The Lithic Assemblages of Qafzeh Cave: (Human Evolution Series)

This book presents the first comprehensive description of the lithic assemblages from Qafzeh Cave, one of only two Middle Paleolithic sites in the Levant that has yielded multiple burials of early anatomically modern Homo sapiens (AMHs). The record from this region raises the question of possible long-term temporal overlap between early AMHs and Neanderthals. For this reason, Qafzeh has long been one of the pivotal sites in debates on the origins of AMHs and in attempts to compare and contrast the two species' adaptations and behavior. Although the hominin fossils from the site were published years ago, until now the associated archaeological assemblages were incompletely described, often leading to conflicting interpretations. This monograph includes a thorough technological analysis of the lithic assemblages, incorporated in their geological and sedimentological contexts. This description serves as a springboard for regional comparisons as well as a more general discussion about Middle Paleolithic behavior, which is relevant to important and as yet unresolved questions on the origins of "modern" behavior patterns. The volume includes a wide-ranging and up-to-date bibliography that provides the middle-range for discussing the ecological context and behavioral complexity of the Middle Paleolithic period, and ends with some thought-provoking conclusions about the dynamic human interactions that existed in the region during this time.

Table of Contents:
Foreword ; Preface ; 1. Introduction ; 2. Premises and Concepts Underlying the Study of the Qafzeh Lithics ; 3. Qafzeh Cave: The Region and the Site ; 4. Lithic Production. 1. The Cores ; 5. Lithic Production. 2. The Debitage ; 6. Lithic Production. 3. The Retouched Artifiacts ; 7. The Organization of Lithic Technology in Qafzeh ; 8. Qafzeh Cave in a Broader Perspective: Subsistence and Mobility Patterns in the Middle Paleolithic of the Levant ; 9. Population Dynamics during the Middle Paleolithic Period in the Levant ; 10. Concluding Comments: Tracing Behavioral Modernity in the Levantine Record ; Appendix 1: The history of excavations in Middle Paleolithic sites in the Levant 1925-1999 ; Appendix 2: Attributes used in core analysis ; Appendix 3: Attributes used in the analysis of flakes and flake tools ; Appendix 4: Notes on typological classification in the Qafzeh assemblages ; Appendix 5: Detailed counts of debitage and tools ; Appendix 6: Radiometric dates of Levantine Mousterian sites

About the Author :
Erella Hovers is a senior lecturer in the Institute of Archeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She received her B.A., M.A. Cum Laude and Ph.D. Summa Cum Laude all from Hebrew University, followed by a post-doctoral fellowship in the Dept. of Anthropology at Harvard University. Her field work has focused on the Middle Paleolithic of the Levant and on the Oldowan and Middle Stone Age in eastern Africa with emphasis on lithic technologies and land use patterns. She also studies the evolution of modern cognitive systems and social behaviors through a archaeological context. Books by the same author: Transitions Before the Transition: Evolution and Stability in the Middle Paleolithic and Middle Stone Age

Review :
For 75 years Paleolithic specialists have waited for a complete analysis of the Qafzeh stone tool assemblages, and now the wait is over. The importance of The Lithic Assemblages of Qafzeh Cave stems not only from the vast amount of information it conveys, but also from Erella Hovers' diverse methods of acquiring and interpreting the data: typological, technological, experimental, quantitative, functional, and statistical. She has treated this dense assortment of material in the most engaging way, allowing her readers to see the limitations of our current techniques and logic, while venturing several theoretical and methodological innovations of her own. We are fortunate a monograph has finally arrived that does the site, and its rich history, justice.