Fig. 13.1 The two studied coprolites 5153 (a) and 5246 (b) from Azokh I, Unit II

through modern bioturbation (Murray et al. 2016; Marin-Monfort et al. 2016). During extraction of palaeobotanical remains, a bone fragment was recovered indicating a carnivorous (or omnivorous) diet of the animal that produced the coprolites. Although several other coprolite fragments are available in different layers, only these two were complete and undamaged and were used for plant microfossil extraction.

This paper deals with the extraction of microfossils from the two coprolites in Azokh Cave. With the aim of shedding light on possible environmental conditions that existed during their formation, we investigate the potential of microfossils in the coprolites and discuss them in the context of other fossils and the reconstruction of faunal paleoecology and charcoal that have been found in the deposits from where the coprolites came (Andrews et al. 2016).

Environment Around the Cave

The cave at Azokh (39° 37′ 9.17″ N, 46° 59′ 18.59″ E) is in the Lesser Caucasus at 962 m elevation and the environment is described in this volume (Andrews et al. 2016; Fernán- dez-Jalvo et al. 2016). The rainfall is approximately 600 mm/year, falling mainly in May–June and September– October, while the driest month is January (Republic of Armenia 1999). The faunal contents in the sequence of 300 kyr in the Azokh Cave sedimentary sequence show some variations but are typical of steppe, arid conditions or deciduous woodlands (Andrews et al. 2016). Evidence of the surrounding vegetation in the past can be derived from charcoal in Unit II and Unit Vu, consisting mainly of Prunus (80%) that was probably the most abundant tree species and could have been gathered by humans as firewood while fruits were probably dispersed around the cave (Allué 2016; Andrews et al. 2016).

According to descriptions of present vegetation and plant communities in the Caucasus region it can broadly be divided into three zones: foothill grassland, lower-mountain mixed hardwood forest, and mountain subalpine grassland

(Sharrow 2007). According to global grass distribution maps, this part of the Caucasus consists mainly of species of the Pooideae (c. 300 species), which dominate over other groups like Chloridoideae (17), Paniceae (13), Andropogoneae (6) and Arundinoideae (6). The subfamily Pooideae is the premier group of grasses occupying cool temperate and boreal regions (Cross 1980; Clayton and Renvoize 1986).

Azokh Cave falls in the lower mountain mixed hardwood forest which is generally found at 600–1,100 m elevation (Gulisashvili et al. 1975; Sharrow 2007). At present, most land suitable for farming has been ploughed, and areas suitable for grazing have been grazed. Moderate slopes have often been cleared for use as crop or hay fields, forming large openings in the forest, but areas of forest still exist on steep slopes (Sharrow 2007). The vegetation on the slopes in the vicinity of the cave are currently grassy woodland vegetated by Carpinus, Quercus (probably Q. iberica), Tilia and Fraxinus with an understory of Prunus, Cornus, Corylus, Crataegus and Paliurus spina-christi (Andrews et al. 2016). In the general surroundings Paliurus and Ziziphus is common in “shibliak” (i.e. secondary woodland that develop after forest clearing) (Gabrielian and Fragman-Sapir 2008).

The grasslands of lower elevations once occupied the generally eastern facing foothills and lower slopes of the mountains at about 300–600 m elevation with an annual precipitation of approximately 250–400 mm (Sharrow 2007). Further, cool-season grasses occur with several types of woody species and herbaceous sagebrush in the more xeric areas while shrubs such as buckthorn, hawthorn, and black-wood are found in the more mesic areas.

Materials and Methods

Pollen, Phytolith and Diatom Extraction

The two coprolites (No.’s 5153 = AZ1’08 II-I50#12 and 5246 = AZ1’08 I-H49#4) (Fig. 13.1), which measured 50 × 49 × 33 and 48 × 47 × 30 mm respectively, were sawed in half. One half of each was saved and the other processed for plant microfossil extraction. The studied halves were cleaned by removing the outside 1 to 2 mm layers, which were also saved together with the dust obtained from sawing. They were cleaned further by water to remove dust and then treated in 10% HCl, and cleaned by centrifuging several times using water. Mineral separation was then performed by floating the silica and organic fraction on sodium polytungstate solution (S.G. 2.3) and washing in a centrifuge. Microscope slides were mounted in glycerine jelly and investigated under light microscope, using up to 100× oil