First published: 14/12/23.

Kyle Magnuson 1

Faya Palaeolandscape

Faya Palaeolandscape (Nominated)

Faya Palaeolandscape by Kyle Magnuson

I have little experience in visiting prehistory landscapes such as this and therefore I was grateful for our tour guide. We hiked starting from the remnants of a spring that was used by humans over many thousands of years. From here we hiked the gently incline toward the caves. Because of recent rains before our visit, much of of the desert landscape was partially green with new plant growth. The caves were in fact human occupation sites and excavations have been carried out to confirm how these caves were used throughout the millennia of the Paleolithic era. During this short hike (about 30-45 minutes) with stops, you will see 3 caves and some pleasant views, one of the caves is possible to enter, though it's a tight fit.

A short drive from this site is where some of the most surprising and exciting discoveries have been made, almost exclusively in the last 5-10 years. At this location is a partially dug out pit where you can see the stratified layers, which benefit from a color coded measurement [pictured] that dates the site to over 200,000 years of mostly continuous human presence and adaption to the landscape. The guide explained some of the new discoveries, which are being published so often now that the information on site has to be updated frequently. A lucky bonus for us, our guide was a passionate "birder" and he was well aware of an owl that frequents this site and soon we heard its call. After about 5 minutes we spotted the Lilith Owl or Athena lilith.

If this site is inscribed in 2025, I don't expect a high community score. I did enjoy my visit and the Cultural Landscape approach is well-merited. 

You can learn more and reserve your tour at the Valley of the Caves here, which thoroughly covers the Faya Palaeolandscape. Cost is 95 AED and the duration is about 1 hour.

In the comparative analysis, Sites of Human Evolution at Mount Carmel: The Nahal Me’arot / Wadi el-Mughara Caves is one inscribed property that is compared with the Faya Palaeolandscape. Some of the reviews for Mount Carmel could be copied verbatim to describe the Faya sites. Note Mount Carmel is Israel's lowest rated site by our community at 2.23.

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