Abstract
This paper reconstructs the vegetal diet of the Middle Paleolithic humans in Kebara cave (Mt. Carmel, Israel) on the basis of a large collection of charred seeds and other vegetal food remains uncovered during the excavations. The human choices of mainly legumes reflects the gathering activities during springtime when often the common hunted species (gazelle and fallow deer) were fat depleted. Minor fall activities are indicated by the collection of acorns and pistachio nuts. This vegetal dietary information adds another aspect to the range of subsistence activities of the late Mousterian occupants of Kebara cave, and sheds further light on the semi-sedentary use of the cave as revealed from analysis of animal bones.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 475-484 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Journal of Archaeological Science |
| Volume | 32 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 2005 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The excavations at Kebara cave were funded by the L.S.B. Leakey Foundation, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Israel Exploration Society, and the American School of Prehistoric Research (Peabody Museum, Harvard University). We had the benefit of considerable aid from the Hebrew University and Tel Aviv University through the years. We are grateful to all these institutions, and to all our colleagues who took active part in the excavations and the study of the finds: B. Arensburg, A. Belfer-Cohen, M. Chech, P. Goldberg, the late Henri Laville, Liliane Meignen, Y. Rak, the late Eitan Tchernov, A.M. Tiller, S. Weiner, and B. Vandermeersch. The authors of the paper would like to thank Y. Melamed and M. Marmorstein for their help with the identification process, and J. Langzam for the SEM pictures. Special thanks go to D. Nadel, M. Jones, and in particular to J.D. Speth and E. Weiss, for their helpful comments and editorial suggestions on earlier drafts of this manuscript.
Funding
The excavations at Kebara cave were funded by the L.S.B. Leakey Foundation, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Israel Exploration Society, and the American School of Prehistoric Research (Peabody Museum, Harvard University). We had the benefit of considerable aid from the Hebrew University and Tel Aviv University through the years. We are grateful to all these institutions, and to all our colleagues who took active part in the excavations and the study of the finds: B. Arensburg, A. Belfer-Cohen, M. Chech, P. Goldberg, the late Henri Laville, Liliane Meignen, Y. Rak, the late Eitan Tchernov, A.M. Tiller, S. Weiner, and B. Vandermeersch. The authors of the paper would like to thank Y. Melamed and M. Marmorstein for their help with the identification process, and J. Langzam for the SEM pictures. Special thanks go to D. Nadel, M. Jones, and in particular to J.D. Speth and E. Weiss, for their helpful comments and editorial suggestions on earlier drafts of this manuscript.
| Funders |
|---|
| American School of Prehistoric Research |
| Israel Exploration Society |
| Leakey Foundation |
| Harvard University |
| Ministère des Affaires Sociales et de la Santé |
Keywords
- Levant
- Middle Paleolithic
- Mousterian
- Neanderthal
- Plant remains
- Seasonality
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