The geoarchaeology, chronology and environment of Lusakert-1, a Late Middle Palaeolithic rockshelter (Kotayk Province, Armenia)
Lusakert-1 (LKT-1) is a key site in any discussion of the Palaeolithic of the Armenian Highlands. This is in large part because of a long-running campaign of excavation in the 1970–1980s which recovered an obsidian artefact assemblage that was then interpreted as spanning the Lower–Upper Palaeolithi...
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2025-03-01
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| author | Keith N. Wilkinson Ethel Allué Simon J. Armitage Adam van Arsdale Guy Bar-Oz Alex Brittingham Boris Gasparyan Jayson Gill Philip Glauberman Thomas F.G. Higham Ellery Frahm Tanner Kovach Vasilija Lukich Carolina Mallol Yannick Raczynski-Henk Iván Rey Rodríguez Jennifer E. Sherriff Aayush Srivastava Lior Weissbrod Reuven Yeshurun Daniel S. Adler |
| author_facet | Keith N. Wilkinson Ethel Allué Simon J. Armitage Adam van Arsdale Guy Bar-Oz Alex Brittingham Boris Gasparyan Jayson Gill Philip Glauberman Thomas F.G. Higham Ellery Frahm Tanner Kovach Vasilija Lukich Carolina Mallol Yannick Raczynski-Henk Iván Rey Rodríguez Jennifer E. Sherriff Aayush Srivastava Lior Weissbrod Reuven Yeshurun Daniel S. Adler |
| author_sort | Keith N. Wilkinson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Lusakert-1 (LKT-1) is a key site in any discussion of the Palaeolithic of the Armenian Highlands. This is in large part because of a long-running campaign of excavation in the 1970–1980s which recovered an obsidian artefact assemblage that was then interpreted as spanning the Lower–Upper Palaeolithic. Our reinvestigation in 2008–2012 revealed evidence of occupation in the interior of the LKT-1 rockshelter comprising spreads of ash, obsidian artefacts and human-modified bone. Deposits inside the rockshelter interdigitate with alluvial sediments deposited in a now-abandoned meander of the river Hrazdan demonstrating that occupation took place at the floodplain edge. Artefacts are typologically Middle Palaeolithic, and based on refits and inferences made from micromorphological and lithostratigraphical observation, are preserved in a near in situ state in the rockshelter interior. Artefacts recovered from alluvial strata on the rockshelter exterior are, however, in a secondary context. In addition to stone tool production and use, and the laying of fires, the butchery of wild goat and wild ass is also documented. These activities likely took place seasonally given that evidence of the use of the site by owls - raptors that avoid humans - is found through much of the rockshelter stratigraphy. Radiocarbon and luminescence dating indicate that the rockshelter sequence accumulated in the 65–34 ka interval, i.e. during Marine Isotope Stage 3. Indeed, micromorphological and stable isotopes of n-alkanes demonstrate changes between the warm-humid and cool-dry climates that characterise MIS 3 in the region. Nevertheless, stable isotope data, vertebrate remains, and wood charcoal suggest that grassland vegetation dominated throughout, albeit that arboreal vegetation is associated with deposits accumulating during humid phases. LKT-1 offers a unique and detailed perspective on hominin behaviour and palaeoenvironments in the Armenian Highlands prior to the Upper Palaeolithic and serves as a valuable comparison to the growing Middle Palaeolithic record of the broader region. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a2ccb410096a4884a427f47be19332f6 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2950-2365 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
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| series | Quaternary Environments and Humans |
| spelling | doaj-art-a2ccb410096a4884a427f47be19332f62025-08-20T03:42:56ZengElsevierQuaternary Environments and Humans2950-23652025-03-013110005410.1016/j.qeh.2024.100054The geoarchaeology, chronology and environment of Lusakert-1, a Late Middle Palaeolithic rockshelter (Kotayk Province, Armenia)Keith N. Wilkinson0Ethel Allué1Simon J. Armitage2Adam van Arsdale3Guy Bar-Oz4Alex Brittingham5Boris Gasparyan6Jayson Gill7Philip Glauberman8Thomas F.G. Higham9Ellery Frahm10Tanner Kovach11Vasilija Lukich12Carolina Mallol13Yannick Raczynski-Henk14Iván Rey Rodríguez15Jennifer E. Sherriff16Aayush Srivastava17Lior Weissbrod18Reuven Yeshurun19Daniel S. Adler20School of Humanities, University of Winchester, Winchester, SO22 4NR, UK; Corresponding author.Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES - CERCA), Zona Educacional 4, Campus Sescelades URV, Tarragona 43007, Spain; Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Departament d’Història i Història de l’Art, Avinguda de Catalunya 35, Tarragona 43002, SpainDepartment of Geography, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham TW20 0EX, UK; SFF Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (SapienCE), University of Bergen, Post Box 7805, Bergen 5020, NorwayDepartment of Anthropology, Wellesey College, 106 Central Street, Wellesley, MA 02481, USASchool of Archaeology and Maritime Cultures, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, IsraelDepartment of Anthropology, University of Connecticut, 354 Mansfield Road, Unit 2176, Storrs, CT 06269, USA; Institute of Earth Science, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, IsraelInstitute of Archaeology and Ethnology, National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, 375019 Charents St. 15, Yerevan, ArmeniaDepartment of Anthropology, University of Connecticut, 354 Mansfield Road, Unit 2176, Storrs, CT 06269, USA; Archaeology Program, Wesleyan University, 294 High Street, Middletown, CT 06459, USAInstitut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES - CERCA), Zona Educacional 4, Campus Sescelades URV, Tarragona 43007, Spain; Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Departament d’Història i Història de l’Art, Avinguda de Catalunya 35, Tarragona 43002, Spain; Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Schloß Hohentübingen, Burgsteige 11, Tübingen 72070, GermanyDepartment of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Vienna, Althanstraße 14, Vienna 1090, Austria; Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, UKCouncil on Archaeological Studies, Yale University, 10 Sachem Street, PO Box 208277, New Haven, CT 06520, USADepartment of Anthropology, University of Connecticut, 354 Mansfield Road, Unit 2176, Storrs, CT 06269, USAThe Archaeology Centre, University of Toronto, 19 Ursula Franklin Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2S2, CanadaArchaeological Micromorphology and Biomarker Research Lab, Instituto Universitario de Bio-Orgánica Antonio González, Avenida Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez 2, La Laguna, Tenerife 38206, SpainHuman Origins Group, Faculty of Archaeology, Universiteit Leiden, Postbus 9514, RA Leiden 2300, the Netherlands; Den Ouden Bodac, Hermalen 7, XX Schijndel 5481, the NetherlandsMAPAS Lab, Centro de Investigación Mariña, Universidade de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Pontevedra, SpainDepartment of Geography, 30 Aldwych, London WC2B 4BG, UKSchool of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9TS, UKIsrael Antiquities Authority, POB 586, Jerusalem 9100402, IsraelZinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, IsraelDepartment of Anthropology, University of Connecticut, 354 Mansfield Road, Unit 2176, Storrs, CT 06269, USALusakert-1 (LKT-1) is a key site in any discussion of the Palaeolithic of the Armenian Highlands. This is in large part because of a long-running campaign of excavation in the 1970–1980s which recovered an obsidian artefact assemblage that was then interpreted as spanning the Lower–Upper Palaeolithic. Our reinvestigation in 2008–2012 revealed evidence of occupation in the interior of the LKT-1 rockshelter comprising spreads of ash, obsidian artefacts and human-modified bone. Deposits inside the rockshelter interdigitate with alluvial sediments deposited in a now-abandoned meander of the river Hrazdan demonstrating that occupation took place at the floodplain edge. Artefacts are typologically Middle Palaeolithic, and based on refits and inferences made from micromorphological and lithostratigraphical observation, are preserved in a near in situ state in the rockshelter interior. Artefacts recovered from alluvial strata on the rockshelter exterior are, however, in a secondary context. In addition to stone tool production and use, and the laying of fires, the butchery of wild goat and wild ass is also documented. These activities likely took place seasonally given that evidence of the use of the site by owls - raptors that avoid humans - is found through much of the rockshelter stratigraphy. Radiocarbon and luminescence dating indicate that the rockshelter sequence accumulated in the 65–34 ka interval, i.e. during Marine Isotope Stage 3. Indeed, micromorphological and stable isotopes of n-alkanes demonstrate changes between the warm-humid and cool-dry climates that characterise MIS 3 in the region. Nevertheless, stable isotope data, vertebrate remains, and wood charcoal suggest that grassland vegetation dominated throughout, albeit that arboreal vegetation is associated with deposits accumulating during humid phases. LKT-1 offers a unique and detailed perspective on hominin behaviour and palaeoenvironments in the Armenian Highlands prior to the Upper Palaeolithic and serves as a valuable comparison to the growing Middle Palaeolithic record of the broader region.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950236524000525Middle PalaeolithicArmenian HighlandsCaucasusLate PleistocenePalaeoenvironment |
| spellingShingle | Keith N. Wilkinson Ethel Allué Simon J. Armitage Adam van Arsdale Guy Bar-Oz Alex Brittingham Boris Gasparyan Jayson Gill Philip Glauberman Thomas F.G. Higham Ellery Frahm Tanner Kovach Vasilija Lukich Carolina Mallol Yannick Raczynski-Henk Iván Rey Rodríguez Jennifer E. Sherriff Aayush Srivastava Lior Weissbrod Reuven Yeshurun Daniel S. Adler The geoarchaeology, chronology and environment of Lusakert-1, a Late Middle Palaeolithic rockshelter (Kotayk Province, Armenia) Quaternary Environments and Humans Middle Palaeolithic Armenian Highlands Caucasus Late Pleistocene Palaeoenvironment |
| title | The geoarchaeology, chronology and environment of Lusakert-1, a Late Middle Palaeolithic rockshelter (Kotayk Province, Armenia) |
| title_full | The geoarchaeology, chronology and environment of Lusakert-1, a Late Middle Palaeolithic rockshelter (Kotayk Province, Armenia) |
| title_fullStr | The geoarchaeology, chronology and environment of Lusakert-1, a Late Middle Palaeolithic rockshelter (Kotayk Province, Armenia) |
| title_full_unstemmed | The geoarchaeology, chronology and environment of Lusakert-1, a Late Middle Palaeolithic rockshelter (Kotayk Province, Armenia) |
| title_short | The geoarchaeology, chronology and environment of Lusakert-1, a Late Middle Palaeolithic rockshelter (Kotayk Province, Armenia) |
| title_sort | geoarchaeology chronology and environment of lusakert 1 a late middle palaeolithic rockshelter kotayk province armenia |
| topic | Middle Palaeolithic Armenian Highlands Caucasus Late Pleistocene Palaeoenvironment |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950236524000525 |
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