Palaeoenvironmental and chronological context of hominin occupations of the Armenian Highlands during MIS 3:Evidence from Ararat-1 cave

Archaeological and palaeoenvironmental evidence from the Armenian Highlands and wider southern Caucasus region emphasises the significance of Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 3 (c. 57–29 ka) as a crucial period for understanding hominin behaviours amidst environmental fluctuations. Ararat-1 cave, situated in the Ararat Depression, Republic of Armenia, presents potential for resolving emerging key debates regarding hominin land use adaptations during this interval, due to its well-preserved lithic artefacts and faunal assemblages. We present the first results of combined sedimentological, geochronological (luminescence and radiocarbon), archaeological and palaeoecological (macrofauna, microfauna and microcharcoal) study of the Ararat-1 sequence. We demonstrate sediment accumulation occurred between 52 and 35 ka and was caused by a combination of aeolian activity, cave rockfall and water action. Whilst the upper strata of the Ararat-1 sequence experienced postdepositional disturbance due to faunal and anthropogenic processes, the lower strata remain relatively undisturbed. We suggest that during a stable period within MIS 3, Ararat-1 was inhabited by Middle Palaeolithic hominins amidst a mosaic of semi-arid shrub, grassland, and temperate woodland ecosystems. These hominins utilised local and distant toolstone raw materials, indicating their ability to adapt to diverse ecological and elevation gradients. Through comparison of Ararat-1 with other sequences in the region, we highlight the spatia

Short-term occupations at high elevation during the Middle Paleolithic at Kalavan 2 (Republic of Armenia)

The Armenian highlands encompasses rugged and environmentally diverse landscapes and is characterized by a mosaic of distinct ecological niches and large temperature gradients. Strong seasonal fluctuations in resource availability along topographic gradients likely prompted Pleistocene hominin groups to adapt by adjusting their mobility strategies. However, the role that elevated landscapes played in hunter-gatherer settlement systems during the Late Pleistocene (Middle Palaeolithic [MP]) remains poorly understood. At 1640 m above sea level, the MP site of Kalavan 2 (Armenia) is ideally positioned for testing hypotheses involving elevation-dependent seasonal mobility and subsistence strategies. Renewed excavations at Kalavan 2 exposed three main occupation horizons and ten additional low densities lithic and faunal assemblages. The results provide a new chronological, stratigraphical, and paleoenvironmental framework for hominin behaviors between ca. 60 to 45 ka. The evidence presented suggests that the stratified occupations at Kalavan 2 locale were repeated ephemerally most likely related to hunting in a high-elevation within the mountainous steppe landscape.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The environmental and cultural background for the reoccupation of the Armenian Highlands after the Last Glacial Maximum: The contribution of Kalavan 6

International audienceThis paper introduces the results from our excavations of the open-air late Upper Paleolithic site of Kalavan 6, Armenia. The site is embedded in a sedimentological sequence spanning from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; 26.5–19/20 ka) to the Holocene (i.e., from MIS 2 to 1). Our findings are presented together with chronological, environmental, and climatic data. Luminescence dating provides a temporal framework for reoccupation of the Armenian Highlands after the LGM, while two vegetation proxies (pollen assemblages and leaf waxes) characterize the environment. Based on these pollen data, a quantitative climate reconstruction (temperatures and precipitation) is offered. Techno-typological characterization of the lithic assemblages is presented together with the sourcing of the entire obsidian assemblage by portable X-ray fluorescence, providing insights into the occupants’ exploited territories. Such a framework, which incorporates both environmental reconstruction and hunter-gatherer behaviors, enables us to contextualize possible links between population dynamics during the height of the LGM and post-LGM environmental oscillations. We suggest that, during the LGM between ca. 24 and 19 ka, the combination of declining temperatures and the extension of the winter season limited the occupation feasibility of the region. The regional occupation resumed when environmental circumstances ameliorated. These results support our interpretation that temperatures and the duration of the seasons conditioned the past hunter-gatherer's occupation of the region

Palaeoenvironmental and chronological context of hominin occupations of the Armenian Highlands during MIS 3: Evidence from Ararat-1 cave

Archaeological and palaeoenvironmental evidence from the Armenian Highlands and wider southern Caucasus region emphasises the significance of Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 3 (c. 57–29 ka) as a crucial period for understanding hominin behaviours amidst environmental fluctuations. Ararat-1 cave, situated in the Ararat Depression, Republic of Armenia, presents potential for resolving emerging key debates regarding hominin land use adaptations during this interval, due to its well-preserved lithic artefacts and faunal assemblages. We present the first results of combined sedimentological, geochronological (luminescence and radiocarbon), archaeological and palaeoecological (macrofauna, microfauna and microcharcoal) study of the Ararat-1 sequence. We demonstrate sediment accumulation occurred between 52 and 35 ka and was caused by a combination of aeolian activity, cave rockfall and water action. Whilst the upper strata of the Ararat-1 sequence experienced post-depositional disturbance due to faunal and anthropogenic processes, the lower strata remain relatively undisturbed. We suggest that during a stable period within MIS 3, Ararat-1 was inhabited by Middle Palaeolithic hominins amidst a mosaic of semi-arid shrub, grassland, and temperate woodland ecosystems. These hominins utilised local and distant toolstone raw materials, indicating their ability to adapt to diverse ecological and elevation gradients. Through comparison of Ararat-1 with other sequences in the region, we highlight the spatial variability of MIS 3 environments and its on hominin land use adaptations. This demonstrates the importance of the Armenian Highlands for understanding regional MP settlement dynamics during a critical period of hominin dispersals and evolution