Azykh Cave

The Azykh Cave (alternatively known as Azikh or Azokh; Azeri: Azıx mağarası) is an impressive six-cave complex known as a living site of stone-age man. It lies about 3 km northeast of Tugh village in southern Karabakh, an area legally within the Fizuli district of Azerbaijan but now under de-facto self rule by the ethnic Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh since the war 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 Eurasia. A Neanderthal-style jaw bone found here by Mammadali Huseynov in 1968 but now kept at the Academy of Sciences in Baku 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-Acheulean culture, one of the world's oldest (730,00-1,500,000 years) and in many ways similar to the Olduwan culture in Tanzania's Olduvai Gorge along with the culture which produced the famous Lascaux cave in southeastern France.

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 .

Listed in the following categories:
Post a comment
Tips & Hints
Arrange By:
There are no tips nor hints for Azykh Cave yet. Maybe be you will be the first one to post useful information for fellow travellers? :)

Hotels nearby

See all hotels See all
Naftalan Hotel Qashalti

starting $127

Garabag Resort&Spa

starting $111

Hyatt Place Jermuk

starting $111

Yegevnut Hotel

starting $37

Jermuk Ani Hotel

starting $41

Jermuk Ararat Health SPA

starting $87

Recommended sights nearby

See all See all
Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Տողի մելիքական ապարանք

Княжий палац мелікства Дізака або Палац меліка Єгана (вірм. Մե

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Amaras Monastery

Amaras Monastery (Հայերեն. Ամարաս վանք) is one of the oldest Christian

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Ghazanchetsots Cathedral

Ghazanchetsots Cathedral (Armenian: Սուրբ Ամենափրկիչ Ղազանչեցոց Եկե

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Shusha fortress

Shusha fortress or Shushi fortress is a fortress in Shusha, in the de

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Askeran Fortress

Askeran fortress (Azerbaijani: Əsgəran qalası, also called Ma

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Kachaghakaberd

Kachaghakaberd (Armenian: Կաչաղակաբերդ) is a mountain-top fortress in

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Shahbulag Castle

Shahbulag Castle (azərbaycanca. Şahbulaq qalası 'Spring of the Sh

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Тигранакерт (крепость)

Крепость Тигранакерта — крепость одного из четырех построенных

Similar tourist attractions

See all See all
Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá

The Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá (Spanish: Catedral de Sal de

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Karaca Cave

Karaca Cave (Turkish: Karaca Mağarası) is a network of caves l

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Batu Caves

Batu Caves is a limestone hill, which has a series of caves and cave

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Saeva dupka

Saeva dupka (Bulgarian: Съева дупка) is a cave in Northern Bulgaria

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Wieliczka Salt Mine

The Wieliczka Salt Mine, located in the town of Wieliczka in southern

See all similar places