Ancient human remains found in Azerbaijan undergo international analysis

The Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan is carrying out extensive archaeological research across the country, including in territories recently liberated from occupation.

Azad Zeynalov, a leading research fellow at the institute with a PhD in history, said that excavations conducted last year in Taghlar Cave, located in the Khojavand district, have yielded the remains of an ancient human, Caliber.Az reports via state media.

“For the first time in Azerbaijan, a paleoanthropological discovery over 300,000 years old was made in 1968 at Azykh Cave by Mammadali Huseynov, the pioneer of Paleolithic studies in the country. The remains uncovered in Taghlar Cave represent only the second find of this kind in Azerbaijan. The discovery is currently being analyzed in Japan, and once the study of the approximately 80,000-year-old remains is complete, they will be presented on the international stage,” Zeynalov explained.

He added that the results of last year’s excavations in Taghlar Cave are expected to prompt significant revisions to existing theories regarding the habitation of ancient humans in the Azykh and Taghlar caves, including the periods of their occupancy and the species or species groups to which they belonged.

By Vafa Guliyeva