Épipaléolithique du Caucase du Nord-Centre

Abstract

This paper reports results of research in stratified sites in the north-central Caucasus, where deposits of the final Pleistocene and early Holocene are preserved. The reconstruction of paleogeographic conditions based on numerous radiocarbon dates is represented. We provide a detailed technical and typological analysis of lithic assemblages, which have almost complete analogies within the general Caucasian context. Currently, it is difficult to suggest the existence of local cultures. Like the Epipalaeolithic assemblages of the South Caucasus and the Near East, the Epipalaeolithic assemblages of the Elbrus region and the north-western Caucasus are characterized by the appearance of geometric microliths after the Last Glacial Maximum. The assemblages show development up to the early Holocene, when a number of innovations appear. At present, there is no reason to assign the assemblages dating from 11.8–9 ka BP to a separate period – the Mesolithic. According to the latest data, hunter-gatherers occupied the region up to c. 9.5 ka BP. New materials provide basis for reconstructing distant migrations and contacts of the inhabitants of the Elbrus region with human populations in neighboring regions during the Epipalaeolithic era.