Figure 1
A. Map of the Caucasus and adjacent areas showing the location of the volcanic upland considered in the paper. B. Volcanic upland in the South Caucasus. I -Late Acheulian surface localities; II -Early-Middle Acheulian surface localities; III -Late Acheulian stratified sites; IV -Early and Middle Acheulian stratified sites; V -Oldowan site. Sites: 1-Dmanisi; 2-Karakhach quarry; 3 -Muradovo; 4-Kurtan I; 5-Nor Gekhi 1; 6-Azykh Cave.
![Figure 5: Azykh Cave. Pollen diagram (after: Velichko et al. [19]).](publication/349078389/figure/fig5/AS:988286998818817@1612637390199/Azykh-Cave-Pollen-diagram-after-Velichko-et-al-19_Q320.jpg)
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... climate, landscape and natural resources are believed to be principal factors determining a dispersal of the Early Paleolithic humans in different regions of the Old World. The South Caucasus is well known to be sufficiently rich in the Early Paleolithic sites, which are located mostly in the volcanic upland ( Figure 1) surrounded with the ranges of the Lesser Caucasus [1,2]. So, it is of special interest to consider the palaeoenvironmental conditions that made the region quite suitable and even attractive for settling the Early Paleolithic people. ...
Context 2
... Late Acheulian assemblages were found only in two sites of the volcanic upland. In the Dashtadem 3 site (Figure 1) located in the northern part of the upland (Lori intermountain depression, Armenia) there is a thin layer yielding typical Late Acheulian handaxes as well as various small tools and products of the Levallois technique made of local gyalodacite [3]. Unfortunately, no dating material and paleontological remains preserved in this site. ...
Context 3
... no dating material and paleontological remains preserved in this site. Similar Late Acheulian industry produced from obsidian was discovered in the sequence of buried paleosols exposed in the Nor Gekhi 1site located on the Kotaik volcanic plateau, Armenia (Figure 1). According to the Ar 40r -Ar 39 dates for ash samples extracted from the paleosols as well as covering basalts, the Late Acheulian site at Nor Gekhi 1site existed in the range of 350-325Kyr [4]. ...
Context 4
... both mentioned sites have no paleontological remains, is will be necessary to involve into consideration the Acheulian site at Azykh Cave (800a.s.l.) situated on the Karabakh Ridge (Lesser Caucasus) fringing the volcanic upland in the south-east (Figure 1). In the Azykh sediment section there are two layers ...
Context 5
... the beginning of this century new important discoveries happened in the Lori intermountain depression, Armenia ( Figure 1) that is not far from the Dmanisi site. Three sites with the EarlyMiddle Pleistocene deposits and archaic Acheulian industries have been found in the foothills of volcanic Javakhetian Ridge (Muradovo, Karakhach quarry) and folded Basum Ridge (Kurtan I quarry) [13,14]. ...
Context 6
... sites with the EarlyMiddle Pleistocene deposits and archaic Acheulian industries have been found in the foothills of volcanic Javakhetian Ridge (Muradovo, Karakhach quarry) and folded Basum Ridge (Kurtan I quarry) [13,14]. Recently several localities with similar artifacts were discovered as well in the foothills of Somkheti Ridge ( Figure 1) but their geological context remains to be seen. The key site was revealed in the Karakhach quarry (1800a.s.l.) where there is the sediment sequence 15-20m thick subdivided into Beds I-III. ...
Context 7
... The nearby Muradovo site (Figure 1) is located at an elevation of 1549a.s.l. Under two horizons of a modern humus with a number of redeposited Late Acheulian pieces (layers 1-2) there is the clearly Pleistocene paleosol (layer 3) containing the Acheulian industry with certain archaic features (choppers, pics, absence of Levallois technique). ...
Context 8
... Early Acheulian sites in the Lori depression (Karakhach quarry, Muradovo) located at a distance around 30km southwards from Dmanisi ( Figure 1) were inhabited during the same period of the Early Pleistosene (Olduvai subchron). The Karakhach site (1800a.s.l.) is situated just near to a slope of the Javakhetian Ridge, which is covered with andesite lava. ...
Context 9
... data obtained during investigations of the Acheulian layers VI-V at Azykh Cave (800m a.s.l.) are believed to be relevant to the period around 600-350Kyr. This large cave is located on the slope of Karakakh Ridge (Figure 1) fringing the Tug depression (Figure 1). At present the height of the cave above the bottom of the local stream reaches 200m but in the Acheulian time it was evidently much closer to the water course. ...
Context 10
... data obtained during investigations of the Acheulian layers VI-V at Azykh Cave (800m a.s.l.) are believed to be relevant to the period around 600-350Kyr. This large cave is located on the slope of Karakakh Ridge (Figure 1) fringing the Tug depression (Figure 1). At present the height of the cave above the bottom of the local stream reaches 200m but in the Acheulian time it was evidently much closer to the water course. ...
Similar publications
![Figure 2 Predictors of informal employment. Source: [14, p. 29].](publication/350825036/figure/fig2/AS:1011944601448448@1618277802425/Predictors-of-informal-employment-Source-14-p-29_Q320.jpg)
Citations
The Gürgürbaba Tepesi-028 (GBT-028) open-air site is located in the Meydan mountain area, in the Erciş district of Van province, on the high plateau of eastern Turkey. The lithic assemblages of GBT-028 was dated to Lower Paleolithic period, which was determined during the survey in 2014. Since then, intensive survey was done in the area in 2019 and with a total of 2,060 obsidian lithics remains were analyzed. The large cutting tools, large flakes and their debris, and the prepared core industry were indicated that this region was inhabited by late Acheulean people and the site was used as a workshop area. Although GBT-028 has not been directly radiometrically dated, the base of the GBT-028 site was dated to 424.000 years ago, indicating that this location was in use roughly after this date. Additionally, GBT-028 is located on the same living floor as GBT-010, suggesting that it originated from GBT-010 and could be 311,000 years old. This will be crucial in terms of improving our understanding of the late Acheulean period and providing precise information on the behavioral activities of the people of the Pleistocene period.
Hatis-1 is a Lower Paleolithic open-air site on the Hrazdan-Kotayk Plateau of central Armenia. Although the site was tested in the 1980s, little has been published regarding the material. Consequently, we reinvestigated the site by expanding the original test pit to better understand the stratigraphy and recover a new sample of artifacts. As a result, more than 300 obsidian artifacts were recovered from colluvial deposits found close to primary obsidian outcrops, which sourcing data show to be the exclusive areas of toolstone procurement used by the inhabitants. The recovered assemblages are Late Acheulian in character and are largely homogenous across strata in terms of techno-typology. Hatis-1 records the use of large flakes for production of cores and tools indicative of the Large Flake Acheulian, but also contains limited evidence for simple prepared cores and the recycling of bifaces as cores, suggesting expansion of the technological repertoire of hominins in this region during the Late Acheulian. The in-depth study of large cutting tools presented here reveals that differences in the shape and typology of these tools are largely determined by different production strategies. While samples suitable for direct chronometric dates were not recovered, constraining geological factors suggest this material was deposited after c.700/480 ka. This study expands our understanding of the Late Acheulian and further contextualizes the later Lower–Middle Paleolithic technological transition in the region. In a broader sense, our interpretation of the techno-typological patterns at Hatis-1 expands the current understanding of geographical and chronological variation in the Acheulian record.
