An article titled “Procurement and exchange of obsidian in the Middle Palaeolithic of western Azerbaijan (South Caucasus)” was published in the latest issue of the English-language Dutch journal Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, included in the international Elsevier scientific database. Among the authors of the article are leading researcher of the Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology of ANAS, PhD in History Azad Zeynalov, and leading researcher of the Institute of Geography named after H. Aliyev of the Ministry of Science and Education of Azerbaijan, PhD in Geology and Mineralogy Rashid Fataliyev. In addition to Azerbaijani scientists, the list of authors also includes senior researcher of the V.S. Sobolev Institute of Geology and Mineralogy of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Geological Sciences Yaroslav Kuzmin, and research professor at the Archaeometry Laboratory of the University of Missouri (USA) Michael D. Glascock.

The main goal of the study, the results of which were published in the scientific journal, was to clarify the ways in which Neanderthal humans in the Middle Palaeolithic procured volcanic glass (obsidian) for the production of tools.

X-ray fluorescence analysis was applied to determine the origin of obsidian artefacts (85 samples) found at four main Middle Palaeolithic sites located in the western part of Azerbaijan and dated approximately to 140,000–40,000 years ago — the Dashsalahli cave (Gazakh district), the Taglar cave (Khojavend), the Gazma cave (Sharur, Nakhchivan), and the Zar grotto (Kalbajar). This method accurately identifies from which deposits the obsidian samples found at Neanderthal camps — such as scrapers, knives, piercers, and other cutting tools — originated. The analyses were carried out in the USA.

According to the analysis results, Neanderthal humans living in the territory of Azerbaijan in the Middle Palaeolithic used obsidian from 10 different deposits. The main sources of raw materials were located approximately 20–160 km from the sites. The vast majority of the samples (about 92%) indicate this. Occasionally, however, two distant sources, located approximately 350–400 km away, were also used. For example, the direct distance between the Taglar cave and the Sarikamis obsidian source in Eastern Anatolia, and the Chikiani source in Georgia, is approximately 350–400 km, although the actual route distance could have been much greater. This provides grounds to suggest the existence of extensive trade and exchange networks established by Neanderthals in the South Caucasus during the Middle Palaeolithic.

The obtained results show that highly mobile populations of big-game hunters associated with the Middle Palaeolithic of Azerbaijan covered large distances, and their interaction sphere encompassed the entire South Caucasus and neighboring Eastern Anatolia. Thus, there is initial evidence indicating the wide-ranging connections of Neanderthals, the existence of numerous exchange networks, and their movements over long distances to procure obsidian in the South Caucasus approximately 140,000–40,000 years ago — before the appearance of modern humans at the beginning of the Upper Palaeolithic.

The article specifically emphasizes that further research is needed to gain a deeper understanding of Neanderthal obsidian procurement schemes in the Middle Palaeolithic, including at sites such as the Azykh cave.

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