Mugharet el-Zuttiyeh explained

Zuttiyeh Cave
Native Name:Mugharet el-Zuttiyeh
Native Name Lang:Hebrew
Alternate Name:Cave of the Robbers
Map Size:250px
Relief:yes
Coordinates:32.8558°N 35.5272°W
Region:Upper Galilee, Israel
Type:limestone cave
Cultures:Acheulo-Yabrudian complex
Occupants:Homo heidelbergensis
Archaeologists:Francis Turville-Petre

Mugharet el-Zuttiyeh ("Cave of the Robbers")[1] is a prehistoric archaeological site in Upper Galilee, Israel.[2] It is situated 800m (2,600feet) from the Nahal Amud outlet, approximately 30m (100feet) above the wadi bed (148m (486feet) below sea level). It was found to house a fossil today known as the "Galilee skull" or "The Yabrudian Man".[3]

History

Discovered in 1925, the skull was the first fossilised archaic human found in Western Asia.[4] Together with the remains found at Es Skhul and the Wadi el-Mughara Caves, this find was classified in 1939 by Arthur Keith and as Palaeoanthropus palestinensis.[5] Today its taxonomy is that of Homo heidelbergensis.[6] [7]

Zuttiyeh cave is at the opening of a limestone ravine where Nahal Amud turns eastward, 250m (820feet) above a smaller cave known as Mugharet el-Emireh (Cave of the Princess).[8] The cave was excavated from 1925 to 1926 by Francis Turville-Petre. It was the first paleontological excavation in the region.[9] Turville-Petre discovered a skull, referred to as the Galilee Skull, that was initially described as the second Neanderthal-like specimen. It was originally attributed to a Mousterian stratum and is now thought to be from an earlier Acheulo-Yabrudian complex. Later studies showed that the face was relatively flat, with no evidence of Neanderthal-like facial prognathism.

The frontal bone and part of the upper face were found in the Mugharan level, which leads to an estimate of the age of the fossil to range from 200 to 500 kya.[10] Similarities with Zhoukoudian remains suggest a possible ancestral relationship.[11]

The skull is housed in the Rockefeller Museum in East Jerusalem along with many other findings of Turville-Petre. A cast of the skull is on display at the Israel Museum.[12]

See also

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Freidline . S.E. . Gunz . P. . Janković . I. . Harvati . K. . Hublin . J.J. . 2012 . A comprehensive morphometric analysis of the frontal and zygomatic bone of the Zuttiyeh fossil from Israel . . 62 . 2 . 225-241 . 10.1016/j.jhevol.2011.11.005 . 25 April 2013.
  2. Web site: Human Evolution . The Zuttiyeh specimen from Israel, Galilee Skull or The Palestinian Skull . Pfpuech.newsvine.com . 2011-12-17 . 2013-04-25.
  3. Book: Rast, Walter E.. [{{Google books |id=4Z0YrPfeHa8C |page=50 |plainurl=yes }} Through the Ages in Palestinian Archaeology: An Introductory Handbook]. 50. 1992. 9781563380556. Continuum International Publishing Group. ."Galilee man" (lowercase "m") in this source is a typo – ref. Solo Man, Peking Man and so forth..
  4. Book: [{{Google books |id=yLxQWOgfiK0C |page=407 |plainurl=yes }} Breaking Ground: Pioneering Women Archaeologists ]. Getzel M. . Cohen . Martha . Joukowsky . University of Michigan Press . 2004 . 2013-04-25 .
  5. https://archive.org/stream/stoneageofmountc02join#page/18/mode/1up 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
  6. Book: [{{Google books |id=5TRHOmTUTP4C |page=320 |plainurl=yes }} The Human Lineage ]. Cartmill . Matt . Smith . Fred H. . 320 . . 2009 . 978-0471214915 . 2013-03-01.
  7. Book: Pettitt, Paul . [{{Google books |id=vHKuxy69Lc8C |page=59 |plainurl=yes }} The Palaeolithic Origins of Human Burial ]. Routledge . 2013 . 59 . Book: Rabett, Ryan J. . [{{Google books |id=Kl8gAwAAQBAJ |page=90 |plainurl=yes }} Human Adaptation in the Asian Palaeolithic: Hominin Dispersal and Behaviour during the Late Quaternary ]. Cambridge University Press . 2012 . 90 .
  8. 2844188 . The Mugharet el-Emireh in Lower Galilee: Type-Station of the Emiran Industry . Dorothy Garrod . D. E. A. . Garrod . Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland . 85 . 1/2 . 1955 . 141–162 . 10.2307/2844188 .
  9. Excavations in Wadi Amud . Paléorient . 1974 . 2 . 1 . 175–180 . Persee.fr . 10.3406/paleo.1974.4180 . 2013-04-25. Itzik . Gisis . Bar-Yosef . Ofer .
  10. http://pages.nycep.org/ed/download/pdf/NMG%2043.pdf
  11. 8333489 . Zuttiyeh face: A view from the East . 2013-03-25. 2013-04-25--> . 10.1002/ajpa.1330910307 . 91 . 325–47. 2027.42/37665 . free . Sohn . Songy . Wolpoff . Milford H. . American Journal of Physical Anthropology . 3 .
  12. Web site: The Israel Museum Permanent Exhibitions: Archaeology Wing – The Dawn of Civilization . Skull (cast) Zuttiyeh Cave Lower Palaeolithic . The Ridgefield Foundation . New York . 1995 . 2013-03-13.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Mugharet el-Zuttiyeh".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.