Es-Skhul Cave
Es-Skhul is a prehistoric cave site situated about south of the city of Haifa, Israel, and about from the Mediterranean Sea. The site was first excavated by Dorothy Garrod during summer of 1928. The excavation revealed the first evidence of the late Epipaleolithic Natufian culture, characterized by the presence of numerous microlith stone tools, human burials and ground stone tools. Skhul also represents an area where Neanderthals – possibly present in the region from 200,000 to 45,000 years ago – may have lived alongside these humans dating to 100,000 years ago. The cave also has Middle Palaeolithic layers.
The remains found at es-Skhul, together with those found at the Nahal Me'arot / Wadi el-Mughara Caves and Mugharet el-Zuttiyeh were classified in 1939 by Arthur Keith and as Palaeoanthropus palestinensis, a descendant of Homo heidelbergensis.
