Qesem cave

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Qesem cave

מערת קסם 2.jpg
Location: 12 km east of Tel Aviv
Geographic
location: 		32 ° 6 '36 "  N , 34 ° 58' 48"  E Coordinates: 32 ° 6 '36 "  N , 34 ° 58' 48"  E
Qesem Cave (Israel)
Qesem cave
Discovery: 2000
Particularities: Archaeological site

The Qesem cave (also: Kessem cave ; English Qesem Cave ; Hebrew מערת קסם) is a buried karst cave about twelve kilometers east of Tel Aviv ( Israel ) with human fossil finds and settlement remains from the Paleolithic Age .

Discovery story

The Qesem Cave is part of a karst system formed in the Cenomanium . The cavity, which was later completely filled with sediment, especially in the Quaternary, was discovered in the course of blasting work for the construction of Autobahn 5 in October 2000. In blasted cave rubble reported hand axes and tools of the Acheulean and Yabrudien and blades of Amudien to a settlement out that at least 200,000 years old have had. Due to these extraordinary findings, which were immediately recognized as the Middle Pleistocene by the Israeli prehistorian Avi Gopher ( Tel Aviv University ) , a change in the course of the road was achieved and the cave was removed from the development plans. It got its name from the nearby Qesem interchange ( signposted as Qesem Interchange in the same spelling), while the nearby town is signposted as Kafar Qasim .

Since 2001, the cave has been scientifically investigated by prehistorians and paleontologists under the guidance of Tel Aviv University . Annual excavation campaigns have been held in the summer months since 2004. The fauna is dominated by the bones of fallow deer . The discovery of isolated human teeth, published in 2011, particularly caused a sensation. Despite their age of 200,000 to 400,000 years , they are said to have features of anatomically modern humans ( Homo sapiens ). Although this question is scientifically controversial, the first publication met with great media coverage.

Human tooth finds

A molar tooth from the Qesem cave from different angles
Burned remains of animal bones

At the present time, 11 teeth of at least six individuals are known which, based on the surrounding find layers and the sintered limestone on top, have a stratigraphic age of 200,000 to 400,000 years. The ESR / U series dating showed ages between 249 and 296 ka for the hearth of the Amudien (mean value 280 ka) and from 279–382 ka for the find layer of the Yabrudien (mean value 313 ka). The teeth were found in three layers of different ages. Three of the teeth come from a human upper jaw ( tooth formula C1-P4). The laminated sintered lime was dated using the uranium-thorium method and forms the term ante quem of the storage. Under the direction of the anthropologist Israel Hershkovitz (Tel Aviv University), a comparison of different tooth finds of the species Homo heidelbergensis , Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens was carried out. In addition to metric features, X-ray and CT examinations were included. The study came to the conclusion that this is the most similar to the teeth of the Skhul cave forecourt not far in the Carmel Mountains and the Qafzeh cave near Nazareth . The fossils discovered there are currently considered to be the oldest of modern humans outside of Africa, their age has been determined to be 80,000 to 100,000 years. At no point in the article was it explicitly stated that the assignment to Homo sapiens (or an archaic Homo sapiens ) was secured.

In a study published in 2015, it was shown on the basis of tartar remains that the diet of these people consisted of a balanced mixture of meat and vegetable food; In addition, traces of charcoal were discovered in the tartar, which - especially in combination with the burnt animal bones also preserved in the cave - prove the consumption of heated food.

discussion

The classification of the fossil finds has so far been controversial. Other scientists are currently assuming that the features are in principle in the zone of overlap between Neanderthals and modern humans and that the teeth can therefore also come from Neanderthals. The problem with the comparison with the teeth of Skhul and Qafzeh is that they cannot be clearly assigned to one of the two types.

literature

  • Ruth Blasco et al .: Bone marrow storage and delayed consumption at Middle Pleistocene Qesem Cave, Israel (420 to 200 ka). In: Science Advances. Volume 5, No. 10, 2019, eaav9822, doi: 10.1126 / sciadv.aav9822
  • Ran Barkai, Avi Gopher: Cultural and biological transformations in the Middle pleistocene Levant: A view from Qesem Cave , in: Takeru Akazawa, Yoshihiro Nishiaki, Kenichi Aoki (eds.): Dynamics of Learning in Neanderthals and Modern Humans , Vol. 1: Cultural Perspectives , Springer, 2013, pp. 115-137. ( academia.edu )

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. Yabrud , site in Syria; Alfred Rust: The cave finds of Jabrud (Syria). Offa books 8, Neumünster, 1950
  2. ^ Avi Gopher et al .: Qesem Cave: An Amudian Site in Central Israel. In: Journal of The Israel Prehistoric Society. Volume 35, 2005, pp. 69–92, full text ( Memento from November 19, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF)
  3. ↑ a b c Israel Hershkovitz, Patricia Smith, Rachel Sarig, Rolf Quam, Laura Rodríguez, Rebeca García, Juan Luis Arsuaga, Ran Barkai, Avi Gopher: Middle pleistocene dental remains from Qesem Cave (Israel) . In: American Journal of Physical Anthropology . 144, No. 4, 2011, ISSN  0002-9483 , pp. 575-592. doi : 10.1002 / ajpa.21446 . (Full text, PDF) ( Memento from November 19, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ a b Markus Becker: Human evolution: researchers puzzle over 400,000 year old teeth. In: Spiegel Online . December 28, 2010, accessed June 23, 2015 .
  5. ↑ Did first humans come out of Middle East and not Africa? Israeli discovery forces scientists to re-examine evolution of modern man. On: dailymail.co.uk , December 28, 2010
  6. ↑ Israel Hershkovitz, Gerhard W. Weber, Cinzia Fornai, Avi Gopher, Ran Barkai, Viviane Slon, Rolf Quam, Yankel Gabet, Rachel Sarig: New Middle Pleistocene dental remains from Qesem Cave (Israel) . In: Quaternary International . 398, 2016, ISSN  1040-6182 , pp. 148-158. doi : 10.1016 / j.quaint.2015.08.059 .
  7. ↑ C. Falgueres, M. Richard, O. Tombret, Q. Shao, JJ Bahain, A. Gopher, R. Barkai: New ESR / U-series dates in Yabrudian and Amudian layers at Qesem Cave, Israel . In: Quaternary International . 398, 2016, ISSN  1040-6182 , pp. 6-12. doi : 10.1016 / j.quaint.2015.02.006 .
  8. ↑ Karen Hardy et al .: Dental calculus reveals potential respiratory irritants and ingestion of essential plant-based nutrients at Lower Palaeolithic Qesem Cave Israel. In: Quaternary International. Advance online publication of June 18, 2015, doi: 10.1016 / j.quaint.2015.04.033
    Ancient dental plaque reveals healthy eating and respiratory irritants 400,000 years ago. On: eurekalert.org June 18, 2015
    Where There's Smoke: 400,000-Year-Old Dental Tartar Provides Earliest Evidence of Manmade Pollution. On: American Friends of Tel Aviv University, June 17, 2015
  9. ↑ Jeffrey H. Schwartz , Ian Tattersall : Fossil evidence for the origin of Homo sapiens. In: American Journal of Physical Anthropology. Volume 143, Supplement 51 (= Yearbook of Physical Anthropology ), 2010, pp. 94-121, doi: 10.1002 / ajpa.21443
  10. ^ Brian Switek: A Fistful of Teeth - Do the Qesem Cave Fossils Really Change Our Understanding of Human Evolution? Weblog, December 28, 2010