The distribution of personal names provides unique, yet often overlooked, insight into modern and historical societies. This study employs diversity statistics—commonly used in ecology—to analyze onomastic data from Iron Age II archaeological excavations in the Southern Levant (950–586 BCE). Our findings reveal higher onomastic diversity in the Kingdom of Israel compared to Judah, suggesting a more cosmopolitan society. We also observe a decrease in name diversity in Judah over time, potentially reflecting sociopolitical changes. Center/periphery analysis shows contrasting patterns in Israel and Judah. These results provide insights into social dynamics, cultural interactions, and identity formation in these ancient societies. Our methodology, validated using supplementary archaeological data, as well as modern datasets, offers a robust framework for applying diversity statistics across various modern and historical contexts.

Guano-related weathering in caves received notable attention in several studies over the last decades. This study investigates the influence of bat guano on the development of Chariton Cave, the largest known hypogenic cave in Israel. We examine the cave morphology, sediments, and moisture sources to understand post-speleogenetic processes in a vadose environment. Apatite deposits along cave passages with keyhole cross-sections suggest secondary enlargement by guano-induced weathering. Estimation of the guano-related weathering suggests it accounts for at least 30 % of the entire cave volume. This significant weathering occurs in semi-arid conditions, with limited infiltration of meteoric water from the surface. However, condensation-evaporation cycles within the cave provide the moisture required for weathering associated with guano. UPb dating of calcite, which was deposited on secondary apatite, indicates bat activity in the cave since at least 5.19 ± 0.85 Ma. This age enables calculation of maximum guano-related weathering rate of ~0.05 to ~0.07 mm/ka and maximum incision rate in Chariton canyon of 19.2 mm/ky. Furthermore, ¹⁴C dating of guano shows bat activity and guano accumulation 3360–3620 years ago, which continues to the present. This research highlights the importance of biogenic processes in reshaping hypogenic caves after their disconnection from formative environments, contributing to our understanding of karst evolution.

In this paper we investigate the seasonality of site occupation at Amud Cave (Israel). This site presents a long sedimentary sequence featuring two main late Middle Paleolithic occupation phases (70 – 55 Ka BP) rich in anthropogenic remains, and displaying very high densities of lithic artifacts, faunal remains and evidence of combustion. The abundance of these features appears high relative to the thickness of the sequence, thus raising the question of the duration and frequency of site occupation(s). We aim here to unravel this issue implementing a multiproxy approach to the dental fraction of the faunal assemblage. Combining teeth replacement and wear patterns coupled with micro- and mesowear analyses, we provide insights into the seasonality of occupation and hunting strategies at the site. We found that hunting activities at Amud Cave were conducted mainly in the course of the winter months with possible expansion into the late fall and early spring. This result is consistent with regional and local climate reconstructions and resources procurement locations evidenced in previous works. Assuming a fast depositional rate, we suggest that the sequence results from frequent seasonal returns to the site, forming a palimpsest of short-term occupations. This scenario is compatible with settlements and mobility patterns inferred for the late Middle Paleolithic in the Southern Levant.

Research on the use of copper during the Late Chalcolithic (LC), the first metal-bearing era in the southern Levant, has hitherto neglected an important component – copper-coated steatite beads, uncovered in multiple LC sites and contexts. In this study, we conducted a multifaceted study of green and off-white beads found in 1960 in the Cave of Skulls (Judean Desert, Israel), where the largest LC bead collection known to date was uncovered. For the first time, the green coating was extracted from the beads and analyzed separately. Combining scanning electron microscope and lead isotope analysis (LIA), the study shows that all beads were made of fired steatite, and some were coated with a copper mineral. The LIA results could not trace the origin of the steatite, but point to the either Faynan or Amram Valley in the Arabah Valley as likely sources of the Cu minerals. It is therefore suggested that the green beads were manufactured in two separate processes – one for the production of the steatite beads, and the other for the addition of the copper coating, each taking place in a different location. Tracing the Cu-mineral coating process to the Arabah sheds further light on economic connections between south Levantine sedentary and mobile groups during the late fifth millennium BCE.

Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3, ranging from around 57,000 to 29,000 years ago, is a period of significant archaeological interest due to notable transitions in lithic technology and hominin populations. In Europe, this time saw the replacement of Middle Palaeolithic (MP) technologies associated with Neanderthals by Upper Palaeolithic (UP) technologies linked to anatomically modern humans (AMHs). This technological shift is conventionally attributed to a demographic turnover; however, the timing of this transition varied regionally. The presence of Neanderthals and AMHs in the Levant, western Europe, and elsewhere over extended periods complicates the narrative, suggesting asynchronous and regionally diverse associations of hominin species and lithic technologies. This study shifts the attention to potential technological and cultural transmissions among MP- and UP-making groups, emphasizing the roles of social and exchange networks. Recent data from the obsidian-rich Armenian Highlands enable us to consider the mobility and land use of these groups without the added complication of toolstone with different knapping qualities, so patterns more clearly reflect mobility patterns, land use strategies, and potential social connections of foraging groups. These results suggest that, while MP-making groups in MIS 3 had overlapping territories, the UP-making groups at Aghitu-3 had smaller movements on the landscape. In contrast, MIS 2 sites with UP lithic assemblages have resource territories that apparently overlapped much like those of the MIS 3 MP sites. The findings hint at the possibility that differing mobility and land use during MIS 3 might have contributed to the coexistence of distinct lithic technologies, potentially through social transmission rather than a direct replacement of hominin populations.

In this study, we utilize the chaîne opératoire approach to examine the complex process of traditional manufacturing of basalt grinding stones in India. We examine decision-making processes related to knapping strategies beginning with the sourcing of basalt, the quarrying of appropriate blocks, and varied stages of knapping using indirect percussion with specialized iron chisels and hammers. We document the nature of waste products and the morphology of the grinding stone at various stages during this process. We compare this with ethnographic and archaeological data from Neolithic-Chalcolithic archaeological sites in India and globally where basalt grinding stones are noted, discussing variability like the lithic assemblages generated.

The renewed excavation of the Ein Gev IV Epipalaeolithic (Nizzanan) site, in the Upper Jordan Valley, provides a novel insight into the long-durée process that, in hindsight, set the stage for the pivotal changes attested during the Late Epiplaeolithic Natufian and subsequent pre-Pottery Neolithic cultural entities. Based on the analysis of the archaeological deposit, the lithic assemblage, and a series of new radiometric dates it is possible to suggest that Ein Gev IV might have been occupied for a large part of the year as a residential site, embedded in a tight social network that included other Nizzanan sites in Transjordan and the Negev. The new data highlight the complexity of the pre-Natufian Epipalaeolithic population dynamics, and advocate for a paradigm shift, loosening the rigid separation between Early and Middle Epipalaeolithic cultural entities and focusing on how social and environmental factors might have affected the development and transmission of innovations between interconnected local populations over the whole pre-Natufian Epipalaeolithic period.

Particle shape properties, such as aspect ratio, circularity and convexity, can be utilised as indicators for textural maturity, encapsulating the means to assess similarities and differences among sediment populations from variable depositional settings. The characterisation of sediment particle morphologies can provide insights into the transportation mechanisms and depositional environments of sedimentary sequences, including anthropo-sedimentary strata from archaeological sites. Here we present a new approach on the quantification shape from sediment samples, implementing dynamic image analysis through the of the Analysette 28 ImageSizer (Fritsch). The grain shape study is conducted in conjunction to micromorphological characterisation of particle surface topographies (SEM), granulometric and mineralogical (XRD) analyses. Chemical treatment and mechanical sieving are incorporated in the sample preparation process, while a standard operational procedure is suggested. Preliminary results from samples originating from differential geomorphological settings, including sandy soils, coastal and dune deposits from the coastal plain of Israel, provide the basis for the establishment of the proposed approach. Further integration of this methodological framework to Palaeolithic archaeological sites will provide additional analytical pathways in deciphering complex archaeological site formation processes.

Fundamental changes in the lifeways of hunter-gatherers occurred in tandem with rapid climatic changes spanning 13,000 years of the Epipaleolithic period (25-12 ka, EP hereafter), until the onset of the Holocene. Local hunter-gatherers groups showed reduced mobility causing a cascade effect manifested in demography, social organization, economy, subsistence strategies, and material culture. The transformation of western Asian mobile hunter-gatherers into a sedentary way of life is mostly investigated from the last stage of this process: the Late Epipaleolithic sedentary 'Natufian' (ca. 15-12 cal ky). Sedentarization was a long-term process that spanned the Epipaleolithic period, caused by social, economic, and demographic mechanisms. Yet, in the archeological record sedentism seems to appear abruptly in the Late Epipaleolithic (Natufian culture). However, the preceding Middle Epipaleolithic period, represented in the Mediterranean region by the mobile 'Geometric Kebaran' culture (ca. 18-15 cal ky), is still not well understood. Some pivotal issues such as precise chronology, site organization, nature of occupation, human-environment interaction and subsistence, all require additional investigation. Specifically, site occupation intensity as a proxy for the process of sedentism is lacking in the current discourse. This information is crucial for evaluating the nature and tempo of the cultural processes leading to the appearance of sedentary societies either as a rapid punctuated event or a gradual process. Recent excavations at the site of Tahunat es-Sukkar (TeS), located in the Bet Shean Valley on the flanks of the Dead Sea Transform in Israel, provide a unique opportunity to test these archeological questions utliziling geomorphological toolkits. The site is embedded within an active spring system that deposited a massive tufa complex stretching more than 9 km from north to south, and covering a surface area of 7 km² and 30-50 meters thick that accumulated over the last 300,000 years. Geometric Kebaran findss are distributed within a 2 m thick sequence marked by stratigraphic boundaries of spring deposits over an area of ca. 100 sq. Ongoing detailed sedimentological, micromorphological and isotopic analysis together with high-resolution U-Series dating, provide a refined context for the Middle Epipaleolithic occupation within this dynamic marshy environment. Initial results provide promising prospects for the preservation of a long-term behavioral record building a bridge between geomorphology and archeological questions.

Observations about handaxe techno-morphology, like their symmetry, refinement, and fine edges have long been used to reconstruct the evolution of hominin cognition, skills, and technological decision making. However, these interpretations about the cognitive and technical abilities of Acheulean hominins often rely on the most ‘beautiful’ or supposedly ‘archetypical’ looking handaxes. But how often do these finely made handaxes actually occur in assemblages and how can we identify handaxes that were more skillfully made than others? Instead of seeking to estimate the skill level of individual past knappers, a trait that is oftentimes obscured in the archaeological record, we approach the question of knapping skill from the other direction. We instead ask how much skill was required to manufacture a handaxe? We explore, not the skill level of a handaxe’s maker, but how skillfully an individual handaxe was made. We put forth a suite of novel 3D methods of handaxe analysis for calculating their 3D edge sinuosity and 3D asymmetry. Using these methods, we quantify traits that are difficult to achieve during handaxe-making, providing an estimate of the requisite amount of ability, experience, attention, and effort demanded by their manufacture. Among our large sample of handaxes from the later Acheulean of the southern Levant, we find that blank size and tool-/site-use best explain the presence of more skillfully-made handaxes. Handaxes made on larger original blanks appear to afford more volume with which to enact longer and more skillfully demanding reduction sequences. Moreover, handaxes occurring at more recurrently occupied sites demanded less skill investment and appear geared towards the more expedient fulfilment of quotidian tasks. In the later Acheulean of the southern Levant there appears to be a great diversity in how skillfully handaxes were made, likely reflecting a diversity in the goals of handaxe making.