Abstract
To date, sixty years have passed since the excavations of V. G. Kotovich at the Chokh settlement and almost forty years after the fieldwork was carried out there by the author. Over these decades, much has changed in the approaches to excavations and to the interpretation of materials obtained from layers with heterogeneous archaeological stratigraphy and complex lithological structure. A new understanding of the Chokh materials leads to the need to revise some of our ideas about the formation, taphonomy and relative chronology of finds and objects of the Neolithic layer of this site. With regard to the Chokh settlement, such an analysis leads to the need to consider the layer C (Neolithic) as a multi-component cultural and geological formation consisting of three or four consecutive microstratigraphic divisions. Based on this, an attempt is made in this paper to correct the ideas concerning the composition of archaeological material belonging specifically to the Neolithic layer. Special attention is paid to the highlighting of the homogeneous part that is related with the “floor” of the cultural layer C, or, in other words, the lowest, initial horizon (layer C, “bottom” or layer C, horizon 3), of which the formation of the Neolithic layer began. The breakdown of the cultural layer C into different living surfaces is carried out by linking the latter to the levels of occurrence of hearths and fire pits. This makes it possible, in particular, to isolate a homogeneous part of the material that is associated with the “floor” of the layer under consideration (layer C, “bottom” or layer C, horizon 3). In this paper, we have tried to isolate from the totality of the archaeological material of Layer C, its various parts, which can be attributed to the Neolithic layer with varying degrees of confidence.
Highlights
Over the past four decades, no long-term and comprehensive studies have been carried out on the Neolithic of the eastern part of the North Caucasus
The main question is the chronology of Layer C, which is as important as identifying the dates of the underlying Mesolithic layers
The main features of the layer compared to the underlying Mesolithic layers on the excavated area of the site are as follows: the significantly greater richness of archaeological material; the dark gray color of sediments associated with the abundant inclusion of ash and cinder; the presence of hearths, fireplaces, and architectural remains; the content of ceramic fragments, a variety of qualitative composition of finds reflecting the production and household activities of the inhabitants of the settlement – an indication that the inventory belongs to the population familiar with agriculture and cattle breeding
Summary
Over the past four decades, no long-term and comprehensive studies have been carried out on the Neolithic of the eastern part of the North Caucasus. The middle part of the plateau (Fig. 1), in which the Chokh settlement is located, covers the basin of the upper reaches of the Bakdakuli River (the right tributary of the Kara-Koisu river), has a height range of 1750-2240 m, and occupies the largest area. At the initial stage of the excavations, it was already possible to consider the presence of post-positional changes, at least in the upper part of cultural deposits These were, first of all, disturbances related to excavations (in particular, the extraction of flint as raw materials for tools) carried out by humans for a long time (including the 20th century) after the completion of the formation of the layer. The floor of the cultural layer was clearly broken off by the deepened Hearth 1, located on squares L-M-6, approximately in the center of the remains of a stone semicircular structure, as well as by a sharp change in color from dark gray (Layer C) to yellowish-brown (Layer D)
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