Evolution of the Lithic Industry in Central Dagestan During the Early Pleistocene: The Rising Occurrence of Flake Blanks
https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2021.49.1.003-008
Abstract
Archaeological data from stratified Early Pleistocene sites in Central Dagestan are arranged in a direct stratigraphic sequence, making it possible to reconstruct the changes in lithic industry over a span of 1.2 mln years, from ~2.0 to 0.8 Ma BP, and to separate the principal stages in the Early Paleolithic culture of the Caucasus. This study examines blanks found at sites of the Ainikab-Mukhkay group, such as Ainikab-1, and Mukhkay-1, -2, and -2a. Occurrences of large flake blanks (>10 cm) at the Oldowan and the Oldowan to Acheulean transitional stage are provided. Such blanks appear at the beginning of the Jaramillo paleomagnetic episode (~1.07 Ma BP). By the end of the Early Pleistocene, their share attains 25.77 % of the total number of blanks for morphologically distinct tools. They are absent in Oldowan deposits (~2 Ma BP). The totality of statistical data justifies the separation of the transitional Oldowan to Acheulean stage in the region, dating to 1.0–0.8 Ma BP.
Keywords
Supporting agencies: This study was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Project No. 18-09-40026).
About the Author
H. A. Amirkhanov
Institute of Archaeology, Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Department Head
Dm. Ulyanova 19, Moscow, 117292, Russia
References
1. Ahmed I.J., Blackwell B.A.B., Cho E.K., Chen S., Amirkhanov H.A., Blickstein J., Skinner A.R., Lev S. 2010. ESR dating an Oldowan site in Dagestan, Southern Russia: Exploring the earliest Hominid migration into Eurasia. In 2010 Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America, vol. 42 (5). Denver: GSA, p. 152.
2. Amirkhanov H.A. 2007. Issledovaniya pamyatnikov oldovana na Severo-Vostochnom Kavkaze (predvaritelnye rezultaty). Moscow: Taus.
3. Amirkhanov H.A. 2016. Severnyi Kavkaz: Nachalo preistorii. Moscow: Mavraev.
4. Amirkhanov H.A., Gribchenko Y.N., Ozhereliev D.V., Sablin M.V., Semenov V.M., Trubikhin V.M. 2012. Kompleksnye issledovaniya rannepleistotsenovoi stoyanki Mukhkai-2 na Severo-Vostochnom Kavkaze (po rezultatam raskopok 2008–2011 gg.). In 1150 let Rossiyskoy gosudarstvennosti i kultury: Materialy k obshchemu sobraniyu RAN, posvyashch. Godu rossiyskoy istorii (Moskva, 18 dek. 2012 g.). Moscow: pp. 217–240.
5. Amirkhanov H.A., Taimazov A.I. 2019. Rannepleistotsenovaya krupnootshchepovaya industriya Severo-Vostochnogo Kavkaza: stadialnyi status. KSIA, iss. 254: 13–33.
6. Chepalyga A.L., Sadchikova T.A., Trubikhin V.M., Pirogov A.N. 2012. Geoarkheologiya olduvaiskikh stoyanok gornogo Dagestana. Byulleten Komissii po izucheniyu chetvertichnogo perioda, No. 72: 73–94.
7. Derevianko A.P., Amirkhanov H.A., Zenin V.N., Anoikin A.A., Rybalko A.G. 2012. Problemy paleolita Dagestana. Novosibirsk: Izd. IAET SO RAN.
8. Lumley de H., Nioradze M., Barsky D., Cauche D., Celiberti V., Nioradze G., Notter O., Zvania D., Lordkipanidze D. 2005. Les industries lithiques préoldowayennes du début du Pléisticene inférior du site de Dmanissi en Georgie. L’anthropologie, No. 109: 1–182.
9. Ozhereliev D.V. 2014. Tipologiya izdeliy so vtorichnoi obrabotkoi sloya 74 rannepaleoliticheskoi stoyanki Muhkai-2 (Dagestan). KSIA, No. 235: 60–81.
10. Shchelinsky V.E. 2012. Kermek – stoyanka nachalnoi pory rannego paleolita v Yuzhnom Priazovye. In Fundamentalnye problemy arkheologii, antropologii i etnografii Evrazii: K 70-letiyu akademika A.P. Derevianko. Novosibirsk: Izd. IAET SO RAN, pp. 153–171.
11. Shilova G.N. 2012. Rezultaty sporovo-pyltsevogo analiza obraztsov iz paleoliticheskoi stoyanki Mukhai-2. Arkhiv IA RAN. D. 2013-2 (Arkhiv Severokavkazskoi arkheologicheskoi ekspeditsii). (Manuscript).
12. Shilova G.N. 2014. Analiz obraztsov iz razreza Mukhai-2a, raskop 2. Arkhiv IA RAN. D. 2014-7 (Arkhiv Severokavkazskoi arkheologicheskoi ekspeditsii). (Manuscript).
13. Tesakov A.S., Ozhereliev D.V. 2017. K datirovke stoyanki oldovana Muhkai-2a v Dagestane. Byulleten Komissii po izucheniyu chetvertichnogo perioda, No. 75: 5–10.
Review
For citations:
Amirkhanov H.A. Evolution of the Lithic Industry in Central Dagestan During the Early Pleistocene: The Rising Occurrence of Flake Blanks. Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia. 2021;49(1):3-8. https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2021.49.1.003-008
Views:
461
Email this article 