Three Types of Industry in the Stone Age of Gobustan

A new chronological framework for the Stone Age of Gobustan, Azerbaijan, reveals three distinct cultural and technological groups that challenge previous understandings. The study proposes that Upper Palaeolithic sites date to before the Last Glacial Maximum (approximately 25–20 thousand years ago), while Mesolithic layers align with the transition from the Allerød to the Younger Dryas (14–12 thousand years ago). Local Neolithic emergence is traced to around the early 6th millennium BC. The research systematically analyzes stone tool inventories across key sites, offering refined criteria for classification and a revised timeline that diverges significantly from earlier models.

Amirkhanov, H. A. (2023). THREE TYPES OF INDUSTRY IN THE STONE AGE OF GOBUSTAN. Rossiiskaia Arkheologiia, (3), 7–22. https://doi.org/10.31857/s0869606323030029