Combined Geophysical–Geodynamic Analysis of the Plio-Pleistocene Hominin Dispersal Through the Levantine Corridor
Source abstract
Abstract
The origin of humans on Earth is closely linked to understanding how ancient populations dispersed into adjacent territories. Traditionally, studies have identified landscape and climatic changes as the primary factors in this dispersal. However, we propose that regional tectonic and geodynamic factors also played a significant role in shaping these movements. To analyze this phenomenon, we employed several primary methods, including radiometric dating, magnetostratigraphy, paleomagnetic correlation, isotope–oxygen analysis, tectonothermal studies, gravity mapping, paleobiogeographic assessment, lithofacies analysis, and event and cyclic stratigraphy. Our research indicates that the Akchagylian hydrospheric maximum, which reached up to +200 m, significantly limited the early dispersal of hominins from Africa to Eurasia. The migration corridor was shaped by tectonic activity between the Dead Sea Transform and the boundary of the Mesozoic Terrane Belt carbonate platform. We argue that, during the early stages of hominin evolution in East Africa, the Levantine Corridor (LC) had not yet developed into an optimal route for dispersal, either tectonically or paleogeographically. Suitable habitats for early hominins emerged only after the regression at the end of the Middle Gelasian, around two million years ago, when sea level fell by approximately 200 m, leading to the dissection of the coastal high plateau of the Eastern Mediterranean. We therefore suggest that the LC became established only after the termination of the Akchagylian transgression and the subsequent landscape reconfiguration of the Eastern Mediterranean. Our integrated analysis, combining paleomagnetic, structural, tectonic, and event stratigraphy data, indicates that the age of the renowned ‘Ubeidiya site in northern Israel is several thousand years older than previously thought. This paleogeographic impact had not been considered in earlier studies. Considering the diverse and complex factors that governed hominin dispersal from Africa into Eurasia within this multifaceted region, we propose that the scope of research should be broadened. Our detailed study of the Carmel area, located northeast of the Levantine Corridor and influenced by it during the Pleistocene, indicates that this region was inundated during the early phases of hominin migration out of Eastern Africa. Besides this, we have conducted an integrated geological–geophysical landscape analysis of the central part of the Israeli coastal plain.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Evolution and Paleontology Studies · Primate Behavior and Ecology
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
Department of Geophysics, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University, 20 Azadlig Ave., Baku AZ1010, Azerbaijan
The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History and National Research Center, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
References (95)
Show source-provided references
1. Eppelbaum, L., and Katz, Y. (2022). Combined Zonation of the African-Levantine-Caucasian Areal of Ancient Hominin: Review and Integrated Analysis of Paleogeographical, Stratigraphic and Geophysical-Geodynamical Data. Geosciences, 12.10.3390/geosciences12010021 ↗
2. Bennison, G.M., and Wright, A.E. (1969). The Geological History of the British Isles, Edward Arnold.
3. Chumakov, I.S. (1967). Pliocene and Pleistocene deposits of the Nile Valley in Nubia and Upper Egypt. Transactions of the Geological Institute of RAS, Nauka. (In Russian).
4. Camps, M., and Chauhan, P. (2009). Sourcebook of Paleolithic Transitions, Springer.10.1007/978-0-387-76487-0 ↗
5. The Pliocene Gilbert-type fan delta of Draĉevo (Skopje area, Republic of Macedonia): Paleogeographic inference
6. Palynology and micropalaeontology of the Pliocene—Pleistocene transition in outcrop from the western Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan: Potential links with the Mediterranean, Black Sea and the Arctic Ocean?10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.07.018 ↗
7. Quaternary time scales for the Pontocaspian domain: Interbasinal connectivity and faunal evolution10.1016/j.earscirev.2018.10.013 ↗
8. Lecture Notes in Earth Sciences, and Wenzel, F. (2005). The Dead Sea Fault and its Effect on Civilization. Perspectives in Modern Seismology, Springer. Available online: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-540-31563-6_9.
9. The Quaternary stratigraphy and paleogeography of Israel10.3406/paleo.1975.4190 ↗
10. Akchagylian Hydrospheric Phenomenon in Aspects of Deep Geodynamics
11. The Yiron-gravel lithic assemblage artifacts older than 2.4 My in Israel
12. The Lithic Assemblages of ‘Ubeidiya: A Lower Paleolithic Site in the Jordan Valley
13. The Faunal Remains from Evron Quarry in Relation to Other Lower Paleolithic Hominid Sites in the Southern Levant10.1006/qres.1994.1083 ↗
14. Pleistocene Milestones on the Out-of-Africa Corridor at Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, Israel10.1126/science.289.5481.944 ↗
15. The chronology of the late Lower Paleolithic in the Levant based on U-TH ages of speleothems from Qesem cave, Israel10.1016/j.quageo.2010.03.003 ↗
16. Early and Middle Pleistocene faunal and hominins dispersals through Southwestern Asia
17. Enzel, Y., and Bar-Yosef, Y. (2017). Ubeidiya. Quaternary of the Levant, Part III: Archaeology of Human Evolution, Cambridge University Press.10.1017/9781316106754 ↗
18. New Middle Pleistocene dental remains from Qesem Cave (Israel)10.1016/j.quaint.2015.08.059 ↗
19. Chronologic constraints on hominin dispersal outside Africa since 2.48 Ma from the Zarqa Valley, Jordan10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.06.007 ↗
20. Revisiting the Acheulian Large Cutting Tools of Ubeidiya, Israel10.1007/s41982-021-00108-2 ↗
21. Barash, A., Belmaker, M., Bastir, M., Soudack, M., Oaley, D.H.D., Woodward, H., Prendergast, A., Barzilai, O., and Been, E. (2022). The earliest Pleistocene record of a largest Pleistocene from the Levant supports two out-of-Africa dispersal events. Sci. Rep., 12.10.1038/s41598-022-05712-y ↗
22. The Emergence and Dispersion of the Eastern Mediterranean Fishing Village: Evidence from Submerged Neolithic Settlements off the Carmel Coast, Israel10.1558/jmea.v15i2.167 ↗
23. Shemer, M., Greenbaum, N., Taha, N., Brailovsky-Rokser, L., Ebert, Y., Shaar, R., Falgueres, C., Voinchet, P., Porat, N., and Faerstein, G. (2022). Late Acheulian Jaljulia—Early human occupations in the paleolandscape of the central coastal plain of Israel. PLoS ONE, 17.10.1371/journal.pone.0267672 ↗
24. What’s in a beach? Soil micromorphology of sediments from the Lower Paleolithic site of ‘Ubeidiya, Israel10.1016/j.jhevol.2006.03.002 ↗
25. Dating Pliocene lacustrine sediments in the central Jordan Valley, Israel—Implications for cosmogenic burial dating10.1016/j.epsl.2011.03.003 ↗
26. Tretyak, A.N., Vigilyanskaya, L.I., Makarenko, V.N., and Dudkin, V.P. (1989). Fine Structure of the Geomagnetic Field in the Late Cenozoic, Naukova Dumka. (In Russian).
27. A time-table for the Levant Volcanic Province, according to K-Ar dating in the Golan Heights10.1016/0899-5362(93)90044-Q ↗
28. A 2.14-Myr astronomically tuned record of relative geomagnetic paleointensity from the western Philippine Sea
29. Eppelbaum, L. (2015). Paleomagnetic Mapping in Various Areas of the Easternmost Mediterranean Based on an Integrated Geological Geophysical Analysis. New Developments in Paleomagnetism Research, Ser: Earth Sciences in the 21st Century, Nova Science Publisher.
30. Evidence for climatic changes around the Matuyama-Brunhes Boundary (MBB) inferred from a multi-proxy paleoenvironmental study of the GBY #2 core, Jordan River Valley, Israel10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.10.007 ↗
31. Paleomagnetism and paleosecular variations from the Plio-Pleistocene Golan Heights volcanic plateau, Israel10.1029/2019GC008479 ↗
32. Global chronostratigraphical correlation table for the last 2.7 million years, version 2019 QI-50010.1016/j.quaint.2019.03.009 ↗
33. Timing of Quaternary geomagnetic reversals and excursions in volcanic and sedimentary archives10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.106114 ↗
34. Giant quasi-ring mantle structure in the African-Arabian junction: Results derived from the geological-geophysical data integration10.1134/S0016852121010052 ↗
35. The Discovery of a Pleistocene Mammalian Fauna and artefacts at Evron, Western Galilee
36. Occurrences and distribution of the foraminifer Ammonia beccari tepida (Cushman) in water bodies, recent and quaternary of the Dead Sea Rift, Israel10.1016/0377-8398(95)00013-5 ↗
37. Early Pliocene hominids from Gona, Ethiopia10.1038/nature03177 ↗
38. Melanopsis from Al-Qarn, Jordan Valley (Gastropoda: Gerithioidea)10.1007/BF02990180 ↗
39. Fleagle, J.G., Shea, J., Grine, F., Baden, A., and Leakey, R. (2010). Early Pleistocene Faunal Connections between Africa and Eurasia. An Ecological Perspective. Out of Africa I: The First Hominin Colonization of Eurasia, Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology, Springer.10.1007/978-90-481-9036-2 ↗
40. The Akchagylian stage (late Pliocene–early Pleistocene) in the North Caspian region: Pollen evidence for vegetation and climate change in the Ural-Emba region10.1016/j.quaint.2018.12.012 ↗
41. Erq el Ahmar Elephant Site—A mammoth skeleton at a rare and controversial Plio-Pleistocene site along the mammal migration route out of Africa10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.105885 ↗
42. Multidisciplinary Geological-Geophysical Analysis Unmasks Anthropological Site Structure in the Northern Part of the Levantine Corridor
43. Local turbulence in the Earth’s core10.1080/03091929008203556 ↗
44. Evidence for Turbulent Magnetic Diffusion in Earth’s Core
45. Milankovitsch, M. (1941). Canon of Insolation and the Ice-Age Problem, Spec. Publication of the Royal Serbian Academy.
46. Katz, Y.I., and Smyslov, G.A. (1976). New Data on the Stratigraphy and Conditions of Formation of the Pleistocene Deposits of the Kerch Peninsula, Vishcha Shkola. (In Russian).
47. Gvirtzman, G., Shachnai, E., Bakar, N., and Bani, S. (1984). Stratigraphy of the Kurkar Group of the Coastal Plain of Israel.
48. Grady, M.M. (2000). Catalogue of Meteorites, Cambridge University Press. [5th ed.].
49. Quaternary stratigraphy of the Kinnarot Basin, Dead Sea Transform, northeastern Israel10.1560/Q965-VDKE-77H8-9TGA ↗
50. Hall, J.K., Krasheninnikov, V.A., Hirsch, F., Benjamini, C., and Flexer, A. (2005). Geological Framework of the Levant, Historical Productions-Hall. Vol. II: The Levantine Basin and Israel.
51. African-Levantine Areal of Ancient Hominin Dispersal: A New Look Derived from Comprehensive Geological-Geophysical Integration
52. A rediscovered fossil hominin fragment from Gombore IB, an early Pleistocene site of Melka Kunture (Upper Awash, Ethiopia)10.1016/j.quaint.2025.109792 ↗
53. Sneh, A., Bartov, Y., Weissbrod, T., and Rosensaft, M. (1998). Geological Map of Israel, 1:200,000 (4 Sheets).
54. The Role of Lithospheric Mantle Heterogeneity in the Generation of PlioPleistocene Alkali Basaltic Suites from NW Harrat Ash Shaam (Israel)10.1093/petrology/egl003 ↗
55. Segev, A., and Sass, E. (2010). Sheet 3-III, Atlit. Geological Map of Israel, Scale 1:50,000.
56. Karcz, J., and Sneh, A. (2011). Sheet 3-I, Haifa. Geological Map of Israel, Scale 1:50,000.
57. Sass, E., Dekel, A., and Sneh, A. (2013). Sheet 5-II, Umm el Fahm. Geological Map of Israel, Scale 1:50,000.
58. Sneh, A., Sass, E., Bein, A., Arad, A., and Rosensaft, M. (2014). Sheet 5-I, Hadera. Geological Map of Israel, Scale 1:50,000.
59. Segev, A. (2017). Zemah-1, a Unique Deep Oil Well on the Dead Sea Fault Zone, Northern Israel: A New Stratigraphic Amendment, Report GSI/21/2017.
60. Sneh, A. (2018). Sheet 3-IV, Nazerat. Geological Map of Israel, Scale 1:50,000.
61. Magnetostratigraphy of the hominid tool-bearing Erk el Ahmar Formation in the northern Dead Sea Rift
62. Revisited calibration of the geomagnetic polarity timescale for the Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic10.1029/94JB03098 ↗
63. Larrasoaña, J.C., Waldmann, N., Mischke, S., Avni, J., and Ginat, H. (2020). Magnetostratigraphy and Paleoenvironments of the Kuntila Lake Sediments, Southern Israel: Implications for Late Cenozoic Climate Variability at the Northern Fringe of the Saharo-Arabian Desert Belt. Front. Earth Sci., 8.10.3389/feart.2020.00173 ↗
64. Expanded geographic distribution and dietary strategies of the earliest Oldowan hominins and Paranthropus
65. 3.3-million-year-old stone tools from Lomekwi 3, West Turkana, Kenya10.1038/nature14464 ↗
66. Complete permanent mandibular dentition of early Homo from the upper Burgi Member of the Koobi Fora Formation, Ileret, Kenya10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.03.017 ↗
67. Sapropels and the age of hominins Omo I and II, Kibish, Ethiopia10.1016/j.jhevol.2008.05.012 ↗
68. The paleoanthropology of Hadar, Ethiopia10.1016/j.crpv.2016.10.005 ↗
69. Fossils from Mille-Logya, Afar, Ethiopia, elucidate the link between Pliocene environmental changes and Homo origins10.1038/s41467-020-16060-8 ↗
70. Lapshin, V.A. (2020). New Evidence of the Early Paleolithic in the Mountain Systems of Eastern Anatolia and the Lesser Caucasus. The Earliest Occupation of the Caucasian Region, Transactions of the Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences. (In Russian).
71. Veliyev, C.C., Aleskerov, B.D., and Tagiyeva, E.N. (2010, January 3–7). The age of the Azykh site and climatic factors of migration to the Caucasus of the most ancient people. Karabakh in the Stone Age. Proceedings of the International Scientific Conference Dedicated to the 50th Anniversary of the Discovery of the Paleolithic Cave Site of Azykh in Azerbaijan, Baku, Azerbaijan.
72. Lapshin, V.A. (2020). History of Acheulean studies in Armenia and VP Lyubin’s contribution. The Earliest Occupation of the Caucasian Region, Transactions of the Institute for the History of Material Culture of Russian Academy of Sciences. (In Russian).
73. Postcranial evidence from early Homo from Dmanisi, Georgia10.1038/nature06134 ↗
74. New Data to Justify the Age of Early Paleolithic Artifacts of Rubas-1 Site (Seaside Dagestan)
75. Paleolithic culture of the Caucasus at the end of the Eopleistocene: Oldovan, Early Acheulean, transitional stage?
76. Schelinsky, B.E. (2021). The Early Acheulean of Western Ciscaucasia, The Institute of the Material Culture History, Russian Academy of Sciences. (In Russian).
77. Goren-Inbar, N., and Speth, J.D. (2004). Quaternary lake margins of the Levant Rift Valley. Human Paleoecology in the Levantine Corridor, Oxbow Books.
78. Integrated analysis of magnetic, paleomagnetic and K-Ar data in a tectonic complex region: An example from the Sea of Galilee10.1029/2004GL021298 ↗
79. Grishanov, A.I., Eremin, V.N., Imnadze, Z.A., Kitovani, T.G., Kitovani, S.K., Molostovsky, E.A., and Torozov, R.I. (1983). Stratigraphy of the Upper Pliocene and Upper Pleistocene deposits of Guria (Western Georgia) based on paleontological and paleomagnetic data. Bulletin of the Committee for the Study of the Quaternary Period, Nauka. (In Russian).
80. Magnetostratigraphy of the Evron Member—Implications for the age of the Middle Acheulian site of Evron Quarry10.1016/S0047-2484(03)00043-5 ↗
81. Heimann, A. (1990). The Development of the Dead Sea Rift and Its Margins in Northern Israel During the Pliocene and Pleistocene. [Ph.D. Thesis, Hebrew University]. (In Hebrew, summary in English).
82. Shaliv, G. (1991). Stages in the Tectonics and Volcanic History of the Neogene Basalt in the Lower Galilee and the Valleys. [Ph.D. Thesis, Hebrew University]. (In Hebrew, summary in English).
83. The Cover Basalt Formation, its age and its regional and tectonic setting: Implications from K-Ar and 40Ar/39Ar geochronology
84. Early Pleistocene lake deposits and Lower Paleolithic finds in Nahal (wadi) Zihor, Southern Negev desert, Israel10.1016/S0033-5894(03)00029-2 ↗
85. Geochronology, paleogeography, and archaeology of the Acheulian locality of ‘Evron Landfill in the western Galilee, Israel10.1017/qua.2018.107 ↗
86. Marcus, E., Slager, J., Ben-Zaken, S., and Indik, I.Y. (1984). Zemah-1. Geological Completion Report 84/11, Oil Exploration Ltd.
87. The sedimentary-magmatic sequence of the Zemah-1 well (Jordan-Dead Sea rift, Israel) and its emplacement in time and space
88. Evidence for a separated burial ground at the submerged Pottery Neolithic site of Neve-Yam, Israel10.3406/paleo.2009.5276 ↗
89. Sneh, A. (2013). Sheet 3-II, Shefar’Am. Geological Map of Israel, Scale 1:50,000.
90. The Evron quarry: A contribution to the Quaternary stratigraphy of the coastal Plain of Israel10.3406/paleo.1974.4179 ↗
91. Miocene volcanism in the Western Galilee coastal plain10.1560/J67U-TVVQ-P2E7-Q8TQ ↗
92. Dodonov, A.E. (1986). Anthropogene of Southern Tajikistan, Nauka. (In Russian).
93. Insolation values for the climate of the last 10 million years10.1016/0277-3791(91)90033-Q ↗
94. Tajik depression and Greater Pamir neotectonics from InSAR rate maps10.1029/2021JB022775 ↗
95. Kapur, S., Mermut, A., and Stoops, G. (2008). Improved Paleopedological Reconstruction of Vertic Paleosols at Novaya Etuliya, Moldova Via Integration of Soil Micromorphology and Environmental Magnetism. New Trends in Soil Micromorphology, Springer.10.1007/978-3-540-79134-8 ↗