During May 2006, a systematic gathering of flint artifacts was conducted at prehistoric sites in the southern part of Netanya (Permit No. A-4692; map ref. NIG 18469–516/68657–704; OIG 13469–516/18657–704), which were identified during the course of a survey prior to construction. The gathering, on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, was done by P. Spivak, with the assistance of O. Marder (scientific guidance), M. Smilanski (flint drawings) and A. ‘Azab.
Over the course of the 1940s and 1950s, prehistoric sites were documented on both banks of Nahal Poleg (Burian and Friedman 1964-1965, Mitiqufat Ha-Even 6-7:1–34, Sites 18M–18MII, 18CH, 18N, 18T; Barkai et al. 1994-1995. 18X–An Epi-palaeolithic Collection from the Nahal Poleg Area. Journal of the Israel Prehistoric Society 26:64–73). Following damage that was caused to several of the sites during the construction of a new neighborhood, a survey prior to development was conducted by O. Marder and A. ‘Azab (IAA). Six concentrations of flint artifacts, which were probably remains of sites on the banks of Nahal Poleg (18MII, 18M, 18X), were identified in the survey (Fig. 1; Concentrations 2–7). Subsequent to the survey, a systematic gathering of the flint artifacts from Concentrations 2–6 was carried out.
Concentrations 2–6 were located at the top of a hamra layer (Netanya hamra) that was partly covered with sand dunes and vegetation. The artifact density in the concentrations was low and no relation between their location and archaeological sites was evinced. Approximately a thousand flint artifacts from the Epi-palaeolithic period were gathered, representing all the stone- knapping phases from cores to finished tools. All the artifacts were covered with patina, ranging in color from yellow to white, which is characteristic of many sites from the Epi-palaeolithic period in the coastal plain. The collected artifacts included 37 tools, 31 cores, 474 waste flakes and several hundred chips of various sizes. Noteworthy among the tools are the scrapers on retouched flakes and blades (Fig. 2:1–3), retouched bladelets (Fig. 2:4–7) and diagonally truncated backed bladelets (Kabaran points; Fig. 2:8, 9). Most of the cores are pyramidal bladelet cores that have one striking platform. The most common elements in the debitage are the flakes (314), whereas the number of blades, bladelets and core debitage is considerably lower.
It seems that the concentrations of flint artifacts were partial remains of sites, which were destroyed due to dune movement and erosion, as well as development work and construction. The multitude of retouched bladelets that are non-geometric (38%) and especially the Kabaran points (11%) indicates that the assemblage belonged to the Kabaran culture (18,000–15,000 BCE.). A similar proportion of tool ratio is known from other sites in the region that belong to the Kabaran culture, among them Nahal Hadera V, Hefzibah, Umm Khaled and Poleg 18X.