Dune elongation and hunting strategy during the Terminal Pleistocene (Ramonian): Insights from Mizpor Ashalim, northwestern Negev dunefield margins, Israel

Alla Yaroshevich, Joel Roskin, Naomi Porat, Adrian Nigel Goring-Morris, Lotem Robins

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The Middle Epipalaeolithic Ramonian culture, endemic to the Negev-Sinai desert, incorporates highland occupations alongside lowland dune-associated localities. The lowland sites, dominated by microlithic tools, have been hypothesized to be prime hunting settings. Here we investigate this hypothesis based on the data from Mizpor Ashalim - a new Ramonian site located upon a falling dune overlooking the central Besor Valley. The study incorporates analysis of projectile damage on microlithic tools, geomorphology, portable OSL profiling, and OSL ages of the dune deposits, as well as Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) investigation. GIS mapping of relevant sites alongside the ancient dune-dammed water bodies constitutes an additional methodological tool newly applied in the current study. The results support the hypothesis and suggest that Ramonian hunting strategy was associated with dune-dammed, medium-sized basins that formed ecological niches following winter floods. The study sheds new light on adaptations developed by different cultural entities occupying the region during the Terminal Pleistocene and their connection with changing environmental settings. At the same time, it emphasizes technological continuity throughout the cultural sequence in the arid environments of the Southern Levant, expressed in microliths production and projectile design. This continuity, not observed in the Mediterranean climate zone, underscores the importance of understanding the social and economic dynamics in the desert areas of the Southern Levant to comprehend the processes that led to sedentism and food production in the region.

Original languageEnglish
Article number105260
JournalJournal of Arid Environments
Volume225
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 Elsevier Ltd

Keywords

  • Diagnostic impact fractures
  • Dune migration
  • Dune-dammed waterbodies
  • Epipaleolithic hunting
  • Microlithic tools
  • Port-OSL
  • Projectile weapons design
  • Terminal pleistocene
  • Very fine sand

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