Changing the Face of the Earth: Human Behavior at Sede Ilan, an Extensive Lower–Middle Paleolithic Quarry Site in Israel

Abstract

The Middle Pleistocene flint extraction and reduction complex of Sede Ilan is presented as a model for human behavior related to both raw material economy and landscape perception. The organized, large scale quarrying and flintknapping is dated to the Lower Paleolithic (represented by handaxe manufacture) and the Middle Paleolithic (dominated by the use of the Levallois technique). No evidence of Later Paleolithic or Neolithic-Chalclithic extraction and reduction was found at the Sede Ilan complex. The chapter discusses the following issues: (i) the familiarity of Middle Pleistocene Hominins with the landscape and natural resources; (ii) long-term use of specific flint outcrops and recurrent, large-scale use of designated industrial areas; (iii) the significant alteration of the pristine landscape; (iv) quarry landscape maintenance;(v) the possibility of traditional ecological knowledge, land-use legacies, and resource management and conservation practiced at the Sede Ilan quarrying complex. Our major conclusion is that the extensive Sede Ilan quarrying landscape reflects the talent of prehistoric man to procure large quantities of flint using a rare combination of knowledge, sophistication, and care.Lithic Materials and Paleolithic Societies Edited by Brian Adams and Brooke S. Blades

Late Pleistocene lakeshore settlement in northern Arabia: Middle Palaeolithic technology from Jebel Katefeh, Jubbah

“…The technological features of the JKF-12 assemblage, as well as its relatively low density, indicate that raw material acquisition was not particularly intensive, in contrast to examples of Middle Palaeolithic quarrying of large quantities of raw material in a highly organised manner over long time periods (e.g. Barkai and Gopher, 2009;Van Peer et al, 2010). At JKF-1, quartzite cores were reduced by diverse Levallois methods.…”

Middle Palaeolithic raw material procurement and early stage reduction at Jubbah, Saudi Arabia

“…Pua and others such as Sede Ilan indicate a much more intensive approach to raw material procurement (see e.g. Barkai and Gopher, 2009;Barkai et al, 2006). Test excavations at these localities demonstrate that a variety of tools, such as basalt and limestone wedges, were imported to the sites from elsewhere as part of organised, long term quarrying activities, creating 'industrial areas' and extensive modification of the landscape.…”

Middle Palaeolithic toolstone procurement behaviors at Lusakert Cave 1, Hrazdan valley, Armenia

“…Away from the valley, there are locations scattered across the GVC where massive obsidian-bearing facies reach or nearly reach the surface, providing a context for intensive quarrying similar to that reported in the Levant (e.g., Barkai et al, 2006;Barkai and Gopher, 2009;Gopher and Barkai, 2014).…”

“…Sites interpreted as quarrying locations have typically been characterized by the presence of tested 4 and/or partially worked blocks or nodules with high proportions of cortical flakes and low proportions of tools (e.g., Turq, 1988aTurq, , 1989, but it has been argued that such sites reflect a mixture of activities rather than specialization (e.g., Geneste, 1989a). Quarrying complexes, provisionally dated to the MP, have been reported in the Levant (Barkai et al, 2006; Barkai and Gopher, 2009;Gopher and Barkai, 2014), but such sites have been largely elusive in most other parts of the world. Key challenges include how we can identify quarrying activities without finding a quarry and how we can rule out quarrying with an absence of evidence rather than evidence of absence.…”