Skhul Cave (sometimes misspelled as Skuhl) is a rockshelter, one of four located on the slopes of Mount Carmel in Israel, in Nahal Mearot Canyon and very near the also ancient site of Tabun. The site contains the purposeful burial of several early modern humans, which all fall within the time range of 100-130,000 years ago.
Natufian, Aurignacian and Mousterian stone tools have been found at the site; the Natufian and Aurignacian levels are somewhat disturbed and mixed. Layer B at Skhul included the human remains and was restricted to the Mousterian tradition.
Naturally perforated shells were discovered associated with these burials, including Nassarius gibbosuslus, Acanthocardia deshayesii, Laevicardium crassum, and Pecten jacobaeus, and are interpreted by scholars as purposeful ornamentation.
Dating Skhul Cave
Because of its very early age, and the evidence for what is considered a hallmark of modern human behavior (purposeful burial of the dead), much work has attempted to securely date the Layer B occupations, including ESR, U-series, and TL. There is some disagreement among these methods, with the ranges for ESR falling under 100,000, U-series under 80,000 years ago, and TL between 99-134,000 years ago. A recent study by Grün et al. suggests all three burials fall within 100,000-134,000 years ago.
Sources
Rainer Grün et al. 2005. U-series and ESR analyses of bones and teeth relating to the human burials from Skhul. Journal of Human Evolution 49:316-354.
Vanhaeren, Marian, et al. 2006 Middle Paleolithic Shell Beads in Israel and Algeria. Science 312:1785-1788.
Vita-Finzi, Carlo and Chris. Stringer. 2007. The setting of the Mt. Carmel caves reassessed. Quaternary Science Reviews 26: 436–440.
This glossary entry is part of the Dictionary of Archaeology. Any mistakes are the responsibility of Kris Hirst.
