Middle Paleolithic Land Use and Behavior in the Armenian Highlands: A Preliminary Synthesis

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.

Over the last two decades, international-Armenian projects have greatly expanded and refined the Middle Paleolithic (MP) record in the Armenian Highlands. Here, we preliminarily synthesize current chronometric, lithic, and faunal evidence. Our goal is to develop some hypotheses on hominin land use, subsistence, and technological behaviors, testable with further research. Among sites dated to ~100–30 ka, we observe a relatively cohesive lithic technology, mainly unidirectional-convergent Levallois core reduction, commonly on obsidian, but including other toolstones in some cases. Sourcing of thousands of obsidian artifacts sheds informative light on technological organization. Provisioning of both individuals and places are well represented among MP sites, as are short-term or infrequent and longer-term or frequent occupations. Age ranges for some MP sites overlap with those from the earliest Upper Paleolithic occurrences in the region. Refinement of stratigraphy and dating will address hypotheses on potential cohabitation of hominin groups that employed different core reduction techniques but may have utilized the same toolstones. The Armenian Highlands MP record demonstrates variable land use and subsistence behaviors in this eco-geographically diverse region. Ongoing and future research will enrich and clarify our understanding of MP lifeways in this region at the nexus of Europe and Asia.

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): 36499.0