Morphological Variability in Micoquian Convergent Tools: A Case Study in Mezmaiskaya Cave, Northwestern Caucasus

Abstract

ABSTRACT The northwestern Caucasus is part of the Eastern Micoquian cultural area. The Micoquian assemblages in this region include tool types that are defined as small broad handaxes, Mousterian points, convergent and angled scrapers, and rare limaces. All these types represent the group of convergent tools that are defined by two basic elements: two convergent retouched edges. The focus of this study is to investigate the significance of morphological variability among convergent tools characteristic to the Eastern Micoquian. We undertook a morphometric analysis of 188 convergent tools from Mezmaiskaya Cave. The results indicated five tool groups.