Archaeological material of the complex of Shor-Dore sites 1-6 in the context of the final early Paleolithic industries of seaside Dagestan

Purpose. Earliest stages of peopling of the Old World belong to one of the main research directions in modern Paleolithic archaeology. Since the discovery of ancient human remains (1.8 million years old) and stone tools at Dmanisi site (the Republic of Georgia), the Caucasus has been considered a transit region through which ancient human groups moved to Eurasia. Many of the Caucasus archaeological sites of the Early Paleolithic are located in the Southern Caucasus and along the Black Sea coast. As to northeastern Caucasus, few surface lithic assemblages were reported in Dagestan. They showed technical and typological characteristics typical of the Early Paleolithic complexes. Recently, over 30 Paleolithic sites have been discovered in the basins of the Darvagchai and Rubas rivers, including some deeply stratified archaeological sites. The article presents the results of archaeological works at the complex of Shor-Dore sites (the Republic of Dagestan) in 2007. There were six sites and a collection of 96 artifacts discovered during the field investigation. The living surface of the layer is pebble glomeration dated to the Late Baku time (0,4-0,3 Ma). The artifacts found, namely the cores with parallel flaking system, flakes of various sizes and products of the «free-hand technology» (chunks), present the technique of primary flaking. The tool assemblage consists of choppers, scrapers and denticulate-notched tools. The complexes of such sites as the Darvagchai 1 (layer 8), Darvagchai-zaliv 1, 2 and 4 are more chronologically close to Shor-Dore among the Paleolithic sites of Dagestan. The cores with parallel and radial flaking system allow us to identify them as primary flaking. The free-hand percussion was used rarely. Flakes were used as blanks for tools. The scrapers, denticulated-notched tools and perforators found dominated in the tool assemblage. Hand-axes, choppers and pebble tools were used rarely. There are many atypical scrapers found, but the findings are sporadic. Small tools were not predominant. Results. The use of parallel unifacial and radial flaking, as well as dominant scrapers, denticulate-notched tools, perforators, and rare bifaces and choppers, are characteristic of the Middle Pleistocene complexes of Seaside Dagestan. Small tools are few. These complexes are unique in not having direct analogues in the industries of the Caucasus of those times. The Final Early Paleolithic industries of Seaside Dagestan point to the single vector of development during the long timespan: a vanishing tradition of using small tools turned into consistent flaking in the lithic production. The author shows a variety of the tools gained, but the correlation between the main groups of tool types is constant. Some rare Acheulean tool types were not significant for the assemblage of the complexes. Conclusion. The materials of the Final Early Pleistocene sites in Dagestan are considered an independent cultural component which bundles separate elements of the Early Paleolithic small tool production and Acheulean industries of the Western part of Eurasia.