Comparing lower and middle Palaeolithic lithic procurement behaviors within the Hrazdan basin of central Armenia

Ellery Frahm; Caderyn Owen Jones; Michael Corolla; Keith N. Wilkinson; Jenni E. Sherriff; Boris Gasparyan; Daniel S. Adler

doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102389

Comparing lower and middle Palaeolithic lithic procurement behaviors within the Hrazdan basin of central Armenia

Ellery Frahm^*, Caderyn Owen Jones, Michael Corolla, Keith N. Wilkinson, Jenni E. Sherriff, Boris Gasparyan, Daniel S. Adler

^*Corresponding author for this work

Geography

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The Hrazdan River valley in Armenia contains Lower, Middle, and Upper Paleolithic archaeological sites and offers access to the Gutansar Volcanic Complex, a large and important source of obsidian. The sites’ occupants primarily acquired lithic material from this obsidian source, which is manifested throughout the local landscape, but its obsidian exposures, produced during a single eruptive phase, exhibit the same geochemical signature. This situation inspired the development of rock magnetic characterization as a means to recognize obsidian from different spots across the volcanic complex (i.e., intra-source, not inter-source, characterization). This intra-source approach was first applied to the Middle Palaeolithic site of Lusakert Cave 1, where the data revealed that the occupants collected obsidian throughout the river valley, rather than a preferred outcrop, quarrying area, or secondary deposit. Such a finding implied that the toolstone procurement spatially coincided with the valley and was embedded in subsistence activities. In this new study, the same approach to intra-source magnetic characterization is applied to the Lower Palaeolithic site of Nor Geghi 1 – specifically, to obsidian debris dated between 440 and 335 millennia ago. The magnetic measurements show that, like at Lusakert Cave 1, toolstone acquisition occurred within the valley. If, as we propose, obsidian procurement reflects the spatial distribution of subsistence activities, it attests that archaic hominins at both sites and in both periods were able to effectively exploit a resource-rich riparian ecosystem. Consequently, this study provides an example of behaviors shared by Middle and Lower Palaeolithic hominins whereby, placed within the same landscape, their resource exploitation behaviors appear indistinguishable.

Original language	English
Article number	102389
Journal	Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports
Volume	32
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102389
Publication status	Published - Aug 2020

Keywords

Armenian highlands
Lithic raw material procurement
Obsidian sourcing
Palaeolithic archaeology
Provisioning strategies
Rock magnetic characterization

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10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102389

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@article{14bfeed8e5ac43cc8b036beef37fb703,

title = "Comparing lower and middle Palaeolithic lithic procurement behaviors within the Hrazdan basin of central Armenia",

abstract = "The Hrazdan River valley in Armenia contains Lower, Middle, and Upper Paleolithic archaeological sites and offers access to the Gutansar Volcanic Complex, a large and important source of obsidian. The sites{\textquoteright} occupants primarily acquired lithic material from this obsidian source, which is manifested throughout the local landscape, but its obsidian exposures, produced during a single eruptive phase, exhibit the same geochemical signature. This situation inspired the development of rock magnetic characterization as a means to recognize obsidian from different spots across the volcanic complex (i.e., intra-source, not inter-source, characterization). This intra-source approach was first applied to the Middle Palaeolithic site of Lusakert Cave 1, where the data revealed that the occupants collected obsidian throughout the river valley, rather than a preferred outcrop, quarrying area, or secondary deposit. Such a finding implied that the toolstone procurement spatially coincided with the valley and was embedded in subsistence activities. In this new study, the same approach to intra-source magnetic characterization is applied to the Lower Palaeolithic site of Nor Geghi 1 – specifically, to obsidian debris dated between 440 and 335 millennia ago. The magnetic measurements show that, like at Lusakert Cave 1, toolstone acquisition occurred within the valley. If, as we propose, obsidian procurement reflects the spatial distribution of subsistence activities, it attests that archaic hominins at both sites and in both periods were able to effectively exploit a resource-rich riparian ecosystem. Consequently, this study provides an example of behaviors shared by Middle and Lower Palaeolithic hominins whereby, placed within the same landscape, their resource exploitation behaviors appear indistinguishable.",

keywords = "Armenian highlands, Lithic raw material procurement, Obsidian sourcing, Palaeolithic archaeology, Provisioning strategies, Rock magnetic characterization",

author = "Ellery Frahm and {Owen Jones}, Caderyn and Michael Corolla and Wilkinson, {Keith N.} and Sherriff, {Jenni E.} and Boris Gasparyan and Adler, {Daniel S.}",

note = "Funding Information: This study was conducted as Owen Jones{\textquoteright} senior thesis project, overseen by Frahm, who sent Owen Jones to the Institute for Rock Magnetism (IRM) at the University of Minnesota –Twin Cities in January, the coldest month in Minneapolis. We are indebted to numerous colleagues for their contributions to our work. We thank Pavel Avetisyan, Director of the Institute for Archaeology and Ethnography, National Academy of Sciences , Republic of Armenia, without whose continuing support such research would not be possible. The NG1 excavations were directed by Adler, Wilkinson, and Gasparyan. Financial support for the HGPP was provided to Adler by the Norian Armenian Programs Committee ( University of Connecticut ), two Large Faculty Grants (University of Connecticut), and the L.S.B. Leakey Foundation . The PAGES Project, directed by Wilkinson, was funded by the Leverhulme Trust ( RPG-2016-102 ). We also thank Khachatur Meliksetian, Director of the Institute of Geological Sciences, National Academy of Sciences , Armenia for his collaboration with and support for both the HGPP and PAGES Project. Frahm{\textquoteright}s analytical and field work were also supported, in part, by the University of Sheffield {\textquoteright}s Department of Archaeology; the NARNIA Project, a Marie Curie research network funded by the European Commission and FP7 (Grant # 265010 ); and the Earth Sciences Department, Institute for Rock Magnetism, Global Programs and Strategy Alliance{\textquoteright}s Alexander Dubcek Fund, and Anthropology Department at the University of Minnesota . Owen Jones visited the IRM thanks to a Visiting Student Fellowship. At the IRM, Frahm and Owen Jones benefited from the assistance of Mike Jackson, Peter S{\o}lheid, Dario Bilardello, and Joshua M. Feinberg. Additional contributions to this long-term project were provided (in alphabetical order) by Dmitri Arakelyan, Alex Brittingham, Liev Frahm, Jayson Gill, Phil Glauberman, Hayk Haydosyan, Sergey Karapetyan, Suren Kesejyan, Christina Manning, Michelle Muth, Katie Preece, Yannick Raczynski-Henk, and Beverly Schmidt-Magee. Two anonymous reviewers{\textquoteright} comments and suggestions improved the final version of the paper. This is IRM Contribution #2004. Funding Information: This study was conducted as Owen Jones? senior thesis project, overseen by Frahm, who sent Owen Jones to the Institute for Rock Magnetism (IRM) at the University of Minnesota?Twin Cities in January, the coldest month in Minneapolis. We are indebted to numerous colleagues for their contributions to our work. We thank Pavel Avetisyan, Director of the Institute for Archaeology and Ethnography, National Academy of Sciences, Republic of Armenia, without whose continuing support such research would not be possible. The NG1 excavations were directed by Adler, Wilkinson, and Gasparyan. Financial support for the HGPP was provided to Adler by the Norian Armenian Programs Committee (University of Connecticut), two Large Faculty Grants (University of Connecticut), and the L.S.B. Leakey Foundation. The PAGES Project, directed by Wilkinson, was funded by the Leverhulme Trust (RPG-2016-102). We also thank Khachatur Meliksetian, Director of the Institute of Geological Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, Armenia for his collaboration with and support for both the HGPP and PAGES Project. Frahm's analytical and field work were also supported, in part, by the University of Sheffield's Department of Archaeology; the NARNIA Project, a Marie Curie research network funded by the European Commission and FP7 (Grant #265010); and the Earth Sciences Department, Institute for Rock Magnetism, Global Programs and Strategy Alliance's Alexander Dubcek Fund, and Anthropology Department at the University of Minnesota. Owen Jones visited the IRM thanks to a Visiting Student Fellowship. At the IRM, Frahm and Owen Jones benefited from the assistance of Mike Jackson, Peter S?lheid, Dario Bilardello, and Joshua M. Feinberg. Additional contributions to this long-term project were provided (in alphabetical order) by Dmitri Arakelyan, Alex Brittingham, Liev Frahm, Jayson Gill, Phil Glauberman, Hayk Haydosyan, Sergey Karapetyan, Suren Kesejyan, Christina Manning, Michelle Muth, Katie Preece, Yannick Raczynski-Henk, and Beverly Schmidt-Magee. Two anonymous reviewers? comments and suggestions improved the final version of the paper. This is IRM Contribution #2004. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 Elsevier Ltd Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",

year = "2020",

month = aug,

doi = "10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102389",

language = "English",

volume = "32",

journal = "Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports",

issn = "2352-409X",

publisher = "Elsevier BV",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Comparing lower and middle Palaeolithic lithic procurement behaviors within the Hrazdan basin of central Armenia

AU - Frahm, Ellery

AU - Owen Jones, Caderyn

AU - Corolla, Michael

AU - Wilkinson, Keith N.

AU - Sherriff, Jenni E.

AU - Gasparyan, Boris

AU - Adler, Daniel S.

N1 - Funding Information: This study was conducted as Owen Jones’ senior thesis project, overseen by Frahm, who sent Owen Jones to the Institute for Rock Magnetism (IRM) at the University of Minnesota –Twin Cities in January, the coldest month in Minneapolis. We are indebted to numerous colleagues for their contributions to our work. We thank Pavel Avetisyan, Director of the Institute for Archaeology and Ethnography, National Academy of Sciences , Republic of Armenia, without whose continuing support such research would not be possible. The NG1 excavations were directed by Adler, Wilkinson, and Gasparyan. Financial support for the HGPP was provided to Adler by the Norian Armenian Programs Committee ( University of Connecticut ), two Large Faculty Grants (University of Connecticut), and the L.S.B. Leakey Foundation . The PAGES Project, directed by Wilkinson, was funded by the Leverhulme Trust ( RPG-2016-102 ). We also thank Khachatur Meliksetian, Director of the Institute of Geological Sciences, National Academy of Sciences , Armenia for his collaboration with and support for both the HGPP and PAGES Project. Frahm’s analytical and field work were also supported, in part, by the University of Sheffield ’s Department of Archaeology; the NARNIA Project, a Marie Curie research network funded by the European Commission and FP7 (Grant # 265010 ); and the Earth Sciences Department, Institute for Rock Magnetism, Global Programs and Strategy Alliance’s Alexander Dubcek Fund, and Anthropology Department at the University of Minnesota . Owen Jones visited the IRM thanks to a Visiting Student Fellowship. At the IRM, Frahm and Owen Jones benefited from the assistance of Mike Jackson, Peter Sølheid, Dario Bilardello, and Joshua M. Feinberg. Additional contributions to this long-term project were provided (in alphabetical order) by Dmitri Arakelyan, Alex Brittingham, Liev Frahm, Jayson Gill, Phil Glauberman, Hayk Haydosyan, Sergey Karapetyan, Suren Kesejyan, Christina Manning, Michelle Muth, Katie Preece, Yannick Raczynski-Henk, and Beverly Schmidt-Magee. Two anonymous reviewers’ comments and suggestions improved the final version of the paper. This is IRM Contribution #2004. Funding Information: This study was conducted as Owen Jones? senior thesis project, overseen by Frahm, who sent Owen Jones to the Institute for Rock Magnetism (IRM) at the University of Minnesota?Twin Cities in January, the coldest month in Minneapolis. We are indebted to numerous colleagues for their contributions to our work. We thank Pavel Avetisyan, Director of the Institute for Archaeology and Ethnography, National Academy of Sciences, Republic of Armenia, without whose continuing support such research would not be possible. The NG1 excavations were directed by Adler, Wilkinson, and Gasparyan. Financial support for the HGPP was provided to Adler by the Norian Armenian Programs Committee (University of Connecticut), two Large Faculty Grants (University of Connecticut), and the L.S.B. Leakey Foundation. The PAGES Project, directed by Wilkinson, was funded by the Leverhulme Trust (RPG-2016-102). We also thank Khachatur Meliksetian, Director of the Institute of Geological Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, Armenia for his collaboration with and support for both the HGPP and PAGES Project. Frahm's analytical and field work were also supported, in part, by the University of Sheffield's Department of Archaeology; the NARNIA Project, a Marie Curie research network funded by the European Commission and FP7 (Grant #265010); and the Earth Sciences Department, Institute for Rock Magnetism, Global Programs and Strategy Alliance's Alexander Dubcek Fund, and Anthropology Department at the University of Minnesota. Owen Jones visited the IRM thanks to a Visiting Student Fellowship. At the IRM, Frahm and Owen Jones benefited from the assistance of Mike Jackson, Peter S?lheid, Dario Bilardello, and Joshua M. Feinberg. Additional contributions to this long-term project were provided (in alphabetical order) by Dmitri Arakelyan, Alex Brittingham, Liev Frahm, Jayson Gill, Phil Glauberman, Hayk Haydosyan, Sergey Karapetyan, Suren Kesejyan, Christina Manning, Michelle Muth, Katie Preece, Yannick Raczynski-Henk, and Beverly Schmidt-Magee. Two anonymous reviewers? comments and suggestions improved the final version of the paper. This is IRM Contribution #2004. Publisher Copyright: © 2020 Elsevier Ltd Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2020/8

Y1 - 2020/8

N2 - The Hrazdan River valley in Armenia contains Lower, Middle, and Upper Paleolithic archaeological sites and offers access to the Gutansar Volcanic Complex, a large and important source of obsidian. The sites’ occupants primarily acquired lithic material from this obsidian source, which is manifested throughout the local landscape, but its obsidian exposures, produced during a single eruptive phase, exhibit the same geochemical signature. This situation inspired the development of rock magnetic characterization as a means to recognize obsidian from different spots across the volcanic complex (i.e., intra-source, not inter-source, characterization). This intra-source approach was first applied to the Middle Palaeolithic site of Lusakert Cave 1, where the data revealed that the occupants collected obsidian throughout the river valley, rather than a preferred outcrop, quarrying area, or secondary deposit. Such a finding implied that the toolstone procurement spatially coincided with the valley and was embedded in subsistence activities. In this new study, the same approach to intra-source magnetic characterization is applied to the Lower Palaeolithic site of Nor Geghi 1 – specifically, to obsidian debris dated between 440 and 335 millennia ago. The magnetic measurements show that, like at Lusakert Cave 1, toolstone acquisition occurred within the valley. If, as we propose, obsidian procurement reflects the spatial distribution of subsistence activities, it attests that archaic hominins at both sites and in both periods were able to effectively exploit a resource-rich riparian ecosystem. Consequently, this study provides an example of behaviors shared by Middle and Lower Palaeolithic hominins whereby, placed within the same landscape, their resource exploitation behaviors appear indistinguishable.

AB - The Hrazdan River valley in Armenia contains Lower, Middle, and Upper Paleolithic archaeological sites and offers access to the Gutansar Volcanic Complex, a large and important source of obsidian. The sites’ occupants primarily acquired lithic material from this obsidian source, which is manifested throughout the local landscape, but its obsidian exposures, produced during a single eruptive phase, exhibit the same geochemical signature. This situation inspired the development of rock magnetic characterization as a means to recognize obsidian from different spots across the volcanic complex (i.e., intra-source, not inter-source, characterization). This intra-source approach was first applied to the Middle Palaeolithic site of Lusakert Cave 1, where the data revealed that the occupants collected obsidian throughout the river valley, rather than a preferred outcrop, quarrying area, or secondary deposit. Such a finding implied that the toolstone procurement spatially coincided with the valley and was embedded in subsistence activities. In this new study, the same approach to intra-source magnetic characterization is applied to the Lower Palaeolithic site of Nor Geghi 1 – specifically, to obsidian debris dated between 440 and 335 millennia ago. The magnetic measurements show that, like at Lusakert Cave 1, toolstone acquisition occurred within the valley. If, as we propose, obsidian procurement reflects the spatial distribution of subsistence activities, it attests that archaic hominins at both sites and in both periods were able to effectively exploit a resource-rich riparian ecosystem. Consequently, this study provides an example of behaviors shared by Middle and Lower Palaeolithic hominins whereby, placed within the same landscape, their resource exploitation behaviors appear indistinguishable.

KW - Armenian highlands

KW - Lithic raw material procurement

KW - Obsidian sourcing

KW - Palaeolithic archaeology

KW - Provisioning strategies

KW - Rock magnetic characterization

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U2 - 10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102389

DO - 10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102389

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85084413996

SN - 2352-409X

VL - 32

JO - Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

JF - Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

M1 - 102389

ER -

Comparing lower and middle Palaeolithic lithic procurement behaviors within the Hrazdan basin of central Armenia

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Keywords

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