A salvage excavation at the Lower Paleolithic site of Kefar Menahem West in the interior of the Israeli coastal plain yielded a flake industry devoid of handaxes and their byproducts. The archeological finds covering an area exceeding 2000 m2, are found at the contact of two distinct sedimentological units: Quartzic Brown and hamra (red clay loam paleosols). The absence of handaxes hamper placing the site within the relative chronology of the Lower Paleolithic record of the Levant. New paleomagnetic analysis coupled with optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and thermally transferred optically (TT-OSL) dating yielded a chronological range between 780 and 460 ka for the archeological occupation. The techno-typological similarities with Late Acheulian assemblages together with possible variations in the mode of occupations by early hominids at the site, both suggest that the KMW should be conceived as part of the Late Acheulian variability.

Over the last 150 years, the Paleolithic era was divided into the Lower, Middle and Upper Paleolithic. This scheme is an arbitrary research construct that confounds chronological, behavioral, and evolutionary meanings. Transitions between these discrete units, and in particular the Lower/Middle Paleolithic transition, received lesser attention. At present, the Lower/Middle Paleolithic transition is still depicted as a worldwide change from biface production to Levallois technology, similar to the way it has been perceived in the initial stages of research. Some key questions remain open for further inquiry: What changed technologically and typologically beyond those guide fossils? What is the geographical variation of this global change(s)? Did changes occur as a result of autochthonous developments in each region or by a diffusion wave (s)? What is the societal process(es) that promoted this evolutionary change? In this paper, I explore the techno-typological variations (reduction sequences and tool kits) in Europe north of the Pyrenees and how these traits pattern diachronically and spatially in the interval of MIS 9–7, the period during which the transition between Lower and Middle Paleolithic is suggested to occur. The first step will be to describe the range of behaviors that existed during each MIS. The presentation of those variants will track the decision-making processes within reduction sequences. The techno-typological variants will be studied in relation to their relative abundance within each assemblage. Then, I will attempt to estimate if observed changes in those traits resulted from a continuous processes or whether the record constitutes of segmented local histories.

Information retrieved from open-air sites is necessary for a more complete reconstruction of Middle Paleolithic behaviors, which is currently often based mainly on data from caves and rockshelters. However, open-air sites present methodological and analytical challenges that differ from those encountered in cave sites. Being essentially an integral part of their paleo-landscape, open-air sites are affected by localized as well as landscape-scale processes that need to be distinguished from the anthropogenic signatures.'Ein Qashish is an open-air late Middle Paleolithic occurrence located in the Yizra'el Valley just east of Mt. Carmel, situated on the Pleistocene floodplain of the Qishon stream. The site is found at the interface of the sediments deposited by the Qishon stream, which drains the Yizra'el Valley, and paleo-Wadi Qashish, which flowed off Mt. Carmel. Artifacts and bones are dispersed over a vertical distance of some 90cm. Observations in geological trenches located at variable distances from the excavated area indicate that this cluster of finds occurred at a circumscribed locality on the landscape rather than as a part of a continuous distribution on the paleo-surface. We 'reverse-engineer' site formation processes, starting with the latest (post-depositional), moving to earlier (syn-depositional) processes, and relate them to their most likely causative agents through the examination of a series of explicit models. GIS techniques were applied in order to parse the variable lines of information, which include lithic and faunal taphonomy, size distributions and spatial and stratigraphic dispersal of objects, fabric analysis and OSL results. We discuss the implications of the results for distinguishing anthropogenic from non-anthropogenic effects and for reconstructing the timeline of depositional events that led to the current distribution of artifacts. Insights into these questions inform our understanding of human activities at the site, suggesting that the excavation samples the margins of an occupation horizon where activities focused on knapping and resource processing rather than task-specific behaviors such as hunting. ©2014 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA.

'Ein Qashish (EQ) is a late Middle Paleolithic ($\sim$60ka) open-air site located in the Yizra'el Valley east of Mt. Carmel, at the geographic center between some of the major Middle Paleolithic cave sites in northern Israel. Three seasons of excavation at the site revealed a small faunal collection and a diverse lithic assemblage. In this paper we discuss the composition, reduction technology, and raw material curation strategies represented in the assemblage. The assemblage is flake-dominated, with low frequencies of retouched artifacts and of cores. Several reduction sequences were identified. Products of Levallois methods appear in low frequencies. The modified artifacts include lightly retouched flakes and blades, side-scrapers, truncations and burins. The low frequencies of primary elements, core trimming elements, and cores suggest that only part of the reduction sequence took place on-site. Side-scrapers may have been imported into the locality. In contrast, short non-Levallois reduction sequences were applied on-site.The expedient nature of the retouch and of local reduction sequences suggests that the site represents an ephemeral occupation(s) on the banks of the Qishon stream. The nature of the lithic assemblage is not consistent with specific tasks such as butchery or hunting. Technological aspects of the assemblage and its composition bear similarities to those observed in habitation sites found in caves in the late Middle Paleolithic. ©2013 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA.

The Middle Paleolithic site of 'Ein Qashish is located on the floodplain of the Qishon stream, northern Israel, which drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is located at the inlet to a narrow water gap between Mt. Carmel and Tiv'on Hills. The excavation and 3 trenches up to 5m deep provide the stratigraphy and allow a reconstruction of the paleogeography and depositional environments. The archaeological layer, OSL dated to about 64±4ka, is composed of carbonate gravel and overlies 66±4ka (MIS4) black, heavy alluvial clays deposited by the Qishon Stream, which represents marsh environment. The site is covered by another clay unit, representing a second marsh period between 50±3 and 41±3ka (MIS3). This sedimentary complex is unconformably covered by coarse gravel and reddish clay matrix, dated to between 15.1±0.7 and 10.5±0.5ka, which is derived from Wadi Qashish - a steep mountainous stream of Mt. Carmel. The mineralogical analyses of the clays indicate high quartz concentrations and smectitic IS, which support the interpretation of Qishon basin origin, versus illitic IS from Mt. Carmel slopes.The duration of the prehistoric human activity is estimated at <10kyr, during which the Qishon stream transported fine clay by relatively low-magnitude flows over a relatively stable floodplain. The site is located over the toe of the gravelly alluvial fan of Wadi Qashish. During the end of the Pleistocene to the Holocene, the site was covered by coarse gravel from Mt. Carmel alternating with fine clay sediments of the Qishon stream.Sea level during the occupation period was between 100 and 60mb.s.l. and the coastline was located 10-7km westward. The proposed mechanism for the marsh development is: (a) repeated episodes of blockage of the Qishon stream outlet at the narrow water gap by aeolian sand transported by westerly winds inland over the exposed continental shelf. The accumulation of sand and sandstone over the coastal plain during this period supports this idea.(b) Based on hydrological correlation with the Lake Lisan Levels the flows in the Qishon stream were low with large component of baseflows characterizing warmer and wetter periods that could not cut through the sand blockage and forced the water upstream into marshes. The marshes drained during the colder and drier Heinrich events H6/H5a and H4 which were characterized by higher frequency of large floods. ©2013 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA.

Lithic reduction sequences reflect decisions made by ancient tool makers. The first stages of a reduction sequence concern raw material procurement and include identifying sources on the landscape, testing the quality of raw material, knapping on the spot or moving material to other locations. The distance from raw material source to a destination location is a significant factor that has implications for artifact life history.'Ein Qashish is located in the western Yizra'el Valley. The lithic assemblage from the late Middle Paleolithic site of 'Ein Qashish is made exclusively on flint. This raw material occurs as several different visual types, distinguished by their colors and textures. Several geological formations, some of which are flint-bearing, are known at various distances from the site, which is situated on a distal alluvial fan of a drainage that carried sediments and small flint nodules from Mt. Carmel towards the Qishon stream in the east.In order to associate archaeological flint from the assemblage of 'Ein Qashish to potential geological sources, we used visual observations (color and texture), geochemical ( ICP-MS, ICP-AES) analyses, and statistical methods (e.g., ANOVA and Principle Component Analysis). Our analysis shows that ICP-MS and ICP-AES can be used to differentiate between flints from various geological formations and to assign archaeological artifacts to geological origin areas. The inhabitants of 'Ein Qashish obtained flints from various distances and integrated on-site knapping of flint from relatively closer sources with transport of finished tools from more distant locations. The relationship between the distance of potential raw material sources and the distribution of raw materials among technological products from different stages of reduction is addressed in order to discuss mobility patterns and raw material economy. ©2013 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA.

Technological organization entails the ways in which hunter-gatherers shape, make, use, maintain, recycle, and discard stone tools. Those decision-making processes are dependent upon the mode of occupation and land-use patterns. These issues are widely discussed in both ethnographic and Paleolithic literature; however, it has rarely been demonstrated technologically in Lower Paleolithic contexts. In this paper, using the case study of the Late Lower Paleolithic site of Holon in Israel, I address questions regarding the selection of particular curational strat-egies differently employed for various parts of the assemblage. Tool maintenance and the byproducts of such strategies will be described and articulated within the organization of technology at Holon. In addition, I will examine the micro-environmental setting in which these curational behaviors exist. In Holon, the complexity of the curational organization can be regarded as a chosen tactic, rather than an obligatory response to a deficiency in raw material. Thus, the results of this study exemplify how possible functional needs modify the known techo-typological repertoire. The nature of this interplay has rarely been described within Middle Pleistocene contexts.

The late Lower Palaeolithic was a turbulent period with many changes in subsistence as well variations in the material culture. Yet, despite its importance, few detailed descriptions have been published. In this article we present a techno-typological report on the variability and continuity along the depositional sequence of Area C East, at the open-air site of Revadim, Israel. In order to learn how and in what ways smaller scale variations over time, as well as of micro-environmental changes, affect lithic assemblages the lithic assemblage was initially analysed through the raw material acquisition followed by the examination of flaking methods, analysing the geometrical organisation of the core's volume, recording debitage characteristics and the affinities of the retouched artefacts. The artefacts were documented using 3-D technology and novel methods for analysing the digital image. The technological analysis of the lithic assemblages revealed the existence of four main reduction sequences. The typological variations representing tactical, short term functional need, while the flaking methods are structured learned behaviours socially mediated exhibited via raw material exploitation. The lithic assemblage is a package of both technological and typological traits that remains stable through a prolonged (as yet unknown) period of time. The range of variations of lithic technology of Revadim (ie, the number of technological options and their relative frequency) is maintained throughout micro-environmental changes. The structure of variation observed in Revadim - within a smaller scale, has also been noticed in other Late Lower Palaeolithic assemblages, this in sharp contrast to previous studies of the Lower Palaeolithic and later Early Middle Palaeolithic.

In this paper we present new data pertaining to the paleo-landscape characteristics at the Acheulian site of Revadim, on the southern coastal plain of Israel. Sedimentological, isotopic, granulometric and micromorphological studies showed that the archaeological remains accumulated in an active fluvial environment where channel action, overbank flooding and episodic inundation occurred. Measurements of total organic matter and its carbon isotopic composition indicate that the hominin activity at the site started at a period of relatively drier conditions, which coincided with erosion of the preceding soil sequence. This process led to the formation of a gently-undulating topography, as reconstructed by a GIS model. Later deposition documents relatively wetter conditions, as indicated by carbon isotopic composition. Formation processes identified at the site include fluvial processes, inundation episodes that resulted in anaerobic conditions and formation of oxide nodules, as well as small-scale bioturbation and later infiltration of carbonate-rich solutions that resulted in the formation of calcite nodules and crusts. The combination of micro-habitats created favorable conditions that repeatedly drew hominins to the area, as seen by a series of super-imposed archaeological horizons. This study shows that site-specific paleo-landscape reconstructions should play an important role in understanding regional variation among hominin occupations and in extrapolating long-term behavioral patterns during the Middle Pleistocene. ©2010 Elsevier Ltd.

The recognition of the dynamic role of site formation processes led archaeologists to recognize a behavioral dichotomy between 'living floors' and palimpsests', Yet the archaeological proxies of 'living floor' and 'palimpsest' were never defined formally, and therefore have been used variably. We use archaeological criteria mentioned in the archaeological literature to model types of formation processes. The case study of the Lower Paleolithic open-air site of Revadim Quarry, Israel is used to test the model. Two types of palimpsests, differing in the rate of accumulation and thus in their effects on the anthropogenic remains, were discerned. Based on these results we review some other Lower Paleolithic instances. A sliding scale of formation processes provides a much needed middle ground between the scales of coarse, time-averaged formation processes and short, " near real-life" behavioral episodes and is an appropriate archaeological frame of reference. ©2010 Elsevier Inc.