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<abstract xmlns="http://eprints.org/ep2/data/2.0">Our ongoing research in the caves of Western Georgia focuses on the settlement &#13;
and subsistence behaviors of Neanderthals and Modern Humans. Specifically we &#13;
are interested in understanding what Neanderthals and Modern Humans ate, how &#13;
they acquired their foods, what kind of tools they made, how they moved around &#13;
the landscape, and what their social relations were like. We are also interested in &#13;
learning the nature of any contacts between these two culturally and biolologically &#13;
different populations during the critical period about 40000 years ago when Modern &#13;
humans entered the Southern Caucasus and local Neanderthal population began to &#13;
disappear.&#13;
In this article we deal with three Upper Paleolithic cave sites which are located in &#13;
Upper Imereti region just in few km from each other (4-8 km). These are well-known &#13;
sites - Ortvala Klde, Dzudzuana Cave and newly found Bondi Cave.&#13;
34&#13;
The landscape where these caves are situated are the similar. All of them are &#13;
located in parreallel gorges. The distance between the gorges is 4-8 km. According &#13;
to pollen analysis and obtained datings the environment around these caves was the &#13;
simillar.&#13;
The inhabitants of Dzudzuana and Bondi caves were hunting mostly on bisons&#13;
and equses. In the same time the Neandrthals and the Modern humans of Ortvala &#13;
Klde traditionally were extracting the Capra caucasuica(95%). &#13;
The industry of Bondi and Dzudzuana cave are more or less simmilar but there &#13;
are differences-the microliths are dominated in the material of Dzudzuana. The blade &#13;
and bladelet oriented technology are represented in both sites.&#13;
The blade technology is represented in Ortvala Klde as well, but there are some &#13;
orignacian features which are better represented in this cave than in other above &#13;
mentioned sites. &#13;
Co-exsistance of orignacian and gravettian features is one of the charachters of &#13;
Upper Paleolithic of Western Georgia.&#13;
In Bondi and Dzudzuana caves there were discovered the most ancient flax and &#13;
coloured fibers dated from 35000-34000.&#13;
Perhaps the differences between those contemprorary sites can be explained by &#13;
different economical activities of different groups, or by distribution of the habitat &#13;
areas between them.</abstract>
