HaYonim Cave (
Hebrew: מערת היונים,
romanized: Me'arat HaYonim,
lit. 'Cave of the Pigeons') is a cave located in a limestone bluff about 250 meters above modern sea level, in the
Upper Galilee,
Israel.
History
The site had substantial occupation during the
Middle PaleolithicMousterian period, from 250,000 years ago to 100,000 years ago, and later, during the
Epipalaeolithic period and the
Natufian culture around 12,000 years ago.[1]
The Mousterian occupation of the cave included
Levalloisdebitage and early Middle Paleolithic blade technology, as well as a series of hearths.
In Hayonim were also found wall carvings depicting symbolic shapes and animals, such a running horse dated to between 40,000-18,500 BP, possibly to the
Levantine Aurignacian circa 28,000 BP, and now visible in the
Israel Museum.[2][3][4][5][6] This is considered as the first art object found within the context of the Levantine Upper Paleolithic.[6]
The Natufian occupation of the cave featured circular rooms with prepared floors, with a thick midden of
lithics, groundstone objects, and worked bone. There were several hearths, and single graves located in abandoned rooms or outside inhabited rooms.
Flint end scraper with horn handle for working wood or leather, Late Stone Age, Hayonim Cave, 50000-22000 BP
^'Quantitative Phytolith Study of Hearths from the Natufian and Middle Paleolithic Levels of Hayonim Cave, (Galilee, Israel)' Journal of Archaeological Science 30, pages 461-480., Albert, Rosa M., Ofer Bar-Yosef, Liliane Meignen, and Steve Weiner 2003
[1]
^"Horse from Hayonim Cave, Israel, 30,000 years" in
Israel Museum Studies in Archaeology. Samuel Bronfman Biblical and Archaeological Museum of the Israel Museum. 2002. p. 10.
^"Horse from Hayonim Cave, Israel, 30,000 years" in
Israel Museum Studies in Archaeology. Samuel Bronfman Biblical and Archaeological Museum of the Israel Museum. 2002. p. 10.