Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Archaeological Research in Asia journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ara Case report A middle paleolithic and neolithic/chalcolithic flint extraction and reduction complex at Mt. Achbara, Eastern Galilee, Israel Meir Finkel ⁎ , Avi Gopher, Erez Ben-Yosef, Ran Barkai Department of Archaeology and Near Eastern Cultures, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Flint Extraction and reduction Middle Paleolithic Neolithic/Chalcolithic Amud Cave ABSTRACT This paper reports on a recently discovered Middle Paleolithic and Neolithic/Chalcolithic open-air flint ex- traction and reduction complex at Mt. Achbara in Israel's Eastern Galilee. Lithic assemblages recovered from a few of the hundreds of tailing piles documented in a field survey indicate a combination of Middle Paleolithic finds including Levallois cores and Neolithic/Chalcolithic finds, mainly bifacial (axe/adze) tools. At present, the extraction and reduction complex at Achbara is one of four found on the flint-bearing Eocene Timrat formation of the Galilee. Together, they provide evidence of intensive Paleolithic and Neolithic/Chalcolithic flint extrac- tion, in quantities that most probably exceeded local consumption. After describing the new complex, we discuss its possible relation to nearby occupation sites, with a focus on the Middle Paleolithic Amud Cave. 1. Introduction In prehistoric times, flint was one of the main raw materials used for tool making. Consequently, lithic procurement strategies are central to research on human behaviour and adaptation (e.g. Adams and Blades, 2009; Delage, 2007a; Goren-Inbar and Sharon, 2006). A survey of past and current research on the topic reveals two distinct research ap- proaches. The first focuses on procurement strategies and attempts to locate possible lithic sources used at occupation sites. This approach evolved mainly in Europe (Féblot-Augustins, 1993; Roth and Dibble, 1998; Fernandes et al., 2008; Wilson, 2007a, 2007b; Garcia-Anton et al., 2011; Browne and Wilson, 2011; Cauche, 2012; Wilson and Browne, 2014) and recently in Israel (Ekshtain et al., 2014, 2016; Wilson et al., 2016). The second approach focuses on the sources, i.e., the characteristics of the lithic extraction and quarrying, and attempts to track links and identify destinations to which products of the quarry/ extraction and reduction (henceforth E&R) site were transported to. Examples of this approach are studies on Paleolithic quarries/E&R sites found in North Africa (Foley and Lahr, 2015); Egypt (Vermeersch et al., 1990, 1995, 1998; Vermeersch and Paulissen, 1997; Vermeersch, 2002); Arabian Peninsula (Jennings et al., 2015; Groucutt et al., 2017), Israel (Barkai et al., 2002; Barkai and Gopher, 2009; Gopher and Barkai, 2006, 2011, 2014; Ekshtain et al., 2012; Finkel et al., 2016), India (Petraglia et al., 1999; Paddayya et al., 2000, 2002, 2006; Shipton, 2013) and more. Neolithic/Chalcolithic flint quarries/E&R sites are well known from Neolithic England and Europe (Weiner, 1986; Field, 1997; Pétrequin et al., 1998; Barber et al., 1999; Topping and Lynott, 2005 and references therein), Israel (Taute, 1994; Barkai and Gopher, 2001; Sharon and Goring-Morris, 2004; Gopher and Barkai, 2006; Grosman and Goren-Inbar, 2007, 2016; Finkel et al., 2017b; and see more below) and Jordan (Quintero, 1996; Quintero et al., 2002). Examination of these sites involves questions such as the sequence and scope of the quarrying and extraction operations, the use of tools, possible division of labour, the transmission of knowledge, develop- ment of familiarity with the landscape, and the significance of quar- rying and extraction sites as prominent locales in the landscape (e.g. Bradley and Edmonds, 1993; Claris and Quartermaine, 1989; Edmonds, 1999; Field, 2005; LaPorta, 2005; Scott and Thiessen, 2005; Elston, 2013). The study presented here takes the second research approach: it contributes mainly to the understanding of the broad picture of E&R activity in prehistoric Israel, and attempts to cross-check information with the results of a study of the flint sources of the nearby Neanderthal Amud Cave (Ekshtain et al., 2016), which took the first approach. 1.1. Paleolithic and Neolithic/Chalcolithic extraction and reduction complexes in northern Israel Lower and Middle Paleolithic flint E&R complexes (the term com- plex will be used here to describe the complete area/site where E&R activities took place; sub-areas will be termed E&R localities) were discovered until now in four locations in northern Israel (i.e., Upper Galilee, Lower Galilee, Hula Valley, Golan Heights, Mt. Carmel, Jezreel Valley and Menashe Hills): Sede Ilan in the Eastern Lower Galilee (Barkai et al., 2006; Barkai and Gopher, 2009); Giv'at Rabbi in the https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ara.2018.01.004 Received 4 November 2017; Received in revised form 8 January 2018; Accepted 14 January 2018 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: finkel2010@gmail.com (M. Finkel). Archaeological Research in Asia 16 (2018) 14–33 Available online 02 February 2018 2352-2267/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. T