Kiik-Koba, lower layer type industries in the Crimea

Until recent times the "tayacoid" industrie of the Eem-aged lower layer of the cave site Kiik-Koba investigated by G.A. Bonch-Osmolovskiy in the years 1924-1926 was the unique one for the Crimean Middle Palaeolithic. Several new sites with similar inventory has been discovered during the last decade on the territory of the peninsula. These are Kabazi II, IV-th layer, Zaskaya and Krasnyj Mayak 1.

All the enumerated Crimean sites have produced similar inventories as to their main technological and typological characteristics, namely : highly pronounced trend to microlithism, absence of Levallois debitage, low indices of Fl and lam prevalence of sidescrapers among flake tools, presence of certain number of bifacially worked forms, "irregular" character of flake tool preparing due to the wide use of alternate and ventral retouch, frequently non-modifying and marginal, as well as slightly denticulate retouch. Similar industries are known also on the territory of the European part of the former USSR and characterised by the same age and almost the same technology and typology. These are Betovo (Desna river, Russia), Velikyi Glybochk (Seret river, Ukraine), Mersynja, Vykhvatintsy, Starye Duruitory (Moldova). The spatial distribution of these sites points in the searching for analogies on the territories of the Central Europe, and it is really possible to found the strikingly close techno-typological affinities with the so called Taubachian of the Eemian age in this area. The term Taubachian seems to be more appropriate for the moment for the purposes of definition of the East European inventories under discussion. There are also certain differences both between Central and Eastern European inventories and between the inventories within the latter. These can probably lead to distinguishing of different facies of the Taubachian in the future.

Nevertheless, the main features are still stable and common : the connection with Neanderthal people, the same geochronological position, generally the same technological and typological characteristics, including fascinating trend to microlithism and to the manufacture of non-standardised flake tools. This evidence can be engaged as sign of specific way of human adaptation during temperate episode of the last interglacial.