Ancient history

Skhūl | anthropological and archaeological site, Israel

Skhūl , site of a paleoanthropological excavation on the west side of the Mount Carmel , 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 between 120,000 and 80,000 years ago. At least some of the individuals were buried on purpose.

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Skhūl provided three fairly complete skulls and some well-preserved long bones. These are similar to the remains of Neanderthals ( H. neanderthalensis ) as they have some robust features (e.g. eyebrows) but do not have the full set of unique features , which characterize Neanderthals. Some features of modern man ( H. sapiens ) are also present. The Skhūl remains were Tabūn instances originally as a transition in the human evolution between Neanderthals and modern humans. Most researchers now separate the Tabūn material as Neanderthal and the Skhūl as early modern. It seems almost modern H. sapiens evolved in Africa, expanded into western Asia between 100,000 and 90,000 years ago, where it was replaced by Neanderthals between 60,000 and 40,000 years ago . The tools found at Skhūl are from the mousterian industry , a tradition typically, but not exclusively, found among Neanderthals.