HaYonim Cave (Hebrew: מערת היונים, Me'arat HaYonim, lit. Cave of the Pigeons) is a cave located in a limestone bluff about 250 meters above modern sea level, in the Upper Galilee, Israel. The site had substantial occupation during the Middle Paleolithic Mousterian period, from 250,000 years ago to 100,000 years ago, and later, during the Natufian period around 12,000 years ago. [1]
The Mousterian occupation of the cave included Levallois debitage and early Middle Paleolithic blade technology, as well as a series of hearths.
The Natufian occupation of the cave featured circular rooms with prepared floors, with a thick midden of lithics, groundstone objects, and worked bone. There were several hearths, and single graves located in abandoned rooms or outside of inhabited rooms.