@article{9ff33cee817847ee88f8d1dd350d45f3,
title = "Barozh 12: Formation processes of a late Middle Paleolithic open-air site in western Armenia",
abstract = "Barozh 12 is a Middle Paleolithic (MP) open-air site located near the Mt Arteni volcanic complex at the margins of the Ararat Depression, an intermontane basin that contains the Araxes River. Sedimentology, micromorphology, geochronology, biomarker evidence, together with an assessment of artifact taphonomy permits the modelling of site formation processes and paleoenvironment at a level of detail not previously achieved in this area. Obsidian MP artifacts were recovered in high densities at Barozh 12 from four stratigraphic units deposited during marine oxygen isotope stage 3 (MIS 3) (60.2 ± 5.7–31.3 ± 3 ka). The MIS 3 sequence commences with low energy alluvial deposits that have been altered by incipient soil formation, while artifact assemblages in these strata were only minimally reworked. After a depositional hiatus, further low energy alluvial sedimentation and weak soil formation occurred, followed by higher energy colluvial (re)deposition and then deflation. Artifacts in these last stratigraphic units were more significantly reworked than those below. Analysis of plant leaf wax (n-alkane) biomarkers shows fluctuating humidity throughout the sequence. Collectively the evidence suggests that hunter-gatherers equipped with MP lithic technology repeatedly occupied this site during variable aridity regimes, demonstrating their successful adaptation to the changing environments of MIS 3.",
keywords = "Armenia, Geoarchaeology, IRSL Dating, Late Pleistocene, Micromorphology, Middle Paleolithic, MIS 3, Sedimentology, Site formation",
author = "Phil Glauberman and Boris Gasparyan and Jennifer Sherriff and Keith Wilkinson and Bo Li and Monika Knul and Alex Brittingham and Hren, {Michael T.} and Dmitri Arakelyan and Samvel Nahapetyan and Yannick Raczynski-Henk and Hayk Haydosyan and Adler, {Daniel S.}",
note = "Funding Information: This research was funded by an EU 7th Framework Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship (PLATEAU, 330301), the University of Connecticut Department of Anthropology, the Norian Armenian Programs Committee of the University of Connecticut, the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, and the Gfoeller Renaissance Foundation. The research reported here was also conducted as part of the Leverhulme Trust-funded Palaeolithic Archaeology, Geochronology, and Environments of the Southern Caucasus (PAGES) project (RPG-2016-102). We kindly thank the following individuals: Shushanik Zakaryan and Shushanik Gyulnazaryan for artifact cleaning, Smbat and Vahe Davtyan for topographic mapping, Garik Prevyan for artifact illustrations, Rezmik Asatryan, Hovik Partevyan and the Partevyan Family, Suren Kesejyan, Artur Petrosyan, Robert Ghukasyan, Ariel Malinsky-Buller, Rhys Timms, Pavel Avetisyan ? Director of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, Khachatur Meliksetyan ? Director of the Institute of Geological Sciences of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, and the mayor and residents of the village of Barozh. We also thank the editors and anonymous reviewers for their comments which greatly improved this paper. Funding Information: This research was funded by an EU 7th Framework Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship (PLATEAU, 330301), the University of Connecticut Department of Anthropology, the Norian Armenian Programs Committee of the University of Connecticut , the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia , and the Gfoeller Renaissance Foundation. The research reported here was also conducted as part of the Leverhulme Trust-funded Palaeolithic Archaeology, Geochronology, and Environments of the Southern Caucasus ( PAGES ) project (RPG-2016-102). We kindly thank the following individuals: Shushanik Zakaryan and Shushanik Gyulnazaryan for artifact cleaning, Smbat and Vahe Davtyan for topographic mapping, Garik Prevyan for artifact illustrations, Rezmik Asatryan, Hovik Partevyan and the Partevyan Family, Suren Kesejyan, Artur Petrosyan, Robert Ghukasyan, Ariel Malinsky-Buller, Rhys Timms, Pavel Avetisyan – Director of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, Khachatur Meliksetyan – Director of the Institute of Geological Sciences of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, and the mayor and residents of the village of Barozh. We also thank the editors and anonymous reviewers for their comments which greatly improved this paper. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 Elsevier Ltd",
year = "2020",
month = may,
day = "15",
doi = "10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106276",
language = "English",
volume = "236",
journal = "Quaternary Science Reviews",
issn = "0277-3791",
}
