The Negev Desert in southern Israel hosts a number of late Cenozoic lacustrine and palustrine sedimentary sequences that attest for past wetter conditions in what today constitutes one of the driest deserts on Earth. These sequences are of special importance because the Negev Desert forms part of the Levantine Corridor, which was probably the only continental bridge that enabled initial out-of-Africa expansion of our genus Homo. Yet, the paleoclimatic significance of these sequences still remains unknown, mainly due to their uncertain (late Pliocene to early Pleistocene) age. Here we present a combined sedimentologic, paleontologic and magnetostratigraphic study of one of these sedimentary sequences, the so-called Kuntila Lake sediments, which was carried out at the 30 m-thick Kuntila Gate section in the Nahal Paran basin, southern Israel. Sedimentological evidence and ostracod faunas indicate that these sediments accumulated in a long-lasting lacustrine basin that underwent periodic lake-level variations. Magnetostratigraphic measurements enable the recognition of a normal (N1) and a reverse (R1) polarity zone in the lower and upper halves, respectively, of the Kuntila Gate section. Correlation of N1 to the Olduvai Subchron (1.778–1.945 Ma) appears as the most likely option in view of previously published ¹⁰Be ages derived for the uppermost part of the Kuntila Member in nearby sections. The large errors associated with these ages, however, suggest that correlation of N1 to Subchron C2An.1n (2.582–3.032 Ma) is also possible. Although our results do not resolve the age of the Arava Formation, they unequivocally relate the Kuntila Lake sediments with a long period of enhanced climatic variability because the tops of both subchrons are associated with 400 kyr eccentricity maxima. The inferred wetter conditions in the Negev Desert concurred, regardless of the age correlation, with periods of lake expansion in East Africa and clusters of short-lived expansions of the savannah throughout much of the Sahara. This would have facilitated the biogeographic connection between Africa and Eurasia, greening the path for the initial out-of-Africa dispersal of Homo. Further research on the Kuntila Lake sediments will be necessary to better determine the timing, extent and significance of such biogeographic connection.

以色列南部的内盖夫沙漠（Negev Desert）拥有许多晚新生代的湖相和古沉积沉积序列，证明了如今构成地球上最干燥沙漠之一的过去较湿润的条件。这些序列特别重要，因为内盖夫沙漠是黎凡特走廊的一部分，黎凡特走廊可能是唯一能够使我们的属在非洲外扩展的大陆桥人。然而，这些序列的古气候意义仍然是未知的，主要是由于它们的年龄（上新世晚期至更新世早期）不确定。在这里，我们对这些沉积序列之一，即所谓的昆图拉湖沉积物，进行了沉积，古生物学和磁地层学的综合研究，该研究是在以色列南部纳哈尔巴拉恩盆地的30 m厚的昆图拉门段进行的。沉积学证据和成虫类动物群落表明，这些沉积物在湖湖流域长期沉积，并经历周期性的湖平面变化。磁地层测量可以分别识别出昆提拉门断面的下半部和上半部的法向（N1）和反极性（R1）区域。N1与Olduvai子年代的相关性（1.778–1。¹⁰在附近的区域中提取出昆图拉成员最上层的年龄。但是，与这些年龄相关的较大误差表明，N1与次同步C2An.1n（2.582–3.032 Ma）的相关性也是可能的。尽管我们的结果不能解决Arava组的年龄问题，但它们明确地将昆提拉湖沉积物与长期的气候变化性联系起来，因为两个亚时相的顶部都与400吉尔的离心率最大值相关。不论年龄之间的相关性，在内盖夫沙漠中推断的更湿润的条件都与东非的湖泊扩张时期和整个撒哈拉沙漠中稀树草原扩张的短暂集群有关。这本来可以促进非洲与欧亚大陆之间的生物地理联系，为非洲最初在非洲的扩散铺平道路。人。为了更好地确定这种生物地理联系的时间，程度和意义，有必要对昆蒂拉湖沉积物进行进一步研究。