Kobuleti: Flint and Obsidian Complexes of Layers 3 and 4

Abstract

Excavations carried out in 2023 made it possible to locate and study the earliest layers of the Kobuleti site. These layers date back to the Late Pleistocene or the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary. The complex of layer 3 is represented by materials from the ancient Holocene soil, located in the eastern part of the site, and materials from pit 53. The materials from the soil are exclusively related to the hunting activities of the site’s inhabitants. The materials from Pit 53 are more diverse. Layer 4 was located only in the north-eastern part of the site and is associated with the remains of a stone wall and some demolished stone structures. The stratigraphic position of layer 4 is associated with a black colored soil, probably associated with the Allerød Interstadial.
Obsidian and flint were raw materials for the manufacture of stone tools. The Chikiani Mountain location was a major source of obsidian. It should be noted that the percentage of obsidian artefacts in layers 3 and 4 is much lower than in the later layers. This is probably due to the difficulty of obtaining obsidian in conditions of poor knowledge of the area. This may suggest that layers 3 and 4 represent the initial phase of the Kobuleti industry in the South Caucasus.
It is very interesting that all the archaeological layers of the site show cultural similarities. All the complexes, including the earliest, are associated with the use of pressing flaking, conic and bullet-like cores, with finds of backed blades and burinated pieces. The materials of the site are related to the so-called Kobuletian culture, which developed in the South Caucasus in the XI-VII millennia BC. The origin of this culture is related to the migration of bearers of M’lefaatian culture of the Middle East.
The materials of layers 3 and 4 show that the Kobuletian population was in contact with the Late Epigravettian population of Imeretia. The presence of bladelets with abrupt bipolar retouching in the complex shows that there was an exchange of technologies between the bearers of two synchronous cultures. The emergence of the Kobuletian culture led to the formation of an extensive network linking the South Caucasus and the Middle East. The emergence of such a network could have become a prerequisite for the further spread of Middle Eastern innovations, including the Neolithic way of life.