Degree

Ph. D. student

Research Topic

Provenance of Ochres and Basalts from the Middle Paleolithic site Tinshemet Cave (Israel) under Geochemical, Isotopic, and Radiometric Techniques

Mineral pigments such as ochre have been frequently associated with symbolic and ritual practices and, moreover, to evolutionary cognitive processes during MP. This is particularly interesting for the Levantine mid-Middle Paleolithic where archaeological ochres are found in sites along the oldest known intentional burial practices, worldwide. However, high resolution provenance studies of ochres are scarce in Levantine prehistoric archaeology. In consequence, I propose to conduct high resolution provenance studies for exotic raw materials from the new Levantine MP site of Tinshemet Cave (Israel), where abundant fragments of ochre and a few basalt pebbles employed as tools for processing the ochres, have been retrieved along with numerous human remains.

Supervisors

Yossi Zaidner (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

Yehudit Harlavan (Geological Survey of Israel)

Relevant links

ResearchGate https://www.researchgate.net/profile/David-Gaitero-Santos-2

Tinshemet Cave Project https://www.tinshemetcave.com/

 

HCE-Lab https://www.hcelabhuji.com/