Lebanon: 400,000 years of climate and landscape history rediscovered

An international team of researchers has rediscovered a wealth of climate and landscape history hidden within the historical fossil collections of Lebanon. Led by Dr. Gabriele Russo of the Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment at the University of Tübingen, the study reveals that the Levant, a region connecting Europe, Asia and Africa, served as a critical corridor for animals and early humans during the Pleistocene epoch.

The research, published in Communications Earth & Environment, highlights the high scientific value of historical collections, particularly in politically unstable regions such as Lebanon. The eastern edge of the Mediterranean region has long been a hub for cultural and biological exchanges, with various animal species and human lineages, including Homo sapiens and possibly Neanderthals, migrating through the area.

While the southern Levant has been extensively studied, the central and northern regions have received comparatively little attention. The new findings, which include fossil collections from Ras el-Kelb, Naame and Nahr Ibrahim, dating back up to 400,000 years, offer a rare glimpse into the lives of early humans and the landscapes they inhabited.

The study utilized advanced archaeological techniques, including archaeozoology, tooth wear analysis, stable isotope analysis, and modeling of past landscapes. These methods revealed that hominins processed prey animals at multiple sites, indicating a diet primarily consisting of big game such as aurochs, fallow deer, red deer, and wild goats, as well as rhinoceroses.

The researchers also found that the coastal region of present-day Lebanon featured a mosaic of habitats, including densely vegetated areas and clearings, which likely influenced the lifestyles of hominin groups. The stable and warm climate, combined with abundant resources, may have created an ecological refugium for both animals and humans in the Mediterranean coast of Lebanon.