Tabun Cave

Lore & Background

Tabun Cave is part of the Nahal Me'arot Nature Reserve, together with the nearby sites of El Wad, Jamal Cave, and Skhul Cave. Deposits of sand, silt and clay up to 25 m (82 ft) accumulated in the cave during its intermittent occupation. Dorothy Garrod led excavations in 1929 over 22 months that established the sequence of occupation. During these excavations, a woman named Yusra, recruited from a local village, was credited with the discovery of the Tabun 1 Neanderthal skull.

The earliest and lowest deposits contain large amounts of sea sand and pollen traces suggesting a relatively warm climate, with savannah vegetation and a narrower coastal plain. Handaxes of flint or limestone were used for killing animals such as gazelle, hippopotamus, rhinoceros and wild cattle, and for digging plant roots. Upper levels consist mainly of clay and silt, indicating a colder, more humid climate with dense forests and swamps. These upper strata contain Mousterian culture remains (about 200,000–45,000 years ago), including small flint tools made using the Levallois technique.

Arthur Jelinek's 1967 to 1972 excavations yielded over 1,900 complete and partial bifaces, mostly attributed to the Late Acheulian and Yabrudian industries. A large number of fallow deer bones in the upper layers may be due to a chimney-like opening in the back of the cave that functioned as a natural trap. Several fossils were discovered, including a nearly complete female skeleton (Tabun C1) and a mandible (Tabun C2), whose taxonomic attributions are still discussed. Archaeologists also discovered a 350,000-year-old cobble used by hominids for abrading surfaces.

Reader's Guide

Tabun Cave holds significance as one of the longest sequences of human occupation in the Levant, spanning from about 500,000 to 40,000 years ago. Its deposits document environmental shifts from warm savannah to colder, forested conditions, and corresponding changes in tool technology from handaxes to Mousterian flint tools made with the Levallois technique. The cave's fossils, including the Tabun C1 skeleton and Tabun C2 mandible, remain subjects of taxonomic debate, highlighting ongoing questions about human evolution in the region. The site's inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2012 underscores its universal value for understanding Paleolithic lifeways, tool industries, and the deep history of human habitation in the Levant. The discovery of a 350,000-year-old abrading cobble further illustrates early hominid behaviors.

Did You Know?

• The cave's Arabic name, 'Mugharat al-Tabun,' means 'The Oven Cave.'
• A woman named Yusra, recruited from a local village, was credited with discovering the Tabun 1 Neanderthal skull during Dorothy Garrod's 1929 excavations.
• Deposits of sand, silt and clay up to 25 m (82 ft) accumulated in the cave over its occupation.
• A 350,000-year-old cobble found at the cave was used by hominids for abrading surfaces.