Faunal remains from recent excavations at Shishan Marsh 1 (SM1), a Late Lower Paleolithic open-air site in the Azraq Basin, Jordan

Abstract

Excavations from 2013 to 2015 at the site of Shishan Marsh 1 (SM1) in the Azraq Basin of eastern Jordan have yielded substantial late middle Pleistocene lithic assemblages in association with faunal remains. Faunal preservation is poor, but multiple taxa have been identified, including cf. Panthera leo, Gazella sp., Bos cf. primigenius, Camelus sp., Equus spp., cf. Stephanorhinus hemitoechus, Palaeoloxodon cf. recki, and Elephas cf. hysudricus. The overall Azraq habitat may have been most similar to a savanna ecosystem, with a mixture of open grassland/shrub habitats and more closed vegetation along the wetlands margins. These taxa were drawn to the relatively lush oasis environment, where they were a dietary resource of the hominin groups exploiting the wetlands resources.

The Possible Time and Region of Host Switches of Ancient Malaria Parasites with Reference to the Pliocene–Quaternary Archaeological Sites in Africa

“…These environments are the most preferred natural breeding habitats of competent anopheline malaria vectors (Ondiba et al, 2019). For example, wetland-associated Middle Palaeolithic sites were found at the Shishan Marsh in Jordan (Pokines et al, 2019), in the Schöningen open pit mine in Germany (Turner et al, 2018), in the ancient lakeshore sites of the Nefud Desert, Saudi Arabia (Petraglia et al, 2011), and the Eastern Desert of Egypt (Kindermann et al, 2018). It is plausible that the network of these Middle Palaeolithic sites was influenced by ancient malaria prevalence patterns (Trájer et al, 2020).…”

Horashim East: a newly discovered Middle Palaeolithic site in central Israel

“…Only a handful of open-air, Middle Palaeolithic sites have been excavated in Israel, many of which have been interpreted to represent short-term occupations (Crew, 1976;Ekshtain et al, 2019;Gilead and Grigson, 1984;Goren-Inbar, 1990;Marks, 1977;Mitki et al, 2021;Munday, 1977;Ronen, 1974;Sharon et al, 2010;Zaidner et al, 2014). A number of surveys have been conducted in the Levant, central Arabia and north Africa over the past decade, allowing the discovery of previously unknown open-air Lower and Middle Palaeolithic settlements (Ames et al, 2014;Bisson et al, 2006;Pokines et al, 2019;Shipton et al, 2018). In some cases, similarly to Horashim East, lithic clusters with a significant Levallois component were found on the exposed surfaces of river banks, around springs and on the slopes (Chacón Navarro et al, 2018).…”