Raw material base for stone industries of the early paleolithic in Southeastern Dagestan

This article presents the results ofpétrographie studies into collections of artifacts from the Acheulean complexes located in the Darvagchai Geoarchaeological District in Southeastern Dagestan. Throughout the entire Stone Age, raw stone was a crucial resource for subsistence of ancient humans. The lack of high-quality flint raw materials had been previously considered to be the main factor for concluding that this area was rarely visited by ancient humans. Archaeological research over the past decade has shown the opposite. During the exploration works, over ten Paleolithic sites were discovered and studied. Analysis of raw material sources has revealed that there are several main types of rocks in the area of the sites. The petrographic composition of the collections indicates that the overwhelming majority of artifacts were made of flint, while sporadic artifacts were made of limestone and sandstone. Flint raw materials which were used at the sites are distinguished by large number of internal defects, primarily, fracturing. The raw material factor played a very important role in the area. All large, carefully shaped macro-tools were made of sandstone and limestone, while mostly poorly shaped small artifacts were made of flint. Thus, sizes, methods, and intensity ofprocessing stone tools demonstrate direct dependence on the type of raw material.