Stone industries of the early stages of the middle Paleolithic at the Darvagchay-Zaliv-4 site (2022 research)

This article discusses the results of research conducted at the Darvagchay-Zaliv-4 site in the current field season. The resulting archaeological collections belong to the early stages of the Middle Paleolithic and complement, to some extent, the actual materials of this cultural and chronological period in the Northeast Caucasus. During the excavations at the site, two artifact complexes were discovered, the age of the geological horizons where they occurred was established on the basis of the results of natural science data and absolute dating by OSL. The stone industry of the first complex is characterized by the Levallois splitting technique and a typical Middle Paleolithic toolset; artifacts were deposited in the paleosol horizon (layer 1c). Chronologically, the time of its existence is determined by the period of the Riess-Wurm (Eem, Mikulino) interglacial, i.e. within 120-110 ka (MIS 5e). Artifacts from another complex were found in the lower part of layer 2. Aeolian-deluvial processes had the leading role in sedimentations. The technical and typological characteristics of a small collection of stone products allow attributing it to the initial period of the Middle Paleolithic. The age of the cultural horizon was based on a series of OSL dates in the range of200-180 ka (MIS 7). The field research conducted in 2022 made it possible to obtain new archaeological materials, which makes it possible to confirm the conclusions made earlier and also provide a general picture of the development of stone industries in the area in the Middle Paleolithic, starting from its earliest stages.