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HaYonim Cave () is a cave located in a limestone bluff about 250 meters above modern sea level, in the
File:Flint end scraper with horn handle for working wood or leather, Late Stone Age, Hayonim Cave, 50000-22000 BP.jpg, Flint end scraper with horn handle for working wood or leather, Late Stone Age, Hayonim Cave, 50000-22000 BP
File:Aurignacian Culture Incised Animal Bones Hayonim Cave 28000 BP.jpg, Aurignacian Culture incised animal bones, Hayonim Cave, 28000 BP.
File:Aurignacian Culture Bone Tools, Hayonim Cave, 30000 BP.jpg, Aurignacian Culture bone tools (needle, points and tools for punching holes), Hayonim Cave, 30000 BP.
File:Stone Age Animal Carving, Hayonim Cave, 28000 BP.jpg, Carving of a horse, Hayonim Cave, 40,000-18,500 BP.
HaYonim Cave () is a cave located in a limestone bluff about 250 meters above modern sea level, in the Upper Galilee
The Upper Galilee (, ''HaGalil Ha'Elyon''; , ''Al Jaleel Al A'alaa'') is a geographical region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Part of the larger Galilee region, it is characterized by its higher elevations and mountainous terra ...
, Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
.
History
The site had substantial occupation during theMiddle Paleolithic
The Middle Paleolithic (or Middle Palaeolithic) is the second subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. The term Middle Stone Age is used as an equivalent or a synonym for the Middle P ...
Mousterian
The Mousterian (or Mode III) is an Industry (archaeology), archaeological industry of Lithic technology, stone tools, associated primarily with the Neanderthals in Europe, and with the earliest anatomically modern humans in North Africa and We ...
period, from 250,000 years ago to 100,000 years ago, and later, during the Epipalaeolithic
In archaeology, the Epipalaeolithic or Epipaleolithic (sometimes Epi-paleolithic etc.) is a period occurring between the Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic during the Stone Age. Mesolithic also falls between these two periods, and the two are someti ...
period and the Natufian
The Natufian culture ( ) is an archaeological culture of the late Epipalaeolithic Near East in West Asia from 15–11,500 Before Present. The culture was unusual in that it supported a sedentism, sedentary or semi-sedentary population even befor ...
culture around 12,000 years ago.
The Mousterian occupation of the cave included Levallois debitage
In archaeology, debitage is all the material produced during the process of lithic reduction – the production of stone tools and weapons by knapping stone. This Assemblage (archaeology), assemblage may include the different kinds of lithic fla ...
and early Middle Paleolithic blade technology, as well as a series of hearths.
In Hayonim were also found wall carvings depicting symbolic shapes and animals, such a running horse dated to between 40,000-18,500 BP, possibly to the Levantine Aurignacian
The Levantine Aurignacian (35,000-29,000 BP, calibrated, 32,000-26,000 BP, non-calibrated) is an Upper Paleolithic culture of the Near-Eastern Levant that evolved from the Emiran culture. It was named so because of the similarity of stone tools w ...
circa 28,000 BP, and now visible in the Israel Museum
The Israel Museum (, ''Muze'on Yisrael'', ) is an Art museum, art and archaeology museum in Jerusalem. It was established in 1965 as Israel's largest and foremost cultural institution, and one of the world's leading Encyclopedic museum, encyclopa ...
. This is considered as the first art object found within the context of the Levantine Upper Paleolithic.
The Natufian occupation of the cave featured circular rooms with prepared floors, with a thick midden of lithics
Lithic may refer to:
*Relating to stone tools
** Lithic analysis, the analysis of stone tools and other chipped stone artifacts
** Lithic core, the part of a stone which has had flakes removed from it
** Lithic flake, the portion of a rock removed ...
, groundstone objects, and worked bone. There were several hearths, and single graves located in abandoned rooms or outside inhabited rooms.
Israel Museum
The Israel Museum (, ''Muze'on Yisrael'', ) is an Art museum, art and archaeology museum in Jerusalem. It was established in 1965 as Israel's largest and foremost cultural institution, and one of the world's leading Encyclopedic museum, encyclopa ...
.
File:Bovine-Rib Dagger, Natufian Culture.jpg, Bovine-rib dagger, Hayonim Cave, Natufian Culture
The Natufian culture ( ) is an archaeological culture of the late Epipalaeolithic Near East in West Asia from 15–11,500 Before Present. The culture was unusual in that it supported a sedentism, sedentary or semi-sedentary population even befor ...
, 12500-9500 BC.
File:Woman's Pelvis Decorated with Fox Teeth, Natufian Culture.jpg, Woman's pelvis decorated with fox teeth, Hayonim Cave, Natufian Culture, 12500-9500 BC.
See also
* List of caves in Israel *Archaeology of Israel
The archaeology of Israel is the study of the archaeology of the present-day Israel, stretching from prehistory through three millennia of documented history. The ancient Land of Israel was a geographical bridge between the political and cultu ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayonim Natufian sites Caves of Israel Prehistoric sites in Israel Neanderthal sites Upper Galilee Mousterian Levantine Aurignacian