Jebel Qafzeh is a cave site located in Mount Qafzeh, Israel. The site is twenty meters wide and twelve meters deep, containing twenty-four layers of rock. These layers of rock are mainly limestone, breccias, and stalagmitic. The first human remains found were of two ancient humans in separate locations. This discovery was made by the scientist Neuville in 1933 when he uncovered the first two humans. By 1977, portions of eleven humans were excavated, including adult and infant remains. The most well preserved skull is Qafzeh 6. From the skull and teeth structure, the body is believed to be a young male. Animal remains were also found of the gazelle, horse, fallow deer, wild ox, and rhinoceros. Presently, the bones found from Qafzeh are dated to be 100,000 years old.
The stone tools found at Qafzeh are ones frequently associated with the Neanderthal. The stone tools were identified to be the Levallois-Mousterian type. Side scrapers, disc cores, and points were the tools discovered at the site. However, the bones of the humans indicate that they are closer to modern Homo sapiens than the Neanderthal. The skulls found here have a more distinct structure than many skulls found from approximately the same time. These skulls have a more modern facial form and vault shape. They also resemble the skulls found in Ethiopia and Africa. This discovery was important because it contradicted the previous idea that only the Neanderthals created Mousterian tools.
Qafzeh is a significant site because it dates back to 100,000 years ago. Now the question of how modern man evolved is relevant. It was a widespread theory that Neanderthals evolved into modern man. A recent discovery made in France dates a Neanderthal skull to 36,000 years ago. These dates make a new point that Neanderthals and modern man were living together for a long period of time, contrary to the common theory. These two groups shared many tools that were thought to be specific of the Neanderthal or of modern humans.
Resources:
“Jebel Qafzeh Cave” The History of the Ancient Near East (1August 2002) http://ancientneareast.tripod.com/Jebel_Qafzeh.html 5 Dec. 2002
“Projects: Site Project on Qafzeh” ASB 222 http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/proj/anthro/asb222/projects/project8.html 5 Dec. 2002
Written By Melanie Schimek, 2002