Mesopotamian-Caucasian relationships in the IV-III millennia b. c. in the light of climatic fluctuations

The article dwells upon the system of contacts between Northern Mesopotamia and the Caucasian region in the IV and III millennia BC considered in the context of climatic changes, which affected spacious areas of Eurasia. Favourable climatic conditions of the IV mill. BC formed the background for the spreading of the material culture of the North Mesopotamian appearance as far as the Transcaucasus and the steppe zone of the North Caucasus. Quite the contrary, aridization of climate in the first part of the III mill. BC had let to the expansion both of the kurgan cultures of the North Caucasian piedmonts and the Kura-Araxes Caucasian culture to the Near East.