Raqefet Cave (''Cyclamen Cave'') is a
Late Natufian archaeological site located in
Mount Carmel
Mount Carmel (; ), also known in Arabic as Mount Mar Elias (; ), is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast. The range is a UNESCO biosphere reserve. A number of towns are situat ...
in the north of
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
Raqefet Cave was discovered in 1956. The site indicates plants were already used as food here before the advent of agriculture.
Remains in one of the chambers of the cave suggest the production of
beer
Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...
during the occupation of the cave. The earliest archaeological evidence of fermentation consists of 13,000-year-old residues of a beer with the consistency of
gruel
Gruel is a food consisting of some type of cereal—such as ground oats, wheat, rye, or rice—heated or boiled in water or milk. It is a thinner version of porridge that may be more often drunk rather than eaten. Historically, gruel has been a ...
, used by the semi-nomadic
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 ...
s for ritual feasting, at the Raqefet Cave.
Earlier levels at Raqefet include remains from 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 ...
.
Earlier
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 ...
remains were also found at Site 187.
In 2020,
incised slabs were discovered at Raqefet Cave, with a human figure most likely shown as dancing.
Gallery
Raqefet homo18.JPG, Human remains
Raqefet mortars.JPG, Rock mortars used to prepare malt for beer manufacture
File:Raqefet Cave rock mortars.jpg, Raqefet Cave rock mortars.
Raqefet view.JPG, View of the valley from inside the cave
See also
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History of beer
Beer is one of the oldest human-produced drinks. The recorded history, written history of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia records the use of beer, and the drink has spread throughout the world; a 3,900-year-old Sumerian poem honouring Ninkasi, t ...
References
Bibliography
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{{Authority control
Prehistoric sites in Israel
Natufian sites
1956 archaeological discoveries
Landforms of Northern District (Israel)
Caves of Israel
Mount Carmel
Levantine Aurignacian
Mousterian
11th millennium BC