The Mesolithic and Neolithic periods are critical junctures in the relationship between humans and the environment. In this period, humans changed thousands of years of living a certain way and chose a new way of life. One of the most important changes in this period was learning to make the most of the environment and make maximum use of its diverse resources. Because of the change in this relationship, some call the Neolithic period the start of the Anthropocene because it caused fundamental changes in humans’ effects on the ecosystem. In this article, the relationship between humans and the environment in the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods in the southeast of the Caspian Sea has been investigated based on the findings obtained from the excavation of the Hotu, Kamarband, and Komishan caves and the Komishani Tepe to be able to investigate and reconstruct the various dimensions of these changes from the hunter and food gathering community to the farming community. For this purpose, we examine the findings of archaeobotany, zooarchaeology, and stone artifacts recovered from these sites. Studies at these sites suggest that, during these periods, humans intelligently modified their environment to suit their needs and adopted various evolutionary strategies to mitigate the effects of environmental changes, such as cold and hot periods.
