Lab Manager 

Dariya (aka Dasha), a student in our International MA Program in Prehistoric Archaeology, conducting research on archaeological feathers from the Nahal Omer site in the Arava. Her work focuses on the taphonomy of feathers, examining preservation patterns, environmental effects, and evidence of human and natural interactions with avian remains.  

(PhD, ongoing): Early Upper Paleolithic Archaeozoology along the Sequence of Manot Cave, Israel: Subsistence, Seasonality and Camp Organization 

Catherine (aka Kasia) came from Australia to study in the International MA Program in Prehistoric Archaeology. She wrote her thesis on Iron Age faunal remains, and worked in the Nesher Ramla Archaeofauna project, before commencing her doctoral studies on the Early Upper Paleolithic fauna of Manot Cave.  

(PhD, 2025): Human Prey Choice in the Middle Paleolithic: Insights from Human, Non-human and Natural Accumulations [Publication 1]; [Publication 2] 

(MA, 2017): The Human - Hyena Interaction in the Upper Palaeolithic: Manot Cave as a Case Study [Link to publication] 

Meir studied the interactions between hyenas, humans and ungulates in the prehistoric landscape of the Levant, i.e., who chose to eat what and why. 

Meir is now a Rothschild post-doc fellow at the University of Nottingham.   

(PhD, 2023): The Pleistocene herpetofauna of Mount Carmel, Israel: Taphonomy, diet, and paleoecology of amphibian, snake and lizard remains [Publication 1]; [Publication 2]; [Publication 3] 

Ma'ayan, a graduate of the International MA Program in Prehistoric Archaeology (and before that, of Tel Aviv University), led an experimental and taphonomic study to reveal that the Natufian societies often consumed large lizards and snakes. She further employs these fossil remains to shed light on the ancient environments and climate in the last 160,000 years in Mt. Carmel. 

Ma'ayan is now a KiTE post-doc fellow at the University of Kiel.    

(MA, 2024): Epipaleolithic Sedentism in the Levant: A Systematic Review and Evolutionary Explanations 

Sigal, an independent lawyer, developed an interest in the archaeology of the "big questions" and has been pursuing it ever since. A graduate of our streamlined MA program, she collected numerous data in order to understand whether prehistoric humans were forced to settle down at the end of the Ice Age, or actually wanted to.  

(MA, 2023): The Zooarchaeology of the Kebaran and Geometric Kebaran Occupations, Ein Qashish South, Israel 

Amy was born in South Africa, made aliya and has been working as field archaeologist for the Israel Antiquities Authority. She studied in the International MA Program in Prehistoric Archaeology, trying to understand what the Ice Age hunters were doing 20,000 years ago in the aggregation site of 'Ein Qashish South. 

(PhD, 2023): The organization of the hunt in the Middle Paleolithic: A zooarchaeological and taphonomic study of the open-Air site of Nesher Ramla 

Zohar works for the Israel Antiquities Authority as a zooarchaeologist, field archaeologist and project manager. Her interest in the Stone Age led her to write a dissertation on the massive bone collections from the Middle Paleolithic hunting site of Nesher Ramla, where she found clues for the organization of the hunt.  

(Post-doc, 2021-2023): Bird remains from the Mount Carmel Paleolithic sequence [Link to publication] 

Linda obtained her PhD from Liverpool John Moores University and joined the group to study the fossil bird bones from a range of Mt. Carmel prehistoric sites. She is keen on shedding light on the birds that the Neanderthals knew, captured and possibly admired.

Linda is now a KiTE post-doc fellow at the University of Kiel.  

(Post-doc, 2021-2023): Zooarchaeological analysis of fauna from the Middle Paleolithic site of Tinshemet Cave, Israel 

Susan completed her PhD in UC Davis, with rich experience in the Paleolithic zooarchaeology of France. She was a Fulbright scholar working on the fauna from the new and exciting burial site of Tinshemet Cave, hoping to understand the human landscape in the last Interglacial Levant. 

(MA, 2021): Equids in the Levantine Middle Paleolithic: The case of Nesher Ramla  

Midori was born in the US, moved to Israel and completed her MA in our International MA Program in Prehistoric Archaeology (and before that, an MSc in Bournemouth). As an avid horse lover, she ceased the opportunity to study equid paleontology in the Nesher Ramla hunting site. 

(MA, 2018): Taphonomy and Zooarchaeology of the Nesher Ramla Middle Paleolithic site: A sample of the Unit 3 assemblage [Link to publication] 

Katy joined the International MA Program in Prehistoric Archaeology from the great US state of Texas. During her 3-year stay she conducted the first detailed study of the animal bones in the Middle Paleolithic site of Nesher Ramla, concluding that they represent a specialized campsite dedicated for butchery and processing of the aurochs.   

(MA studies, 2016-2020): Bone preservation in the Neve David Epipaleolithic camp: Microscopic and Macroscopic Approaches 

Mason came to the International MA Program in Prehistoric Archaeology from the US state of Colorado. He is fascinated by the chance to learn what happened to the bones in the Neve David campsite, not only by looking at them but by assessing the "invisible" microscopic record.  

(MA, 2017): A Micro-wear Analysis of The Natufian Gazelle Phalange Beads from el-Wad Terrace [Link to publication] 

Hilda, a native of Texas, joined the first class of the International MA Program in Prehistoric Archaeology and managed to reveal how the Natufians of el-Wad Terrace produced and used their beautiful bone beads, one of the first cases of prehistoric personal jewelry in the Levant. 

(post-doc, 2015-2018): Technological Choices along the Early Natufian Sequence of el-Wad Terrace [Link to publication] 

Hila obtained her PhD from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she studied how various Natufian groups used the flint resources available to the (or their neighbors) to make tools.  She extended this scheme to the long Natufian sequence of el-Wad Terrace, showing the great continuity of the groups that inhabited this hamlet.