Greater Caucasus Greater Caucasus Greater Caucasus (, Бөјүк Гафгаз, بيوک قافقاز; , "Didi K’avk’asioni"; , "Bolshoy Kavkaz", sometimes translated as "Caucasus Major", "Big Caucasus" or "Large Caucasus") is the major mountain range of the Caucasus Mountains. The range stretches for about from west-northwest to east-southeast, between the Taman Peninsula of the Black Sea to the Absheron Peninsula of the Caspian Sea: from the Western Caucasus in the vicinity of Sochi on the northeastern shore of the Black Sea and reaching nearly to Baku on the Caspian. The range is traditionally separated into three parts: In the wetter Western Caucasus, the mountains are
Black Sea–Caspian Steppe may have been proto-Chechen. Iron appeared in the eighth century BC. The small western area around the Taman peninsula had a distinct history since it was in contact with the literate civilizations of the Mediterranean basin. From the eighth century Greeks founded colonies around the Black Sea and we begin to have written reports. Maeotians was the Greek name for the peoples around the Sea of Azov. The Hellenized Sindi people appeared with a possible capital or seaport at Anapa. Both were perhaps ancestors of the Circassians. The Greek colonies exported grain and slaves to Byzantium and beyond – a