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
22 - Bizat Ruhama
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 archaeological horizon of Bizat Ruhama, an Early Pleistocene hominin site in the Negev Coastal Plain, Israel, is at the base of 17 m thick sedimentary sequence composed of loess, clays and sands. The site is assigned to the Matuyama reverse polarity chron. Equus cf. tabeti, and antelope Pontoceros ambiguus or Spirocerus sp. remains also points to an Early Pleistocene age. The fauna of Bizat Ruhama belongs to the same faunal unit as 'Ubeidiya and predates the Jaramillo normal event. The site represents a short-term occupation at an inter-dune depression, where animal carcasses were processed on site along with stone knapping activities. Micromorphological and faunal evidence indicate an open, poorly vegetated, semi-arid environment with patchy water sources. The lithic assemblage is composed of cores, flakes and secondarily knapped flakes. The bipolar technique was often used and the goal of the knapping was to produce sharp-edged flakes. Technological simplicity, use of bipolar technique, and absence of large flake technology and of bifacial knapping suggest that the site represents Oldowan dispersal out of Africa.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Quaternary of the LevantEnvironments, Climate Change, and Humans, pp. 195 - 202Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2017
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