Skhul Cave

Skhul Cave
مَغَارَة السخول
Skhul Cave is located in Northern Haifa region of Israel
Skhul Cave
Shown within Northern Haifa region of Israel
Alternative nameMe'arat HaGedi
LocationMount Carmel, Israel
Coordinates32°40′14.4″N 34°57′58.1″E / 32.670667°N 34.966139°E / 32.670667; 34.966139
History
PeriodsMiddle Paleolithic
CulturesMousterian
Site notes
Excavation dates1928
ArchaeologistsDorothy Garrod

Skhul Cave (Levantine Arabic: مَغَارَة السخول, romanized: mġaret es-Skhūl, lit. 'Young Goat Cave') or Me'arat HaGedi (Hebrew: מערת הגדי) is a prehistoric archaeological site situated about 20 kilometres (12.4 miles) south of the city of Haifa, Israel, and about 3 km (1.9 mi) from the Mediterranean Sea.

Together with the nearby caves of Tabun, Jamal, and El Wad, Skhul Cave is part of the Nahal Me'arot Nature Reserve,[1] a national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site.[2]

Findings

Further information: Skhul and Qafzeh hominins

The site was first excavated by Dorothy Garrod during the summer of 1929. Several human skeletons discovered in the cave belong to an ancient population of Homo sapiens. Both Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans were present in the region from 200,000 to 45,000 years ago.[3]

The remains found at es-Skhul, together with those found at the other caves of Wadi el-Mughara and Mugharet el-Zuttiyeh, were classified in 1939 by Arthur Keith and Theodore D. McCown as Palaeoanthropus palestinensis, a descendant of Homo heidelbergensis.[4][5][6] According to a paper published in August 2025 in the journal l'Anthropologie, a five year old child uncovered at this site was found to be a hybrid Homo sapiens-Neanderthal based on its skull morphology.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Nahal Me'arot Nature Reserve". National Parks and Nature Reserves. Israel Nature and Parks Authority. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  2. ^ "Sites of Human Evolution at Mount Carmel: The Nahal Me'arot / Wadi el-Mughara Caves". World Heritage List. UNESCO. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  3. ^ Olson, S. Mapping Human History. Houghton Mifflin, New York (2003). p. 74–75.
  4. ^ The Palaeolithic Origins of Human Burial, Paul Pettitt, 2013, p. 59
  5. ^ Human Adaptation in the Asian Palaeolithic: Hominin Dispersal and Behaviour during the Late Quaternary, Ryan J. Rabett, 2012, p. 90
  6. ^ The stone age of Mount Carmel : report of the Joint Expedition of the British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem and the American School of Prehistoric Research, 1929–1934, p. 18
  7. ^ Human Neanderthal hybrid child from 140,000 years ago found in Israel's Skhul Cave
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