AMUD

archaeological site in Israel known for its human remains, which provide important evidence of the diversification and development of Middle Eastern Neanderthals. The site is centred on Amud Cave, overlooking the 'Amud River (Wadi el 'Amud) just northwest of the Sea of Galilee. University of Tokyo expeditions to the site, led in 1961 and 1964 by Hisashi Suzuki, unearthed Neanderthal skeletal remains dating from about 50,000 to 60,000 years ago. Now held in the Rockefeller Archaeological Museum, Jerusalem, these finds consist of a skeleton (designated Amud I) of an adult male about 25 years old, along with a fragment of another adult jaw and skull fragments of two infants. Amud I has a notably large cranial capacity of about 1,740 cubic cm (106 cubic inches). Nonetheless, the skull has Neanderthal features, with a receding forehead, divided brow, and prominent mastoid processes. Though the bones are incomplete, the height of Amud I has been estimated at 172177 cm (6870 inches). In 1991 a joint Israeli and American expedition (of the Hebrew and Tel Aviv universities and the Institute of Human Origins of Berkeley, Calif.) began new excavations. The following year workers uncovered the partial skeleton of an 8- to 10-month-old Neanderthal baby, upon whose pelvis had been placed the maxilla of a red deer, apparently as a burial rite. Further evidence of Neanderthal habitation and Mousterian toolmaking were revealed, including carved blades and points and deer, bovid, equid, pig, and fox remains. Other hominid remains have been uncovered nearby in the Emireh, Shovakh, and Zuttiyeh caves.