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Depositional and Paleoenvironmental setting of the Bizat Ruhama early pleistocene archaeological assemblages, Northern Negev, Israel: A microstratigraphic perspective
Author(s) -
Mallol Carolina,
VanNieuwenhuyse Dorcas,
Zaidner Yossi
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
geoarchaeology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1520-6548
pISSN - 0883-6353
DOI - 10.1002/gea.20339
Subject(s) - pleistocene , geology , context (archaeology) , archaeology , sedimentary depositional environment , early pleistocene , paleontology , horizon , sediment , mediterranean climate , geography , structural basin , physics , astronomy
Abstract Bizat Ruhama, an Early Pleistocene site located in the southern coastal plain of Israel, has yielded a single archaeological horizon dating to the Matuyama chron. Recent technological and zooarchaeological studies suggest evidence of near in situ hominin occupations taking place in a semiarid climatic setting. Such an archaeological context is rare for the Early Pleistocene and must be corroborated through reconstruction of site formation processes. This paper offers a microstratigraphic view of the site based on results from a micromorphological and granulometric study aimed at reconstructing site formation processes. Results show that the bone and lithic specimens were deposited near their excavated provenience, in a depressed, seasonally waterlogged area, and were subsequently slightly displaced and buried by surface sediment. We infer that the Bizat Ruhama deposit represents one or a few hominin occupations taking place on the surface of an undulating inter‐dune depression under a semiarid Mediterranean climate. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.