Late Epipalaeolithic wood remains from el‐Wad Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel

Abstract

Thirty-two Early Natufian (13-11 k years BP) pieces of charcoal were found in the recent excavations of el-Wad Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel. These included Tamarix sp. (10 pieces), Quercus calliprinos Webb (10), Quercus ithaburensis Decne. (three), Quercus sp. (two), Salix sp., probably acmophylla Boiss, (four), Cupressus sempervirens L. (one), and Myrtus communis L. (one), and an unidentified dicotyledonous plant. These finds indicate that the Natufians used various local woody plants in their economy, in a Mediterranean climate similar to that of the present, during the closing stages of the Pleistocene.