This year, archaeological sites, which are the world ancient evidence of a long-term human habitation outside its ancestral home, have been discovered on the territory of the Republic of Daghestan. Discovering and studying the monuments of the ancient Paleolithic in Daghestan have become an important event of the last decade in archeology and prehistory.

"Fr om archaeological point of view it is possible to introduce an element into the scheme of archaeological periodization of Russia. It is the longest era - Oldovay called on Olduvai Gorge in Africa, where the first physical evidence of human activity were revealed. In general historical terms, it means that the beginning of the history of Russia started more than a million years in relation to that had been previously known. Previously, it was believed that human being started in the Caucasus about 1.8 million years ago.

The instruments of labour and human remnants of this time had been found in the monument of Dmanisi in Georgia. It was believed that a million years Caucasus was not inhabited and a new wave of settlers came only about 800 thousand ago. Caucasian mountains were seen as natural barriers to the migration of ancient human population to the north from their ancestral home, the Eastern Africa. Credible evidence of human intrusion into the North Caucasus dated not earlier than 600 thousand ago.

Having investigated Central Daghestan since 2005, the research team headed by Khizri Amirkhanov, the director of Daghestan Scientific Center, discovered and explored 10 archaeological sites with a stratified archaeological material.

The important feature of the material studied is the possibility to track human activities on the territory of Daghestan for millions years ago.
"Summing up all this data, we can argue that the age of the earliest layers is not less than 1.95 million years. The "youngest" is aged about 800 thousand years.

This is the only place in the Caucasus, wh ere it is possible to document the continuity of human presence on the territory during millions of years. Daghestan historical monuments are the most ancient testimony of human appearance in the world out of its ancestral home. Eurasia has no monuments which can be compared with them by age"- the spokesman concluded.