Acheulo-Yabrudian handaxes from Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel

The end of the Lower Paleolithic in the Levant is marked by the disappearance of bifacial technologies. The last culture that still produced bifaces in the region was the Acheulo-Yabrudian. Only a few Acheulo-Yabrudian sites, however, have yielded handaxe samples that are large enough to enable detailed techno-morphological analyses. Recently a new Acheulo-Yabrudian handaxe assemblage was discovered at Misliya Cave, on the western slope of Mount Carmel. As it appears after three seasons of excavations, Misliya Cave is the fourth site in the Levant, after Yabrud I, Bezez Cave and Tabun Cave, to produce an adequate handaxe sample. A preliminary analysis indicates that the Misliya handaxes are
generally small, closely resembling those from Layer E of Tabun Cave, but differing from other Lower Paleolithic sites. This trend may be characteristic of either Acheulo-Yabrudian bifaces as a whole, or the Mount Carmel area only. The Misliya handaxe production is further characterized by a focus on
the shaping of the handaxe tip, indicating that the function of a piece was of greater importance than its overall symmetry. A strong link exists between raw material shape, blank type and handaxe shape.
The use of different blanks led to the production of handaxes with different metrical and technological characteristics. The boundaries between handaxes made on flakes, “unifaces” and scrapers are indistinct.
In this Misliya Cave closely resembles Layer C of Bezez Cave.