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，尼安德特人群体内部在150ka左右出现了分裂，这表明高加索地区可能发生了种群更替。例如，在小高加索的Azokh 1洞穴中，证实了与完全成熟的莱瓦洛斯石器工业有关的约100ka的尼安德特人遗骸。然而，这一令人兴奋的发现提出了这样一个问题：尼安德特人是否影响了南里海走廊(SCC)，这是高加索地区的地理生态连续体？这种SSC在人类扩张的世界中扮演了什么角色？在20世纪60年代对伊朗的探险中，麦克伯尼认为SCC提供了连接欧洲、高加索和中亚和西伯利亚的最近和最快的路线，任何来自西方的原始人迁徙都可能在向东的途中经过这一地区。在他对位于SCC的克阿拉姆洞的挖掘中，他记录了旧石器时代的中期文物，这让人想起Zagros Mousterian，这些文物被认为与中亚Teshik-Tash洞穴的石块密切相关。McBurney的结论为这一研究项目提供了基础，假设SCC具有扩展和栖息地的生物地理走廊的双重作用，见证了至少在MIS5和MIS4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的潜在混合地。SCC特殊的自然地理条件提供了较温和的气候条件，使该地区在MIS5和MIS4的寒冷时期对不同的人类具有极高的吸引力作为冰川避难所，因此本研究还假设来自走廊西部和东部大部分地区的当代MP组合代表了高度的文化亲缘关系。为了验证这些假设，我将重新分析Azokh 1的石器文物作为SCC的西部-和Teshik-Tash作为SCC的最东部遗址，并继续使用最新的方法在Ke‘Aram挖掘。所有的石块都将被仔细地与沙尼达尔进行比较，在沙尼达尔，分层的扎格罗斯·穆斯特尔文物与尼安德特人的遗骸有关，以追踪这些遗址之间任何可能的文化交流。此外，遗址的形成和利用显微形态和岩屑分析以及属性分析方法进行的遗址形成和挖掘研究对于本研究项目的目标至关重要。收集样品进行绝对测年，包括OSL、TL和14C测年，为本研究项目确定克阿拉姆地区的序列是否反映了MIS5和MIS4职业之间的文化连续性或差距提供了重要的基础。这对于增进对SCC中这一关键地点的MP的年龄和含义的理解，以及发现其在从欧洲向中亚的扩张路线中的作用，具有更重要的意义。

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.