The
Azykh Cave (alternatively known as
Azikh or
Azokh;
AzeriAzerbaijani is a language belonging to the Turkic language family, spoken in southwestern Asia, primarily in Azerbaijan and northwestern Iran...
:
Azıx mağarası) is an impressive six-cave complex known as a living site of stone-age man. It lies about 3 km northeast of
TughThe tugh or tuman tugh was a pole adorned with yak or horse tails, used as a standard or banner by various Central Asian and Turkic peoples.-Source:...
village in southern
KarabakhThe Karabakh horse , also known as Karabakh, is a mountain-steppe racing and riding horse. It is named after the geographic region where the horse was originally developed, Karabakh in the Southern Caucasus, an area that is de jure part of Azerbaijan but the highland part of which is currently...
, an area legally within the
FizuliFizuli is a rayon of Azerbaijan, partially under Armenian control since the end of Nagorno-Karabakh War.The town of Fizuli was founded in 1827 as a Russian settlement under the name Karyagino . In 1959, the town and the associated rayon were renamed Fizuli after the medieval poet Muhammad Fuzûlî....
district of
AzerbaijanAzerbaijan , formally the Republic of Azerbaijan , is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to the south...
but now under de-facto self rule by the ethnic Armenian population of
Nagorno-KarabakhNagorno-Karabakh is a landlocked region in the South Caucasus, lying between Lower Karabakh and Zangezur and covering the southeastern range of the Lesser Caucasus mountains...
since the
warThe Nagorno-Karabakh War was an armed conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994, in the small enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in southwestern Azerbaijan, between the majority ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh backed by the Republic of Armenia, and the Republic of Azerbaijan...
of the early 1990s.
Extensively examined by archaeologists in the 1960s, the cave is considered to be the site of one of the most ancient proto-human habitations in
EurasiaEurasia is a large landmass covering about 52,990,000 km
2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface...
.
The
Azykh Cave (alternatively known as
Azikh or
Azokh;
AzeriAzerbaijani is a language belonging to the Turkic language family, spoken in southwestern Asia, primarily in Azerbaijan and northwestern Iran...
:
Azıx mağarası) is an impressive six-cave complex known as a living site of stone-age man. It lies about 3 km northeast of
TughThe tugh or tuman tugh was a pole adorned with yak or horse tails, used as a standard or banner by various Central Asian and Turkic peoples.-Source:...
village in southern
KarabakhThe Karabakh horse , also known as Karabakh, is a mountain-steppe racing and riding horse. It is named after the geographic region where the horse was originally developed, Karabakh in the Southern Caucasus, an area that is de jure part of Azerbaijan but the highland part of which is currently...
, an area legally within the
FizuliFizuli is a rayon of Azerbaijan, partially under Armenian control since the end of Nagorno-Karabakh War.The town of Fizuli was founded in 1827 as a Russian settlement under the name Karyagino . In 1959, the town and the associated rayon were renamed Fizuli after the medieval poet Muhammad Fuzûlî....
district of
AzerbaijanAzerbaijan , formally the Republic of Azerbaijan , is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to the south...
but now under de-facto self rule by the ethnic Armenian population of
Nagorno-KarabakhNagorno-Karabakh is a landlocked region in the South Caucasus, lying between Lower Karabakh and Zangezur and covering the southeastern range of the Lesser Caucasus mountains...
since the
warThe Nagorno-Karabakh War was an armed conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994, in the small enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in southwestern Azerbaijan, between the majority ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh backed by the Republic of Armenia, and the Republic of Azerbaijan...
of the early 1990s.
Extensively examined by archaeologists in the 1960s, the cave is considered to be the site of one of the most ancient proto-human habitations in
EurasiaEurasia is a large landmass covering about 52,990,000 km
2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface...
. A
NeanderthalThe Neanderthal , or ), also spelled Neandertal, is an extinct member of the Homo genus that is known from Pleistocene specimens found in Europe and parts of western and central Asia. Neanderthals are either classified as a subspecies of humans or as a separate species...
-style jaw bone found here by Mammadali Huseynov in 1968 but now kept at the Academy of Sciences in
BakuBaku , sometimes known as Baqy, Baky, Baki or Bakou, is the capital, the largest city, and the largest port of Azerbaijan and all the Caucasus. Located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, the city consists of two principal parts: the downtown and the old Inner City...
is thought to be over 300,000 years old and thus one of the oldest proto-human remains found in this part of the world. Its discovery has given rise to the term
Azykh Man.
Archaeologists suggest that the finds in the lowest layers of the cave are of a pre-
AcheuleanAcheulean is the name given to an archaeological industry of stone tool manufacture associated with prehistoric hominins during the Lower Palaeolithic era across Africa and much of West Asia and Europe...
culture, one of the world's oldest (730,00-1,500,000 years) and in many ways similar to the
OlduwanOldowan is an anthropological designation for an industrial complex of stone tools used by prehistoric hominins of the Lower Paleolithic. The Oldowan is the first known tool complex in prehistory, including the simplest known flaked tools...
culture in
TanzaniaThe United Republic of Tanzania is a country in central East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.The United...
's
Olduvai GorgeThe Olduvai Gorge or Oldupai Gorge is commonly referred to as "The Cradle of Mankind." It is a steep-sided ravine in the Great Rift Valley, which stretches along eastern Africa. Olduvai is in the eastern Serengeti Plains in northern Tanzania and is about long...
along with the culture which produced the famous
LascauxLascaux is the setting of a complex of caves in southwestern France famous for its Paleolithic cave paintings. The original caves are located near the village of Montignac, in the Dordogne département. They contain some of the best-known Upper Paleolithic art. These paintings are estimated to be...
cave in southeastern
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
.
Excavations resumed in the mid 1990s. In 2002 an international research team headed by Tanya King discovered undisturbed entrances to the cave as well as fauna and stone tools . The cave is now considered to have housed some of the earliest habitats of proto-humans in Eurasia. While little in the way of human remains have been discovered, evidence shows that the area was occupied by hominids over a period of nearly two million years .