About specifics of rock art of Gobustan and some innovative approaches to its interpretation (“Firuz 2” shelter)

In order to get some chronological control, various methods were combined: analogies with stones found in cultural layers and bearing similar images, study of the stylistic features and the stratigraphic method. AMS dating of the cultural layers of the “Firuz 2” site allowed to understand the variability in the form and meaning of the petroglyphs of various periods. Previously, artifacts from the cultural layer of “Firuz 2” site had been dated to the end of Mesolithic and beginning of Neolithic period. The last AMS dating provided the result: 7850 ± 30 BP, which led to suppose that Gobustan was the earliest center in which navigation emerged in the Caucasian region.