Key finding: Natufian groups on Mount Carmel hunted waterfowl in freshwater lakes about 15,000 years ago rather than along the sea shore. Evidence: Microscope analysis of hundreds of bird bones from el-Wad Cave identified 43 species and revealed cut marks, charring and bone beads. Implication: A marshy coastal plain supported seasonal waterfowl hunting and craft production, illuminating Natufian diet, mobility and adaptation to Ice Age environments.
15,000-Year-Old Natufian Hunters Targeted Freshwater Lakes, Not the Sea
Key finding: Natufian groups on Mount Carmel hunted waterfowl in freshwater lakes about 15,000 years ago rather than along the sea shore. Evidence: Microscope analysis of hundreds of bird bones from el-Wad Cave identified 43 species and revealed cut marks, charring and bone beads. Implication: A marshy coastal plain supported seasonal waterfowl hunting and craft production, illuminating Natufian diet, mobility and adaptation to Ice Age environments.
10:10 PM, 11/13/2025Culture
Freshwater wetlands sustained Natufian hunters on Mount Carmel
A new study from the University of Haifa shows that roughly 15,000 years ago the Natufian hunter-gatherers who occupied el-Wad Cave on Mount Carmel relied primarily on ducks, geese and other waterfowl that inhabited freshwater lakes and seasonal marshes on the coastal plain — not the nearby shoreline of the Mediterranean.
Published in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, the research was led by Prof. Reuven Yeshurun, Dr. Linda Amos and Prof. Mina Weinstein-Evron of the Zinman Institute of Archaeology. The team analyzed hundreds of avian bones recovered from el-Wad Cave, part of the Nahal Me'arot UNESCO World Heritage site, to reconstruct hunting practices, seasonality and material culture.
Microscopic analysis and key findings
Dr. Amos examined the bird remains under a microscope and identified 43 species, including ducks, geese, quail, partridge and raptors. Many bones bear cut marks and charring consistent with hunting, butchery and cooking; others were intentionally worked and polished into beads and ornaments, showing birds provided both food and craft raw material.
The assemblage was organized into four settlement phases, allowing the researchers to track changes in hunting behavior and local environmental conditions through time. Their reconstruction indicates that at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum the Carmel coastal plain was dominated by a broad network of freshwater lakes and seasonal marshes that attracted large numbers of migratory waterfowl.
“Our findings show, for the first time, that members of the Natufian culture systematically hunted in the coastal lakes that existed here at the end of the Ice Age,” said Prof. Yeshurun.
Broader significance
The results add important detail to our understanding of Natufian lifeways — one of the world’s earliest semi-sedentary cultural complexes — illustrating seasonal mobility, diversified diet and the use of animal materials for ornaments. The study, supported by the Israel Science Foundation, sheds light on how early communities adapted to rapidly changing Ice Age environments and reshaped subsistence strategies in response to shifting shorelines and wetland habitats.