Contextualizing the Early Upper Paleolithic in the Negev Desert, southern Levant: Chronologies, lithic technologies, and paleoenvironments of the Boker sites

The onset of the Upper Paleolithic period in Eurasia is marked by the systematic production of pointed blades, commonly associated with the Marine Isotope Stage 3 expansion of modern humans. Consequently, many studies have concentrated on the geographical origins and mechanisms of spread of these blade industries across Eurasia, while comparatively less attention has been devoted to regional cultural dynamics and adaptive strategies. This research focuses on the initial stages of the Upper Paleolithic in the Negev Desert, a key region in the Levant that served as a major crossroads between Africa and Eurasia. The study integrates new cultural and environmental data from the Boker sites, originally excavated by Marks and re-excavated in 2015–2016. New radiocarbon (¹⁴C) and optically stimulated luminescence chronologies indicate that the Boker sites were occupied over a prolonged period, from approximately 45,000 to 30,000 calibrated years before present (cal BP). The earliest occupations at Boker are attributed to the Initial Upper Paleolithic (IUP), with later phases associated with the Early Upper Paleolithic Ahmarian technocomplex. Lithic assemblages from the Boker sites reveal a consistent use of unidirectional blade technology, suggesting that the desert Ahmarian industry evolved locally from the IUP. However, a notable shift is observed in percussion techniques, transitioning from the use of hard hammerstones in the IUP to soft hammerstones in the Early Upper Paleolithic. This technological change is interpreted as a result of cultural diffusion from the Mediterranean woodland Ahmarian, which predates its southern counterpart. Paleoenvironmental evidence from the Boker sites indicates that conditions were more favorable than those of the present-day Negev, as reflected by the presence of vegetation and water sources. These factors likely contributed to the repeated Upper Paleolithic occupations of this relatively small area. Charred archaeobotanical remains reveal a mix of drought-tolerant halophytic species and relics of Mediterranean thermophilous plants, suggesting a cooler and wetter climate. The discovery of dark, organic-rich layers near the Early Ahmarian occupation at Boker A supports the hypothesis that a salt pan existed in proximity to a freshwater source—an environmental setting that would have been attractive to both humans and animals.