Eds.), Fiches d’ostéologie animale pour l’archéologie. Série c. Varia. Centre de Recherches Archéologique. CNRS, Valbonne, France, pp. 1–38.Google Scholar
Bailon, S., 2011. La taphonomie des amphibiens et des reptiles squamates: état de la question. In: Laroulandie, V., Mallye, J.-B, Denys, C. (Eds.), Taphonomie des Petits Vertébrés: Référentiels et Transferts aux Fossiles. British Archaeological Reports, International Series 2269, Archaeopress, Oxford, pp. 33–41.Google Scholar
Bailon, S., Aouraghe, H., 2002. Amphibiens, chéloniens et squamates du pléistocène supérieur d’El Harhoura 1 (Témara, Maroc). Geodiversitas 24, 821–830.Google Scholar
Bailon, S., Blain, H.-A., 2007. Faunes de reptiles et changements climatiques en Europe occidentale autour de la limite Plio-Pléistocène. Quaternaire 18, 55–63.Google Scholar
Bailon, S., Rage, J.-C., 1992. Amphibiens et reptiles du Quaternaire. Relations avec l’ homme. Mémoires de la Société Géologique de France 160, 95–100.Google Scholar
Bar, A., Haimovitch, G., 2011. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Israel. Pazbar LTD 1989. Herzelia, Israel.Google Scholar
Bar-Matthews, M., 2014. History of water in the Middle East and North Africa. In: Holland, H. D., Turekian, K. K. (Eds.), Treatise on Geochemistry. Elsevier, Oxford, pp. 109–128.Google Scholar
Bar-Matthews, M., Ayalon, A., Gilmour, M., Matthews, A., Hawkesworth, C.J., 2003. Sealand oxygen isotopic relationship from planktonic foraminifera and speleothems in the Eastern Mediterranean region and their implication for paleorainfall during interglacial intervals. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 67, 3181–3199.Google Scholar
Bar-Matthews, M., Ayalon, A., Kaufman, A., 1997. Late Quaternary paleoclimate in the eastern Mediterranean region from stable isotope analysis of speleothems at Soreq Cave, Israel. Quaternary Research 47, 155–168.Google Scholar
Bar-Matthews, M., Ayalon, A., Kaufman, A., Wasserburg, G.J., 1999. The eastern Mediterranean paleoclimate as a reflection of regional events: Soreq cave, Israel. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 166, 85–95.Google Scholar
Bar-Matthews, M., Ayalon, A., Vaks, A., Fraumkin, A., 2017. Climate and environment reconstructions based on speleothems from the Levant. In: Enzel, Y., Bar-Yosef, O. (Eds.), Quaternary of the Levant: Environments, Climate Change, and Humans. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 151–163.Google Scholar
Barroso Ruiz, C., Bailon, S., 2003. Los anfíbios y los reptiles del Pleistoceno superior de la cueva del Boquete de Zafarraya. In: Barroso Ruiz, C. (Ed.), El Pleistoceno Superior de la Cueva del Boquete de Zafarraya. Arqueología (Junta de Andalucía) Mongrafias 15. Junta de Andalucía, Consejería de Cultura, Dirección General de Bienes Culturales, Axarquía, Spain, pp. 267–276.Google Scholar
Bartov, Y., Goldstein, S. L., Mordechai, S., Enzel, Y., 2003. Catastrophic arid episodes in the Eastern Mediterranean linked with the North Atlantic Heinrich events. Geology 31, 439–442.Google Scholar
Bar-Yosef, O., 2017. Facing climatic hazards: Paleolithic foragers and Neolithic farmers. Quaternary International 428, 64–72.Google Scholar
Bar-Yosef, O., Tchernov, E., 1966. Archaeological finds and the fossil faunas of the Natufian and Microlithic industries at Hayonim Cave, western Galilee, Israel. Israel Journal of Zoology 15, 104–140.Google Scholar
Belitzky, S., 2002. The structure and morphotectonics of the Gesher Benot Ya’aqov area, Northern Dead Sea Rift, Israel. Quaternary Research 58, 372–380.Google Scholar
Belmaker, M., Bar-Yosef, O., Belfer-Cohen, A., Meshveliani, T., Jakeli, N., 2016. The environment in the Caucasus in the Upper Paleolithic (Late Pleistocene): evidence from the small mammals from Dzudzuana cave, Georgia. Quaternary International 425, 4–15.Google Scholar
Belmaker, M., Hovers, E., 2011. Ecological change and the extinction of the Levantine Neanderthals: implications from a diachronic study of micromammals from Amud Cave, Israel. Quaternary Science Reviews 30, 3196–3209.Google Scholar
Biton, R., Boistel, R., Rabinovich, R., Gafny, S., Brumfeld, V., Bailon, S., 2016. Osteological observations on the Alytid Anura Latonia nigriventer with comments on functional morphology, biogeography, and evolutionary history. Journal of Morphology 277, 1131–1145.Google Scholar
Biton, R., Geffen, E., Vences, M., Cohen, O., Bailon, S., Rabinovich, R., Malka, Y., et al., 2013. The rediscovered Hula painted frog is a living fossil. Nature Communications 4, article 1959. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms2959.Google Scholar
Biton, R., Sharon, G., Oron, M., Steiner, T., Rabinovich, R., 2017. Freshwater turtle or tortoise? The exploitation of testudines at the Mousterian site of Nahal Mahanayeem Outlet, Hula Valley, Israel. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 14, 409–419.Google Scholar
Blain, H.-A., 2005. Contribution de la Paleohertofaune (Amphibia & Squamata) a la Connaissance de l’Evolution du Climat et du Paysage du Pliocene Superieur au Pleistocene Moyen d’Espagne. PhD thesis, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle de Paris.Google Scholar
Blain, H.-A., 2010. First report of a green toad (Bufo viridis sensu lato) in the Early Pleistocene of Spain: palaeobiogeographical and palaeoecological implications. Comptes Rendus Palevol 9, 487–497.Google Scholar
Blain, H.-A., Agustí, J., Lordkipanidze, D., Rook, L., Delfino, M., 2014a. Paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental context of the Early Pleistocene hominins from Dmanisi (Georgia, Lesser Caucasus) inferred from the herpetofaunal assemblage. Quaternary Science Reviews 105, 136–150.Google Scholar
Blain, H.-A., Bailon, S., Burjachs, F., López-García, J.M., Lozano-Fernández, I., Rosell, J., 2013a. Early Pleistocene palaeoenvironments at the time of the Homo antecessor settlement in the Gran Dolina cave (Atapuerca, Spain). Journal of Quaternary Science 28, 311–319.Google Scholar
Blain, H.-A., Bailon, S., Cuenca-Bescos, G., Arsuaga, J.L., Bermudez de Castro, J.M., Carbonell, E., 2009. Long-term climate record inferred from early-middle Pleistocene amphibian and squamate reptile assemblages at the Gran Dolina Cave, Atapuerca, Spain. Journal of Human Evolution 56, 55–65.Google Scholar
Blain, H.-A., Bailon, S., Cuenca-Bescos, G., Bennàsar, M., Rofes, J., López-García, J.M., Huguet, R., et al.., 2010. Climate and environment of the earliest West European hominins inferred from amphibian and squamate reptile assemblages: Sima del Elefante Lower Red Unit, Atapuerca, Spain. Quaternary Science Reviews 29, 3034–3044.Google Scholar
Blain, H.-A., Gleed-Owen, C.P., López-García, J.M., Carrión, J.S., Jennings, R., Finlayson, G., Finlayson, C., Giles, F., 2013b. Climatic conditions for the last Neanderthals: herpetofaunal record of Gorham’s Cave, Gibraltar. Journal of Human Evolution 64, 289–299.Google Scholar
Blain, H.-A., López-García, J.M., Cuenca-Bescos, G., 2011. Une faune très diversifiée d’amphibiens et de reptiles du Pléistocène moyen de la Sierra d’Atapuerca (Sima del Elefante, Burgos, Nord-Ouest de l’Espagne). Geobios 44, 157–172.Google Scholar
Blain, H-A., Lozano-Fernández, I., Agustí, J., Bailon, S., Menendez Granda, L., Espígares Ortiz, M.P., Ros-Montoya, S., et al., 2016. Refining upon the climatic background of the Early Pleistocene hominid settlement in Western Europe: Barranco Leon and Fuente Nueva-3 (Guadix-Baza Basin, SE Spain). Quaternary Science Reviews 144, 132–144.Google Scholar
Blain, H.-A., Lozano-Fernández, I., Böhme, G., 2015. Variation in the ilium of central European water frogs Pelophylax (Amphibia, Ranidae) and its implications for species-level identification of fragmentary anuran fossils. Zoological Studies 54, 5.Google Scholar
Blain, H.-A., Rubio-Jara, S., Panera, J., Uribelarrea, D., Laplana, C., Herráez, E., Pérez-González, A., 2017. A new Middle Pleistocene (Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 6) cold herpetofaunal assemblage from the central Iberian Peninsula (Manzanares Valley, Madrid). Quaternary Research 87, 499–515.Google Scholar
Blain, H.-A., Santonja, M., Pérez-González, A., Panera, J., Rubio-Jara, S., 2014b. Climate and environments during Marine Isotope Stage 11 in the central Iberian Peninsula: the herpetofaunal assemblage from the Acheulean site of Áridos-1, Madrid. Quaternary Science Reviews 94, 7–21.Google Scholar
Brand, L.R., Hussey, M., Taylor, J., 2003. Decay and disarticulation of small vertebrates in controlled experiments. Journal of Taphonomy 1, 69–95.Google Scholar
Claessens, L., 1995. Miocene Reptilian and Amphibian Faunas of Anatolia. PhD Dissertation, Utrecht University, Netherlands.Google Scholar
Cuenca-Bescós, G., López-García, J.M., Blain, H.-A., 2016. Small vertebrates and the biochronology, biostratigraphy and paleoecology of the Quaternary. Comptes Rendus Palevol 15, 615–619.Google Scholar
Cuenca-Bescós, G., Straus, L.G., Gonzalez-Morales, M.R., Garcia-Pimienta, J.C., 2009. The reconstruction of past environments through small mammals: from the Mousterian to the Bronze Age in El Miron Cave (Cantabria, Spain). Journal of Archaeological Science 36, 947–955.Google Scholar
Delfino, M., Bar-Oz, G., Weissbrod, L., 2007. Recent shrinkage of the range of the Eastern Spadefoot Toad, Pelobates syriacus (Amphibia: Anura): archaeological evidence from the Bronze Age in Israel. Zoology in the Middle East 40, 45–52.Google Scholar
Dimentman, C., Bromley, H.J., Por, D.F., 1992. Lake Hula: Reconstruction of the Fauna and Hydrobiology of a Lost Lake. Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Jerusalem.Google Scholar
Enzel, Y., Amit, R., Dayan, U., Crouvi, O., Kahana, R., Baruch, Z., Sharon, D., 2008. The climatic and physiographic controls of the eastern Mediterranean over the late Pleistocene climates in the southern Levant and its neighboring deserts. Global and Planetary Change, 165–192.Google Scholar
Feibel, C.S., 2001. Archaeological sediments in lake margin environments. In: Stein, J.K., Farrand, W. R. (Eds.), Sediments in Archaeological Contexts. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, pp. 127–148.Google Scholar
Feibel, C.S., 2004. Quaternary lake margins of the Levant Rift Valley. In: Goren-Inbar, N., Speth, J.D. (Eds.), Human Paleoecology in the Levantine Corridor. Oxbow Books, Oxford, pp. 21–36.Google Scholar
Feibel, C.S., Goren-Inbar, N., Frumin, M., 2009. Historical perspectives on long-term landscape evolution in the Hula Basin. In: Shea, J.J., Lieberman, D.E. (Eds.), Transitions in Prehistory: Essays in Honor of Ofer Bar-Yosef. Oxbow Books for the American Schools of Prehistoric Research, Oxford, pp. 23–31.Google Scholar
Fernández-Jalvo, Y., 1995. Small mammal taphonomy at La Trinchera de Atapuerca Burgos, Spain. A remarkable example of taphonomic criteria used for stratigraphic correlations and palaeoenvironment interpretations. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatololgy Palaeoecology 114, 167–195.Google Scholar
Fernández-Jalvo, Y., Andrews, P., 2016. Atlas of Taphonomic Identifications: 1001+ Images of Fossil and Recent Mammal Bone Modification. Springer, Dordrecht, Netherlands.Google Scholar
Frumkin, A., Bar-Yosef, O., Schwarcz, H.P., 2011. Possible paleohydrologic and paleoclimatic effects on hominin migration and occupation of the Levantine Middle Paleolithic. Journal of Human Evolution 60, 437–451.Google Scholar
Frumkin, A., Ford, D.C., Schwarcz, H.P., 1999. Continental oxygen isotopic record of the last 170,000 years in Jerusalem. Quaternary Research 51, 317–327.Google Scholar
Frumkin, A., Ford, D.C., Schwarcz, H.P., 2000. Paleoclimate and vegetation of the last glacial cycles in Jerusalem from a speleothem record. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 104, 863–870.Google Scholar
Gafny, S., 1986. The Biology and Ecology of the Syrian Spadefoot Toad Pelobates syriacus syriacus in Israel. MSc dissertation, Zoology Department and the Institute for Nature Conservation Research, Tel Aviv University.Google Scholar
Goldstein, M., 2011. Taphonomic Processes in Lake Margin Environments: Microvertebrate Remains at Gesher Benot Ya’aqov (Area A), Israel—A Case Study. PhD thesis, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.Google Scholar
Goren-Inbar, N., 1992. The Acheulian site of Gesher Benot Ya’aqov—an Asian or an African entity?. In: Akazawa, T., Aoki, K., Kimura, T. (Eds.), The Evolution and Dispersal of Modern Humans in Asia. Hokusen-sha, Tokyo, pp. 67–82.Google Scholar
Goren-Inbar, N., 2011. Culture and cognition in the Acheulian industry: a case study from Gesher Benot Ya’aqov. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B 366, 1038–1049.Google Scholar
Goren-Inbar, N., 2017. Gesher Benot Ya’aqov. In: Enzel, Y., Bar-Yosef, O. (Eds.), Quaternary of the Levant: Environments, Climate Change, and Humans. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 179–186.Google Scholar
Goren-Inbar, N., Belitzky, S., Verosub, K., Werker, E., Kislev, M., Heimann, A., Carmi, I., Rosenfeld, A., 1992. New discoveries at the Middle Pleistocene Gesher Benot Ya’aqov Acheulian site. Quaternary Research 38, 117–128.Google Scholar
Goren-Inbar, N., Feibel, C.S., Verosub, K.L., Melamed, Y., Kislev, M.E., Tchernov, E., Saragusti, I., 2000. Pleistocene milestones on the Out-of Africa corridor at Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, Israel. Science 289, 944–947.Google Scholar
Goren-Inbar, N., Lister, A., Werker, E., Chech, M., 1994. A butchered elephant skull and associated artifacts from the Acheulian site of Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, Israel. Paléorient 20, 99–112.Google Scholar
Goren-Inbar, N., Sharon, G., Melamed, Y., Kislev, M., 2002a. Nuts, nut cracking, and pitted stones at Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, Israel. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 99, 2455–2460.Google Scholar
Goren-Inbar, N., Speth, J.D., 2004. Human Paleoecology in the Levantine Corridor. Oxbow Books, Oxford.Google Scholar
Goren-Inbar, N., Werker, E., Feibel, C.S., 2002b. The Acheulian Site of Gesher Benot Ya’aqov: The Wood Assemblage. Oxbow Books, Oxford.Google Scholar
Grillitsch, H., Werner, Y.L., 2009. The southern limit of Natrix natrix in the Levant—a detective story (Squamata: Serpentes: Colubridae). Herpetozoa 22, 65–74.Google Scholar
Gvoždík, V., Moravec, J., Klütsch, C., Kotlík, P., 2010. Phylogeography of the Middle Eastern tree frogs (Hyla, Hylidae, Amphibia) as inferred from nuclear and mitochondrial DNA variation, with a description of a new species. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 55, 1146–1166.Google Scholar
Haas, G., 1963. Preliminary remarks on the early Quaternary faunal assemblage from Tel ‘Ubeidiya, Jordan Valley. Southern African Journal of Science 59, 73–76.Google Scholar
Haas, G., 1966. On the Vertebrate Fauna of the Lower Pleistocene Site ‘Ubeidiya. Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Jerusalem.Google Scholar
Haas, G., 1967. Bemerkungen über die Fauna der Geula-Hoehle, Carmel. Quaternaria 9, 97–104.Google Scholar
Haas, G., 1968. On the fauna of ‘Ubeidiya. Proceedings of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities (Section of Sciences) 7, 1–14.Google Scholar
Haller-Probst, M., Schleich, H.H., 1994. Vergleichende osteologische Untersuchungen an einigen Urodelen Eurasiens (Amphibia: Urodela, Salamandridae, Proteidae). Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg 173, 23–77.Google Scholar
Hartman, G., 2004. Long-term continuity of a freshwater turtle (Mauremys caspica rivulata) population in the Northern Jordan Valley and its paleoenvironmental implications. In: Goren-Inbar, N., Speth, J. (Eds.), Human Paleoecology in the Levantine Corridor. Oxbow Books, Oxford, pp. 61–74.Google Scholar
Heimann, A., Zilberman, E., Amit, R., Frieslander, U., 2009. Northward migration of the southern diagonal fault of the Hula pull-apart basin, Dead Sea Transform, northern Israel. Tectonophysics 476, 496–511.Google Scholar
Heller, J., 1978. The faunal remains of Iraq e Zigan, a late Pleistocene site on Mt. Carmel. Israel Journal of Zoology 27, 11–19.Google Scholar
Horowitz, A., 1988. The Quaternary environments and paleogeography in Israel. In: Yom-Tov, Y., Tchernov, E. (Eds.), The Zoogeography of Israel. Dr. W. Junks, Dordrecht, Netherlands, pp. 35–57.Google Scholar
Horowitz, A., 2001. The Jordan Rift Valley. Balkema, Rotterdam, Netherlands.Google Scholar
Kalbe, J., Mischke, S., Dulski, P., Sharon, G., 2015. The Middle Palaeolithic Nahal Mahanayeem Outlet site, Israel: reconstructing the environment of Late Pleistocene wetlands in the eastern Mediterranean from ostracods. Journal of Archaeological Science 54, 385–395.Google Scholar
Kalbe, J., Sharon, G., Porat, N., Zhang, C., Mischke, S., 2014. Geological setting and age of the Middle Paleolithic site of Nahal Mahanayeem Outlet (Upper Jordan Valley, Israel). Quaternary International 331, 139–148.Google Scholar
Kolodny, Y., Mordechai, S., Machlus, M., 2005. Sea-rain-lake relation in the Last Glacial East Mediterranean revealed by δ18Ο−δ13C in Lake Lisan aragonites. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 69, 4045–4060.Google Scholar
Lloveral, L., Cosso, A., Solé, J., Claramunt-López, B., Nadal, J., 2017. Taphonomic signature of golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) on bone prey remains. Historical Biology 30(6), 835–854. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2017.1319830.Google Scholar
Lloveral, L., Nadal, J., Moreno-García, M., Thomas, R., Anglada, J., Baucells, J., Martorell, C., Vilasís, D., 2014. The role of the Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus) as a bone accumulator in cliff rock shelters: an analysis of modern bone nest assemblages from North-eastern Iberia. Journal of Archaeological Science 44, 76–90.Google Scholar
Magurran, A., 2004. Measuring Biological Diversity. Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford, UK.Google Scholar
Magurran, A.E., Dornelas, M., 2010. Biological diversity in a changing world. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B 365, 3593–3597.Google Scholar
Marder, O., Biton, R., Boaretto, E., Feibel, C.-S., Melamed, Y., Mienis, H.K., Rabinovich, R., Zohar, I., Sharon, G., 2015. Jordan River Dureijat—a new Epipaleolithic site in the Upper Jordan Valley. Journal of Israel Prehistoric Society 45, 5–30.Google Scholar
Maul, L.C., Bruch, A.A., Smith, K.T., Shenbrot, G., Barkai, R., Gopher, A., 2016. Palaeoecological and biostratigraphical implications of the microvertebrates of Qesem Cave in Israel. Quaternary International 398, 219–232.Google Scholar
Maul, L.C., Smith, K.T., Barkai, R., Barash, A., Karkanas, P., Shahack-Gross, R., Gopher, A., 2011. Microfaunal remains at Middle Pleistocene Qesem Cave, Israel: preliminary results on small vertebrates, environment and biostratigraphy. Journal of Human Evolution 60, 464–480.Google Scholar
Melamed, Y., Kislev, M.E., Geffen, E., Lev-Yadun, S., Goren-Inbar, N., 2016. The plant component of an Acheulian diet at Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, Israel. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 51, 14674–14679.Google Scholar
Melamed, Y., Kislev, M., Weiss, E., Simchoni, O., 2011. Extinction of water plants in the Hula Valley: evidence for climate change. Journal of Human Evolution 60, 320–327.Google Scholar
Mienis, H.K., Ashkenazi, S., 2011. Lentic Basommatophora molluscs and hygrophilous land snails as indicators of habitat and climate in the Early-Middle Pleistocene (0.78 Ma) at the site of Gesher Benot Ya’aqov (GBY), Israel. Journal of Human Evolution 60, 328–340.Google Scholar
Mischke, S., Ashkenazi, S., Almogi-Labin, A., Goren-Inbar, N., 2014. Ostracod evidence for the Acheulian environment of the ancient Hula Lake (Levant) during the early-mid Pleistocene transition. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology 412, 148–159.Google Scholar
Nel, T.H., Henshilwood, C. S., 2016. The small mammal sequence from the c. 76–72 ka Still Bay Levels at Blombos Cave, South Africa—taphonomic and palaeoecological implications for human behaviour. PLoS ONE 11(8), e0159817.Google Scholar
Perl, R.G.B., Gafny, S., Malka, Y., Renan, S., Woodhams, D.C., Rollins-Smith, L., Pask, J.D., Bletz, M.C., Geffen, E., Vences, M., 2017. Natural history and conservation of the rediscovered Hula painted frog, Latonia nigriventer . Contributions to Zoology 86, 11–37.Google Scholar
Piñero, P., Agustí, J., Blain, H.-A., Laplana, C., 2016. Paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the Early Pleistocene site of Quibas (SE Spain) using a rodent assemblage. Comptes Rendus Palevol 15, 659–668.Google Scholar
Pinto-Llona, A.C., Andrews, P.J., 1999. Amphibian taphonomy and its application to the fossil record of Dolina (middle Pleistocene, Atapuerca, Spain). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 149, 411–429.Google Scholar
Por, D.F., 2004. The Levantine waterway, riparian archaeology, paleolimnology and conservation. In: Goren-Inbar, N., Speth, J.D. (Eds.), Human Paleoecology in the Levantine Corridor. Oxbow Books, Oxford, pp. 5–20.Google Scholar
Rabinovich, R., Biton, R., 2011. The Early–Middle Pleistocene faunal assemblages of Gesher Benot Ya’aqov—inter-site variability. Journal of Human Evolution 60, 357–374.Google Scholar
Rabinovich, R., Gaudzinski-Windheuser, S., Goren-Inbar, N., 2008. Systematic butchering of fallow deer (Dama) at the early middle Pleistocene Acheulian site of Gesher Benot Ya’aqov (Israel). Journal of Human Evolution 54, 134–149.Google Scholar
Rabinovich, R., Gaudzinski-Windheuser, S., Kindler, L., Goren-Inbar, N., 2012. The Acheulian Site of Gesher Benot Ya’aqov. Vol. 3. The Mammalian Taphonomy: The Assemblages of Layers V-5 and V-6 . Springer, Dordrecht, Netherlands.Google Scholar
Rage, J.-C, Roček, Z., 2003. Evolution of anuran assemblages in the Tertiary and Quaternary of Europe, in the context of palaeoclimate and palaeogeography. Amphibia-Reptilia 24, 133–167.Google Scholar
Rak, Y., 1993. Morphological variation in Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens in the Levant: a biogeographic model. In: Kimbel, W.H., Martin, L.B. (Eds.), Species, Species Concepts, and Primate Evolution. Plenum, New York, pp. 523–536.Google Scholar
Rambeau, C. M., 2010. Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction in the Southern Levant: synthesis, challenges, recent developments and perspectives. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A 368, 5225–5248.Google Scholar
Rauscher, K. L., 1992. Die Echsen (Lacertilia, Reptilia) aus dem Plio-Pleistozän von Bad Deutsch-Altenburg, Niederösterreich. Beiträge zur Paläontologie von Österreich 17, 81–177.Google Scholar
Rey, J.M., Sanchiz, B., 2005. Differential anuran bone preservation in a taphocenotic sample of Barn owl pellets. Munibe (Antropologia-Arkeologia) 57, 505–509.Google Scholar
Robinson, S.A., Black, S., Sellwood, B.W., Valdes, P.J., 2006. A review of palaeoclimates and palaeoenvironments in the Levant and Eastern Mediterranean from 25,000 to 5000 years BP: setting the environmental background for the evolution of human civilisation. Quaternary Science Reviews 25, 1517–1541.Google Scholar
Sanchis Serra, A., Real Margalef, C., Morales Pérez, J.V., Pérez Ripoll, M., Tormo Cuñat, C., Carrión Marco, Y., Pérez Jordá, G., Ribera Gómez, A., Bolufer Marqués, J., Villaverde Bonilla, V., 2014. Towards the identification of a new taphonomic agent: an analysis of bone accumulations obtained from modern Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus) nests. Quaternary International 330, 136–149.Google Scholar
Sanchiz, B., 1998. Encyclopedia of Paleoherpetology. Part 4. Salientia . Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, Munich.Google Scholar
Schattner, U., Weinberger, R., 2008. A mid-Pleistocene deformation transition in the Hula basin, northern Israel: implications for the tectonic evolution of the Dead Sea Fault. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 9(7), http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2007GC001937.Google Scholar
Sharon, G., Feibel, C.S., Belitzky, S., Marder, O., Khalaily, H., Rabinovich, R., 2002. 1999 Jordan River drainage project damages Gesher Benot Ya’aqov: preliminary study of the archaeological and geological implications. In: Gal, Z. (Ed.), Eretz Zafon—Studies in Galilean Archaeology. Israel Antiquities Authority, Jerusalem, pp. 1–19.Google Scholar
Sharon, G., Grosman, L., Fluck, H., Melamed, Y., Rak, Y., Rabinovich, R., Oron, M., 2010. The first two excavation seasons at NMO: a Mousterian site at the bank of the Jordan River. Eurasian Prehistory 7, 135–157.Google Scholar
Sharon, G., Oron, M., 2014. The lithic tool arsenal of a Mousterian hunter. Quaternary International 331, 167–185.Google Scholar
Shea, J.J., 2008. Transitions or turnovers? Climatically-forced extinctions of Homo sapiens and Neanderthals in the east Mediterranen Levant. Quaternary Science Reviews 27, 2253–2270.Google Scholar
Smith, K.T., Maul, L.C., Barkai, R., Gopher, A., 2013. To catch a chameleon, or actualism vs. natural history in the taphonomy of the microvertebrate fraction at Qesem Cave Israel. Journal of Archaeological Science 40, 3326–3339.Google Scholar
Smith, K.T., Maul, L.C., Flemming, F., Barkai, R., Gopher, A., 2016. The microvertebrates of Qesem Cave: a comparison of the two concentrations. Quaternary International 398, 233–245.Google Scholar
Spiro, B., Ashkenazi, S., Mienis, H.K., Melamed, Y., Feibel, C., Delgado, A., Starinsky, A., 2009. Climate variability in the Upper Jordan Valley around 0.78 Ma, inferences from time-series stable isotopes of Viviparidae, supported by mollusc and plant palaeoecology. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 282, 32–44.Google Scholar
Spiro, B., Ashkenazi, S., Starinsky, A., Katz, A., 2011. Strontium isotopes in Melanopsis sp. as indicators of variation in hydrology and climate in the Upper Jordan Valley during the Early-Middle Pleistocene, and wider implications. Journal of Human Evolution 60, 407–416.Google Scholar
Stekelis, M., Haas, G., 1952. The Abu Usba Cave. Israel Exploration . Journal 2, 15–47.Google Scholar
Stoetzel, E., Denys, C., Bailon, S., El Hajraoui, M. A., Nespoulet, R., 2012. Taphonomic analysis of amphibian and squamate remains from El Harhoura 2 (Rabat-Témara, Morocco): contributions to palaeoecological and archaeological interpretations. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 22, 616–635.Google Scholar
Stoetzel, E., Montuire, S., 2016. Rodents as indicators of past climates: application to three assemblages from Northern France. Quaternaire 27, 227–238.Google Scholar
Szyndlar, Z., 1984. Fossil snakes from Poland. Acta Zoologica Cracoviensia 28, 1–156.Google Scholar
Tchernov, E., 1982. Faunal responses to environmental changes in the eastern Mediterranean during the last 20,000 years. In: Bintliff, J.L., Zeist, W.V. (Eds.), Palaeoclimates, Paleoenvironments and Human Communities in the Eastern Mediterranean Region in Later Prehistory. BAR International Series 133. Archaeopress, Oxford, pp. 105–127.Google Scholar
Tchernov, E., 1984. The fauna of Sefunim cave, Mt. Carmel. Oxford. In: Ronen, A. (Ed.), Sefunim Prehistoric Sites, Mount Carmel, Israel. British Archaeological Reports International Series 230. Archaeopress, Oxford, pp. 401–419.Google Scholar
Tchernov, E., 1986. The rodents and lagomorphs from ‘Ubeidiya formation: systematics, paleoecology and biogeography. In: Tchernov, E. (Ed.), Les Mammiféres du Pléistocène Inférieur, de la Vallée du Jourdain a Oubéidiyeh. Association Paléorient, Paris, pp. 235–350.Google Scholar
Tchernov, E., 1994. An Early Neolithic Village in the Jordan Valley. Part 2. The Fauna of Netiv Hagdud . American School of Prehistoric Research Bulletin 44, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Tchernov, E., 1998. The faunal sequence of the soutwest Asian middle Paleolithic in relation to hominid dispersal events. In: Akazawa, T., Aoki, K., Bar-Yosef, O. (Eds.), Neanderthals and Modern Humans in Western Asia. Plenum Press, New York, pp. 77–90.Google Scholar
Torfstein, A., Goldstein, S.L., Stein, M., Enzel, Y., 2013. Impacts of abrupt climate changes in the Levant from last glacial Dead Sea levels. Quaternary Science Reviews 69, 1–7.Google Scholar
Turner-Walker, G., 2008. The chemical and microbial degradation of bones and teeth. In: Pinhasi, R., Mays, S. (Eds.), Advances in Human Palaeopathology. Wiley, Chichester, UK. pp. 3–29.Google Scholar
Vaks, A., Bar-Matthews, M., Ayalon, A., Matthews, A., Frumkin, A., 2008. Relations between Mediterranean cyclones and African Monsoon from speleothems of Negev Desert, Israel. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 72, A969.Google Scholar
Vaks, A., Bar-Matthews, M., Ayalon, A., Matthews, A., Frumkin, A., Dayan, U., Halicz, L., Almogi-Labin, A., Schilman, B., 2006. Paleoclimate and location of the border between Mediterranean climate region and the Saharo-Arabian desert as revealed by speleothems from northern Negev desert, Israel. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 249, 384–399.Google Scholar
Vaks, A., Bar-Matthews, M., Ayalon, A., Matthews, A., Halicz, L., Frumkin, A., 2007. Desert speleothems reveal climatic window for African exodus of early modern humans. Geology 35, 831–834.Google Scholar
Vaks, A., Bar-Matthews, M., Ayalon, A., Schilman, B., Gilmour, M., Hawkesworth, C.J., Frumkin, A., Kaufman, A., Matthews, A., 2003. Paleoclimate reconstruction based on the timing of speleothem growth and oxygen and carbon isotope composition in a cave located in the rain shadow in Israel. Quaternary Research 59, 182–193.Google Scholar
Valla, F.R., Bar-Yosef, O., Smith, P., Tchernov, E., Desse, J., 1986. Un nouveau sondage sur la terrasse d’El Ouad, Israël. Paléorient 12, 21–38.Google Scholar
Valla, F.R., Khalaily, H., Samuelian, N., Bocquentin, F., Bridault, A., Rabinovich, R., 2017. Eynan (Ain Mallaha). In: Enzel, Y., Bar-Yosef, O. (Eds.), Quaternary of the Levant: Environments, Climate Change, and Humans. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 291–294.Google Scholar
Venczel, M., 2000. Quaternary Snakes from Bihor (Romania). Ţării Crişurilor Museum, Oradea, Romania.Google Scholar
Vigne, J. D., Bailon, S., 2000. Incidence hygrométrique des “Petits Ages Glaciaires” subatlantiques sur les microvertébrés méditerranéens. Exemple Corse. In: Richard, H., Vignot, A. (Eds.), Actes du Colloque International de Besançon, Equilibres et Ruptures dans Les Écosystèmes Depuis 20 000 Ans en Europe de l’Ouest. Collections Annales Littéraires, Série Environnement, Sociétés et Archéologie 3. Presses universitaires franc-comtoises, Besançon, France, pp. 123–134.Google Scholar
Vitt, L.J., Caldwell, J.P., 2014. Herpetology. An Introductory Biology of Amphibians and Reptiles. 4th ed. Elsevier, Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Waldmann, N., Torfstein, A., Stein, M., 2010. Northward intrusions of low and mid latitude storms across the Saharo-Arabian belt during past interglacials. Geology 38, 567–570.Google Scholar
Walther, G.-R., Post, E., Bairlein, F., 2002. Ecological responses to recent climate change. Nature 416, 389–395.Google Scholar
Weinstein-Evron, M., 1983. The palaeoecology of the early Würm in the Hula basin, Israel. Paléorient 9, 5–19.Google Scholar
Weinstein-Evron, M., 1990. Palynological history of the last Pleniglacial in the Levant. In: Kozlowski, J.K. (Ed.), Feuilles de Pierre: Les Industries à Pointes Foliacées du Paléolithique Supèrieur Européen. Etudes et recherches archéologiques de l’Université de Liège 42. Liège, France, pp. 9–25.Google Scholar
Werker, E., Goren-Inbar, N., 2001. Reconstruction of the woody vegetation at the Acheulian Site of Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, Dead Sea Rift, Israel. In: Purdy B.A. (Ed.), Enduring Records: The Environmental and Cultural Heritage of Wetlands. Oxbow Books, Oxford, pp. 206–213.Google Scholar
Werner, Y.L., 1988. Herpetofaunal survey of Israel (1950-85), with comments on Sinai and Jordan and on zoogeographic heterogeneity. In: Yom-Tov, Y., Tchernov, E. (Eds.), The Zoogeography of Israel: The Distribution and Abundance at a Zoogeographical Crossroad. Junk, Dordrecht, Netherlands, pp. 355–388.Google Scholar
Werner, Y.L., 2016. Reptile Life in the Land of Israel. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt am Main.Google Scholar
Zohar, I., Biton, R., 2011. Land, lake, and fish: investigation of fish remains from Gesher Benot Ya’aqov (paleo-Lake Hula). Journal of Human Evolution 60, 343–356.Google Scholar
Zohar, I., Goren, M., Goren-Inbar, N., 2014. Fish and ancient lakes in the Dead Sea Rift: the use of fish remains to reconstruct the ichthyofauna of paleo-Lake Hula. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 405, 28–41.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

Biton et al. supplementary material

Figures S1-S3 and Table S1

Download Biton et al. supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 539.4 KB