The Azokh Cave complex: Middle Pleistocene to Holocene human occupation in the Caucasus

Fernández–Jalvo, Yolanda; King, Tania; Andrews, Peter; Yepiskoposyan, Levon; Moloney, Norah; Murray, John; Domínguez-Alonso, Patricio; Asryan, Lena; Ditchfield, Peter; Made, Jan van der; Torres, Trinidad de; Sevilla, Paloma; Dı́az, Mario; Cáceres, Isabel; Allué, Ethel; Monfort, M.D. Marín; Martin, T.

doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2009.07.005

Cited by 32 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Sediment Sequence 2: contains Units V to I. The new excavations focus on these units; all of them present an archaeological record, with an age range from the Middle (MIS 9-8) to the Late Pleistocene (MIS 5) (Units V to II), with some Holocene sediments at the top (Unit I) (Fernández-Jalvo et al 2010, 2016bMurray et al 2010;Asryan 2015;Asryan et al 2017Asryan et al , 2020.…”

Section: Azokhmentioning

confidence: 99%

Palaeoecological reconstructions of the Middle to Late Pleistocene occupations in the Southern Caucasus using rodent assemblages

Rey-Rodríguez

López‐García

Stoetzel

et al. 2022

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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Located at the crossroads between Africa, Europe and Asia, the Southern Caucasus is a prime location to study occupations by H. heidelbergensis, H. neanderthalensis and anatomically modern humans. Azokh Cave is an important site for the understanding of human evolution in its archaeological, palaeontological, environmental and ecological context. The main objective of this work is to use rodents to infer the climatic and environmental conditions that prevailed during the formation of the site. The small-mammal remains come from the archaeological excavation campaigns carried out in Azokh 1 in 2003, 2005, 2014, 2015 and 2018; they are from Unit V, Units III–IV and Unit II. The small-mammal assemblage is composed of at least 13 taxa: seven arvicoline, two cricetine, two gerbilline, one dipodid and one murine species. Units III–IV do not yield enough material to draw palaeoclimatic inferences. The palaeoclimatic conditions for Units V and II, ascertained by means of the bioclimatic model, suggest temperatures and precipitation similar to nowadays; the climate seems to be relatively warm-temperate in both units. The palaeoenvironmental reconstruction by means of habitat weighting points to an environment mainly composed of desert and steppe habitats, as well as portions of grassland and forest. This interpretation differs from that inferred from the large-mammal and archaeobotanical data, which indicate a woodland environment. These differences could be explained by the origin of the accumulation. There was no evidence of a major palaeoenvironmental or palaeoclimatic change between the Middle and Late Pleistocene layers, indicating favourable conditions throughout the study period.

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Section: Azokhmentioning

confidence: 99%

Palaeoecological reconstructions of the Middle to Late Pleistocene occupations in the Southern Caucasus using rodent assemblages

Rey-Rodríguez

López‐García

Stoetzel

et al. 2022

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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“…The so-called Trans-Caucasian corridor is one of the areas that enabled hominin dispersal out of the Levant and into the rest of Eurasia during the Pleistocene (Bar-Yosef and Belfer-Cohen, 2001;Fernández Jalvo et al, 2010). Early paleoanthropological evidence associated with this route of dispersal includes the Dmanisi (Georgia) fossil hominins 1.8 million years ago (Gabunia et al, 2000) and the easternmost occurrence of Homo heidelbergensis at Azokh Cave (Nagorno-Karabagh) between 400-250 thousand years before present (ka BP) (Kasimova, 2001;King et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Very limited information is available on other faunal assemblages from the Lesser Caucasus. At Azokh (962 m asl) Beds IV and III (Middle Pleistocene) cut marked fauna is associated with Middle Paleolithic stone tools (Fernández Jalvo et al, 2010;Marin-Monfort et al, 2016). Early Middle Paleolithic faunal assemblages are known from Djruchula Cave (600 m asl) in the Imereti Region (Layer 2: 210-260 ka BP; Layer 1: ca.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Upper Paleolithic animal exploitation in the Armenian Highlands: The zooarchaeology of Aghitu-3 Cave

Bertacchi

Gasparyan

Gruwier

et al. 2021

Quaternary International

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“…Several archaeological sites attest to the region's importance; these include Dmanisi, Georgia, where the earliest evidence for Homo outside of Africa has been recovered (Gabunia et al, 2000(Gabunia et al, , 2001Ferring et al, 2011), and Nor Geghi 1, Armenia, which records early evidence for the use of complex stone tool technologies (Adler et al, 2014). Open-air and cave sites documenting Lower, Middle, and Upper Palaeolithic behaviours have been described (e.g., Adler et al, 2006;Liagre et al, 2006;Fernández-Jalvo et al, 2010;Mercier et al, 2010;Ghukasyan et al, 2011;Pinhasi et al, 2011;Adler et al 2012;Tushabramishvili et al, 2011;Egeland et al, 2014Egeland et al, , 2016Gasparyan and Arimura 2014;Moncel et al, 2015;Glauberman et al, 2016;Pleurdeau et al, 2016;Kandel et al, 2017); however, the chronology and nature of climatic and geomorphological changes in the region require further attention before a better comprehension of the rich archaeological record can be achieved.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pleistocene volcanism and the geomorphological record of the Hrazdan valley, central Armenia: linking landscape dynamics and the Palaeolithic record

Sherriff

Wilkinson

Adler

et al. 2019

Quaternary Science Reviews

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The Southern Caucasus lies at the intersection of Africa, the Levant and Eurasia, and is thus a region of considerable interest in the study of Pleistocene hominin population dynamics and behaviour. While Palaeolithic archaeological sites in the region such as Dmanisi and Nor Geghi 1 attest to such palaeogeographic significance, a greater understanding of the chronology and nature of climatic and geomorphic changes in the region is needed to fully understand hominin settlement dynamics. The Hrazdan river valley, central Armenia, has the potential to offer such insights given its rich Palaeolithic record and complex history of Pleistocene infill as a result of alluvial, lacustrine, aeolian, and volcanic processes. We therefore present a stratigraphic framework for basin infill and hominin activity during the Pleistocene, based on extensive geomorphological and geological mapping, published chronometric results (40 Ar/ 39 Ar and K-Ar), and archaeological survey. We demonstrate that the onset of Pleistocene volcanism in the Gegham Range to the immediate east of the Hrazdan valley occurred around 700 ka BP, after which there were several phases of effusive eruption lasting until 200 ka. Interbedded with lava emplaced by these eruptions are alluvial and lacustrine sequences, some with evidence of pedogenesis and several of which have yielded Palaeolithic artefacts. Taken together these sequences suggest a cyclical model of infill whereby lava flow along the valley resulted in the blockage of the palaeo-Hrazdan river and lake formation in the lea of the lava dams. Breaching of these dams resulted in a shift to predominately fluvial deposition, and the consequent development of floodplain soils. Hominin populations exploited the floodplains at times when the last of these phases coincided with interglacial and interstadial climates, but they also occupied the surrounding valley sides during the same warm, humid phases.

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The Azokh Cave complex: Middle Pleistocene to Holocene human occupation in the Caucasus

Cited by 32 publications

References 13 publications

Palaeoecological reconstructions of the Middle to Late Pleistocene occupations in the Southern Caucasus using rodent assemblages

Palaeoecological reconstructions of the Middle to Late Pleistocene occupations in the Southern Caucasus using rodent assemblages

Upper Paleolithic animal exploitation in the Armenian Highlands: The zooarchaeology of Aghitu-3 Cave

Pleistocene volcanism and the geomorphological record of the Hrazdan valley, central Armenia: linking landscape dynamics and the Palaeolithic record

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