Mt. Carmel (Progressive Type)

Mount Carmel’s skeletons were discovered in two caverns in Palestine in 1931-1932. The Levallois Mousterian industry produced the cultural relics found in the caverns. Males were taller than females at Mount Carmel. Their vault had a medium height and a big head.

Recent discoveries of a slew of human fossils show a piecemeal replacement of Neanderthals specialised by modern morphology in their teeth and skeletal characteristics. It has been claimed that the ancient Mount Carmelites’ hybridity was due to the fact that such a broad spectrum of human development from the Conservative type of Human evolution could not have occurred in such a short time period.

Mount Carmel

Mount Carmel, also known as Har Ha-Karmel in Hebrew, is a mountain range in northern Israel that includes Haifa. Mt. Carmel has been revered since ancient times, and Egyptian writings from the 16th century BC refer to it as a ‘holy mountain’. It was long a centre of idol worship as a ‘high place’, and the Bible’s most prominent mention to it is as the site of Elijah’s showdown with Baal’s false prophets.

Recent Discoveries in Mount Carmel

Abdel Al-Salam Sa’id, an archaeologist and inspector with the Israel Antiquities Authority, discovered fragments of glass, a floor, and an ash layer within a trench while excavating at the site of a proposed road construction.

During the excavation, which took place between Yagur Junction and Ha-’Emekim Junction, executed as a part of the Jezreel Valley Railway Project, the ruins of Israel’s earliest kilns, where commercial amounts of raw glass were made, were unearthed. These kilns, which date from the Late Roman era and are around 1,600 years old, show that Israel was once one of the world’s most important glass-making hubs.

Skhūl Anthropological Site

Skhūl is a paleoanthropological archaeological site on the western slope of Mount Carmel, Israel, where early Homo sapiens fossils and stone tools were excavated between 1929 and 1934. Skhūl was home to seven people and three children who lived between 120,000 and 80,000 years ago. At least a couple of the people were purposefully buried.

Three pretty intact skulls and other well-preserved long bones were discovered at Skhūl. These resemble the bones of Neanderthals (H. neanderthalensis) in that they exhibit certain harsh features (e.g., brow ridges), but they lack the whole range of Neanderthal characteristics. Modern humans (H. sapiens) have certain characteristics as well.

The Skhūl remains and the neighbouring Tabūn specimens were previously thought to constitute a transitional stage between Neanderthals and modern humans. Most experts currently classify the Tabūn material as Neanderthal, whereas the Skhūl sample is classified as early modern.

The tools discovered in Skhūl belong to the Mousterian industry, which is associated with Neanderthals.

Tabun Anthropological Site

This fossil was discovered during palaeoanthropological digs in a deep rock shelter on Mount Carmel’s side, facing the Mediterranean Sea in northern Israel. A fragmentary skeleton, a jaw, isolated premolar teeth, and fire isolated limb bones were discovered. The Lower and Middle Palaeolithic eras are documented by artefacts found in a protracted succession of strata at this site.

Between 300,000 and 50,000–100,000 years ago in southern Asia, this record has become the standard scale for human technical advancement. Tabun also generated a collection of Middle or Lower palaeolithic fossil remains between 1929 and 1934. The fossils indicate that the area was populated alternatively by Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) and early modern humans (Homo sapiens).

Fossils from the Palaeolithic Period layers at Tabūn are fragmented, indicating that only the people who occupied the site were well-built. The early Middle Palaeolithic strata fossils are incomplete leg bones and a full lower jaw. The lower jaw displays a mix of Neanderthal and earlier traits, whereas the limb bones are typical of Neanderthals.

These fossils are almost 150,000 years old, making them 100,000 years ahead of most Neanderthal remnants. During this time, a slow appearance of Neanderthal facial characteristics was documented in southern Asia, as shown by their mix of traits.

Kebara Anthropological Site

Kebara is a paleoanthropological site in northern Israel on Mount Carmel that has provided a wealth of Neanderthal bones and artefacts. From the Middle Palaeolithic Period (about 200,000 to 40,000 years ago) through the Upper Palaeolithic Period (roughly 40,000 years ago), humans and numerous other creatures lived in the Kebara cave (about 40,000 to 10,000 years ago).

They included a handful of human graves and some partially cremated remains. In the 1960s and 1980s, the Middle Palaeolithic layers were dug up. They are particularly rich in archaeological remains, containing many layers of enormous Middle Palaeolithic tools, flat hearths, and animal bones, as well as two newborn skeletons, a young adult skeleton (known as Kebara 2), and parts of many more individuals.

Even though no burial holes could be found, the newborn and adult remains were evidently interred on purpose. Only their teeth reveal that they were Neanderthals among the delicate fragmented newborn relics. On the other hand, Kebara 2 has revealed several fascinating pieces of information about Neanderthal biology that have been hotly contested.

Conclusion

The mountain is made up of a mix of limestone and flint, has several caverns, and is coated with a variety of volcanic rocks. The abundant vegetation on the mountain’s sloping side includes oak, pine, olive, and laurel trees.