Phytoliths in the Middle Palaeolithic deposits of Kebara Cave, Mt Carmel, Israel: Study of the plant materials used for fuel and other purposes

Kebara Cave (Israel) is a well studied archaeological site. It contains abu ndant visible hearths. Ash derived minerals are a major component of the Mo usterian sediments and are present in varying states of preservation. Furth ermore, archaeobotanic information is available from charred remains. Kebar a Cave is thus an ideal location to study the potential of phytoliths to pr ovide information on the mode of fire use in the cave, to assess the input of other plant materials, as well as to determine the effects of diagenesis on phytolith preservation. Twenty samples were analysed in terms of their mineralogy, phytolith conten ts per unit weight of acid insoluble fraction, and phytolith morphologies. In general the preservation of the phytoliths is good, except for the two s amples in which the mineral component associated at present with the phytol iths is mainly ash-derived calcite. The cave sediments contain about ten ti mes more phytoliths than those present in the four samples analysed from ou tside the cave. The major source of plant material input into the cave is c learly from the wood and bark used for the fuel for fires. The grass phytol iths present in the samples are also thought, in part, to have been brought into the cave associated with the wood/bark fuel. Sediments from the heart hs, as well as those between the hearths, contain abundant wood/bark phytol iths. The two samples of the latter contain appreciable amounts of phytolit hs not known to be present in wood and bark, as do other hearth derived sam ples. Plant materials other than those used as fuel were thus also brought into the cave. This study shows that phytolith analyses, in conjunction with detailed mine ralogical, stratigraphic, archaeobotanic and field information, can provide a more complete understanding of the use of plant materials in prehistoric caves for fuel. Copyright 2000 Academic Press