The technology and significance of the Acheulian giant cores of Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov, Israel

The presence of very large lithic artifacts at the Acheulian site of Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov is one of the site’s most distinctive and enlightening features. Basalt giant cores and their products, modified by a variety of core methods and found in association with different hominin activities, occur throughout the stratigraphic sequence of the site.In this paper we describe the giant artifacts of Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov together with their reduction sequence, from the nature and acquisition of the raw material, through the shaping of the cores, to the discarded cores and their typical waste products. We then discuss the significance of these finds and their implications for understanding the site and its varied activities, as well as for Acheulian cognitive abilities and behavior during the early Middle Pleistocene on the margins of the paleo-Lake Hula.

► Novel 3-D scanning is applied to Acheulian giant cores, enabling detailed analysis. ► The giant core reduction sequence is reconstructed from quarry to discard. ► Giant cores were associated with different tasks on the archaeological horizons. ► The contexts of giant cores provide data supporting the hypothesis of the home base. ► The data from GBY point to modern manual and cognitive abilities.