KEBARA
LOCATION
Overlooking the Mediterranean at the southwestern
end of Mount Carmel, Israel, near Zikron Ya’akov.
About 13 km south of the classic Mount Carmel sites
of Tabiin and SkhUl and 30 km south of Haifa.
DISCOVERY
October 1983; excavations directed by 0. Bar-Yosef,
B. Vandermeersch and others.
MATERIAL
Complete skeleton of adult, presumed male, lacking
only lower extremities except for proximal left femur,
and the cranium. Mandible complete except for rami;
also a right upper molar.
DATING AND STRATIGRAPHIC CONTEXT
Stratified cave-mouth site with occupation levels
running from Mousterian to Epipaleolithic. The in-
terface between Mousterian and Upper Paleolithic
levels is dated to about 45 Ka by both conventional
radiocarbon and thermoluminescence; the under-
lying Mousterian layers are dated between about
64-48 Ka using thermoluminescence on burned
flints and ESR on teeth (Valladas et al., 1987;
Schwarcz et al., 1989). The skeleton was found
buried into stratigraphic unit 12, which is low down
in the sedimentary pile and
60 Ka (Valladas et al., 1987).dated by TL to aboutARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXT
The Levantine Mousterian lithic industry of Kebara,
especially in the lower strata containing the skeleton,
is said to resemble most closely that of Tabiin Level B
and Amud Level B, with numerous points and blades
and rather little retouch (Meignen and Bar-Yosef,
1989). The skeleton appears to have been buried
intentionally in a pit (Arensburg et al., 1985). The
Mousterian levels at Kebara display show an unusual
use of living space: numerous hearths (see Goldberg
and Laville, 1988), as evidenced by ashy deposits, are
clustered together in the central area of the cave, while
bone refuse is concentrated toward its rear.PREVIOUS DESCRIPTIONS AND ANALYSES
A number of publications have appeared on individual
aspects of the Kebara skeleton, notably those of Rak
(e.g., 1990) on the pelvis, of Arensburg et al. (1988)
on the hyoid, and several contributions in Bar-Yosef
and Vandermeersch (1991). There has never been any
question that the Kebara skeleton is that of a Levan-
tine Neanderthal.MORPHOLOGY
Mandible, plus right upper M3 and most of postcra-
nial skeleton.
Mandible complete except for R and L coronoid
processes, and L and most of R condyle. Massive,
especially corpora, which increase in depth toward345