Phone: 860-486-1737 Address: University of Connecticut
Department of Anthropology
354 Mansfield Road
Unit 1176
Storrs, CT
06269
http://www.anth.uconn.edu/faculty/adler/
ABSTRACT:. Occupying an intermediate position between Africa, Asia, and Europe the southern Cauca... more ABSTRACT:. Occupying an intermediate position between Africa, Asia, and Europe the southern Caucasus has represented a northern geographic terminus for major expansions and migrations of human populations, both Archaic and Modern, throughout much of ...
Investigations of organic lithic micro-residues have, over the last decade, shifted from entirely... more Investigations of organic lithic micro-residues have, over the last decade, shifted from entirely morphological observations using visible-light microscopy to compositional ones using scanning electron microscopy and Fourier-transform infrared microspectroscopy, providing a seemingly objective chemical basis for residue identifications. Contamination, though, remains a problem that can affect these results. Modern contaminants, accumulated during the post-excavation lives of artifacts, are pervasive, subtle, and even “invisible” (unlisted ingredients in common lab products). Ancient contamination is a second issue. The aim of residue analysis is to recognize residues related to use, but other types of residues can also accumulate on artifacts. Caves are subject to various taphonomic forces and organic inputs, and use-related residues can degrade into secondary compounds. This organic “background noise” must be taken into consideration. Here we show that residue contamination is more...
This paper provides preliminary results of our detailed taphonomic and zooarchaeological analysis... more This paper provides preliminary results of our detailed taphonomic and zooarchaeological analysis of the faunal remains from the new excavations at the Middle Pleolithic and Upper Pleolithic sites of Ortvala Klde rockshelter and Dzudzuana Cave (1996-2001 seasons. We highlight the foraging behaviors and the depositional histories of the bone assemblages and draw broad conclusions regarding differences and similarities in hunting,butchering, and transport strategies of Late Middle Paleolithic and Early Upper Paleolithic occupants of the foothills of the southwestern Caucasus.
Supplementary Information 1. Zip file contain shapefiles of mapped volcanic and sediment strata i... more Supplementary Information 1. Zip file contain shapefiles of mapped volcanic and sediment strata in the Hrazdan valley, Central Armenia.
The area encompassing the modern Republic of Armenia lies within the Armenian highlands and is si... more The area encompassing the modern Republic of Armenia lies within the Armenian highlands and is situated at the very core of a dynamic corridor between Africa and Eurasia. As such, Armenia proves critical for understanding the initial stages of human settlement and the formation of ancient civilisations in the Near East and beyond. Stone Age artefacts have been known to exist within the territory of Armenia since the end of the 19th century, and they indicate that the area attracted a variety of Stone Age populations, from early hominids to early complex societies of the Chalcolithic. Presented work is the first attempt to summarise the results and achievements of the Stone Age archaeology in Armenia which is counting its history more than a century.
ABSTRACT:. Occupying an intermediate position between Africa, Asia, and Europe the southern Cauca... more ABSTRACT:. Occupying an intermediate position between Africa, Asia, and Europe the southern Caucasus has represented a northern geographic terminus for major expansions and migrations of human populations, both Archaic and Modern, throughout much of ...
Investigations of organic lithic micro-residues have, over the last decade, shifted from entirely... more Investigations of organic lithic micro-residues have, over the last decade, shifted from entirely morphological observations using visible-light microscopy to compositional ones using scanning electron microscopy and Fourier-transform infrared microspectroscopy, providing a seemingly objective chemical basis for residue identifications. Contamination, though, remains a problem that can affect these results. Modern contaminants, accumulated during the post-excavation lives of artifacts, are pervasive, subtle, and even “invisible” (unlisted ingredients in common lab products). Ancient contamination is a second issue. The aim of residue analysis is to recognize residues related to use, but other types of residues can also accumulate on artifacts. Caves are subject to various taphonomic forces and organic inputs, and use-related residues can degrade into secondary compounds. This organic “background noise” must be taken into consideration. Here we show that residue contamination is more...
This paper provides preliminary results of our detailed taphonomic and zooarchaeological analysis... more This paper provides preliminary results of our detailed taphonomic and zooarchaeological analysis of the faunal remains from the new excavations at the Middle Pleolithic and Upper Pleolithic sites of Ortvala Klde rockshelter and Dzudzuana Cave (1996-2001 seasons. We highlight the foraging behaviors and the depositional histories of the bone assemblages and draw broad conclusions regarding differences and similarities in hunting,butchering, and transport strategies of Late Middle Paleolithic and Early Upper Paleolithic occupants of the foothills of the southwestern Caucasus.
Supplementary Information 1. Zip file contain shapefiles of mapped volcanic and sediment strata i... more Supplementary Information 1. Zip file contain shapefiles of mapped volcanic and sediment strata in the Hrazdan valley, Central Armenia.
The area encompassing the modern Republic of Armenia lies within the Armenian highlands and is si... more The area encompassing the modern Republic of Armenia lies within the Armenian highlands and is situated at the very core of a dynamic corridor between Africa and Eurasia. As such, Armenia proves critical for understanding the initial stages of human settlement and the formation of ancient civilisations in the Near East and beyond. Stone Age artefacts have been known to exist within the territory of Armenia since the end of the 19th century, and they indicate that the area attracted a variety of Stone Age populations, from early hominids to early complex societies of the Chalcolithic. Presented work is the first attempt to summarise the results and achievements of the Stone Age archaeology in Armenia which is counting its history more than a century.
<p>Understanding the chronology and environmental context of the earliest h... more <p>Understanding the chronology and environmental context of the earliest hominin expansions into Eurasia is of considerable interest in palaeoanthropology, however, our current knowledge is based on a handful of sites.  Dated to 1.85–1.78 Ma, Dmanisi (southern Georgia) is not only the locus of the earliest <em>Homo </em>fossils in Eurasia but has also yielded stone tools and rich assemblages of vertebrate fossils (1,2).  Whilst Dmanisi fundamentally changed our views on the timing of hominin expansions out of Africa and the technological capabilities of these populations, it has long represented a single site in the region, and little is known about the broader environmental context.</p><p>The Debed Valley (located in the Lori Depression, northern Armenia) represents a key area in which to improve our understanding of this early hominin expansion. The area lies at the southeast margins of the Javakheti Plateau, a large volcanic province spanning both southern Georgia and northern Armenia. Current chronological study of the Javakheti-derived lavas places the interval of volcanic activity between 2.1 and 1.6 Ma (3,4). The lavas are exposed along the Debed valley and trap sediment sequences below, within, and atop the flows. </p><p>Here, we present the first results of our ongoing paleoenvironmental and geoarchaeological investigations in the Debed valley. We first present a model of landscape evolution during the Early Pleistocene based on detailed geologic and geomorphic mapping in the valley. We then describe preliminary results from two of the key sequences in the valley: 1) the open-air archaeological site of Haghtanak-3, from which a Mode 1 lithic assemblage has been recovered, and 2) the fluvio-lacustrine sequence of Dzoragyugh-1 paleolake.  We discuss the stratigraphic, sedimentological, and chronological (<sup>40</sup>Ar/<sup>39</sup>Ar and palaeomagnetism) results from each site and provide linkages between these sites, the geomorphic evolution of the Debed valley, and Dmanisi sequence. Through this, we highlight the environmental and archaeological significance of sedimentary archives in northern Armenia for understanding the nature and environmental context of early hominin expansions into Eurasia.  </p><p>1) Ferring, R., Oms, O., Agustí, J., Berna, F., Nioradze, M., Shelia, T., Tappen, M., Vekua, A., Zhvania, D. and Lordkipanidze, D., 2011. Earliest human occupations at Dmanisi (Georgian Caucasus) dated to 1.85–1.78 Ma. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108, 10432-10436.</p><p>2) Mgeladze, A., Lordkipanidze, D., Moncel, M.-H., Despriee, J., Chagelishvili, R., Nioradze, M., Nioradze, G., (2011). Hominin occupations at the Dmanisi site, Georgia, Southern Caucasus: raw materials and technical behaviours of Europe's first hominins. Journal of Human Evolution 60, 571–596.</p><p>3) Lebedev, V.A., Bubnov, S.N., Chernyshev, I.V., Chugaev, A.V., Dudauri, O.Z. and Vashakidze, G.T. (2007). Geochronology and genesis of subalkaline basaltic lava rivers at the Dzhavakheti Highland, Lesser Caucasus: K/Ar and Sr-Nd isotopic data. Geochemistry International 45, 211–225.</p><p>4) Trifonov, V.G., Lyubin, V.P., Belyaeva, E.V., Lebedev, V.A., Trikhunkov, Ya.I., Tesakov, A.S., Simakova, A.N., Veselovsky, R.V., Latyshev, A.V., Presnyakov, S.L., Isanova, T.P., Ozhereliev, D.V., Bachmanov, D.M. and Lyapunov, S.M. (2016). Stratigraphic and tectonic settings of Early Paleolithic of North-West Armenia. Quaternary International 420, 178– 198.</p>
Abstract Most descriptions of obsidian-bearing rhyolitic lava flows and domes are largely based o... more Abstract Most descriptions of obsidian-bearing rhyolitic lava flows and domes are largely based on relatively simple cases of tectonic plate subduction in North America, but Armenian geologists proposed since the 1960s that these models are less suitable for describing rhyolitic volcanism in their research area. Obsidian-producing volcanoes that lie in the Armenian Highlands, they argued, are more complex in form and stratification. Hatis volcano in central Armenia is one such example. As we document, Hatis is highly unusual, perhaps unique, in that its obsidian changes in composition with elevation. Prior studies of Hatis obsidian recognized the existence of two different chemical types. Here, though, we report a series of four obsidian chemical types and their spatial distributions across the slopes. Our findings were enabled by the use of portable XRF during our field surveys of Hatis. Additionally, we recognized each of these four chemical types of Hatis obsidian at the Lower Palaeolithic site of Nor Geghi 1, where thousands of obsidian artifacts reflect Pleistocene hominin behaviors from Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 11 (~424–374 ka) to 9 (~337–300 ka). Thus, all four types of Hatis obsidian are archaeologically significant despite the fact that their outcrops span more than 500 m (from
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