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The 6th millennium BCE sees the first sedentary settlements in the southern Caucasus, with small scale farming communities established in various pockets of landscape in the lowlands of the Araxes and Kura rivers. The paper takes a micro-historical approach to explore the variability within the archaeological record deriving from new research in the Mil Steppe of southern Azerbaijan Republic and compares that with the published record from contemporary Hajji Firuz in Northwestern Iran. This allows tracing hidden patterns relating to cultural traditions and habits in the use of space, preparation of food and material culture in a close-up on similarities and differences between these two closely related areas, making individual pathways and strategies visible that distinguish human behaviour in these two areas. Il VI millennio BCE vede la comparsa dei primi insediamenti stabili nel Caucaso meridionale, con comunità basate sull'agricoltura su piccola scala, insediate in varie aree nelle pianure dei fiumi Arax e Kura. Questo lavoro utilizza un approccio micro-storico per esplorare la variabilità all'interno del record archeologico derivante da nuove ricerche nella Mil Steppe della Repubblica dell'Azerbaijan meridionale e per confrontarlo con i dati già editi del contemporaneo sito di Hajji Firuz nell'Iran nord-occidentale. Ciò consente di individuare schemi nascosti relativi alle tradizioni e alle abitudini culturali nell'uso dello spazio, nella preparazione del cibo e nella cultura materiale, mettendo in rilievo le somiglianze e le differenze tra queste due aree strettamente correlate, rendendo visibili percorsi e strategie individuali che distinguono il comportamento umano in queste due aree. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is on the history of the Northwestern Caucasus between the turn of the eras and the 13th century. From among the many ethnic groups inhabiting this region since the times of Greek and Roman Antiquity, the Alans were probably the best known. Settling down first in the submontane tracts of the Northern Caucasus, they gradually ascended the accessible valleys and rendered themselves as masters of the whole area north of the Caucasus main ridge. Constantly having to find their way between the ambitions of Byzantium and the Khazar Khanate of the steppes, the Northwestern Caucasians successfully exploited the region's natural resources and engaged in long-distance trade along a side artery of the Silk Road. In the 10th century, Alans embraced Christianity and created their own state, a staunch ally of Byzantium. Alania perished in consequence of the Mongol invasion at the beginning of the 13th century. Most of its inhabitants followed their new masters into Central Asia, some have found new homes in Byzantium, Hungary and their vicinity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the framework of the French archaeological mission ' Caucasus', in a previous paper we have presented new geochemical analyses on geological obsidians from the southern Caucasus ( Armenia, Georgia) and eastern Turkey. We present here the second part of this research, which deals with provenance studies of archaeological obsidians from Armenia. These new data enhance our knowledge of obsidian exploitation over a period of more than 14 000 years, from the Upper Palaeolithic to the Late Bronze Age. The proposed methodology shows that source attribution can be easily made by plotting element contents and element ratios on three simple binary diagrams. The same diagrams were used for source discrimination. As the southern Caucasus is a mountainous region for which the factor of distance as the crow flies cannot be applied, we have explored the capacity of the Geographic Information System to evaluate the nature and patterns of travel costs between the sources of obsidian and the archaeological sites. The role of the secondary obsidian deposits, which enabled the populations to acquire raw material at a considerable distance from the outcrops, is also considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large analytical programme involving both obsidian source characterization and obsidian artefact sourcing was initiated recently within the framework of the French archaeological mission ' Caucasus'. The results will be presented in two parts: the first part, this paper, deals with the presentation and characterization of obsidian outcrops in the southern Caucasus, while the second presents some results obtained from a selection of artefacts originating from different Armenian sites dated to between the Upper Palaeolithic and the Late Bronze Age. The same analytical method, LA- ICP- MS (laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry), has been used to characterize all the studied samples (both geological and archaeological). This method is more and more widely used to determine the elemental composition of obsidian artefacts, as it causes minimal damage to the studied objects. We present in this first part new geochemical analyses on geological obsidians originating from the southern Caucasus ( Armenia, Georgia) and eastern Turkey. These data enhance our knowledge of the obsidian sources in these regions. A simple methodology, based on the use of three diagrams, is proposed to easily differentiate the deposits and to study the early exploitation of this material in the southern Caucasus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper addresses the question of human palaeodietary adaptation in the Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age periods of the North Caucasus (South Russia) using stable isotope analysis. One of the key questions is the presence of fish in the diet. AMS radiocarbon dating of archaeological bone collagen has also been carried out to investigate potential radiocarbon reservoir effects in human skeletal material as a result of an aquatic diet. A fish component has previously been suggested in the diet of Iron Age and Bronze Age humans across Eurasia by isotopic research and radiocarbon dating of contemporaneous human and animal bones. In the North Caucasus however, isotopic data is scant. This study presents a new set of stable isotopic data from several Early Bronze Age sites, mainly belonging to the Maikop culture of the North Caucasus. The results show that the diversity in climate and environment across the northern Caucasus may be a causal factor for the patterns observed in the stable isotope values of terrestrial herbivores. This affects the isotopic values of the humans consuming them. The differences in δ15N and δ13C ranges of both humans and fauna were found to correlate strongly with geography and climate; the most enriched isotopic values are found in the dry steppe areas to the north. Overall, a relatively high enrichment in δ15N values of humans compared to local terrestrial herbivores and carnivores was observed. This indicates that aquatic resources were probably part of the Bronze Age diet in the region although the extent of this needs further investigation. The dramatic effect of environmental factors on isotopic values in the Early Bronze Age of the North Caucasus illustrates how confident conclusions cannot be drawn on the basis of a small number of samples from widely differing regions and time periods. Radiocarbon dating can provide a useful tool for identifying dietary derived reservoir ages in humans, potentially caused by a fish diet. With two possible exceptions, the nine human–animal bone pair dated as part of this study showed no consistent indication for a consistent reservoir effect. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]