Emergence of levallois technology in Southeastern Dagestan in the Late Acheulean

The time of emergence and subsequent spread of Levallois technology is one of the most important issues in the study of the Eurasian Paleolithic. The Levallois system of primary reduction usually corresponds to the Middle Paleolithic, but it appeared much earlier in the area under study. Together with this splitting system, the early appearance of laminar blanks has also been observed. These components were present in the collections of artifacts from the Early Paleolithic sites of Darvagchay-zaliv-1 and Darvagchay-zaliv-4. Stone industries were distinguished by parallel and radial cores, notched and spiked items, knives, side-scrapers, not numerous but varied pebble tools, and bifacially processed tools (hand axes, pikes). A small group of objects with a number offeatures typical of the Levallois stone processing system in these complexes was ofparticular interest. The striking platforms in this series of cores were formed by removals and retouching. Scars of elongated removals were present on the flaking surfaces. The toolkit also contained several items (subtriangular flakes and a small series of laminar blanks) produced from the blanks made of spalls similar in morphology to Levallois items. The chronological framework of the Final Acheulean was established for the lithic industry using paleomagnetic studies and OSL absolute dating. The age of the geological horizons was 250-220 ka BP (MIS 7).