The Upper Paleolithic settlement of the Armenian Highlands

Excavations in 2009 and 2010 at Aghitu–3 Cave in the Syunik Province of southern Armenia yield new insights into the Upper Paleolithic settlement of the Armenian Highlands. The site is situated at an elevation of 1601 m in a side valley of the Vorotan River. The river cuts down through Pleistocene basalt flows and provides a corridor for the movement of people and game through the region. Sediments that accumulated in this basaltic cave are composed mainly of silt, clay minerals and volcanic ash. The archaeological layers preserve evidence of periodic human occupations dating to ca. 35–27 000 cal BP. Caves from the Upper Paleolithic were not previously known in Armenia, although contemporaneous sites exist in neighboring Georgia and Iran.

The lithic industry at Aghitu–3 is laminar with a strong focus on the production of bladelets made of obsidian and chert. While completely backed pieces are rare, the majority of tools are represented by finely retouched bladelets. The choice of raw material did not affect the desired end products. Our preliminary interpretation is that this distinctly Upper Paleolithic toolkit was oriented towards the production of hunting equipment and was technologically stable over an extended timeframe.

The lower assemblage dates to ca. 35–31 000 cal BP and suggests sparse occupation of the cave. Lithic artifacts are few and cluster near small combustion features. The poorly preserved faunal remains of the lower layers do not appear to be associated with the lithic remains. The bones often appear to be gastrically etched, suggesting accumulation by large carnivores such as wolves. On the other hand, the upper assemblage dates to ca. 29–27 000 cal BP and indicates more frequent occupation by humans. In these finely stratified layers, lithic artifacts are numerous, and combustion features are common. The well preserved, but highly fragmented faunal remains from the upper layers exhibit more indications of carcass processing, such as green breaks and impact fractures. Wild sheep and wild goat dominate the faunal assemblage, with horse and hare also present.

Combining the faunal identifications with ecological data gained from microfauna, pollen and charcoal, a mosaic landscape comes into focus : grassland on the level basaltic plateau, interrupted by a steep rocky valley sloping down to the Vorotan, where a riparian environment prevails. The data also suggest an environment that was cooler and moister than today, a picture echoed by preliminary micromorphological results showing cycles of freezing and thawing. Thus we interpret these data as evidence for increasing occupation of Aghitu–3 Cave, which served as a temporary hunting camp. While it is clear that the older occupations of the cave were ephemeral, during the time leading up to the last glacial maximum, occupation became more frequent.