Raw materials of stone industries in Southeastern Dagestan in the Early and Middle Paleolithic

This article presents petrographic research of artifact collections, and Acheulean and Middle Paleolithic complexes located in Darvagchay geoarchaeological region in Southeastern Dagestan. Throughout the Paleolithic, raw stone was a very important resource. Absence of quality flint rocks was the main reason for concluding that this area was rarely visited by ancient humans. Archaeological research in the last decade has made it possible to assert the opposite. There are several main types of rocks in the area of the sites, which were used in varying degrees for manufacturing stone tools. Most artifacts were made offlint, limestone, or sandstone. Cretaceous limestones found in bedrock at the source of the Darvagchay River were the primary source of these rocks. Observations of flint rocks in their natural occurrence has revealed that the most important factor affecting their quality was repeated and large tectonic disturbances which led to emergence of internal fracturing in nodules. The raw material factor played a very important role. Large, elaborate tools in the Early Paleolithic were made primarily of sandstone and limestone. In the Middle Paleolithic, people completely stopped using local low-quality flint and switched to silicified limestone and imported high-quality flint which has been rarely found in a form of individual well-shaped tools.