Abstract Recent research has demonstrated that the Eocene Timrat Formation outcrops in northeastern Israel, which appear as an extensive land ‘strip’ west of and parallel to the Jordan Rift Valley, was a major source of flint in prehistoric times. This is supported by the identification of three large-scale extraction and reduction (E&R) complexes (Nahal Dishon, Mt. Achbara and Sede Ilan) that offer direct evidence of intense exploitation during the Lower and Middle Paleolithic, and limited Neolithic/Chalcolithic activities. We present the results of an excavation performed in two E&R tailing piles at Kakal Spur (Kerem Ben Zimra) in the Nahal Dishon Complex. Extrapolation of the amount and weight of knapped flint items from the excavated part of Pile 1 results in an estimate of some ~300,000 flint items weighing ~24 tons for the whole pile. Basalt and limestone wedges found in the excavation suggest their use in the extraction process. A description of the stratigraphy of a 10 m long trench cut into Pile 2 is presented as well. The new finds enable a better reconstruction of the ubiquitous and continuous flint E&R activities in the ‘Flint Depot’ of prehistoric northeastern Israel.

中文翻译：

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在以色列北加利利Nahal Dishon史前火石提取和还原工厂的Kakal Spur（Kerem Ben Zimra）地区挖掘尾矿桩

摘要最近的研究表明，以色列东北部的始新世提姆拉特地层露头是史前时期major石的主要来源，该露头是约旦裂谷以西并与之平行的广阔土地“带”。这得到了三个大规模采掘和还原（E＆R）配合物（纳哈尔·迪洪，阿奇巴拉山和塞德·伊兰）的鉴定的支持，它们提供了在旧石器时代中期和中期的密集开采以及新石器时代/黄铜器时代有限的活动的直接证据。我们介绍了在Nahal Dishon建筑群的Kakal Spur（Kerem Ben Zimra）的两个E＆R尾矿桩中进行的开挖结果。从桩1的挖掘部分推断出被绑扎的fl石物品的数量和重量，估计整个桩重约为24吨，约有300,000枚fl石物品。在开挖中发现的玄武岩和石灰石楔形物建议在开采过程中使用它们。还介绍了切入桩2的10 m长沟槽的地层学描述。新发现可以更好地重建史前东北以色列“火石仓库”中普遍存在的火石E＆R活动。