image: The Misliya Cave Early Middle Paleolithic layers of the Upper Terrace of the cave, during excavation (viewed from the southeast). The layers here are some 1.5-2 m thick. Note the in-situ hearth, consisting of indurated dark ashy sediment, at the bottom central-right part of the picture. Hearths were repeatedly constructed during the long habitation of the cave. The habitual use of fire is also evident from abundant wood ash, as well as burnt animal bones, flint implements and phytoliths. Charred laminated vegetal tissues constitute the earliest evidence for bedding or matting to date. This material relates to a paper that appeared in the Jan. 26, 2018 issue of Science, published by AAAS. The paper, by I. Hershkovitz at Tel Aviv University in Tel Aviv, Israel, and colleagues was titled, "The earliest modern humans outside Africa." view more
Credit: Mina Weinstein-Evron, Haifa University