The Middle Palaeolithic Record of Georgia: A Synthesis of the Technological, Economic and Paleoanthropological Aspects

Abstract : This paper presents an overview of the work carried out over the last decade on the Middle Palaeolithic of Georgia by a Georgian-French team, co-directed by the national Museums of Georgia and France. Since 2000, the importance of several Middle Palaeolithic key sites in the Rioni-Kvririla Basin (western Georgia) has been highlighted by this collaboration. Southern Caucasus/Transcaucasia was occupied by human groups throughout the Pleistocene. This is to some extent due to its geographic position at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa, as well as the fact that the region offered a rich variety of ecological niches to hominin populations. The southern flanks of the Great Caucasus mountain range is an area particularly rich in Palaeolithic sites, which have revealed evidence of the local evolution of some regionally-specific Palaeolithic traditions, as well as broader regional influences, particularly in relation to the Levant. The archaeological record of these sites demonstrates the need for further investigation into the relationship between environmental and cultural changes in order to enhance our understanding of the role of the Caucasus Mountains during the Palaeolithic.