Entre obsidienne et silex : stratégies d’utilisation des matières premières des chasseurs épipaléolithiques de la région de l’Elbrouz, Caucase du nord-centre

Abstract

The choice of stone raw materials could have been a decisive factor in the success of the subsistence strategies of hunters during the Epipaleolithic period. The territory of the Elbrus region, located at the foot of the largest volcano in Europe, abounds in raw materials of various origins, incl. volcanic and sedimentary stone raw materials. Here is the only known obsidian deposit in the North Caucasus in Zayukovo, which was highly valued by ancient man and transported over considerable distances of hundreds of kilometers in the Middle, Upper and Epipaleolithic of the North Caucasus. At the same time, our work has studied the sources of flint raw materials of the Cretaceous and Jurassic times, which also played an important role in providing raw materials to primitive communities. The article presents the results of a study of strategies for using stone raw materials during the Epipaleolithic period in the Elbrus region in the period from ca. 17/18 to 10/11 thousand years ago. The author makes assumptions about the distances over which stone raw materials were transported, options for its use and transportation, the choice of raw materials by humans, as well as the contacts of the population with neighboring regions.