Manot Cave
Manot · Me’arat Manot
Middle to Upper Palaeolithic (c.55000–16000 BCE)·Late Mousterian → Aurignacian → Kebaran/Geometric Kebaran·🇮🇱 Western Galilee, limestone ridge, Israel
About
About Manot Cave
Active Levantine cave site (55 ka–16 ka) in the Galilee karst, excavated by Ofer Marder and Omry Barzilai. Mousterian through Upper Palaeolithic sequence with the 54.7 ka ‘Manot 1’ calvaria—the most complete early modern human outside Africa—plus Aurignacian living floors.
Why it mattersKey Western Galilee, limestone ridge sequence for Middle to Upper Palaeolithic (c.55000–16000 BCE); cave dwelling for early modern humans and neanderthal overlap zone.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Chronology of Manot Cave relative to neighbouring centres?
Theories
- 01Regional centre hypothesis for Western Galilee
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; earliest burial-like use c.55000 BCE
- Period
- Middle to Upper Palaeolithic (c.55000–16000 BCE)
- Culture
- Late Mousterian → Aurignacian → Kebaran/Geometric Kebaran
- Builders
- Late Mousterian communities
- Purpose
- Cave dwelling for early modern humans and Neanderthal overlap zone
- Rediscovered
- 20th century survey
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
1960
Foundation/earliest horizon
1980
Major excavations
2020
Conservation/monitoring
On the ground
Structures & features
33.0400° N · 35.2000° E · 220 m · 2 mapped features
Manot 1 calvaria horizon
layerAhmarian layer with Manot 1 early modern human skullcap
33.0402° N · 35.2003° EAurignacian living floors
occupational layerDense Aurignacian floors with hearths and blade cores
33.0398° N · 35.1997° E