Modeling the Influence of Wood Use by the Natufians of El-Wad in the Forest of Mount Carmel

The site of the el-Wad cave and terrace, Mount Carmel, Israel, has long been considered one of the major Natufian base camps, or hamlets, of the Mediterranean core-area, west of the Jordan River. Its large area, together with typical characteristics, such as dense occupational layers, architectural remains, a large and stratified cemetery and heavy ground stone implements, suggests that it was possibly a sedentary settlements. Based on the results of Garrod's excavations at the site and those portions exposed by her, namely the outermost chamber of the cave and the terrace in front of it, el-Wad has been considered among the medium-sized (400-500 m') Natufian sites. More recent estimates, however, based on excavations and geophysical analyses within the cave, archival material of the early excavations, coupled with a geophysical survey and renewed excavations on the terrace, suggest that the site occupied an area of no less than 1,000 m.