"The Neolithization processes of the Caucasus"

Workshop "The Neolithization processes of the Caucasus: a reassessment in the light of recent archaeological, bioarchaeological and environmental data"

Organisé par Catherine Marro, Erwan Messager et Estelle Herrscher dans le cadre du Groupe de Recherches International :

Worlds in Transition : Migrations, Innovations and Environmental Change in the Caucasus from the Neolithic to the Iron Age. (International Research Network)

Ce workshop est soutenu financièrement par le Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (INEE et INSHS)

The formation of the « Neolithic way of life » (productive economy) occurred fairly late in the Caucasus (ca. 6000 BCE), especially when compared with similar developments in the nearby Fertile Crescent, where evidence of agriculture and herding dating back to the 9th millennium BCE was brought to light.

Several clues collected in the South Caucasus, especially in the Araxes basin, suggest that the development of new subsistence strategies in the highlands may have been prompted by the migrations of human groups from the Fertile Crescent, in particular from its syro-levantine component. In the south-eastern Caucasus, a significant environmental change occurred between 7000 and 6 000 cal. BC, due to a possible shift in the rain-seasonality. Did this climatic shift have an impact on the expansion of Neolithic groups towards the Caucasus? This hypothesis needs to be examined in detail, since other scenarios putting forward the agency of Neolithic groups from Northern Iran are also hotly debated.

These are the core issues that will be discussed during the Istanbul workshop, together with methodological problems inherent to the combined analysis of paleoenvironmental, bioarcheological and archeological data. The last session of the workshop will be devoted to comparing the Neolithization processes of the Caucasus and Western Anatolia.

Événement fermé au public

Détails

Date de l'événement	03/12/2019
Date de fin	04/12/2019
Places	Illimitée
Lieu	IFEA

Programme

DAY 1 - December, 3rd Session 1 (morning) 9h-12h30 Coffee break when needed	Archaeology, bioarchaeology and paleoenvironmental studies: a case of dangerous liaisons ? 1.C. Kuzucuoglu: Climate/Environment/Populations/Societies: multiscalar analyses. Examples from central Anatolia and possible application to the Caucasus 2. A. Decaix/E. Herrscher: Environment and plant exploitation in the Southern Caucasus during the Neolithic : Benefit/uses of archaeobotany and isotopic analysis 3. E. Messager/ S. Joannin: Early Holocene environment and climate in the South Caucasus 4. S. Joannin: Transformations of mountainous vegetation landscapes with Holocene climate and land-use in Armenia. DISCUSSIONS
Session 2 (afternoon) 14h-18h30 Coffee break when needed	New archaeological data from the Caucasus 1. G. Palumbi, F. Guliyev, L. Astruc, E. Baudoin, R. Berthon, M.B. D’Anna, A. Decaix, B. Gratuze, C. Hamon, M. Poulmarc’h. : Excavations and researches at Kiçik Tepe (Azerbaidjan). New data on the Neolithic of the Middle Kura Valley. 2. F. Guliyev: Formation of the Late Neolithic settlements in the Middle-Kura valley 3. C. Marro, V. Bakhshaliyev, R. Berthon: The formation of the Caucasian Neolithic as seen from Kültepe I - New data (2012-2018) 4. R. Berthon : Environmental determinism or cultural choice ? The contribution of herding strategies to the shaping of Neolithic identities in the Caucasus 5. J. Thomalsky : The lilthic industry of Kültepe I DISCUSSIONS
DAY 2 - December, 4th Session 1 (morning) 9h-12h30 Coffee break when needed	1. A. Harutyunian/R. Badalyan: Between Kura and Araxes: the formative stage of the“ Aratashen-Shulaveri-Shomutepe ”culture 2. A. Harutyunian : The earliest pottery of Armenia in a regional context 3. Y. Yilmaz : The burial practices of Kültepe I (Nakhchivan) during the Neolithic period: description and comparison with Anatolian and Mesopotamian contemporary rites. 4. M. Poulmarch : Neolithic funerary practices in the Southern Caucasus and beyond DISCUSSIONS
Session 2 (afternoon) 14h-18h00 Coffee break when needed	Comparing the Neolithization processes of the Caucasus and Western Anatolia 1. M. Ozdogan : Different modalities in the Expansion of Neolithic Way of Living to the West 2. C. Marro : The emergence of the Neolithic way of life in the Caucasus: a provisional synthesis 3. E. Messager/C. Marro : Discussion theme 1: Interpreting the emergence of the Neolithic way of life in the Caucasus in the light of the 8.2 KY BP climatic event 4. M. Ozdogan/C. Marro : Discussion theme 2: Comparing the rise of the Neolithic way of life in the Caucasus, Western Anatolia and Europe