Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-cfpbc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T22:14:04.266Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Late Acheulean Lithic Assemblages From Locality 010 at Gürgürbaba Hill (Eastern Anatolia)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 January 2022

İsmail Baykara Open the ORCID record for İsmail Baykara [Opens in a new window] ,
M. Akif Sarıkaya Open the ORCID record for M. Akif Sarıkaya [Opens in a new window] ,
Serkan Şahin Open the ORCID record for Serkan Şahin [Opens in a new window] ,
Berkay Dinçer Open the ORCID record for Berkay Dinçer [Opens in a new window]  and
Esin Ünal Open the ORCID record for Esin Ünal [Opens in a new window]
İsmail Baykara
Affiliation:
Archaeology Department, Gaziantep University, Turkey
M. Akif Sarıkaya
Affiliation:
Eurasia Institute of Earth Sciences, Istanbul Technical University, Turkey
Serkan Şahin
Affiliation:
Anthropology Department, Kırşehir Ahi Evran University, Turkey
Berkay Dinçer
Affiliation:
Anthropology Department, İstanbul University, Turkey
Esin Ünal
Affiliation:
Geology Department, Van-Yüzüncü Yıl University, Turkey.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The province of Van in north-eastern Turkey served as a land bridge between Africa and Eurasia during the Palaeolithic. The region is of particular relevance for understanding the movement of hominins between these continents. This study concerns the lithic remains from a locality at Gürgürbaba Hill, named Locality 010, north of the village of Ulupamir (Erciş district). Locality 010 was dated to 311±32 kya by terrestrial cosmogenic nuclides method, which coincides with Marine Isotope Stage 9 (MIS 9), a Middle Pleistocene interglacial period. The assemblage from this site is attributed to the Late Acheulean and resembles that of the southern Caucasus. This similarity indicates that the artefacts from Locality 010 were probably produced by late Lower Palaeolithic technology in a broad sense. These findings suggest local adaptations of late Middle Pleistocene hominins to high plateau environments.

La province de Van dans le nord-est de la Turquie servait de lien entre l'Afrique et l'Eurasie durant le Paléolithique. Cette région est particulièrement importante pour nos connaissances des mouvements des hominidés entre ces deux continents. L'article ci-présent traite du mobilier lithique d'un site sur la colline de Gürgürbaba au nord du village d'Ulupamir dans le district d'Erciş, appelé site 010. Une date de 311 000±32 000 ans, obtenue par méthode de datation par nucléides cosmogénique, correspond au Stade Isotopique de l'Oxygène 9 (SIO 9, MIS 9 en anglais) pendant une période interglaciaire du Pléistocène moyen. Le mobilier provenant du site 010, qui ressemble aux ensembles connus dans le sud du Caucase, est attribué à une phase tardive de l'Acheuléen. Cette ressemblance indiquerait que les artefacts produits sur le site ont probablement été façonnés par des techniques connues à la fin du Paléolithique inférieur. Ces résultats suggèrent que les hominidés se sont adaptés aux conditions des hauts plateaux anatoliens vers la fin du Pléistocène moyen. Translation by Madeleine Hummler

Die Provinz von Van im Nordosten der Türkei bildete eine Landbrücke zwischen Afrika und Eurasien im Paläolithikum. Diese Gegend ist von besonderer Bedeutung für unsere Kenntnisse der Bewegungen von Menschen zwischen diesen Kontinenten. Die Verfasser dieser Studie untersuchen das lithische Material aus der Fundstelle 010 auf Gürgürbaba Tepe, ein Hügel nördlich des Dorfes Ulupamir im Kreis Erciş. Die Fundstelle 010 ergab eine Datierung von 311±32 kya durch Oberflächenexpositionsdatierung, was mit der Sauerstoff-Isotopenstufe 9 (MIS 9, eine interglaziale Stufe des Mittelpleistozäns) übereinstimmt. Das Material aus der Fundstelle gehört zum späten Acheuléen und ist mit Sammlungen aus dem Südkaukasus vergleichbar. Diese Ähnlichkeit weist darauf hin, dass die Artefakte aus der Fundstelle 010 wahrscheinlich mit Techniken des späteren Altpaläolithikums hergestellt worden sind. Diese Ergebnisse deuten auf eine Anpassung der Homininen an die Bedingungen der lokalen Hochebene. Translation by Madeleine Hummler

Keywords

Late Acheuleanobsidianeastern AnatoliaGürgürbaba Hillhuman migrationlandscape adaptationAcheuléen tardifobsidienneAnatolie orientaleGürgürbaba Tepemigration humaineadaptation au paysagespätes AcheuléenObsidianOstanatolienGürgürbaba Tepemenschliche MigrationAnpassung an die Landschaft
Type
Article
Information
European Journal of Archaeology , Volume 25 , Issue 3 , August 2022 , pp. 289 - 308
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Association of Archaeologists

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adler, D.S., Wilkinson, K.N., Blockley, S., Mark, D.F., Pinhasi, R., Schmidt-Magee, B.A. et al. 2014. Early Levallois Technology and the Lower to Middle Paleolithic Transition in the Southern Caucasus. Science, 345: 1609–13. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1256484CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Agam, A. & Barkai, R. 2018. Small Flake Acheulian: Further Insights into Lithic Recycling at Late Acheulian Revadim, Israel. Journal of the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University. 45: 170–92. https://doi.org/10.1080/03344355.2018.1494783CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Akköprü, E., Tunç, R., Robin, A.K. & Mouralis, D. 2019. Meydan volkanik alanı ve Gürgürbaba domu çevresinin jeomorfolojik özellikleri. Coğrafi Bilimler Dergisi, 17: 428–52. https://doi.org/10.33688/aucbd.615971CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bar-Yosef, O. 1994. The Lower Paleolithic of the Near East. Journal of World Prehistory, 8: 211–65. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02221050CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bar-Yosef, O. 1998. Early Colonizations and Cultural Continuities in the Lower Paleolithic of Western Asia. In: Petraglia, M.D. & Korisettar, R., eds. Early Human Behaviour in Global Context: The Rise and Diversity of the Lower Paleolithic Record. London & New York: Routledge, pp. 221–79.Google Scholar
Baykara, İ., Dinçer, B. & Şahin, S. 2018. Gürgürbaba Tepesi (Erciş, Van) Paleolitik Çağ Araştırmaları. Colloquium Anatolicum, 17, 161–88.Google Scholar
Baykara, İ., Dinçer, B., Şahin, S., Eren, E., Ünal, E. & Gülseven, B. 2020. Van İli Neojen ve Pleistosen Dönemleri Yüzey Araştırması-2018. Araştırma Sonuçları Toplantısı 37/2: 343–55.Google Scholar
Baykara, İ., Dinçer, B., Şahin, S., Koç, E., Baykara, D., Özer, İ., et al. 2016. 2014 yılı Van ili Neojen ve Pleistosen dönemleri yüzey araştırması. Araştırma Sonuçları Toplantısı 33/2: 539–52.Google Scholar
Baykara, İ., Mentzer, S.M., Stiner, M.C., Asmerom, Y., Savaş-Güleç, E. & Kuhn, S.L. 2015. The Middle Paleolithic Occupations of Üçağızlı II Cave (Hatay, Turkey): Geoarcheological and Archeological Perspectives. Journal of Archaeological Science Reports, 4: 409–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JASREP.2015.09.022CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bigazzi, G., Dompnier, E., Hadler Neto, J. C., Poupeau, G. & Vulliez, E. 1988. A Reactor Intercalibration for Fission Track Dating and Uranium Micromapping. International Journal of Radiation Applications and Instrumentation, Part D: Nuclear Tracks and Radiation Measurements, 15: 755–57.Google Scholar
Bigazzi, G., Yeğingil, Z., Ercan, T., Oddone, M. & Özdoğan, M. 1997. Doğu Anadolu'daki obsidiyen içeren volkaniklerin “Fizyon Track” yöntemiyle yaş tayini. Türkiye Jeoloji Bülteni, 40: 57–72.Google Scholar
Boëda, E. 1995. Levallois: A Volumetric Construction, Methods, A Technique. In: Dibble, H.L. & Bar-Yosef, O., eds. The Definition and Interpretation of Levallois Technology. Madison (WI): Prehistory Press, pp. 41–68.Google Scholar
Borchers, B., Marrero, S., Balco, G., Caffee, M., Goehring, B.M., Gosse, J. et al. 2016. Geological Calibration of Spallation Production Rates in the CRONUS-Earth Project. Quaternary Geochronology, 31: 188–98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2015.01.009CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bordes, F. 1961. Typologie du Paléolithique ancien et moyen. Paris: CNRS.Google Scholar
Çağatay, M.N., Gretmen, N.Ö., Damcı, E., Stockhecke, M., Sancar, Ü., Eris, K.K. & Özeren, S. 2014. Lake Level and Climate Records of the Last 90 ka from the Northern Basin of Lake Van, Eastern Turkey. Quaternary Science Reviews, 104: 97–116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.09.027CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Debénath, A. & Dibble, H.L. 1994. Handbook of Paleolithic Typology. Philadelphia: University Museum, University of Pennsylvania.Google Scholar
Dinçer, B. 2016. The Lower Paleolithic in Turkey: Anatolia and Hominin Dispersals out of Africa. In: Harvati, K. & Roksandic, M., eds. Paleoanthropology of the Balkans and Anatolia: Human Evolution and its Context. Dordrecht: Springer, pp. 213–28. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-0874-4_13CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Doronichev, V. 2000. Lower Paleolithic Occupation of the Northern Caucasus. In: Lordkipanidze, D., Bar-Yosef, O., & Otte, M., eds. Early Humans at the Gates of Europe: Proceedings of the First International Symposium, Dmanisi, Tbilisi (Georgia), September 1998. Liège: ERAUL, pp. 67–77.Google Scholar
Doronichev, V. 2008. The Lower Paleolithic in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus: A Reappraisal of the Data and New Approaches. PaleoAnthropology, 2008: 107–57.Google Scholar
Doronichev, V. & Golovanova, L. 2010. Beyond the Acheulian: A View on the Lower Paleolithic Occupation of Western Eurasia. Quaternary International, 223–24: 327–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2009.12.003CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dunai, T.J. 2010. Cosmogenic Nuclides: Principles, Concepts and Applications in the Earth Surface Sciences. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilead, D. 1970. Handaxe Industries in Israel and the Near East. World Archaeology, 2: 1–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gisis, I. & Ronen, A. 2006. Bifaces from the Acheulian and Yabrudian Layers of Tabun Cave, Israel. In: Goren-Inbar, N. & Sharon, G., eds. Axe Age: Acheulian Tool-Making from Quarry to Discard. London: Equinox, pp. 137–54.Google Scholar
Güleç, E., White, T., Kuhn, S., Özer, İ., Sağır, M., Yılmaz, H. & Howell, F.C. 2009. The Lower Pleistocene Lithic Assemblage from Dursunlu (Konya), Central Anatolia, Turkey. Antiquity, 83: 11–22. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00098057CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inizan, M.L., Reduron-Ballinger, M., Roche, H. & Tixier, J. 1999. Technology and Terminology of Knapped Stone. Naterrre: CREP.Google Scholar
Innocenti, F., Mazzuoli, R., Pasquare, G., Serri, G. & Villari, L. 1980. Geology of the Volcanic Area North of Lake Van (Turkey). Geologische Rundschau, 69: 292–323.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jagher, R. 2016. Nadaouiyeh Aïn Askar, an Example of Upper Acheulean Variability in the Levant. Quaternary International, 411 Part B: 44–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2016.02.006CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jelinek, A. 1982. The Tabun Cave and Paleolithic Man in the Levant. Science, 216: 1369–75.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kolpakov, E.M. 2009. The Late Acheulian Site of Dastadem-3 in Armenia. PaleoAnthropology, 2009: 3–31.Google Scholar
Kuhn, S.L., Arsebük, G. & Howell, F.C. 1996. The Middle Pleistocene Lithic Assemblage from Yarımburgaz Cave, Turkey. Paléorient, 22: 31–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuhn, S.L., Dinçer, B., Balkan-Atlı, N. & Erturaç, M.K. 2015. Paleolithic Occupations of Göllü Dağ, Central Anatolia, Turkey. Journal of Field Archaeology, 40: 581–602. https://doi.org/10.1179/2042458215Y.0000000020CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuhn, S.L, Stiner, M.C., Güleç, E., Özer, İ., Yılmaz, H., Baykara, İ. et al. 2009. The Early Upper Paleolithic Occupations at Üçağızlı Cave (Hatay, Turkey). Journal of Human Evolution, 87: 87–113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kwiecien, O., Stockhecke, M., Pickarski, N., Heumann, G., Litt, T., Sturm, M. et al. 2014. Dynamics of the Last Four Glacial Terminations Recorded in Lake Van, Turkey. Quaternary Science Reviews, 104: 42–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.07.001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lebatard, A.E., Alçiçek, M.C., Rochette, P., Khatib, S., Vialet, A. & Boulbes, N. 2014. Dating the Homo Erectus Bearing Travertine from Kocabaş (Denizli, Turkey) at least 1.1 Ma. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 390: 8–18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2013.12.031CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Le Tensorer, J.-M., Jagher, R., Rentzel, P., Hauck, T., Ismail-Meyer, K., Pümpin, C. et al. 2007. Long-Term Site Formation Processes at the Natural Springs Nadaouiyeh and Hummal in the El Kowm Oasis, Central Syria. Geoarchaeology: An International Journal, 22: 621–39. https://doi.org/10.1002/gea.20177Google Scholar
Lifton, N., Sato, T. & Dunai, T.J. 2014. Scaling in situ Cosmogenic Nuclide Production Rates Using Analytical Approximations to Atmospheric Cosmic-Ray Fluxes. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 386: 149–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2013.10.052CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Litt, T., Pickarski, N., Heumann, G., Stockhecke, M. & Tzedakis, P.C. 2014. A 600,000 Year Long Continental Pollen Record from Lake Van, Eastern Anatolia (Turkey). Quaternary Science Reviews, 104: 30–41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.03.017CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Malinsky-Buller, A. 2014. Contextualizing Curational Strategies at the Late Lower Paleolithic Site of Holon, Israel. PaleoAnthropology, 2014. 483–504.Google Scholar
Malinsky-Buller, A. 2016. The Muddle in the Middle Pleistocene: The Lower–Middle Paleolithic Transition from the Levantine Perspective. Journal of World Prehistory, 29: 1–78. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10963-016-9092-1CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marder, O., Khalaily, M., Rabinovich, R., Gvirtzman, G., Wieder, M., Porat, N. et al. 1999. The Lower Paleolithic Site of Revadim Quarry, Preliminary Results. Journal of the Israel Prehistoric Society, 28: 21–53.Google Scholar
Marder, O., Milevski, I. & Matskevich, Z. 2006. The Handaxes of Revadim Quarry: Typo-Technological Considerations and Aspects of Intra-Site Variability. In: Goren-Inbar, N. & Sharon, G., eds. Axe Age: Acheulian Tool-Making from Quarry to Discard. London: Equinox, pp. 223–42.Google Scholar
Marrero, S.M., Phillips, F.M., Caffee, M.W. & Gosse, J.C. 2016. CRONUS-Earth cosmogenic 36Cl calibration. Quaternary Geochronology, 31: 199–219. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2015.10.002CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Matsuda, J.I. 1988. Geochemical Study of Collision Volcanism at the Plate Boundary in Turkey (Comparison with Sub-Duction Volcanism in Japan). In: Unpublished Initial Report of the Turkey-Japan Volcanological Project, Part I, pp. 31-36.Google Scholar
Matsuda, J.I. 1990. K-Ar Age of Turkey Volcanisms. In: Unpublished Initial Report of the Turkey-Japan Volcanological Project, Part II, pp. 63–68.Google Scholar
McPherron, S. 2003. Technological and Typological Variability in the Bifaces from Tabun Cave, Israel. In: Soressi, M. & Dibble, H.L., eds. Multiple Approaches to the Study of Bifacial Technologies. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, pp. 55–76.Google Scholar
Minzoni-Déroche, A. 1987. Le Paléolithique du Bassin du Nizip: rapport préliminaire. Istanbul: Institut Français d’Études Anatoliennes.Google Scholar
Moncel, M.H, Arzarello, M., Boëda, E., Bonilauri, S., Chevrier, B., Gaillard, C. et al. 2018. The Assemblages with Bifacial Tools in Eurasia (First Part). What is Going on in the West? Data on Western and Southern Europe and the Levant. Comptes Rendus Palevol, 17: 45–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crpv.2015.09.009CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Otte, M., Yalçınkaya, I., Kozlowski, J., Bar-Yosef, O., Lopez Bayon, I. & Taşkıran, H. 1998. Long-Term Technical Evolution and Human Remains in the Anatolian Paleolithic. Journal of Human Evolution, 34: 413–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phillips, F.M., Argento, D.C., Balco, G., Caffee, M.W., Clem, J., Dunai, T. et al. 2016. The CRONUS-Earth Project: A Synthesis. Quaternary Geochronology, 31: 119–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2015.09.006CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sarıkaya, M.A. 2009. Late Quaternary Glaciation and Paleoclimate of Turkey Inferred from Cosmogenic 36Cl Dating of Moraines and Glacier Modeling (unpublished PhD dissertation, University of Arizona).Google Scholar
Schimmelpfennig, I., Benedetti, L., Finkel, R., Pik, R., Blard, P.H., Bourlès, D. et al. 2009. Sources of in-situ 36Cl in Basaltic Rocks: Implications for Calibration of Production Rates. Quaternary Geochronology, 4: 441–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2009.06.003CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sharon, G. 2016. The Acheulian of the Levant. In: Enzel, Y. & Bar-Yosef, O., eds. Quaternary of the Levant: Enviroments, Climate Change, and Humans. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 549–54.Google Scholar
Shimelmitz, R., Weinstein-Evron, M., Ronen, A. & Kuhn, S.L. 2016. The Lower to Middle Paleolithic Transition and the Diversification of Levallois Technology in the Southern Levant: Evidence from Tabun Cave, Israel. Quaternary International, 409 Part B: 23–40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.12.036CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slimak, L., Kuhn, S.L., Roche, H., Mouralis, D., Buitenhuis, H., Balkan-Atlı, N. et al. 2008. Kaletepe Deresi 3 (Turkey): Archaeological Evidence for Early Human Settlement in Central Anatolia. Journal of Human Evolution, 54: 99–111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2007.07.004CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Taşkıran, H. 2018. The Distribution of Acheulean Culture and its Possible Routes in Turkey. Comptes Rendus Palevol, 17: 99–106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crpv.2016.12.005CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ulusoy, İ., Sarıkaya, M.A., Schmitt, A.K., Şen, E., Danišík, M. & Gümüş, E. 2019. Volcanic Eruption Eye-Witnessed and Recorded by Prehistoric Humans. Quaternary Science Reviews, 212: 187–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Uslu, E., Baykara, İ., Dinçer, B., Şahin, S. & Ünal, E. 2020. Gürgürbaba Tepesi Kazısı-2018, Kazı Sonuçları Toplantısı, 41/2: 591–603.Google Scholar
Van Peer, P. 1992. The Levallois Reduction Strategy (Monographs in World Archaeology, 13). Madison (WI): Prehistory Press.Google Scholar
Zaidner, Y., Druck, D. & Weinstein-Evron, M. 2006. Acheulo-Yabrudian Handaxes from Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel. In: Goren-Inbar, N. & Sharon, G., eds. Axe Age: Acheulian Tool-Making from Quarry to Discard. London: Equinox, pp. 243–66.Google Scholar