The Taghlar cave ( az, Tağlar mağarası; hy, Մեծ Թաղերի Քարայր, Mets Tagheri Karayr) is an
archaeological site that was inhabited by prehistoric humans of the
Mousterian culture during the
Paleolithic
The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...
.
The cave is located in
Azerbaijan, in the
disputed
Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin ''controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an opposite d ...
region of
Nagorno-Karabakh, in the southern part of
Boyuk Taghlar (Mets Tagher) village, on the left banks of the Guruchay River.
Ancient people lived here 64-24 thousand years ago.
History
The cave was discovered during the Paleolithic archaeological expedition of
Academy of Science of Azerbaijan under the leadership of
M.Huseynov in 1960. Excavations in the Taghlar cave can be divided into two stages:
Vahid Hajiyev and Mammadali Huseynov gave the first information about the stratigraphy of the cave as a result of 1963-1964 excavations. R. Sultanova published an article on the geological features of the cave in 1973.
Cleansing of the existing sections was carried out to study stratigraphy and lithology of sediments and the occurrence of cultural residues in 1976-1982.
Bone remains of animals found starting from the first year of excavations in the cave, and they were carefully classified in 1977-78.
Within the framework of the International INTAS-2000 program, European scholars including Professor
Henri de Lumley conducted scientific research of
archaeological
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
,
paleontological and
paleoanthropological
Paleoanthropology or paleo-anthropology is a branch of paleontology and anthropology which seeks to understand the early development of anatomically modern humans, a process known as hominization, through the reconstruction of evolutionary kinship ...
findings of multilayer Taglar and other Paleolithic caves in
Azerbaijan in September-October 2002.
Material and cultural artefacts found at the Taglar cave were exhibited in 1981 in
Musée de l'Homme in Paris.
Findings
Beginning in 1963, archaeological excavations were carried out in the cave and more than 7,000 stone tools and over 2,000
faunal fossilized bones were discovered and six cultural sediment layers were identified at the site. Pottery shards of the
Middle Ages, the
Bronze Age and
Copper Age
The Copper Age, also called the Chalcolithic (; from grc-gre, χαλκός ''khalkós'', "copper" and ''líthos'', "stone") or (A)eneolithic (from Latin '' aeneus'' "of copper"), is an archaeological period characterized by regular ...
were found right underneath the top layer.
Indices of the
Mousterian culture
The Mousterian (or Mode III) is an archaeological industry of stone tools, associated primarily with the Neanderthals in Europe, and to the earliest anatomically modern humans in North Africa and West Asia. The Mousterian largely defines the latt ...
were found in between the 2nd and 6th layer. Numerous work-pieces of tool making, red, black, brown, grey, white and other colours have also been discovered in the inventory of the cave.
The remains of large mammals such as
horse, noble
deer,
bull were found in the 5th layer. From the 5th layer, remains of bones of small mammals (
Rodentia) were also released in 1977 by M.B.Suleymanov. This collection was investigated by A.K.Markova in the 1980s and in 2009. The collection includes fragments of the lower and upper jaws of rodents with molars and incisors, as well as individual samples of incisors and molars. Those bone residues belong to six species:
Microtus (Microtus) obscurus,
Ellobius
''Ellobius'' is a genus of rodents in the family Cricetidae. It is the only member of the tribe Ellobiusini. It contains two ('' E. lutescens'' and '' E. tancrei'') of the handful of examples of mammal species that have lost the Y chromosome.
...
lutescens,
Cricetulus
''Cricetulus'' is a genus of rodent in the family Cricetidae (voles and hamsters); it has seven member species that inhabit arid or semi-arid regions in Eurasia.
They tend to be more ratlike in appearance than typical hamsters, hence the commo ...
migratorius,
Arvicola
The water voles are large voles in the genus ''Arvicola''. They are found in both aquatic and dry habitat through Europe and much of northern Asia. A water vole found in Western North America was historically considered a member of this genus ...
terrestris,
Meriones libycus and
Allactaga
The genus ''Allactaga'' contains the four and five-toed jerboas of Asia. They are small mammals belonging to the order of rodents. They are characteristically known as the hopping rodents of the desert and semi-arid regions. They have long hind f ...
williamsi. Based on the ecological features of fauna relics of the cave, it is assumed that arid-steppe and semi-desert landscapes dominated around Taghlar cave during the period of ancient people lived here. There were also detected pieces of some species of rodents which are not believed that they have inhabited in this cave.
Classification
Only the largest cavity of the cave with an area of 120 square meters belongs to the
Pleistocene era. Other parts are linked to the
Mousterian period.
The first layer belongs to the late
Holocene while the rest belong to late Pleistocene.
References
Literature
* Azərbaycan Tarixi (7 cilddə). Bakı: Elm, 1998, 1-ci cild
* А. К. Джафаров. Мустьерская культура Азербайджана: по материалам Тагларской пещеры. — «Элм», 1983. — 96 с.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taghlar Cave
1960 archaeological discoveries
Caves of Azerbaijan
Paleoanthropological sites
Prehistoric sites in Azerbaijan
Archaeological sites in Azerbaijan
Mousterian