The Lower Paleolithic Site of Revadim Quarry, Preliminary Finds

In the course of recent quarrying activity north of Kibbutz Revadim on the southern coastal plain of Israel, lithic and faunal remains were exposed mainly at the contact between a level of quartzic gray-brown soil and an underlying hamra. Two weeks of excavations recovered archaeological remains, including animal bones and stone tools, which indicate that the site covers an area of at least 3,500 m2. Palaeomagnetic measurements show a normal polarity, suggesting an age younger than the Brunhes-Matuyama boundary at 0.78 million years. The faunal assemblage includes proboscides, cervides and rodents, among other species. The stone artifacts include flake tools and handaxes. Levallois cores and flaked tools made by Levallois technique were present at the site. The assemblage may be assigned to the Middle/Late Acheulian. The preliminary salvage excavations at Revadim Quarry have indicated that this Lower Paleolithic site has tremendous potential for a large horizontal exposure allowing better understanding of the nature and organization of the occupation. The stratigraphic context of the site will enable correlations on a regional scale. Paleoclimatic and environmental reconstruction will facilitate modeling of the subsistence strategies of early humans in the Coastal Plain and the Shephela.