Manganese coating of the Tabun faunal assemblage: Implications for modern human behaviour in the Levantine Middle Palaeolithic

During the taphonomic and archaeozoological reappraisal of Garrod's material from Tabun Cave (Mount Carmel, Israel) a distinctive dark colouring of bones was observed in the Level C and D assemblages. Based on several geochemical tests, the presence of insoluble manganese oxides in those coatings was confirmed. The origin of this mineral, given the geological context, could be attributed to the decomposition of large quantities of organic matter due to an intensive human occupation of the site in MIS 5. This fact reinforces the hypothesis of the existence of a larger logistic mobility around more permanent residential sites among anatomically modern humans in the Levantine Middle Palaeolithic, which constitutes early evidence of a more complex economic behaviour.