Food gathering and natural resources use evidence at the end of the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic period in the North-Western Caucasus (based on the Dvoinaya Cave and the Chygai Rockshelter materials)

Complex studies of multi-layer Stone Age sites located in the foothills of the North-Western Caucasus (Gubs Gorge) made it possible to obtain fairly representative collections of archaeological materials including stone and bone artifacts and faunal remains, dating from the end of the Late Palaeolithic to Mesolithic and Eneolithic periods. Large concentrations of terrestrial gastropods Helix sp. shells were found in the Early and Late Mesolithic layers. Complex studies of multi-layer Stone Age sites located in the foothills of the North-Western Caucasus (Gubs Gorge) made it possible to obtain fairly representative collections of archaeological materials including stone and bone artifacts and faunal remains, dating from the end of the Late Palaeolithic to Mesolithic and Eneolithic periods. Large concentrations of terrestrial gastropods Helix sp. shells were found in the Early and Late Mesolithic layers. These gastropods were the objects of collecting and probably composed a significant part of the primitive communities diet. Dvoinaya Cave and Chygai Rockshelter belong to series of synchronous Mediterranean, Levant and Zagros sites with large concentrations of grape snails in the late Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic layers. The data of the use-wear analysis of stone tools, micro-chemical and IR-spectroscopic analysis of the residues on the stone tools surfaces allow to conclude that the ancient inhabitants of the Gubs Gorge collected and processed various plant resources, including wood, grass fibers, resin of coniferous and fruit plants with the purpose of manufacturing and fastening of handles, frames and shafts of arrows. The river mollusks Theodoxus danubialis shells were used for making beads. More than 30 shells with punched or drilled holes were found in the lowest layer of the Dvoinaya Cave.