El-Wad Cave (Mugharet el-Wad)
El Wad · Mugharet el-Wad · Nahal Me’arot el-Wad
Middle Palaeolithic to Natufian (c.200 ka–9600 BCE)·Mousterian → Aurignacian → Natufian·🇮🇱 Mount Carmel, Nahal Me’arot, Israel
Avi1111 dr. avishai teicher · CC BY-SA 4.0
About
About El-Wad Cave (Mugharet el-Wad)
Karst cave at the mouth of Nahal Me’arot, type site of the Natufian culture (excavated Dorothy Garrod 1929–1934). 4 m stratigraphy from Middle Palaeolithic (Mousterian, 200 ka) through Upper Palaeolithic to Late Natufian with burials, bone harpoons, sickle blades and early art. The Natufian cemetery includes decorated burials with Dentalium shells.
Why it mattersKey Mount Carmel, Nahal Me’arot sequence for Middle Palaeolithic to Natufian (c.200 ka–9600 BCE); seasonal to sedentary cave base with natufian cemetery.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Chronology of El-Wad Cave (Mugharet el-Wad) relative to neighbouring centres?
Theories
- 01Regional centre hypothesis for Mount Carmel
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- Natural cave; Natufian occupation c.15000–9600 BCE
- Period
- Middle Palaeolithic to Natufian (c.200 ka–9600 BCE)
- Culture
- Mousterian → Aurignacian → Natufian
- Builders
- Mousterian communities
- Purpose
- Seasonal to sedentary cave base with Natufian cemetery
- Abandoned
- c. 9600 BCE
- Rediscovered
- 20th century survey
- Excavation
- Excavated
1960
Foundation/earliest horizon
1980
Major excavations
2020
Conservation/monitoring
On the ground
Structures & features
Gallery