Jabroudian
Encyclopedia
The Jabroudian culture is a cultural phase of the Middle Paleolithic
of the Levant
. It broadly belongs to the Mousterian
culture, and shows connections with the European facies La Quina.
One of the most noticeable elements is the so-called Amoudian elements, that are the first known stone blades ever. Nevertheless the connection of this Amoudian innovations with later Upper Paleolithic
blades is most likely null.
There is a gap of c. 10,000 years between the end of this blade tradition and the appearance of Upper Paleolithic
technology, based precisely on stone blades.
region of Israel
, that belongs to a Neanderthal
.
s, rhinoceros
, antelope
s and small animals are all found in their sites.
.
Middle Paleolithic
The Middle Paleolithic is the second subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. The term Middle Stone Age is used as an equivalent or a synonym for the Middle Paleolithic in African archeology. The Middle Paleolithic and the Middle Stone Age...
of the Levant
Levant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
. It broadly belongs to the Mousterian
Mousterian
Mousterian is a name given by archaeologists to a style of predominantly flint tools associated primarily with Homo neanderthalensis and dating to the Middle Paleolithic, the middle part of the Old Stone Age.-Naming:...
culture, and shows connections with the European facies La Quina.
One of the most noticeable elements is the so-called Amoudian elements, that are the first known stone blades ever. Nevertheless the connection of this Amoudian innovations with later Upper Paleolithic
Upper Paleolithic
The Upper Paleolithic is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. Very broadly it dates to between 40,000 and 10,000 years ago, roughly coinciding with the appearance of behavioral modernity and before the advent of...
blades is most likely null.
Tools
The thick layers of Jabroudian consist mainly in heavy scratchers and hand axes. The proportion of the first type of tools tends to increase as time passes, while the axes show a decrease even totally disappearing in the upper layer of some Jabroudian sites.Amoudian blades
A most interesting facet of Jabroudian culture are the so called Amoudian blade tools. This is the earliest known stone blade industry ever and it's always found inserted in Jabroudian sites, with both "cultures" being inseparable. As with the hand axes, the proportion of stone blades decreases with time, until it finally vanishes with the end of Yabrudian culture.There is a gap of c. 10,000 years between the end of this blade tradition and the appearance of Upper Paleolithic
Upper Paleolithic
The Upper Paleolithic is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. Very broadly it dates to between 40,000 and 10,000 years ago, roughly coinciding with the appearance of behavioral modernity and before the advent of...
technology, based precisely on stone blades.
Human remains
The only human remain associated with this culture is a skull found in the cave of Zuttiyeh, in the GalileeGalilee
Galilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. Traditionally divided into Upper Galilee , Lower Galilee , and Western Galilee , extending from Dan to the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, along Mount Lebanon to the...
region of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, that belongs to a Neanderthal
Neanderthal
The Neanderthal is an extinct member of the Homo genus known from Pleistocene specimens found in Europe and parts of western and central Asia...
.
Hunt
There is evidence that the Jabroudian people hunted a wide array of animals: elephantElephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
s, rhinoceros
Rhinoceros
Rhinoceros , also known as rhino, is a group of five extant species of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. Two of these species are native to Africa and three to southern Asia....
, antelope
Antelope
Antelope is a term referring to many even-toed ungulate species indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelopes comprise a miscellaneous group within the family Bovidae, encompassing those old-world species that are neither cattle, sheep, buffalo, bison, nor goats...
s and small animals are all found in their sites.
End of Jabroudian
The end of this culture is associated to the introduction of other (also Mousterian) cultural trends, of Levalloisian tradition, that were widely distributed through Western and Central AsiaCentral Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
.