Shovakh cave is a late Middle Paleolithic cave site in Northern Israel, situated ca. 8 km from the Sea of Galilee. The Cave was originally was excavated by Sally Binford in 1962, and results of the analyses of its lithic assemblages played a major role in the then-raging Bordes-Binford debate, as well as in the initiation of the field of inquires known as “technological organization.” A renewed excavation in 2016 led to a better understanding of site formation at the cave and to a refined chrono-stratigraphic framework of the Middle Paleolithic occupations at the site. Here we present the results of the analyses of lithic and faunal assemblages combining material from both the original and renewed excavations at the site. Together with the results of the geoarcheological work, we are able to offer a refined reconstruction of the modes of occupation in the site as well as of its role within late MP settlement systems in the Levant. We show that during three periods of site occupation, settlements in Shovakh were mostly ephemeral, a rare phenomenon among the late MP cave sites. At the same time, the lithic and faunal assemblages suggest that the nature of these ephemeral occupations differed temporally and spatially. In each of these cases, the fitting scenario for Shovakh’s occupations is as a “transient camp,” used over short-term occupations.

Shovakh 洞穴是以色列北部旧石器时代中期晚期的洞穴遗址，位于约。距加利利海 8 公里。该洞穴最初是由萨莉·宾福德 (Sally Binford) 于 1962 年挖掘出来的，对其岩性组合的分析结果在当时激烈的博德-宾福德辩论以及被称为“技术组织。” 2016 年的重新挖掘使人们更好地了解了洞穴遗址的形成以及该遗​​址中旧石器时代中期职业的精细年代地层框架。在这里，我们展示了结合现场原始挖掘和更新挖掘的材料对岩屑和动物群组合的分析结果。连同地质考古工作的成果，我们能够对场地中的占领模式及其在黎凡特晚期 MP 定居系统中的作用进行精细的重建。我们表明，在三个遗址占领期间，Shovakh 的定居点大多是短暂的，这是晚期 MP 洞穴遗址中的罕见现象。同时，石器和动物群的组合表明这些短暂的职业的性质在时间和空间上都不同。在每一种情况下，Shovakh 职业的合适场景都是作为“临时营地”，用于短期职业。石器和动物群的组合表明这些短暂的职业的性质在时间和空间上都不同。在每一种情况下，Shovakh 职业的合适场景都是作为“临时营地”，用于短期职业。石器和动物群的组合表明这些短暂的职业的性质在时间和空间上都不同。在每一种情况下，Shovakh 职业的合适场景都是作为“临时营地”，用于短期职业。