Upper Palaeolithic Occurrences in Sinai and the transition to the Epi-palaeolithic in the Southern Levant

During the last decade numerous Upper Palaeolithic sites have been discovered in northern Sinai. The flint assemblages of these sites do not fall into any of the previously known phases which were described by Neuville and Garrod. This fact, along with early C14 dates for few assemblages (ca. 30,000 B.C.), present a new aspect of the Upper Palaeolithic. The Upper Palaeolithic assemblages from Gebel Maghara (northern Sinai) are analysed here since they include assemblages which are dominated by El-Wad points and assemblages which are dominated by retouched bladelets. Since all the assemblages are broadly contemporaneous, it is argued that this dichotomy is due to functional variability. It is demonstrated that in certain cases retouched bladelets were produced as early as 30,000 B.C. This casts doubts on the validity of the current use of the term "Epi- Palaeolithic", and to the problem of the "absence" of Upper Palaeolithic sites in the coastal plain of Israel.