The Early Paleolithic Industries of the Darvagchai-1 Site
This article is devoted to archeological studies at the Darvagchai-1 site (Dagestan). Archaeological material, recorded in layers 4-8, accumulated in subaerial and subaqueous conditions (beach and prefrontal areas), while the coastal landscape was characterized by open and strongly dissected areas. Chronologically, the formation of culturally informative layers correlate with different phases of the Baku transgression of the Caspian Sea and is aged ≈ 0,5-0,8 million years ago. Resulting from work conducted in 2005-2010, the collection was made of more than 9,000 separate flint entities, presumably related to the activities of ancient man. The analysis allowed, despite the signs of "Artifact", weeding out some of the objects of natural origin, and giving a more clear placement of an artifact group whose settings let us define their artificial nature (864 pc.). In general, the Early Paleolithic complex Darvagchay-1 is characterized by a significant number of small-sized products (~ 2-4 cm) comprising about 3/4 of artifacts. Average sizes of tools are generally within 3-4 cm. Although 5 cm items are less frequently occurred, they account for about 15% of the collection. The set of tool types and the nature of secondary treatment remain virtually unchanged for cultural and lithologic units, but the overall diversity of forms of tools, as well as their number, increases up the section, reaching a maximum in layer 8.