Pinhasi R, Gasparian B, Wilkinson K, Bailey R, Bar-Oz G, Bruch A, Chataigner C, Hoffmann D, Hovsepyan R, Nahapetyan S, Pike A W G, Schreve D, Stephens M
Department of Archaeology, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
J Hum Evol. 2008 Nov;55(5):803-16. doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2008.04.005. Epub 2008 Oct 17.
The territory of present day Armenia is a geographic contact zone between the Near East and the northern Caucasus. Armenian Middle and Upper Paleolithic records are both few and patchy as a result of the historical paucity of systematic archaeological research in the country. Consequently, it is currently difficult to correlate the Armenian Middle and Upper Paleolithic records with those from other neighboring regions. We present new archaeological and chronometric data (luminescence, U-Th, and 14C) from our ongoing research at Hovk 1 Cave in northeast Armenia. We discuss in particular two activity phases in Hovk 1 Cave for which we have outline chronometric data: (1) an early Middle Paleolithic occupational phase, dated by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) to 104+/-9.8 ka BP(OSL); and (2) a Paleolithic occupational phase characterized by microlithic flakes dated by AMS 14C to 39,109+/-1,324 calibrated years BP(Hulu). The two phases are separated by a hiatus in hominin occupation corresponding to MIS 4 and an episode in early MIS 3. These chronometric data, taken together with the preliminary paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the Hovk 1 Cave and environment, suggest that these activity phases represent short-lived and seasonal use of the cave presumably by small groups of hunters during episodes of mild climate. Neither tool manufacture nor butchery appears to have taken place within the cave, and consequently, the archaeological record included, for the most part, finished tools and blanks. We address the chronology and techno-typological aspects of Hovk 1 lithics in relation to: (1) the Paleolithic records of Armenia, and (2) the broader interregional context of early Middle Paleolithic hominin occupation and the Middle-Upper Paleolithic transition in the Caucasus.
当今亚美尼亚的领土是近东和北高加索之间的一个地理接触地带。由于该国历史上系统考古研究匮乏，亚美尼亚中旧石器时代和上旧石器时代的记录既稀少又不完整。因此，目前很难将亚美尼亚中旧石器时代和上旧石器时代的记录与其他邻近地区的记录进行关联。我们展示了来自亚美尼亚东北部霍夫克1号洞穴正在进行的研究的新考古和年代测定数据（发光、铀系和碳-14）。我们特别讨论了霍夫克1号洞穴的两个活动阶段，我们有这两个阶段的大致年代测定数据：（1）一个早期中旧石器时代的居住阶段，通过光释光（OSL）测定为距今104±9.8千年（OSL）；（2）一个以微石器片为特征的旧石器时代居住阶段，通过加速器质谱碳-14测定为距今39,109±1,324校准年（葫芦）。这两个阶段被对应于海洋同位素阶段4和海洋同位素阶段3早期的一段人类居住间断隔开。这些年代测定数据，连同对霍夫克1号洞穴和环境的初步古环境重建，表明这些活动阶段可能代表了在温和气候时期小群猎人对洞穴的短暂和季节性使用。洞穴内似乎既没有进行工具制造也没有进行屠宰，因此，考古记录在很大程度上包括成品工具和毛坯。我们探讨了霍夫克1号洞穴石器的年代学和技术类型学方面，涉及：（1）亚美尼亚的旧石器时代记录，以及（2）早期中旧石器时代人类居住和高加索地区中-上旧石器时代过渡的更广泛区域背景。
