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The Initial Upper Paleolithic (IUP) is a crucial lithic assemblage type in the archaeology of southwest Asia because it marks a dramatic shift in hominin populations accompanied by technological changes in material culture. This phase is conventionally divided into two chronocultural phases based on the Boker Tachtit site, central Negev, Israel. While lithic technologies at Boker Tachtit are well defined, showing continuity from one phase to another, the absolute chronology is poorly resolved because the radiocarbon method used had a large uncertainty. Nevertheless, Boker Tachtit is considered to be the origin of the succeeding Early Upper Paleolithic Ahmarian tradition that dates in the Negev to ~42,000 y ago (42 ka). Here, we provide 14C and optically stimulated luminescence dates obtained from a recent excavation of Boker Tachtit. The new dates show that the early phase at Boker Tachtit, the Emirian, dates to 50 through 49 ka, while the late phase dates to 47.3 ka and ends by 44.3 ka. These results show that the IUP started in the Levant during the final stages of the Late Middle Paleolithic some 50,000 y ago. The later IUP phase in the Negev chronologically overlaps with the Early Upper Paleolithic Ahmarian of the Mediterranean woodland region between 47 and 44 ka. We conclude that Boker Tachtit is the earliest manifestation of the IUP in Eurasia. The study shows that distinguishing the chronology of the IUP from the Late Middle Paleolithic, as well as from the Early Upper Paleolithic, is much more complex than previously thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Far'ah II is an open-air site in the north western Negev desert (Israel). Previous excavations in the 1970's revealed a rich, in situ Middle Paleolithic (MP) assemblage composed of flint and limestone artifacts, animal bones and charcoal. Renewed excavation at the site were undertaken in 2017, to re-date it and provide a more accurate constrain to the sites' age, as well as collect samples for paleoclimatic proxies. Our new Optically Stimulated Luminescence and 14C ages together with the stable oxygen isotope signature of the loess sediments, constrain the age of the upper archaeological horizon to <49 ka. This age agrees with the younger limit of 60–50 ka, obtained by Electron Spin Resonance ages, measured in the 1990's. The heavy δ18O values in carbonates point to cooler climatic conditions than those that prevailed during the preceding short, warm episode between 58 and 49 ka. The fauna, pollen and charcoal collected during the excavation portray a savanna-like environment with a mix of Irano-Turanian and Saharo-Arabian elements and a minor Mediterranean component. The lithic assemblage exhibits large technological variability typical of the Late MP (LMP), amongst which are technological traits that are clearly present in the Initial Upper Paleolithic (IUP) assemblages at the nearby, and roughly contemporaneous, site of Boker Tachtit. If population replacement was the trigger to the MP-UP transition, we would have expected to see a clear break in the cultural material at the onset of the Upper Paleolithic. The semi-arid north western Negev, as an interim region between the Mediterranean and Saharo-Arabian ecozones could have facilitated interaction between populations moving north or south due to fluctuating climatic conditions and changes in population pressures, possibly leading to the emergence of new technological traditions that are observed in the later UP. • Combining 14C and OSL dating with stable isotope analysis the age of Far'ah II is constrained to < 49 ka. • Late MP technological variability at Far'ah II displays traits present in IUP assemblages. • Fauna, pollen and charcoal collected portray an open semi-arid environment. • Heavy δ18O values in carbonates point to cooler climatic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]