Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 51 (3) 2023   doi:10.17746/1563-0110.2023.51.3.040-049

Annotation:  A.P. Derevianko’s Multivolume Three Global Human Migrations in Eurasia and Its Place in Paleolithic Core-Shaped Tools from the Early Pleistocene Deposits at Bairaki, Moldova Early-Middle Acheulean Occupation of the Northern Transcaucasian Highland Nikolaevo-Otradnoye II—A New Early and Middle Paleolithic Site in the Northeastern Azov Region On the Attribution of Lithic Industry from the Early Paleolithic Site of Bogatyri/Sinyaya Balka, the Gazma Cave—A Final Middle Paleolithic Site in Azerbaijan: Paleogeography, Chronology, Archaeology Variability in the Sibiryachikha Assemblages of the Altai Mountains (Based on Materials from Okladni Spatial Structures of the Initial/Early Upper Paleolithic at Tolbor-21, Northern Mongolia A Complex of Stratifi ed Upper Paleolithic Sites in the Foothills of the Northern Tien Shan: General Late Pleistocene Environments of East Kazakhstan (Based on Ushbulak Site Materials) A New Type of IUP Settlement in the Selenga River Basin, Northern Mongolia: The Kharganyn Gol-13 Sho Morpho-Stratigraphy, Sedimentology, and Radiocarbon Chronology of Suyanggae Sites, Focusing on Loc. Khengerekte-Sukhotino—An Upper Paleolithic Culture in Transbaikalia Late Pleistocene to Early Holocene Paleoclimatic Boundaries and Human Settlement of the East Siberia Late Upper Paleolithic of the South Minusinsk Basin and its Mountain Surroundings: Research Results Ɖiem Cave: A Stratified Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene Site in Northern Vietnam A Case of Systemic Connective Tissue Disorder in a Pazyryk Male from the Altai Mountains   

Gazma Cave—A Final Middle Paleolithic Site in Azerbaijan:
Paleogeography, Chronology, Archaeology

A.A. Zeynalov¹, A.A. Anoikin^{2, 3}, S.A. Kulakov^{2, 4}, A.K. Otcherednoy^{2, 4}, and R.N. Kurbanov^{5, 6}

¹Institute of Archaeology, Ethnography and Anthropology, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, H. Javid pr. 115, Baku, AZ1073, Republic of Azerbaijan

²Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia

³Altai State University, Pr. Lenina 61, Barnaul, 656049, Russia

⁴Institute for the History of Material Culture, Russian Academy of Sciences, Dvortsovaya nab. 18, St. Petersburg, 191186, Russia

⁵Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory 1, Moscow, 119991, Russia

⁶Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Staromonetnyi per. 29, bldg. 4, Moscow, 119017, Russia

This article describes the Middle Paleolithic industry of Gazma Cave in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan. We present data on the stratigraphy, paleontology, chronology, and archaeology of the site. Six lithological layers were identified, three of which (IV-VI) contain abundant archaeological material. The chronology of the site is based on a series of luminescence ages. The deposition of layers IV-VI formed ~55-40 ka BP. Paleontological, pollen, and grain size analysis offer the possibility of reconstructing Late Pleistocene environments around the cave. Faunal analysis indicates steppe, semi-steppe, and wooded mountains, with riparian forests and reeded areas in the floodlands. The analysis of 896 artifacts attests to the predominance of Levallois and parallel reduction. The share of Levallois blanks is high. The most common artifacts are Levallois and Mousterianpoints and side-scrapers; there are also limaces, knives, and a few indistinct Upper Paleolithic types such as end-scrapers and borers. Ventral basal trimming of points and ventral or dorsal thinning of side-scrapers were widely used. All the main indicators show the Gazma industry corresponds to the final Middle Paleolithic assemblages currently known in the Southeastern Caucasus.Gazma is an expressive MIS 3 example of the Taglar industry.

Keywords: Azerbaijan, Middle Paleolithic, paleontology, palynology, OSL-dating, Levallois