Insights on Neanderthal fire use at Kebara Cave (Israel) through high resolution study of prehistoric combustion features: Evidence from phytoliths and thin sections

Kebara Cave (Mount Carmel, Israel) exhibits extensive use of fire by Neanderthals in the Middle Paleolithic. Phytoliths are abundant, indicating that plants were common in the cave. In addition, micromorphological analyses of archaeological deposits furnish precise contextual background to the phytolith analysis, and provide constraints on how phytolith and other micro remains can be interpreted. Phytolith data are coupled with...