About 4 kilometres south of Ein Hod, the Nahal Me'arot Nature Reserve protects a series of prehistoric caves on the western slope of Mount Carmel that have been continuously occupied for nearly half a million years. Four caves — Tabun, Jamal, El-Wad, and Skhul — contain evidence of Neanderthal burials, early Homo sapiens, and the gradual development of human tools from the Lower Palaeolithic through the Natufian period. UNESCO listed the site as a World Heritage Site in 2012, recognising it as one of the most complete records of human cultural evolution anywhere on earth.
The visitor centre explains the archaeological sequence clearly, and guided tours take you into the caves themselves. The Tabun Cave is the most famous, having yielded a Neanderthal skeleton dated to around 120,000 years ago. Combined with a visit to Ein Hod, this makes a full and rewarding half-day on the Carmel slopes — you are moving from one of the oldest records of human habitation on earth to one of Israel's liveliest artistic communities, all within a few kilometres.