Евразия в кайнозое. 2017.Вып.6.С.120-129 (In Russ.) (original) (raw)

Sources of high quality flint are not numerous in the North-Western Caucasus and are related primarily with outcrops of the Cenonian stratum of the Upper Cretaceous period. Studies show that one of the most important raw material strategies of the Neanderthals and modern humans was the organization of special workshops on sources of highquality lithic raw materials. In 2007, it was found a multilayer Palaeolithic site of Besleneyevskaya 1 in the Khodz river valley. In the site section there were identified two Middle Palaeolithic layers (4 and 3) and the Epipalaeolithic layer (2B). A radiocarbon date of 13 200±400 BP (SPb-493), obtained on a paleo-soil sample, defines the calibrated age of layer 2B at 15 987±689 calBP or 15 297–16 676 calBP. According to palynological data, Layer 2B formed in the conditions favorable for the growth of tree species. The period corresponds to the interstadial dating 13 200–17 000. The lithological layer 3 in Gubs 1 rockshelter, for which a warm and humid climate is reconstructed, corresponds to this time interval. A warm climate is defined even for layer 1-3 in Mezmaiskaya cave, located at 1310 m asl. The study of a mineral composition of the sediments using the XRD method allowed detecting an admixture of volcanic glass of the acid composition and plagioclases of the albite-andesite composition in the contact of layers 3 and 2B. Based on the chemical composition, this ash can is associated with the ash from layer 1D in Mezmaiskaya cave, the source of which could be eruptions of Kazbek about 40 ka BP. The formation time of the lower layer 4 is determined on the basis of correlation of palynological data with the termomer 4, identified in layer 5B at Matuska cave, in which layers 6 and 5B are correlated with the oxygen-isotope stages 5d – 5a (115–75 ka). The knapping debris predominates in all layers. Thus, one can say preliminary that we are dealing here with camp-workshops for flint knapping. In the Middle Palaeolithic, the Besleneyevskaya 1 flint was identified in the materials of Mezmaiskaya cave (50–60 km), Matuska (80–90 km), and in the site of Baranakha 4 (70–90 km). Apparently, it was also used by the inhabitants of the Gubs river gorge (20–25 km). In the Upper Palaeolithic – Epipalaeolithic, this raw material was also used by the ancient man in the caves of Mezmaiskaya and Korotkaya (50–60 km), Gubs rockshelters 1, 7, and the site of Baranakha 4