Researches in Prehistoric Galilee 1925-1926 and a Report on the Galilee Skull

Description

Researches in prehistoric Galilee, 1925-1926, by F.
Turville-Petre
, B.A., with sections by Dorothea M. Bate and Charlotte Baynes, and a report on the Galilee
skull by Sir Arthur Keith
Made and printed in Great Britain. Charles Whittingham and Griggs (Printers), LTD. Chiswick Press,
Tooks
Court, Chancery Lane, London. 1927.
SCARCE
“In 1925 a fragmentary human skull was uncovered in
Zuttiyeh
Cave in Palestine. Over seventy years later it is still the oldest human fossil in the Levant. The excavator was a young Englishman at the beginning of a career which lasted less than ten years. Since his untimely death in 1942 new generations have shed fresh light on his original discovery (
Gisis
and Bar-Yosef 1974). The fragmentary skull – albeit an isolated find – is now placed with other Eurasian fossils in the time range of 250 – 350,000 years ago (Bar-Yosef 1992, 196), and has
particular relevance
to the current debate on the origin of modern humans. It is thus of interest to recall and assess the short life and career of Francis
Turville-Petre
, whose first discovery is as important today as it was at the time of its announcement, and whose contributions to our understanding of the prehistoric cultures of the Near East should be recognized.
Francis
Turville-Petre
was quickly forgotten in Palestine. He left little trace – a few papers and articles, occasional footnotes, and one now rare book” (
Ofer
Bar-Yosef and Jane
Callender
,
Palestine Exploration Quarterly
, 129, 1997).