Another Side of the Amudian Industry at Qesem Cave, Israel: The Southern Area Lithic Assemblage

ABSTRACT

This paper describes the techno-typological affinities of a specific Acheulo-Yabrudian lithic assemblage dated to over 300 ka years ago from Qesem Cave, a middle Pleistocene site in central Israel. Aspects of blade production, knapping trajectories, and lithic recycling are examined in detail, demonstrating that this assemblage, notwithstanding its initial attribution to the blade-dominated Amudian industry, has some specific characteristics differing from other Amudian assemblages in the cave. The study discusses similarities and differences within the Amudian industry and offers a broader view of the variability within the Amudian industry of Qesem Cave.

KEYWORDS:

• Qesem Cave
• Acheulo-Yabrudian cultural complex
• lithic analysis
• Amudian industry
• variability

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the Azrieli Foundation for the award of an Azrieli Fellowship. We thank Pavel Shrago and Sasha Flit (TAU) for the photographs used in this article.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Ella Assaf (MA, 2014, Tel-Aviv University) is a PhD candidate in the Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures, Tel Aviv University. Her research focuses on Paleolithic lithic technology.

Ran Barkai (PhD, 2000, Tel-Aviv University) is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures, Tel Aviv University. Together with Prof. Avi Gopher, he co-directs excavations at the Middle Pleistocene site of Qesem Cave and has published extensively on different aspects of Palaeolithic and Neolithic technology, subsistence, cosmology, and lifeways.

Avi Gopher (PhD, 1985, Hebrew University) is a Professor of Archaeology in the Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University. Together with prof. Ran Barkai, he co-directs excavations and research on the late Lower Paleolithic at Qesem Cave, Israel. His research interests also include the archaeological study of plant domestication in the Near East.

Additional information

Funding

The Qesem Cave lithic analysis is supported by the Israel Science Foundation, the Thyssen Foundation, the Leakey Foundation, the Dan David Foundation, the Irene Levi Sala Care Foundation, and Fritz Thyssen Stiftung (DE).