Аңдатпа
For the first time for the territory of Azerbaijan, the article presents the results of a comprehensive microbiomorphic study of the Neolithic settlement of Ismailbeytepe on the Karabakh Plain. The microbiomorphic analysis of the natural and cultural deposits of the settlement made it possible to identify the main stages in the formation of the riverbank hill in the river floodplain, the time of the arrival of the ancient population, as well as the structural features and materials used in the construction of the settlement’s buildings. The natural deposits underlying the cultural layers were formed under stagnant conditions of a small water body – an oxbow. Reed thickets served as the source of the fan-shaped morphotype of phytoliths. The period of drying of part of the floodplain valley and of the near-channel riverbank itself became the time when settlers arrived here. The large number of reed phytoliths against the background of the absence of pollen in the spectra confirmed its use in construction and in everyday life. Periods of flooding and water recession are characterized by different sets of pollen, phytoliths, NPP, and zooplankton. The presence of spores of the black mold morphotype (Stachybotrys chartarum) in all samples from the settlement indicates rather humid conditions at the site. The quantity of these spores decreases in samples from the first and second construction horizons, where the floors were covered with ochre. No evidence of cereal agriculture in the cultural layers of the settlement, nor traces of domesticated animals, were identified. The relatively warm and humid conditions during the occupation of the settlement were replaced, by the time of its abandonment, by a period of aridization stronger than that observed today, which could not but have influenced the migration of the ancient population.