This edited volume describes the geology stratigraphy anthropology archaeology dating
taphonomy paleobotany paleontology and paleoecology of Azokh caves (also known as Azykh or
Azikh). The chapters review exhaustively the key recent research on this limestone karstic site
which is located near the village of the same name in the region of Nagorno Karabagh in the
south-eastern end of the Lesser Caucasus. The site is significant due to its geographic
location at an important migratory crossroad between Africa and Eurasia. These caves contain an
almost complete sedimentary sequence of the transition between H.heidelbergensis and H.
neanderthalensis continuing to later Pleistocene and Holocene stratified sediment. The site is
also important due to the discovery of Neanderthal remains by the current research group in
addition to the Middle Pleistocene hominin fossils during a previous phase of excavation work
led by M. Huseinov. At the heart of this book is the matter of how this site relates to human
evolution.
