Southern Caspian Corridor: a biogeographical hominin expansion route

最近对尼安德特人系统发育的研究发现，大约在150年前，尼安德特人群体内部发生了分裂，这表明高加索地区可能发生了人口更替。例如，在小高加索地区的Azokh 1洞穴中，大约100年前的尼安德特人遗骸与成熟的勒瓦卢瓦石器工业有关。然而，这一令人兴奋的发现提出了一个问题：尼安德特人是否影响了南里海走廊（SCC），这是高加索地区的一个地质生态连续体？这个SSC在人族扩张的世界中扮演了什么角色？在他20世纪60年代对伊朗的考察中，McBurney认为SCC提供了连接欧洲和高加索到中亚和西伯利亚的最近和最快的路线，任何从西方到东方的人类运动都可能经过这个地区。在SCC的Ke 'Aram洞穴的挖掘中，他记录了旧石器时代中期的人工制品，让人想起Zagros Mousterian，这些人工制品被认为与中亚Teshik-Tash洞穴的石器密切相关。McBurney的结论为本研究项目提供了假设基础，即SCC具有扩张和栖息地的生物地理走廊的双重作用，见证了至少在MIS 5和MIS 4中发生的一系列人类进化事件，并旨在进一步表明SCC是尼安德特人和解剖学上的现代人混合的潜在场所。SCC特殊的自然地理条件提供了温和的气候条件，使得该地区在MIS 5和MIS 4的寒冷时期作为不同人类的冰川避难所具有很高的吸引力，因此本研究还假设，来自走廊西部和东部大部分地区的同时期MP组合代表了高度的文化亲和力。为了验证这些假设，我将重新分析SCC最西部的Azokh 1和最东部的Teshik-Tash的石器文物，并继续使用更新的方法在Ke 'Aram进行挖掘。所有的石器都将被仔细地与沙尼达尔进行比较，在沙尼达尔，扎格罗斯莫斯特人的分层文物与尼安德特人的遗骸相关联，以追踪这些遗址之间可能的文化交流。此外，利用微形态学和采用cha<s:1> ne opsamatoire的岩屑分析以及属性分析方法进行遗址形成和地形学研究对于本研究项目的目标至关重要。收集样本进行绝对定年，包括OSL， TL和14C日期，为本研究项目提供了重要的基础，以确定来自Ke'Aram的序列是否反映了MIS 5和MIS 4职业之间的文化连续性或差距。这对于加强对中亚地区这一关键地点的MP的年龄和影响的理解以及发现其在从欧洲到中亚的扩张路线中的作用具有更大的意义。

Recent research on the phylogeny of Neanderthals recognises a division within Neanderthal groups around 150ka suggesting a population turnover is likely to have occurred in the Caucasus. For instance, Neanderthal remains dated ca. 100ka associated with fully fledged Levallois lithic industry were confirmed in the Azokh 1 Cave, in the Lesser Caucasus. This exciting finding, however, raises the questions of whether the Neanderthals impacted on the Southern Caspian Corridor (SCC), which is a geo-ecological continuum of the Caucasus? What role did this SSC play in the world of hominin expansion?In his expedition to Iran during 1960s, McBurney considered SCC provided the closest and fastest route connecting Europe and Caucasus to Central Asia and Siberia and any hominin movement from the west might be expected to pass this region en route to the east. In his excavation at Ke’Aram Cave located in SCC, he documented Middle Palaeolithic artefacts reminiscent of the Zagros Mousterian which are seen to be closely related to the lithics from Teshik-Tash Cave in Central Asia. McBurney’s conclusion provides grounding for this research project to hypothesize that the SCC, with the dual role of biogeographical corridor of expansion and habitat, witnessed a series of human evolutionary events that occurred at least in MIS 5 and 4 and it aims to go further to suggest the SCC as a potential place of admixture of Neanderthals and Anatomically Modern Humans. The exceptional physiogeographic condition of the SCC provided a milder climatic condition making this region highly attractive as a glacial refugium during the cold episodes of MIS 5 and 4 for different hominins, thereby this research also hypothesizes that contemporaneous MP assemblages from western- and eastern-most areas of the corridor represent a high degree of cultural affinity.For testing these hypotheses, I will re-analyse the lithic artefacts from Azokh 1 as western- and Teshik-Tash as eastern-most site of the SCC and continue to excavate at Ke’Aram using updated methods. All lithics will be carefully compared to Shanidar, where stratified Zagros Mousterian artefacts are associated with Neanderthal remains, to trace any possible cultural exchange between these sites. Furthermore, site formation and taphonomic studies using micromorphology and lithic analysis adopting chaîne opératoire as well as attribute analytical methods are crucial for the aims of this research project.Collecting samples for absolute dating including OSL, TL and 14C dates provides an important foundation for this research project to determine whether the sequences from Ke'Aram reflect cultural continuity or gap between MIS 5 and 4 occupations. This gains even more significance to enhance the understanding of the age and implications of the MP in this key site in the SCC and to discover its role in the expansion route from Europe towards Central Asia.