Man and environment during the early peopling of Northeastern Caucasus

Purpose. Archaeological findings on the western Caspian coast indicate that this part of the Caucasus was populated throughout the Pleistocene. The earliest human habitation in the region is dated back to around 2 million years ago (2 Ма), which corresponds to the period of initial expansion of early Homo beyond Africa. Information on the environment and the features of the early human material culture is crucial for our understanding of the Caucasus' earliest history. It was alternating processes of transgression and regression of the Caspian Sea throughout the Pleistocene that determined the paleoenvironment in the eastern Caucasus. The Early Pleistocene landscape of the southeastern part of Eastern Europe and northeastern Caucasus was similar to African open landscapes nowadays. The Khapry faunal complex characterizes the environment of that period. Its vertebrate composition is close to that typical for African savanna. Both animal communities included similar types of large herbivores: the elephant, rhinoceros, antelope, giraffe, ostrich and others. The African savanna carnivore community included the lion, guepard, hyena and jakal. The Khapry complex included the hyena, large sabre toothed Felidae, guepard and others. The earliest artifact collections in the Northeastern Caucasus are the artifact assemblage from stratum 5 at Rubas-1 in southeastern Dagestan and the archaeological materials from Ainikab-1, Mukhai-1 and 2 in Central Dagestan. The artifact age has been estimated in the range of ~ 2.3-1.8 Ma. Results. The initial stage of human habitation of the Northeastern Caucasus is characterized by two distinct lithic industries: the small tool industry (Rubas-1, stratum 5) and the Oldowan / pebble-flake industry (the Akushinski group of sites). Early human populations dispersed rather rapidly over the low-altitude savannas in the relative proximity to the seashore under the favorable environmental conditions of the initial Pleistocene. After the initial peopling stage, human communities set apart in particular regions where lithic industries were formed and developed. The first major region represents the Caspian shores (the small tool industry: Rubas-1); the second zone is the higher plateaus at the altitude not exceeding 1 500 m asl (pebble-flake industry: Dmanisi, Central Dagestan sites). Conclusion. It is asserted that the early human populations migrating out of Africa through Western Asia to the Caucasus, and its eastern part in particular, remained in the habitual environment, and it did not require any substantial changes in the adaptation strategies including stone working techniques and lithic tool production.