Reconstruction of Transhumance in the North Caucasus Based on Radiocarbon Dating of Zoogenic Deposits: Possibilities and Prospects

The deposits analyzed in this paper are materials of zoogenic and anthropological origin accumulated when shepherds used long-term natural shelters (rock shelters, grottoes and caves) as livestock pens. Such deposits are of great interest not only for naturalists but also for archaeologists. Presently, 40 rock shelters have been recorded in the Malokarachaevskiy District of Karachay-Cherkessia, the Stavropol Krai (near Kislovodsk) and the Zolskiy District of Kabardino-Balkaria at various altitudes (from 880 to 2500 A.S.L.). 12 rock shelters can be examined more thoroughly in future investigation. Sixteen radiocarbon dates were obtained. The study of three zoogenic deposits located in the highland areas suggests the use of seasonal distant grazing pastures in the 7th–9th centuries and in the 15th–17th centuries. According to the results of dating long-term shelters in the middle and the lower mountainous areas, the use of these shelters was not contemporary with the occupation of the nearby medieval archaeological sites. This can be explained either by the absence of the tradition of using rock shelters as livestock pens at these altitudes or cleanup of the shelter floor from herbivore dung and its use as a fertilizer in the fields or for some other needs.