Skhūl

▪ anthropological and archaeological site, Israel

      site of a paleoanthropological excavation on the western side of Mount Carmel (Carmel, Mount), Israel, known for early Homo sapiens remains and associated stone tools discovered there between 1929 and 1934. The seven adults and three children found at Skhūl date from 120,000 to 80,000 years ago. At least a few of the individuals were buried intentionally.

      Skhūl yielded three fairly complete skulls and some well-preserved long bones. These resemble the remains of Neanderthals (H. neanderthalensis) in having some rugged features (e.g., browridges), but they do not have the entire suite of unique traits that characterize Neanderthals. Some features of modern humans (H. sapiens) are also present. The Skhūl remains, together with the nearby Tabūn specimens, were originally described as transitional in human evolution between Neanderthals and modern humans. Most researchers now separate the Tabūn material as distinctively Neanderthal and the Skhūl remains as early modern. It appears that near-modern H. sapiens evolved in Africa, expanded into western Asia 100,000–90,000 years ago, and was replaced there by Neanderthals 60,000–40,000 years ago. The tools found at Skhūl are of the Mousterian industry, a tradition typically but not exclusively found with Neanderthals.

Henry McHenry IV

 

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