The Lower and Middle Palaeolithic in the Mediterranean Levant : chronology, and cultural entities

This paper aims at summarizing the main chronological framework and characteristics of the cultural entities recognized today within the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic in the Mediterranean Levant. The Lower Palaeolithic incorporates several of the oldest sites, such as ‘Ubeidiya, that can be compared in part to Dmanisi in Georgia. Numerous assemblages and a few samples are recorded in Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan. The Upper Acheulian is better known and seems to date from the early Middle Pleistocene. The Acheulo-Yabrudian entity is a special culture known only from the northern and central Levant. The Levantine Mousterian is currently at the center of the debate over the origins of modern humans. New TL dates indicate that the early Mousterian manifestations may be 270 kyr old and that the latest are 50–48 kyr old. Middle Palaeolithic sites provide information concerning prehistoric diets, hearths, and human mortuary practices. Mineralogical studies decipher the differences in bone preservation in various caves.