PhD Project:

Ochre and basalt extraction and exploitation in the 100,000 years-old burial site of Tinshemet Cave, Israel. Through identification of the different sources of extraction for ochre chunks and basalt pebbles recovered at Tinshemet Cave and reconstruction of the distances travelled to or from the sources, the aim of this project is to understand the relationships between those materials, human mobility, burial practices, and social organization during the MP in the Levant. Geochemical and isotope analyses on ochres, and radiometric and geochemical studies on basalt samples, both of archaeological and geological context, will be conducted to determine the regional origins for those materials from Tinshemet cave.

Supervisors: Prof. Yossi Zaidner (HUJI) and Dr. Yehudit Harlavan (Geological Survey of Israel)

• The Laboratory for the Study of Human Cultural Evolution - HCE Lab (The Institute of Archaeology, HUJI) + Geological Survey of Israel, geochemistry unit.