Between the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea: Human occupation of the coastal zone of the Western Caspian in the Pleistocene

In recent years more than 20 new Palaeolithic sites have been discovered on the Caucasian coast of the Caspian Sea, in Dagestan, including several multilayer stratified sites. Broad chronological range archaeological and geological studies have allowed the description of stone industries from the beginning of the Lower Palaeolithic to the beginning of the Upper Palaeolithic, covering almost the entire Pleistocene. Preliminary geological, palaeomagnetic and biostratigraphic data suggest the age of the oldest stage of hominin occupation of the region is recorded in the lower layer of the Rubas-1 site which is tentatively correlated with the Late Akchagylian era of the Caspian Sea (MIS 76–64, ∼2.2–1.8 Ma). Lower Palaeolithic layers are identified and described in Darvagchay-1 (∼0.6 Ma), Darvagzhay-zaliv-1 (∼0.6 Ma) and Darvagchay-zaliv-4 (0.4–0.3 Ma). The Middle Palaeolithic is recorded in several cultural layers, all of similar age (∼130–110 ka), at the Rubas-1 and Darvagchay river valley sites. The youngest episode of human Palaeolithic occupation of Dagestan coastal area is identified at the Tinit-1 site, with a lithic assemblage of the Terminal Middle Palaeolithic. Our work add to the few existing studies and suggest that, like other parts of the Caucasus, the region was occupied repeatedly during the Palaeolithic, ever since the first appearance of ancient hominins in the region about 2 Ma ago.