Mugharet el-Zuttiyeh
Mugharet el-Zuttiyeh | |
Alternative name | Cave of the Robbers |
---|---|
Region | Upper Galilee, Israel |
Coordinates | 32°51′21″N 35°31′38″E / 32.855797°N 35.527210°E |
Type | limestone cave |
History | |
Cultures | Acheulo-Yabrudian complex |
Associated with | Homo heidelbergensis |
Site notes | |
Archaeologists | Francis Turville-Petre |
Mugharet el-Zuttiyeh ("Cave of the Robbers")[1] is a prehistoric archaeological site in Upper Galilee, Israel.[2] It is situated 800 m (2,600 ft) from the Nahal Amud outlet, approximately 30 m (98 ft) above the wadi bed (148 m (486 ft) below sea level). It was found to house a fossil today known as the "Galilee skull" or "The Yabrudian Man".[3]
History
Discovered in 1925, the skull was the first fossilised
Zuttiyeh cave is at the opening of a limestone ravine where Nahal Amud turns eastward, 250 m (820 ft) above a smaller cave known as Mugharet el-Emireh (Cave of the Princess).[8]
The cave was excavated from 1925 to 1926 by Francis Turville-Petre.[6] It was the first paleontological excavation in the region.[10] Turville-Petre discovered a skull, referred to as the Galilee Skull, that was initially described as the second Neanderthal-like specimen. It was originally attributed to a Mousterian stratum and is now thought to be from an earlier Acheulo-Yabrudian complex. Later studies showed that the face was relatively flat, with no evidence of Neanderthal-like facial prognathism.[6]
The frontal bone and part of the upper face were found in the Mugharan level, which leads to an estimate of the age of the fossil to range from 200 to 500 kya.[11] Similarities with Zhoukoudian remains suggest a possible ancestral relationship.[12]
The skull is housed in the
See also
- Archaeology of Israel
- List of human evolution fossils
- Qesem Cave
- Skhul and Qafzeh hominids
References
- . Retrieved 25 April 2013.
- ^ Human Evolution (2011-12-17). "The Zuttiyeh specimen from Israel, Galilee Skull or The Palestinian Skull". Pfpuech.newsvine.com. Retrieved 2013-04-25.
- ^ ISBN 9781563380556. "Galilee man" (lowercase "m") in this source is a typo – ref. Solo Man, Peking Man and so forth.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: postscript (link - ^ a b Cohen, Getzel M.; Joukowsky, Martha (2004). Breaking Ground: Pioneering Women Archaeologists. University of Michigan Press. Retrieved 2013-04-25.
- ^ The stone age of Mount Carmel : report of the Joint Expedition of the British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem and the American School of Prehistoric Research, 1929–1934, p. 18
- ^ ISBN 978-0471214915. Retrieved 2013-03-01.
- ^ Pettitt, Paul (2013). The Palaeolithic Origins of Human Burial. Routledge. p. 59.Rabett, Ryan J. (2012). Human Adaptation in the Asian Palaeolithic: Hominin Dispersal and Behaviour during the Late Quaternary. Cambridge University Press. p. 90.
- JSTOR 2844188.
- ^ a b "The Israel Museum Permanent Exhibitions: Archaeology Wing – The Dawn of Civilization". New York: The Ridgefield Foundation. 1995. Skull (cast) Zuttiyeh Cave Lower Palaeolithic. Retrieved 2013-03-13.
- . Retrieved 2013-04-25.
- ^ http://pages.nycep.org/ed/download/pdf/NMG%2043.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- PMID 8333489.
Further reading
- Lahr, Marta Mirazón (1996). The evolution of modern human diversity: a study of cranial variation. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-47393-4.
- Delson, Eric; Tattersall, Ian; Van Couvering, John A. (2000). Encyclopedia of human evolution and prehistory. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 0-203-00942-8.