'Ubeidiya Formation site II-23: Pleistocene, Israel

List of taxa
Where & when
Geology
Taphonomy & methods
Metadata & references
Taxonomic list
unclassified
cf. Pontoceros sp.
4 specimens
MNI = 2
Mammalia - Rodentia - Hystricidae
Hystrix indica
4 specimens
MNI = 1
Mammalia - Lagomorpha - Leporidae
Hypolagus brachygnathus
20 specimens
MNI = 2
Mammalia - Primates - Hominidae
Homo sp. Linnaeus 1758
2 specimens
MNI = 1
Mammalia - Perissodactyla - Rhinocerotidae
Stephanorhinus etruscus (Falconer 1868)
5 specimens
Stephanorhinus e. etruscus. MNI = 1
Mammalia - Perissodactyla - Equidae
Equus cf. altidens
102 specimens
MNI = 4
Equus caballus Linnaeus 1758
1 specimen
MNI = 1
Mammalia - Suidae
Kolpochoerus olduvaiensis
1 specimen
MNI = 1
Sus strozzii Forsyth Major 1881
3 specimens
MNI = 1
Mammalia - Hippopotamidae
Hippopotamus sp. Linnaeus 1758
101 specimens
MNI = 3
Hippopotamus behemoth Faure 1986
Faure 1986
Hippopotamus gorgops Dietrich 1928
2 specimens
MNI = 1
Mammalia - Cervidae
Cervidae indet. Gray 1821
187 specimens
MNI = 6
Praemegaceros verticornis
22 specimens
MNI = 2
Mammalia - Bovidae
Gazella sp. Blaineville 1816
9 specimens
MNI = 2
cf. Hippotragus sp. Sundevall 1845
2 specimens
Hippotragini gen. et. sp. indet. (cf. Hippotragus sp.). MNI = 1
Pelorovis sp. Reck 1928
8 specimens
MNI = 1
Mammalia - Carnivora - Felidae
Megantereon cf. whitei Broom 1937
2 specimens
MNI = 1
Panthera gombaszoegensis (Kretzoi 1938)
2 specimens
MNI = 1
Felis sp. Linnaeus 1758
2 specimens
MNI = 1
Lynx sp. Kerr 1792
3 specimens
MNI = 1
Mammalia - Carnivora - Mustelidae
Vormela cf. peregusna (Güldenstädt 1770)
2 specimens
MNI = 1
Lutra sp. Brisson 1762
5 specimens
MNI = 1
Mammalia - Carnivora - Ursidae
Ursus etruscus Cuvier 1823
2 specimens
MNI = 1
Mammalia - Carnivora - Canidae
Canis (Xenocyon) falconeri Forsyth-Major 1877
3 specimens
recombined as Xenocyon falconeri
MNI = 1
Canis etruscus Forsyth Major 1877
37 specimens
MNI = 2
Vulpes sp. Frisch 1775
4 specimens
MNI = 1
Mammalia - Proboscidea - Elephantidae
Mammuthus meridionalis (Nesti 1825)
1 specimen
MNI = 1
see common names

Geography
Country:Israel County:Kinnarot Valley
Coordinates: 32.7° North, 35.6° East (view map)
Paleocoordinates:32.6° North, 35.5° East
Basis of coordinate:based on nearby landmark
Time
Period:Quaternary Epoch:Pleistocene
10 m.y. bin:Cenozoic 6
Key time interval:Pleistocene
Age range of interval:2.58800 - 0.01170 m.y. ago
Stratigraphy
Formation:'Ubeidiya
Stratigraphy comments: Site has been subject to much tectonic movement - archaeological levels are almost vertical in the section. There have been four major depositional cycles, the lowest is of archaeological interest and is termed the Fi (lower Fluviatile). This limnic level is 30m thick. Site dated to between 1.4-1.0Ma, but is thought (on faunal grounds) to be at the older end of this range.
Lithology and environment
Primary lithology:lenticular silty claystone
Includes fossils?Y
Lithology description: 'The Fi cycle consists of clay, clastic conglomerates, chalky marls, silt and basaltic sands, often altered by paleosols.' Site II-23 is a paleosol, comprising a silty clay lens, c.20 cm thick.
Environment:fluvial-deltaic indet. Tectonic setting:rift
Geology comments: The site is in the northern end of the Red Sea-East African Rift. 'The Formation represents a tectonic anticline with undulations and faults. Sediments are tilted up to 80 degrees and are exposed over an areas of approximately 1km2'. Local environment - 'the delta of an ephemeral stream debouched into a freshwater lake.'
Taphonomy
Modes of preservation:anthropogenic,bone collector,coprolite
Size of fossils:macrofossils
Feeding/predation traces:fractures,punctures,tooth marks,gastric dissolution
Collection methods and comments
Collection methods:bulk,field collection
Collection size:1180 specimens
Reason for describing collection:archaeological analysis
Collection method comments: Level II-23 was excavated between 1961-63. 105 m2 were exposed. 33 artifacts were recovered and 2 cutmarked bones, plus 12 specimens with conical impacts which could be hominid, carnivore or trampling damage. The cutmarks were found on a cervid distal humerus and a horse mandible fragment.
Taxonomic list comments:22 hyaena coprolites (i.d. as Crocuta crocuta) were also present, although they are of differing sizes (adult vs. juvenile?). Possibly part of the II-23 assemblage comes from an hyaena den, although no bones of the animals themselves were found.
Metadata
Also known as:Oubeidiyeh
Database number:37024
Authorizer:A. Turner, M. Uhen Enterer:H. O'Regan, M. Uhen
Modifier:J. Alroy Research group:PACED
Created:2004-02-24 04:19:48 Last modified:2010-01-28 17:15:04
Access level:the public Released:2004-02-24 04:19:48
Creative Commons license:CC BY
Reference information

Primary reference:

9913.PACED S. Gaudzinski. 2004. Subsistence patterns of Early Pleistocene hominids in the Levant - taphonomic evidence from the 'Ubeidiya Formation. Journal of Archaeological Science 31:65-75 [A. Turner/H. O'Regan/H. O'Regan]

Secondary references:

36293 M. Faure. 1986. Les Hippopotamidae (Mammalia, Artiodactyla) du gisement pleistocene ancien d'Oubeidiyeh. Memoirs et Travaux du Centre de Recherche Francais de Jerusalam 5:107-142 [M. Uhen/M. Uhen]