Nahal Mahanayeem Outlet - NMO

The general stratigraphy of the NMO site is summarized here as follows: At the base of the stratigraphic sequence of the site is a layer of large basalt boulders and cobbles of fluvial origin (Layer 5). The basalt layer was formed in the shape of a hill with its highest point at the southwest portion and slanting to the north and dropping dramatically to the east. When or how (fluvial, tectonic, or a combination of these agents) this layer was formed is unclear. Stratigraphic, sedimentological and archaeological evidence suggest, however, that the people who occupied NMO during the Late Pleistocene found the basalt in its current form, that of a hill standing some 2 to 2.5 meters above the surrounding landscape. This basalt hill of Layer 5 is covered on its eastern, northern and southern sides by fine, silty, dark mud. This mud accumulated rapidly on the bank of a shallow, low energy water body, probably the southernmost edge of the Paleo-Hula Lake. At the contact between the basalt and the covering of dark mud is the archaeologically rich layer of the site, Layer 4. The layer is comprised of flint tools, animal bones and botanical remains lying on the basalt floor of Layer 5 and continuing into the mud above it, forming a layer up to 40 cm thick. Layer 4 is dated to ca. 60k years BP by a series of OSL dates. Above the archaeological layer is a sequence of additional mud layers (Layer 3), some showing a clear nonconformity with the layers below.