Sitting on the tailing piles: creating extraction landscapes in Middle Pleistocene quarry complexes in the Levant

Abstract

Discoveries in Israel during the last two decades indicate flint quarrying from primary geological sources as early as the Middle Pleistocene. One of the most characteristic expressions of this old extraction activity is ubiquitous stone tailing piles created during quarrying consisting of extracted rock waste. Workshop flint-knapping products are found within and on top of these piles.

This paper discusses the creation of these piles in relation to the organization of quarrying and relevant human behavior at extraction sites. In the same context we speculate on the significance of these fascinating landscapes of extraction and the decision to work stone on top of the tailing piles.

Keywords:

• Flint extraction
• tailing piles
• Middle Pleistocene
• Lower–Middle Paleolithic
• Israel