Draft:Rosh Ein Mor

Rosh Ein Mor is a Mousterian archeological site in the Negev Desert, Israel. It is located in the Zin Valley, in the modern En Avdat National Park. The site was uncovered in 1969 by Southern Methodist University's Central Negev Project.

Description
The site is located at the head of the Zin Valley's Mor Canyon, adjacent to the Ein Avdat Spring. The highest concentration of artifacts can be found in a 1,200m2 space along the cliff side. It is a few kilometers away from several other Paleolithic sites, including Boker, Nahal Aqev, and Boker Tachtit.

History
Rosh Ein Mor was a hub of Mousterian lithic industry, as raw flint was crafted into blades and other tools. Over 44,460 artifacts have been found at Rosh Ein Mor. Tools include Levallois stone points, blades, cores, and flakes; burins (engraving tools); sidescrapers; and end-scrapers. There are other artifacts, such as fragments of ostrich eggshell, heated flint, and Asiatic wild ass bones. At least one tool, a flint notch, is on display at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

Using Uranium series dating, the eggshells have been dated to approximately 200,000 years old, while the flint is between approximately 14,000 and 48,000 years old. Calcite crusts on the tools have been dated to 35,000-70,000 years old.

Archaeologists have identified the culture as Neanderthal: Early Levantine Mousterian, of Tabun D type. This designation is based on the high proportion of Upper Paleolithic tools in the site. Other analyses, however, suggest the tools are more akin to the late Middle Paleolithic.

The modern archaeological site was first excavated in the 1960s and 1970s by a research team from Southern Methodist University.