Raw Material Exploitation, Transport, and Mobility in the Northern Caucasus Eastern Micoquian

Abstract

This paper presents a study of raw material procurement strategies during the Late Middle Paleolithic Eastern Micoquian industry in the Northwestern Caucasus, Russia. The study is based primarily on the data collected by the authors from the cave sites of Mezmaiskaya and Matuzka, the Baranaha-4 open-air site, and the Hadjoh-2 open-air flint-knapping workshop, as well as 51 flint outcrops that we surveyed and sampled in the region from 2007 to 2014. A comparative petroarchaeological analysis of 268 rock samples collected from these outcrops and the Eastern Micoquian assemblages indicates three zones of raw material procurement, each related to a specific model of mobility and strategies of raw material use and transport.