Early Upper Paleolithic subsistence in the Levant: Zooarchaeology of the Ahmarian-Aurignacian sequence at Manot Cave, Israel.

The Early Upper Paleolithic period in the Levant is essential in the studies of the establishment of modern human communities outside Africa, and corresponding archaeological evidence may be used to shed light on human ecology, economy and demography. Specifically, cultural differences between two Early Upper Paleolithic entities, the Early Ahmarian and the Levantine Aurignacian, raise the question of differing adaptations. In this article we use archaeofaunal remains from the Early Upper Paleolithic sequence at Manot Cave (Western Galilee, Israel), to track human hunting patterns, carcass transport and processing within the Early Ahmarian (46-42 ka) and Levantine Aurignacian (38-34 ka) phases.