About
225
Publications
69,650
Reads
How we measure 'reads'
A 'read' is counted each time someone views a publication summary (such as the title, abstract, and list of authors), clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the full-text. Learn more
9,802
Citations
Publications
Publications (225)
The goal of this paper is to report results of research of the infl uence that economic
specifi cs of the Epipalaeolithic sites in the Elbrus region had on the composition of lithic industry. The traceological analysis made it possible to determine a functional variability of tools in sites dated from diff erent age. Based on the correlation of the...
The northwestern Caucasus is part of the Eastern Micoquian cultural area. The Micoquian assemblages in this region include tool types that are defined as small broad handaxes, Mousterian points, convergent and angled scrapers, and rare limaces. All these types represent the group of convergent tools that are defined by two basic elements: two conve...
In the Caucasus, one of the largest collections of Acheulean bifaces is known from the Satani-Dar locality in Armenia. Since the mid-20th century, bifaces from this site have been described using both traditional typological methods and a technological chaîne opératoire approach characteristics. In this paper, we report results of a morpho-technolo...
The north-central Caucasus region—located between the highest Caucasian volcanic mountain peaks of Elbrus (5642m asl) and Kazbek (5034m asl)—is notable as the area producing the only obsidian source (called Baksan or Zayukovo) known in the Northern Caucasus. Only two stratified sites, however, provide evidence of the Middle Paleolithic (MP) occupat...
Research of coloring pigments and binding compounds from the Upper Palaeolithic (UP), including on portable art objects such as personal ornaments, provides new insights into social and cultural aspects of human history. However, we lack a comprehensive study of the composite pigment mixtures and binding materials that were produced intentionally a...
Коллективная монография обобщает результаты многолетних междисциплинарных исследований международного коллектива ученых, проведенных в пещере Треугольная (Северо-Западный Кавказ). В настоящее время данный памятник является наиболее полно изученной стоянкой раннего палеолита в России. Комплексные исследования этой стоянки достоверно свидетельствуют,...
В коллективной монографии представлены материалы междисциплинарных исследований, проведенных в пещере Матузка (Северо-Западный Кавказ). Уникальный археологический памятник эпохи среднего палеолита позволяет получить разнообразную информацию о жизни неандертальцев от 130 до 35 тысяч лет назад.
В книге публикуются реконструкции палеоландшафта, палео...
One of the raw material strategies used by Neanderthals and modern humans was the organization of stone-knapping workshops on outcrops of high-quality raw materials, including flint. The Besleneevskaya open-air stratified site represents an example of a flint knapping workshop located directly on sources of one of the best-quality colored flint tha...
This paper presents new data on flint procurement in the Epipaleolithic Layers 10 and 8 in the Sosruko rockshelter (grotto) in the north-central Caucasus (Russia), which are dated from 15–17 to 13.5–15 cal ka BP, respectively. We used the laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry method for the geochemical research of flint artifa...
The article reports the preliminary research results of a multilayer site, which comprises the cultural layers dating from the Middle Ages, Kuro-Araks culture, Eneolithic, Neolithic and Epipaleolithic. Of particular interest are the Neolithic layers dating from ca. 8.2 ka BP or 6.300 BC to 7.5–6.7 ka BP or 5.700–4.800 BC. The site shows not only th...
In 1988 and 1989, the Paleoanthropological Inventory of Ethiopia (PIE) field expedition discovered numerous localities of prehistoric significance across Ethiopia (WoldeGabriel et al., 1992). One of the regions surveyed by the Inventory team was the Dulecha administrative district (Gabi Rasu), Afar Zone (Fig. 1). The surveyed area (geographic refer...
Around 42,000 years ago, anatomically modern humans appeared in Western Europe to the detriment of indigenous Neanderthal groups. It is during this period that new techno-cultural complexes appear, such as the Châtelperronian that extends from northern Spain to the Paris Basin. The Grotte du Renne (Arcy-sur-Cure) is a key site for discussing the bi...
Neanderthals were widespread during the Middle Palaeolithic (MP) across Europe and Asia, including the Caucasus Mountains. Occupying the border between eastern Europe and West Asia, the Caucasus is important region regarding the Neanderthal occupation of Eurasia. On current radiometric estimates, the MP is represented in the Caucasus between about...
The collective monograph «The climate dynamics and adaptation models in the Middle and Upper Paleolithic of the North-Western Caucasus» presents the results of complex studies in stratified sites, in which Late Pleistocene deposits are preserved. The research was carried out under the project: «Trends of the cultural process in the Late Pleistocene...
The aim of this research is to study the relationship between formal typological types of lithic points and their functions. We applied a detailed typology of the analyzed points. The Epipaleolithic industries of the Caucasus, characterized
by similar technical and typological characteristics, contain also a specific set of lithic points, which inc...
As of today, very few Upper Paleolithic sites are known on both the southern and the northern slopes of the Caucasus. Their materials allow tracing settlement dynamics in the region from 40/39 to 20 cal ka BP. The change of the research methodology, which today is focused on thorough excavations involving a range of natural science disciplines for...
The Hadjoh 2 open-air site is one of a few Middle Palaeolithic sites known in the northwestern Caucasus, which provide evidence of both the early (MIS 5) and late (MIS 3) stages of the Middle Palaeolithic occupation of the region. The 2020 multidisciplinary research indicates that Hadjoh 2 preserves four distinct Middle Palaeolithic layers, which h...
The article is addressed to the consideration of regional features of the Epipaleolithic assemblages of the North Caucasus and the North-Eastern Azov region, the origin of which was traditionally associated with the Imeretian culture of the Caucasus. The authors propose synchronization model of the main Epipaleolithic sites in these regions. Compar...
L’article est consacré à l’étude tracéologique des microlithes pointues et géométriques caractéristiques des sites épipaléolithiques du Caucase du Nord-ouest et de la région d’Elbrouz. Les modèles (régularités) entre les types d’outils lithiques et leur utilisation fonctionnelle sont analysés. Les chasseurs ont utilisé efficacement des armes compos...
The authors discuss functional characterization of Mousterian tools on the basis of their use-wear and residue analysis of five lithic tools from Mezmaiskaya cave and Saradj-Chuko grotto in the North Caucasus. The results represent the first comprehensive use-wear and residue analysis carried out on Mousterian stone artefacts in the Caucasus. This...
The Epipaleolithic industries of the Caucasus, which have similar technical and typological characteristics, contain also a specific set of lithic points, which includes mainly symmetrically retouched points, the Gravette and microgravette points, and Vachons points, as well as more rare shouldered points and some other diverse forms. The majority...
A comprehensive study of Paleolithic sites using methods from different disciplines makes it possible to reconstruct the time, climate and paleogeography of the area where sites are located, to make assumptions about the strategies of life support and mobility of human groups. The study of stone industries, involving not only the standard technical...
The Mezmaiskaya cave is located on the North Caucasus near the border that divides Europe and Asia. Previously, fossil remains for two Neanderthals were reported from Mezmaiskaya Cave. A tooth from the third archaic hominin specimen ( Mezmaiskaya 3 ) was retrieved from layer 3 in Mezmaiskaya Cave. We performed genome sequencing of Mezmaiskaya 3. An...
Located in the north-central Caucasus, about 70 km from the highest European mountain peak of Elbrus (5640 m asl) and 7 km from the only obsidian source (Zayukovo or Baksan) known in the Northern Caucasus, Psytuaje rockshelter is the first stratified late Epipaleolithic site dated from the beginning of the Holocene that was intensively investigated...
In this paper, the authors report results of a detailed technological and typological analysis of the Epipalaeolithic assemblages from three stratified sites in the North Caucasus that were excavated in recent years at a modern scientific level with application of sediment water screening, which allowed to obtain numerous microlithic artefacts. The...
The collective monograph «The Epipaleolithic of the Elbrus region» presents the results of multidisciplinary research in three stratified sites containing the deposits from the final Pleistocene
and the early Holocene. The research was conducted in frameworks of the project: «Interaction of man and nature in ancient times in the Central Caucasus: d...
Recent studies of the Middle and Upper Paleolithic in the northwestern Caucasus are focused on the research of relations between natural (climate and environment) and social (behavior and adaptations) factors that governed settlement dynamics of Neanderthal and anatomically modern human populations in the region. The majority of Middle Paleolithic...
At present, the sites of the Upper Paleolithic of the Caucasus with an age ranging from 25–23 to 12–10 ka cal BP it is proposed to single out a separate period – the Epipaleolithic, by analogy with the Near East. This article summarizes data on the appearance of geometric microliths in the Epipaleolithic of the Caucasus and traces their
changes dur...
The authors discuss the geoarchaeological data indicating that the Oldowan-age assemblages, which are reported during the last years on the Taman peninsula, in the northwestern Caucasus, and in Dagestan, in the northeastern Caucasus, are found in the marine coast environment near the contact with the sea basin, with evidence for the presence of sha...
The Hugub open-air site in Ethiopia well-dated to between 600 and 500 ka yields the earliest securely dated and found in situ Late Acheulean archaeology in Africa. The studied lithic assemblage includes numerous, often diminutive broad-tipped ovate and pointed bifaces, many of which are made on large flakes. These show the earliest evidence of inte...
A comprehensive analysis of the cultural layer is important for determining natural or intentional damage of stone tools in a particular industry. The study of stone tools taphonomy is also of great importance for interpretation of cultural complexes, reconstruction of adaptation models of Paleolithic humans in various environmental conditions. Thi...
Многодисциплинарные исследования стоянок палеолита позволяют выделять все основные стадиалы в позднеплейстоценовой истории Северного Кавказа, в том числе стадиалы Хейнриха (Heinrich Stadial) 6 (ок. 63–60 тыс. л.н.) и 5 (ок. 48–47 тыс. л.н.) для среднего палеолита. Большинство похолоданий коррелирует с проявлениями вулканизма. Впервые публикуются ре...
Multidisciplinary investigations into Paleolithic sites make it possible to identify all the main sta-dials in the Late Pleistocene history of the North Caucasus, including Heinrich stadials 6 (ca. 63–60 kyr) and5 (ca. 48–47 kyr) for the Middle Paleolithic. Most of the coolings correlate with volcanic events. The resultsof geochemical and microprob...
The Bering Land Bridge connecting North America and Eurasia was periodically exposed and inundated by oscillating sea levels during the Pleistocene glacial cycles. This land connection allowed the intermittent dispersal of animals, including humans, between Western Beringia (far north‐east Asia) and Eastern Beringia (north‐west North America), chan...
In the eastern part of Europe, from the Carpathians in the west to the Caucasus in the south and the Volga River in the east, a number of sites have yilded lithic assemblages with bifacial leaf points and bifacial asymmetric knives, dating from OIS 7 to OIS 5 and representing the Early Middle Palaeolithic (EMP) Leaf Point industry. The results of t...
The article is addressed to the issue of long-distance contacts and social networks between the Upper Palaeolithic of the North-western Caucasus and other regions, basing on finds (artifacts from mammoth tusk, azurite sandstone pebble, Black Sea marine mollusc shells, and obsidian artifacts) from the Upper Palaeolithic layers at Mezmaiskaya Cave. P...
Trabecular bone ontogeny is well known in modern humans and unknown in Neandertals. Yet the bone developmental pattern is useful for interpreting fossils from evolutionary and functional perspectives. Interestingly, microstructure in early ontogeny is supposedly not influenced by high and specific mechanical loading related to the lifestyle of a hu...
В статье анализируются новые данные об охотничьем вооружении неандертальцев на Северном Кавказе. Применение типологического и трасологического анализов каменных индустрий дает основание выделять обсидиановые наконечники копий на стоянке загросского мустье в гроте Сарадж-
Чуко в Приэльбрусье. Уникальное костяное острие, найденное в индустрии восточн...
Ontogenetic studies provide clues for understanding important paleobiological aspects of extinct species. When compared to that of modern humans, the adult Neanderthal thorax was shorter, deeper, and wider. This is related to the wide Neanderthal body and is consistent with their hypothetical large requirements for energy and oxygen. Whether these...
Y chromosome evolution in Neanderthals
The genomes of archaic hominins have been sequenced and compared with that of modern humans. However, most archaic individuals with high-quality sequences available have been female. Petr et al. performed targeted sequencing of the paternally inherited Y chromosomes from three Neanderthals and two Denisovans (...
В статье представлены результаты комплексных исследований охоты и охотничьего вооружения неандертальцев в среднем палеолите Приэльбрусья на Северном Кавказе. Исследования основаны не только на анализе фауны и типологии орудий, но и трасологическом изучении охотничьего вооружения. Работа строится на материалах слоя 6В из грота Сарадж-Чуко – единстве...
The Bering Land Bridge connecting North America and Eurasia was periodically exposed and inundated by oscillating sea levels during the Pleistocene glacial cycles. This land connection allowed the intermittent dispersal of animals, including humans, between Western Beringia (far north-east Asia) and Eastern Beringia (north-west North America), chan...
The first stratified Neanderthal site in the Elbrus region (Central Caucasus) was found in the Saradj-Chuko grotto. The minerals identified in the sediments of the grotto can be used as indicators of paleoclimatic conditions. The lack of terrigenous minerals contributes to the grotto uniqueness.
Saradj-Chuko Grotto is located about 70 km from Mount Elbrus (5642 m), the two-peaked cone of a dormant volcano, Russia’s and Europe’s highest mountain. Near Saradj-Chuko Grotto and Zayukovo lies the only obsidian source known in the Northern Caucasus. Stone Age people highly valued obsidian as a raw material. They transported obsidian both from th...
L’article donne de nouvelles données sur l’utilisation des matières premières de pierre au Paléolithique moyen dans le Caucase du Nord. La plupart des résultats ont été obtenus dans le cadre de la propre recherche des auteurs (pour le Nord-Ouest et le Caucase central). Dans le Caucase du Nord, un important travail de réflexion a été mené pour étudi...
Les dernières études sur le Paléolithique du Caucase montrent des migrations au Paléolithique entre le nord et le sud, l’ouest et l’est. L’article présente les premiers résultats des recherches complexes effectuées dans la grotte Saradj-Chuko. La grotte est située dans la région la plus importante en matières premières, à seulement 6–7 km du seul d...
Les auteurs de cet article publient les premiers résultats de leur recherche multidisciplinaire et des datations au radiocarbone des sites archéologiques de la fin du Pléistocène – début de l’Holocène dans la région d’Elbrouz et au Nord-Central du Caucase. En se basant sur ces résultats, on a reconstruit la dynamique paléoclimatique des différents...
Saradj-Chuko Gro" o is located ~70 km north-east of the highest Caucasian volcanic mountain peak of Mount Elbrus (5642 m asl) and about 5-7 km south from the only obsidian sources known in the Northern Caucasus. This is a huge gro" o that has area of over 300 m2 and the entrance opens to the south-east. Saradj-Chuko gro" o was discovered in 2016 an...
Ancient DNA has allowed the study of various aspects of human history in unprecedented detail. However, because the majority of archaic human specimens preserved well enough for genome sequencing have been female, comprehensive studies of Y chromosomes of Denisovans and Neandertals have not yet been possible. Here we present sequences of the first...
In this paper, the authors report the discovery of a new site called Psytuaje rockshelter, located close to the town of Zayukovo in Kabardino-Balkaria Republic (Elbrus region, north-central Caucasus, Russia). The area is famous in that it is the only obsidian source known in the Northern Caucasus, called Zayukovo or Baksan. A single radiocarbon dat...
In this paper, the authors report for the first-time results of multi-disciplinary research and radiocarbon dating in archaeological sites covering the period of transition from final Pleistocene to early Holocene in the Mount Elbrus region, in the north-central Caucasus. Basing on these results, dynamics of environmental conditions is reconstructe...
Karst caves host most European Paleolithic sites. Near the Eurasian-Arabian Plate convergence in the Caucasusʹ Lower Chegem Formation, Saradj-Chuko Grotto (SCG), a lava tube, contains 16 geoarchaeologically distinct horizons yielding modern to laminar obsidian-rich Middle Paleolithic (MP) assemblages. Since electron spin resonance (ESR) can date MP...
This book is the first complete synthesis of research undertaken so far on the Upper Palaeolithic archaeology of the Caucasus. It discusses the cultural changes that took place across Upper Palaeolithic industries and in the subsistence strategies of modern humans across the entire duration of this period, from approximately 40,000 to 10,000 years...
The problem of settlement of the territory of the Northern Caucasus in the Paleolithic and influence of volcanic activity factors, climate, and shifting of ecological niches on this processes are very relevant in
modern domestic and foreign publications. Previous research in Mezmaiskaya cave, located in the Northwestern Caucasus, revealed that volc...
Проблема заселения территории Северного Кавказа в древности и влияние на этот процесс факторов вулканической активности, климата, смещения экологических ниш очень актуальна в современных отечественных и зарубежных работах. Проведенные на Северо-Западном Кавказе исследования в Мезмайской пещере показали, что вулканизм существенно влиял на заселение...
Изучение сырьевых стратегий в палеолите Кавказа обнаруживает существование удаленных миграций древнего человека. Обсидиан в каменном веке был сырьем, которое высоко ценилось и транспортировалось на расстояния более 200–250 км. В Приэльбрусье, в долине р. Баксан, расположено крупное месторождение обсидиана, который поступал на Северо-Западный Кавказ...
The north-central Caucasus region is notable as the area producing the only obsidian source (called Baksan or Zayukovo) known in the Northern Caucasus. Recent research indicates that both Upper Paleolithic humans and Middle Paleolithic (MP) Neanderthals exploited the Zayukovo obsidian and transported it to distances in order 250 km from the source....
The Zayukovo (Baksan) source is the only obsidian source known in the Northern Caucasus. We report new data, collected in 2017–2018, about exploitation of the Zayukovo (Baksan) source in the Paleolithic, including results of analysis of 34 new samples from Saradj-Chuko grotto, Mezmaiskaya cave, Sosruko rockshelter and Kasojskaya cave. This is the l...
Modern research of the Middle/Upper Paleolithic (MP/UP) in the northwestern Caucasus (NWC) is focused on the study of natural (climate and environment) and social (behavior and adaptations) factors that ruled settlement dynamics of Neanderthal and anatomically modern human (AMH) populations in the region. The most complete and palynologically best-...
A morpho-metric analysis of bifaces applied in this study consists of two stages: (1) grouping bifaces in separate groups, basing on morphological features of each tool; and (2) analysis of the relationship among the defined biface groups to asses if variation among the groups might be interpreted in terms of the production technology; as a result,...
Micoquian or KMG cultural tradition was spread in the Middle Paleolithic across an extensive area from the Rhine River in Central Europe, in the west, thought the Volga River in Eastern Europe, in the east. Northwestern Caucasus is a part of this region. Middle Pa-leolithic assemblages in the region include several tool types that according to a tr...
One of the most important issues of modern research of Homo sapiens spread in northern latitudes is the appearance of agricultural economy. To date, in some regions, especially in the Levant, intensive studies undertook by several generations of researchers have accumulated a large material allowing to reconsider the concept of "Neolithic revolutio...
Our report is addressed to the problem of origin of a novel technology of biface production and biface resharpening, both of which are traditionally associated with Late Acheulean. The Hugub locality in Ethiopia reported here has been securely dated to between 600–500 ka ago (Gilbert et al., 2016). The site is sufficiently rich in artifactual and...
The most significant recent achievements in the study of Lower Palaeolithic of Eurasia are clear findings that, firstly, the Early Pleistocene hominins in Europe and entire West Eurasia produced the Oldowan-style industry of core-choppers, small flakes and flake-tools; and, secondly, the Acheulean-making hominins invaded to Europe from Africa in th...
The research of changes in the natural environments and human subsistence during the Paleolithic has a high significance in modern studies. However, many regions remain "white spots". One of these areas is north-central Caucasus—region located between the highest European volcanic mountain peaks of Elbrus (5642m asl) and Kazbek (5034m asl). Althoug...
The common recent recognition the Oldowan antiquity of hominin fossils and artifacts at Dmanisi, besides the obvious importance for our understanding of the the first peopling of Eurasia, has also provided a strong logistic basis for some researchers to hypothesize about possible Oldowan expansions northward, through Caucasus into eastern Europe. A...
In the eastern part of Europe, from the Carpathian in the west to the Caucasus in the south and the Volga River in the east, there are known numerous assemblages containing bifacial leaf points or foliates with double-convex or plano-convex bifacial finishing, and other bifaces sometimes including true Acheulean handaxes. These are mostly found in...
