Neandertals Occupying Open-Air Site in Israel

There is evidence of Neandertal occupation at an open-air site in northern Israel called Ein Qashish.  From the researchers:

Whereas many open-air settlements are thought to be short-lived and chosen for specialized tasks, ‘Ein Qashish appears to be the site of repeated occupations each of which hosted a range of general activities, indicating a stable and consistent settlement system. The authors suggest that within a complex settlement system, open-air sites may have been more important for prehistoric humans than previously thought.

The vast majority of Neandertal sites in France and the Levant are cave sites so this represents a sharp contrast in societal behavioral patterns.  The site appears to have been repeatedly occupied by Neandertals from around 70 to possibly 54 thousand years ago, representing potentially an 18 thousand year span, although the span is probably 70-60 kya.  Although the hominin remains at the site are fragmentary,  a designation of Neandertal was made based on the morphology of a third molar and a complete femur. 

This is more evidence that Neandertal society and life-styles were much more complex and advanced than most researchers have allowed.

Here is a link to the open-access PLoS ONE paper, Persistent Neanderthal occupation of the open-air site of ‘Ein Qashish, Israel.