Faunal remains from the Oldowan site of Muhkai II in the North Caucasus: Potential for dating and palaeolandscape reconstruction H.A. Amirkhanov a , D.V. Ozherelyev a, * , M.V. Sablin b , A.K. Agadzhanyan c a Stone Age Department, Institute of Archeology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 19, Dm. Ulyanova str., 117036 Moscow, Russia b Theriology Laboratory, Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 1 Universitetskaya naberejnaya, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia c Mammology Laboratory, Borissiak Palаeontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 123 Profsoyuznaya str.,117647 Moscow, Russia article info Article history: Available online xxx Keywords: Early Pleistocene Muhkai II Dagestan Fauna Dating Palaeolandscape abstract The results of study of faunal materials unique for the north-eastern Caucasus are published, deriving from layer 80 of the Oldowan site of Muhkai II. Twenty-six specimens of four species of carnivorous mammal and six species of herbivorous mammal were identified in this material. In addition, the re- mains of small mammals, reptiles and amphibians were identified, which are indicators for the dating of the assemblage and the establishment of the specific characteristics of the natural environment at the time of usage of the Oldowan site. While in the modern day the investigated region consists of a belt of medium high mountains, during the chronological period under study open landscapes of savannah type with small areas of forest vegetation dominated. Based on a combination of data from palaeomagnetic analysis and faunal determinations, the time of existence of the complex is established as no later than the lower limit of the Olduvai episode during the Matuyama palaeomagnetic epoch. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The multilayered Early Pleistocene site of Muhkai II (Fig. 1) was discovered in 2006 in the central mountaineous area of Dagestan (Amirkhanov, 2007). Since its discovery, ongoing systematic field research has been carried out by teams from the Institute of Archaeology, RAS (Russian Academy of Sciences) and the Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnography, Dagestan Scientific Centre, RAS. By 2012 the site's section had been nearly fully exposed in an excavation trench, to a total thickness of 72 m. The site section includes more than 100 lithological units, of which 34 contain archaeological remains (Amirkhanov et al. 2011, 2012a, 2014). In the overwhelming majority of cases, the latter consist only of stone tools. However, four levels can be identified in which faunal remains are preserved alongside artefacts. The most significant level in this respect is that designated as layer 80 of Muhkai II, which lies at a depth of 34 m from the modern-day surface. This level was excavated in 2010e2012 over an area of 49 m 2 (Figs. 2 and 3). The thickness of the cultural layer, taking into account its post-depositional changes, does not exceed 10 cm, and multiple flint finds occurred here in the form of a single thin horizon. In the depression of an ancient body of water, adjacent to the cul- tural layer, the vertical dispersion of the archaeological remains reaches 40e50 cm. There are no traces of rolling or mechanical damage on the flint flakes which post-date the creation of the artefacts. Judging by the make-up and spatial analysis of the archaeo- logical assemblage, the activities of the ancient inhabitants of the site took place on the bank of a naturally dammed pond or small lake. The traces of both manufacturing and domestic activities are found here. The number of flint artefacts (excluding small trimming and retouch flakes found by wet-sieving the spoil) in the excavated area approaches 900 (Fig. 5, 1e2). Typologically, the finished worked flint artefacts include choppers, picks, and small scrapers. Similar stone tools sets are found in many layers of the site of Muhkai II (layers 24,35,74,82 etc.) (Fig. 5, 3). The raw material used for the stone tools was flint, outcrops of which could be found close to the site. The collection of bones of large mammals numbers more than 300 finds. Apart from the bones of large mammals, the skeletal remains of amphibians, reptiles, rodents, and the shells of small * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: amirkhanov@rambler.ru (H.A. Amirkhanov), dim_as_oj@mail. ru (D.V. Ozherelyev), msablin@yandex.ru (M.V. Sablin), aagadj@paleo.ru (A.K. Agadzhanyan). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Quaternary International journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/quaint http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.12.061 1040-6182/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved. Quaternary International xxx (2015) 1e9 Please cite this article inpress as: Amirkhanov, H.A., et al., Faunal remains from the Oldowan site of Muhkai II in the North Caucasus: Potential for dating and palaeolandscape reconstruction, Quaternary International (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.12.061