page_title: Stone Age in Azerbaijan
section_title: Mesolithic
hierarchical_section_title: Stone Age in Azerbaijan / Mesolithic
caption_attribution_description: English: Çaxmaqdaşı və dəvəgözündən mikrolitlər, Damcılı mağarası, e.ə. XII-VIII minilliklər
context_page_description: Stone Age in Azerbaijan is divided into the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic periods. The Stone Age in Azerbaijan was studied in Karabakh, Gazakh, Lerik, Gobustan, and Nakhchivan. Stone materials belonging to the Stone Age were found by Mammadali Huseynov in the Shorsu gorge located near the village of Gyrag Kasaman in Qazakh region. According to his research, people have first settled in the territory of Azerbaijan 2 million years ago. The Stone Age era involved two different human species: Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens.
context_section_description: Nearly, 12.000 years ago, the Upper Paleolithic period was replaced by the Mesolithic period (12.000-8.000 BC). The Mesolithic period in Azerbaijan was mainly studied on the basis of Gobustan (near Baku) and Damjili (Qazakh) caves. Stone tools of Mesolithic period were found in the cave. Numerous animal bones were found in Mesolithic camps in Gobustan. Findings show that hunting had a major place in the life of ancient people of Gobustan. They hunted wild horses, wild donkeys, oxen, deer, and other animals. The emergence of microlithic stones is typical for Mesolithic. Their size would be 1–2 cm. Mesolithic period findings from the Damjili cave consist of triangular spikes, big circular cutting tools and nucleuses which are considered to be used for hunting. For the first time the animals have begun to be tamed in this period. Studies conducted in Gobustan show fishery played an important role.
caption: Microlithic tools from Damjili cave
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