Open AccessFlint mining in prehistory recorded by in situ -produced cosmogenic 10 Be
Author(s) -
Giovanni Verri,
Ran Barkai,
C. Bordeanu,
Avi Gopher,
M. Hass,
Aaron Kaufman,
Peter W. Kubik,
Emanuel Montanari,
M. Paul,
Ronen Avraham,
Steve Weiner,
Elisabetta Boaretto
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.0402302101
Subject(s) - cave , prehistory , archaeology , geology , period (music) , paleoanthropology , mining engineering , geography , art , aesthetics
The development of mining to acquire the best raw materials for producing stone tools represents a breakthrough in human technological and intellectual development. We present a new approach to studying the history of flint mining, using in situ-produced cosmogenic 10Be concentrations. We show that the raw material used to manufacture flint artifacts approximately 300,000 years old from Qesem Cave (Israel) was most likely surface-collected or obtained from shallow quarries, whereas artifacts of the same period from Tabun Cave (Israel) were made of flint originating from layers 2 or more meters deep, possibly mined or quarried by humans.