The Paleolithic Archaeology of Shirak Province (Armenia)

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Pleistocene Landscapes and Hominin Behavior in the Armenian Highlands" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Within Shirak Province in the Republic of Armenia, the open-air site complex at Aghvorik is currently the most prominent site. The Paleolithic sites of Shirak are geomorphologically associated with the Ashotsk Plateau in the north, the Shirak Depression and northwestern slopes of Mt. Aragats in the south, and the Akhuryan River gorge in the west. These areas contain several sources of high-quality lithic raw materials, including dacite, obsidian, and flint. The geomorphic and topographic locations of Paleolithic sites relate to phases of Plio-Pleistocene volcanism, glaciations in high-elevation uplands, and the lacustrine and alluvial dynamics that formed the paleorelief and paleoenvironment. Lithic artifact assemblages generally present techno-typological characteristics consistent with early and late phases of the Acheulian, as observed at Lower Paleolithic sites in the Armenian Highlands and southern Caucasus. Middle Paleolithic assemblages from the region are rarer but better preserved. Shirak is also rich in paleontological, or zooarchaeological, sites that have yielded a range of Pleistocene macro- and micro-faunal remains. While the Paleolithic archaeological, biostratigraphic, and geological records of Shirak have not yet been subject to systematic documentation and synthesis, the area holds great potential to enlarge and complement the database of Pleistocene human occupation in the broader region.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)   •
• Pleistocene Landscapes and Hominin Behavior in the Armenian Highlands

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36887.0