Faunal complex of the Early Pleistocene Muhkai 2 locality

M.V. Sablin and K.Yu. Iltsevich

Proceedings of the Zoological Institute RAS, 2021, 325(1): 82–90 · https://doi.org/10.31610/trudyzin/2021.325.1.82

Full text

Abstract

The Early Pleistocene locality Muhkai 2 was discovered in Central Dagestan, northeastern Caucasus, Russia, in 2006. Archaeological investigations of the site have been directed by Corresponding member of RAS H.A. Amirkhanov (Institute of Archaeology RAS, Moscow). The article presents the results of the study of osteological material from the excavations of 2006–2017. The cultural layers with stone tools and mammal bones are found within stratum of brownish-grey petrified loams with reversed magnetization. We identified 14 large species of mammals, which are indicators for the dating of the faunal assemblage and crucial in identifying the specific characteristics of the natural environment at the time of site formation. Stenon horse and Etruscan wolf dominate the spectrum of species at Muhkai 2. All large mammal species from the site are inhabitants of open and semi-open landscapes and animals indicative of closed biotopes are absent. The biotope appears to have been a dry savannah-steppe with small areas of forest vegetation. The climate at this time was warm and quite arid. Most likely, the animals died here due to natural causes and their carcasses were buried at the bottom of an ancient, slightly saline and shallow, temporary body of water. Data from the theriofauna place the age of the site Muhkai 2 within the chronological range of 2.1–1.77 Mya.

Key words

Early Pleistocene, faunal complex, Muhkai 2 locality, northeastern Caucasus, osteological material

Submitted January 1, 2021 · Accepted February 4, 2021 · Published March 25, 2021

References

Amirkhanov H.A. 2016. North Caucasus: the beginning of prehistory. Mavrayev, Moscow, 344 p. [In Russian].

Amirkhanov H.A. and Ozherelyev D.V. 2011. Muhkai II, layer 80 – a new Oldowan site in Central Dagestan. III (XIX) All-Russian Archaeological Congress, 1. IAE RAS, IHMC RAS, IA RAS, Sankt-Petersburg, Moscow, Velikiy Novgorod: 16–17 [In Russian].

Amirkhanov H.A., Gribchenko Y.N., Ozherelyev D.V., Sablin M.V., Semenov V.V. and Trubikhin V.M. 2012a. Complex studies of the Early Pleistocene site Muhkai 2 in the North-Eastern Caucasus (based on excavations in 2008–2011). General Meeting of the Russian Academy of Sciences dedicated to the Year of Russian History (Moscow, December 18, 2012): 1150 years of Russian statehood and culture. Moscow: 217–241 [In Russian].

Amirkhanov H.A., Ozherelyev D.V., Alexandrova O., Girya E. and Sablin M.V. 2016b. Cut marks on the bone of Equus (Allohippus) stenonis and traces of utilization on the stone tool from the Oldowan site Muhkai IIa in the North Caucasus. International Senckenberg Conference: 100+25 years of Homo erectus: Dmanisi and beyond. GNM, Tbilisi: 23–24.

Amirkhanov H.A., Ozherel’ev D.V., Gribchenko Y.N., Sablin M.V., Semenov V.V. and Trubikhin V. 2014. Early Humans at the eastern gate of Europe: The discovery and investigation of Oldowan sites in northern Caucasus. Comptes Rendus Palevol, 13: 717–725. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crpv.2014.06.004

Amirkhanov H.A., Ozherelyev D.V. and Sablin M.V. 2012b. Mammal fauna from the site of Muhkai II (results of excavations in 2009–2010). XXVII Krupnov Conference: Recent discoveries in archaeology of the North Caucasus: studies and interpretations. IHAE DSC RAS, Makhachkala: 16–18 [In Russian].

Amirkhanov H.A., Ozherelyev D.V., Sablin M.V. and Agadzhanyan A.K. 2016a. Faunal remains from the Oldowan site of Muhkai II in the North Caucasus: Potential for dating and palaeolandscape reconstruction. Quaternary International, 395: 233–241. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.12.061

Amirkhanov H.A., Tesakov A.S. and Ozherelyev D.V. 2017. On the geochronology on the Muhkai 2a site in Dagestan. Bulletin of the Commission for Study of the Quaternary, 75: 5–10 [In Russian with English summary].

Behrensmeyer A.K. 1978. Taphonomic and ecologic information from bone weathering. Paleobiology, 4: 150–162. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0094837300005820

Binford L.R. 1981. Bones: Ancient men and modern myths. Academic Press, New York, 320 p. https://doi.org/10.2307/280463

Dennell R. and Roebroeks W. 1996. The earliest colonization of Europe: the short chronology revisited. Antiquity, 70: 535–542. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00083691

Gabunia L. and Vekua A. 1993. A Plio-Pleistocene hominid from Dmanisi, East Georgia, Caucasus. Nature, 373: 509–512. https://doi.org/10.1038/373509a0

Gabunia L., Vekua A., Lordkipanidze D., Ferring R., Justus A., Maisuradze G., Mouskhelishvili A., Nioradze M., Sologashvili D., Swisher C. and Tvalchrelidze M. 2000. Current research on the hominid site of Dmanisi. Études et Recherches Archéologiques de l'Université de Liège, 92: 13–27.

Klein R.G. and Cruz-Uribe K. 1984. The analysis of animal bones from archaeological sites. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, London, 266 p.

Kuzmina I.E. and Sablin M.V. 1991. On the new discovery fossil remains of the Equus stenonis Cocchi in the Caucasus. Proceedings of the Zoological Institute RAS, 238: 61–67 [In Russian with English summary].

Olsen S.L. 1987. Magdalenian reindeer Exploitation at the Grotte des Eyzies, Southwest France. ArchaeZoologia, 1(1): 171–182.

Ozherelyev D.V. 2010. Preliminary results of the study of the Early Pleistocene site Muhkai II (Dagestan, Russia). International Conference: Karabakh in the Stone Age. AEI ANAS, Baku: 217–222 [In Russian].

Ozherelyev D.V. 2017. Complex research at the Early Paleolithic site Muhkai IIA. V (XXI) All-Russian Archaeological Congress. ASU, IAE RAS, IHMC RAS, IA RAS, Barnaul: 773–774 [In Russian].

Ozherelyev D.V. 2019. The Oldowan site of Muhkai II, layer 80 (northeastern Caucasus): Spatial structure and cultural and chronological attribution of the lithic assemblage. L'Anthropologie, 123(2): 216–232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anthro.2019.06.002

Rook L. and Martiinez-Navarro B. 2010. Villafranchian: the long story of a Plio-Pleistocene European large mammal biochronologic unit. Quaternary International, 219: 134–144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2010.01.007

Sablin M.V. 1990. Remains of carnivores and ungulates from the Lower Absheron deposits of Azerbaijan. Proceedings of the Zoological Institute RAS, 213: 138–142 [In Russian with English summary].

Sablin M.V. 2011. Early Quaternary faunas and dispersal of the genus Homo. III (XIX) All-Russian Archaeological Congress, 1. IAE RAS, IHMC RAS, IA RAS, Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Velikiy Novgorod: 86–87 [In Russian].

Sablin M.V. 2016a. Report on a paleontological study of the materials from the Paleolithic site Muhkai 2. (Excavations in 2013 year). In H.A. Amirkhanov. North Caucasus: the beginning of prehistory. Mavrayev, Moscow: 234–249 [In Russian].

Sablin M.V. 2016b. Faunal remains of large mammals from layer 80 of the Muhkai 2 site (Central Dagestan; 2009-2012 years excavations). In H.A. Amirkhanov. North Caucasus: the beginning of prehistory. Mavrayev, Moscow: 221–233 [In Russian].

Sablin M.V. 2020. Fauna of the Muhkai 2 site. Transactions of the Institute for the History of Material Culture RAS, 22: 176–186 [In Russian with English summary]. https://doi.org/10.31600/2310-6557-2020-22-176-186

Sablin M.V. and Girya E.Yu. 2009. Artifact from Liventsovka – the evidence of human presence in Eastern Europe in the range of 2.1-1.97 Mya. International Meeting: Oldest human migrations in Eurasia. IAET SB RAS, Novosibirsk: 166–174 [In Russian].

Sablin M.V. and Girya E.Yu. 2010. The earliest evidence of human occupation in Southeastern Europe: a processed camel bone fragment from the Lower Don. Archaeology Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia, 2(38): 7–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aeae.2010.08.003

Sablin M.V., Amirkhanov H.A. and Ozherelyev D.V. 2013. Oldowan site Mukhkai II: paleontological data for dating and reconstruction of the natural environment. Russian Archaeology, 4: 7–19 [In Russian with English summary].

Sablin M.V., Burova N.D. and Petrova E.A. 2018. Horses and ancient people: zooarchaeological investigation of Muhkai 2a. Proceedings of the Zoological Institute RAS, 322(3): 333–356 [In Russian with English summary]. https://doi.org/10.31610/trudyzin/2018.322.3.333

Shipman P. 1981. Life History of a fossil. An introduction of taphonomy and paleoecology. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 222 p.

Sotnikova М.V. and Sablin M.V. 1993. The Late Villafranchian association of carnivorous mammals from the locality Palan-Tyukan (Eastern Transcaucasia, Azerbaijan). Proceedings of the Zoological Institute RAS, 249: 134–145 [In Russian with English summary].

Stolpnikova E.M., Kovaleva N.O., Amirkhanov H.A. and Ozherelyev D.V. 2016. Paleo-soil research of Early Paleolithic site Muhkai II (North Caucasus, Dagestan). In N.O. Kovaleva, S.K. Kostovska, E.A. Borisova (Eds). Nature and society: the technologies for providing a food security. Maks Press, Moscow: 202–206. [In Russian].

van Wijngaarden-Bakker L.H. 2001. Zooarchaeology. University of Amsterdam AAC, Amsterdam, 32 p.

Vekua A. 1995. Die Wirbeltierfauna des Villafranchium von Dmanisi und ihrebiostratigraphische Bedeutung. Jahrbuch des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseum, 42(1): 77–180.

Vereshchagin N.К. 1972. On the origin of mammoth cemeteries. In I.G. Pidoplichko (Ed.). The natural environment and fauna of the past, 6. Naukova Dumka, Kiev: 131–148. [In Russian].