Acheulian Site of Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov Volume III

Dr. Rivka Rabinovich is a lecturer at the Institute of Archaeology, Institute of Earth Sciences and the Academic Curator of the paleobiological collections of the Hebrew University. Her research has been focused on the faunal assemblages, mainly mammals from Pleistocene localities; attempting to discern between the human-related patterns of collecting fauna, such as dietary practices and cultural traditions, to environmental factors, such the sedimentary setting and changing of climatic conditions.  Univ. - Prof. Dr. Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser is Professor at the Institute for Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology at the Johannes Gutenberg-University, Mainz, Germany and Head of the Palaeolithic Research Unit of the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum at Neuwied, Germany. Her main research is Pleistocene and Early Holocene Archaeology and Archaeozoology. She is the author of numerous articles and books on hominin subsistence behaviour and ecology in Europe and the Southern Levant.  Dr. Lutz Kindler is research assistant at the Palaeolithic Research Unit of the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum at Neuwied, Germany and lecturer for bioarchaeology at the Institute for Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology at the Johannes Gutenberg-University, Mainz, Germany. His research focuses on the ecology and economy of Pleistocene hominins, actualistic studies of biostratinomic processes and the reconstruction of taphonomic histories of archaeofaunas. His PhD dealt with the Middle Paleolithic fauna of the Balve Cave in Germany and examined the role of carnivores in the subsistence and ecology of late Pleistocene Neanderthals.  Prof. Naama Goren-Inbar is a professor at the Institute of Archaeology, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her main research interest is the prehistory of the Levant, including technological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of ancient hominins at their environment. Her stuides and the researchteam she directs are one of the leading landmarks in the Prehistoric Archaeology of the Southern Levant. She is the author of numerous articles, several books and a leading scholar in the synergic attempts to reconstruct the Levantine Pleistocene.

From the book reviews: "This is a high quality publication to add to the continuing research conducted at Gesher Benot Ya'aqov by Goren-Inbar and her team. The third monograph, as the title suggests, is the publication of the faunal material from the excavations, concentrating on Layers V-5 and V-6. ... this monograph significantly adds to our understanding of hominid interaction with mammals. ... this series of monographs should be on most researchers' reading lists." (Samuel P. Griffiths, PaleoAnthropology, 2012) "This volume presents a detailed account of the faunal evidence from one particularly informative part of the site, known as Area C, directly by the River Jordan, and adjacent deposits exposed along the river bank. ... it is an essential text for any serious student of faunal taphonomy and the study of early hominin subsistence, setting new standards for the analysis of early Palaeolithic faunal assemblages. All those involved in this research must be congratulated for an outstanding piece of research." (Robin Dennell, Antiquity, Vol. 86 (332), June, 2012)

• 1. INTRODUCTION.- 2. THE ACHEULIAN SITE OF GESHER BENOT YA‘AQOV.- 3. MATERIALS AND METHODOLOGY.- 4. SYSTEMATIC PALEONTOLOGY.- 5. TAPHONOMIC ANALYSIS.- 6. RECONSTRUCTING SITE-FORMATION PROCESSES AT GBY - THE EXPERIMENTS .- 7. A RECONSTRUCTION OF THE TAPHONOMIC HISTORY OF GBY.- 8. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS.