Personal ornaments from Hayonim and Manot caves (Israel) hint at symbolic ties between the Levantine and the European Aurignacian

José Miguel Tejero; Rivka Rabinovich; Reuven Yeshurun; Talia Abulafia; Ofer Bar-Yosef; Omry Barzilai; Mae Goder-Goldberger; Israel Hershkovitz; Ron Lavi; Maayan Shemer; Ofer Marder; Anna Belfer-Cohen

doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102870

Personal ornaments from Hayonim and Manot caves (Israel) hint at symbolic ties between the Levantine and the European Aurignacian

José Miguel Tejero, Rivka Rabinovich, Reuven Yeshurun, Talia Abulafia, Ofer Bar-Yosef, Omry Barzilai, Mae Goder-Goldberger, Israel Hershkovitz, Ron Lavi, Maayan Shemer, Ofer Marder, Anna Belfer-Cohen

Department of Archaeology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Situated at the crossroads of Africa and Eurasia, the Levant is a crucial region for understanding the origins and spread of Upper Paleolithic (UP) traditions associated with the spread of modern humans. Of the two local Early Upper Paleolithic technocomplexes, the Ahmarian and the Levantine Aurignacian, the latter appears to be unique in the endemic UP sequence, exhibiting greater similarity to the West European ‘classic’ Aurignacian than to the local preceding and proceeding UP entities. Previous publications have mostly focused on the similarities between the two lithic industries and less on studies conducted on Levantine Aurignacian bone tools and ornaments. Here, we present an archaeozoological, technological and use-wear study of ornaments on animal teeth from the Levantine Aurignacian layers at Manot and Hayonim caves (the Galilee, Israel). The selection of taxa, the choice of teeth, the mode of modification, and the use-wear analysis exhibit clear similarities with the European Aurignacian. This, with the technology of the osseous raw material exploitation, the presence of antler simple-base points, and some lithic typotechnological features, suggest a link between the symbolic spheres of the Levantine and the European Aurignacian cultural entities. Such similarity also supports some contribution of European Aurignacians groups to the local cultural entities, intermingling with the local material culture features.

Original language	English
Article number	102870
Journal	Journal of Human Evolution
Volume	160
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102870
State	Published - Nov 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The analytical work was funded by CNRS UMR 7041 ArScAn équipe Ethnologie préhistorique (Director P. Bodu), MINECO project HAR 2017-86509, Grup de Recerca de Qualitat de la Generalitat de Catalunya SGR2017-00011 (Director J.M. Fullola), and the Irene Levi Sala CARE Archaeological Foundation (project “The Manot Cave's [Lower Galilee] osseous raw material exploitation in the setting of the EUP emergence and diffusion”. Director J.-M.T.). The Manot Cave excavations are supported by the Dan David Foundation , the Israel Science Foundation (grant no. 338/14 ; 999/18 ), the Binational Science Foundation (grant. no. 2015303 ), Case Western Reserve University , the Irene Levi-Sala CARE Foundation , and the Leaky Foundation .

Funding Information:
The analytical work was funded by CNRS UMR 7041 ArScAn ?quipe Ethnologie pr?historique (Director P. Bodu), MINECO project HAR 2017-86509, Grup de Recerca de Qualitat de la Generalitat de Catalunya SGR2017-00011 (Director J.M. Fullola), and the Irene Levi Sala CARE Archaeological Foundation (project ?The Manot Cave's [Lower Galilee] osseous raw material exploitation in the setting of the EUP emergence and diffusion?. Director J.-M.T.). The Manot Cave excavations are supported by the Dan David Foundation, the Israel Science Foundation (grant no. 338/14; 999/18), the Binational Science Foundation (grant. no. 2015303), Case Western Reserve University, the Irene Levi-Sala CARE Foundation, and the Leaky Foundation. J.-M.T. benefited in 2005 from a training stay at New York University under the supervision of Randall White, focusing on the operational sequence of the Aurignacian ornaments. He would like to express his sincere thanks to Randy White for hosting him at the laboratory and for their very productive and stimulating discussions on Aurignacian personal ornaments. The authors are grateful to Vitaly Gutkin (The XPS Laboratory, the Unit for Nanocharacterization, the Harvey M. Krueger Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem) for his help with SEM pictures. They thank Assaf Uzan for photographing the analyzed specimens of Hayonim (Fig. 5). Thanks are due to Daniella Bar-Yosef Mayer for her contribution to the study of Levantine Aurignacian ornaments.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd

Keywords

Hayonim Cave
Human symbolic behavior
Levantine Aurignacian
Manot Cave
Upper Paleolithic

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Anthropology

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10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102870

Cite this

Tejero, J. M., Rabinovich, R., Yeshurun, R., Abulafia, T., Bar-Yosef, O., Barzilai, O., Goder-Goldberger, M., Hershkovitz, I., Lavi, R., Shemer, M., Marder, O., & Belfer-Cohen, A. (2021). Personal ornaments from Hayonim and Manot caves (Israel) hint at symbolic ties between the Levantine and the European Aurignacian. Journal of Human Evolution, 160, Article 102870. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102870

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title = "Personal ornaments from Hayonim and Manot caves (Israel) hint at symbolic ties between the Levantine and the European Aurignacian",

abstract = "Situated at the crossroads of Africa and Eurasia, the Levant is a crucial region for understanding the origins and spread of Upper Paleolithic (UP) traditions associated with the spread of modern humans. Of the two local Early Upper Paleolithic technocomplexes, the Ahmarian and the Levantine Aurignacian, the latter appears to be unique in the endemic UP sequence, exhibiting greater similarity to the West European {\textquoteleft}classic{\textquoteright} Aurignacian than to the local preceding and proceeding UP entities. Previous publications have mostly focused on the similarities between the two lithic industries and less on studies conducted on Levantine Aurignacian bone tools and ornaments. Here, we present an archaeozoological, technological and use-wear study of ornaments on animal teeth from the Levantine Aurignacian layers at Manot and Hayonim caves (the Galilee, Israel). The selection of taxa, the choice of teeth, the mode of modification, and the use-wear analysis exhibit clear similarities with the European Aurignacian. This, with the technology of the osseous raw material exploitation, the presence of antler simple-base points, and some lithic typotechnological features, suggest a link between the symbolic spheres of the Levantine and the European Aurignacian cultural entities. Such similarity also supports some contribution of European Aurignacians groups to the local cultural entities, intermingling with the local material culture features.",

keywords = "Hayonim Cave, Human symbolic behavior, Levantine Aurignacian, Manot Cave, Upper Paleolithic",

author = "Tejero, {Jos{\'e} Miguel} and Rivka Rabinovich and Reuven Yeshurun and Talia Abulafia and Ofer Bar-Yosef and Omry Barzilai and Mae Goder-Goldberger and Israel Hershkovitz and Ron Lavi and Maayan Shemer and Ofer Marder and Anna Belfer-Cohen",

note = "Funding Information: The analytical work was funded by CNRS UMR 7041 ArScAn {\'e}quipe Ethnologie pr{\'e}historique (Director P. Bodu), MINECO project HAR 2017-86509, Grup de Recerca de Qualitat de la Generalitat de Catalunya SGR2017-00011 (Director J.M. Fullola), and the Irene Levi Sala CARE Archaeological Foundation (project “The Manot Cave's [Lower Galilee] osseous raw material exploitation in the setting of the EUP emergence and diffusion”. Director J.-M.T.). The Manot Cave excavations are supported by the Dan David Foundation , the Israel Science Foundation (grant no. 338/14 ; 999/18 ), the Binational Science Foundation (grant. no. 2015303 ), Case Western Reserve University , the Irene Levi-Sala CARE Foundation , and the Leaky Foundation . Funding Information: The analytical work was funded by CNRS UMR 7041 ArScAn ?quipe Ethnologie pr?historique (Director P. Bodu), MINECO project HAR 2017-86509, Grup de Recerca de Qualitat de la Generalitat de Catalunya SGR2017-00011 (Director J.M. Fullola), and the Irene Levi Sala CARE Archaeological Foundation (project ?The Manot Cave's [Lower Galilee] osseous raw material exploitation in the setting of the EUP emergence and diffusion?. Director J.-M.T.). The Manot Cave excavations are supported by the Dan David Foundation, the Israel Science Foundation (grant no. 338/14; 999/18), the Binational Science Foundation (grant. no. 2015303), Case Western Reserve University, the Irene Levi-Sala CARE Foundation, and the Leaky Foundation. J.-M.T. benefited in 2005 from a training stay at New York University under the supervision of Randall White, focusing on the operational sequence of the Aurignacian ornaments. He would like to express his sincere thanks to Randy White for hosting him at the laboratory and for their very productive and stimulating discussions on Aurignacian personal ornaments. The authors are grateful to Vitaly Gutkin (The XPS Laboratory, the Unit for Nanocharacterization, the Harvey M. Krueger Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem) for his help with SEM pictures. They thank Assaf Uzan for photographing the analyzed specimens of Hayonim (Fig. 5). Thanks are due to Daniella Bar-Yosef Mayer for her contribution to the study of Levantine Aurignacian ornaments. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 Elsevier Ltd",

year = "2021",

month = nov,

doi = "10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102870",

language = "English",

volume = "160",

journal = "Journal of Human Evolution",

issn = "0047-2484",

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Tejero, JM, Rabinovich, R, Yeshurun, R, Abulafia, T, Bar-Yosef, O, Barzilai, O, Goder-Goldberger, M, Hershkovitz, I, Lavi, R, Shemer, M, Marder, O & Belfer-Cohen, A 2021, 'Personal ornaments from Hayonim and Manot caves (Israel) hint at symbolic ties between the Levantine and the European Aurignacian', Journal of Human Evolution, vol. 160, 102870. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102870

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AU - Tejero, José Miguel

AU - Rabinovich, Rivka

AU - Yeshurun, Reuven

AU - Abulafia, Talia

AU - Bar-Yosef, Ofer

AU - Barzilai, Omry

AU - Goder-Goldberger, Mae

AU - Hershkovitz, Israel

AU - Lavi, Ron

AU - Shemer, Maayan

AU - Marder, Ofer

AU - Belfer-Cohen, Anna

N1 - Funding Information: The analytical work was funded by CNRS UMR 7041 ArScAn équipe Ethnologie préhistorique (Director P. Bodu), MINECO project HAR 2017-86509, Grup de Recerca de Qualitat de la Generalitat de Catalunya SGR2017-00011 (Director J.M. Fullola), and the Irene Levi Sala CARE Archaeological Foundation (project “The Manot Cave's [Lower Galilee] osseous raw material exploitation in the setting of the EUP emergence and diffusion”. Director J.-M.T.). The Manot Cave excavations are supported by the Dan David Foundation , the Israel Science Foundation (grant no. 338/14 ; 999/18 ), the Binational Science Foundation (grant. no. 2015303 ), Case Western Reserve University , the Irene Levi-Sala CARE Foundation , and the Leaky Foundation . Funding Information: The analytical work was funded by CNRS UMR 7041 ArScAn ?quipe Ethnologie pr?historique (Director P. Bodu), MINECO project HAR 2017-86509, Grup de Recerca de Qualitat de la Generalitat de Catalunya SGR2017-00011 (Director J.M. Fullola), and the Irene Levi Sala CARE Archaeological Foundation (project ?The Manot Cave's [Lower Galilee] osseous raw material exploitation in the setting of the EUP emergence and diffusion?. Director J.-M.T.). The Manot Cave excavations are supported by the Dan David Foundation, the Israel Science Foundation (grant no. 338/14; 999/18), the Binational Science Foundation (grant. no. 2015303), Case Western Reserve University, the Irene Levi-Sala CARE Foundation, and the Leaky Foundation. J.-M.T. benefited in 2005 from a training stay at New York University under the supervision of Randall White, focusing on the operational sequence of the Aurignacian ornaments. He would like to express his sincere thanks to Randy White for hosting him at the laboratory and for their very productive and stimulating discussions on Aurignacian personal ornaments. The authors are grateful to Vitaly Gutkin (The XPS Laboratory, the Unit for Nanocharacterization, the Harvey M. Krueger Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem) for his help with SEM pictures. They thank Assaf Uzan for photographing the analyzed specimens of Hayonim (Fig. 5). Thanks are due to Daniella Bar-Yosef Mayer for her contribution to the study of Levantine Aurignacian ornaments. Publisher Copyright: © 2020 Elsevier Ltd

PY - 2021/11

Y1 - 2021/11

N2 - Situated at the crossroads of Africa and Eurasia, the Levant is a crucial region for understanding the origins and spread of Upper Paleolithic (UP) traditions associated with the spread of modern humans. Of the two local Early Upper Paleolithic technocomplexes, the Ahmarian and the Levantine Aurignacian, the latter appears to be unique in the endemic UP sequence, exhibiting greater similarity to the West European ‘classic’ Aurignacian than to the local preceding and proceeding UP entities. Previous publications have mostly focused on the similarities between the two lithic industries and less on studies conducted on Levantine Aurignacian bone tools and ornaments. Here, we present an archaeozoological, technological and use-wear study of ornaments on animal teeth from the Levantine Aurignacian layers at Manot and Hayonim caves (the Galilee, Israel). The selection of taxa, the choice of teeth, the mode of modification, and the use-wear analysis exhibit clear similarities with the European Aurignacian. This, with the technology of the osseous raw material exploitation, the presence of antler simple-base points, and some lithic typotechnological features, suggest a link between the symbolic spheres of the Levantine and the European Aurignacian cultural entities. Such similarity also supports some contribution of European Aurignacians groups to the local cultural entities, intermingling with the local material culture features.

AB - Situated at the crossroads of Africa and Eurasia, the Levant is a crucial region for understanding the origins and spread of Upper Paleolithic (UP) traditions associated with the spread of modern humans. Of the two local Early Upper Paleolithic technocomplexes, the Ahmarian and the Levantine Aurignacian, the latter appears to be unique in the endemic UP sequence, exhibiting greater similarity to the West European ‘classic’ Aurignacian than to the local preceding and proceeding UP entities. Previous publications have mostly focused on the similarities between the two lithic industries and less on studies conducted on Levantine Aurignacian bone tools and ornaments. Here, we present an archaeozoological, technological and use-wear study of ornaments on animal teeth from the Levantine Aurignacian layers at Manot and Hayonim caves (the Galilee, Israel). The selection of taxa, the choice of teeth, the mode of modification, and the use-wear analysis exhibit clear similarities with the European Aurignacian. This, with the technology of the osseous raw material exploitation, the presence of antler simple-base points, and some lithic typotechnological features, suggest a link between the symbolic spheres of the Levantine and the European Aurignacian cultural entities. Such similarity also supports some contribution of European Aurignacians groups to the local cultural entities, intermingling with the local material culture features.

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KW - Human symbolic behavior

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Personal ornaments from Hayonim and Manot caves (Israel) hint at symbolic ties between the Levantine and the European Aurignacian

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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