Lithic provisioning strategies at the Middle Paleolithic open-air site of Nesher Ramla, Israel: A case study from the upper sequence

The mid-Middle Paleolithic (late Marine Isotope Stage 6 and Marine Isotope Stage 5) is the least documented phase of the Levantine Middle Paleolithic (MP), especially concerning flint provisioning strategies. Our study of raw material exploitation at Nesher Ramla karst sinkhole (central Coastal Plain, Israel) provides an intriguing glimpse into the decision making of mid-Middle Paleolithic hominins. In this study we focused on the identification of the provisioning strategies derived from two horizons (which we dubbed the “Pelvis Horizon” and the “Stones Horizon”) from the upper part of the Nesher Ramla sequence. We applied several analytical measures: a survey of raw material sources, material composition and typo-technological analyses of the archaeological assemblages, mainly using the chaîne opératoire approach and a taphonomic-taxonomic analysis of the faunal assemblages.