Lithic reduction in the final Middle and Initial Upper Paleolithic industries of the Kara-Bom site as shown by refitting analysis (technology, closest analogies, chronology)

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 5-51
Author(s):  
V. Slavinsky ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Migration ◽  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Middle Paleolithic ◽  
Altai Mountains ◽  
Migration Routes ◽  
Northern Asia ◽  
Climatic Fluctuations ◽  
Upper Pleistocene ◽  
Lithic Reduction ◽  
South Siberia

The paper employs the method of refitting to reconstruct the lithic reduction technologies that were used by the Middle Paleolithic and Initial Upper Paleolithic inhabitants of the site of Kara-Bom (Altai Mountains). It is shown that the Middle Paleolithic technology was oriented at the production of points that were mainly struck from convergent single platform (unidirectional) Levallois cores. The Initial Upper Paleolithic industry is characterized by sub-prismatic opposed platform (bidirectional) cores aimed at the production of blades. The author draws many analogies with synchronous industries distributed from the Levant to the east of South Siberia and Central Asia. The available archaeological, chronological and paleogeographic evidence gives grounds to argue that the development of the Paleolithic culture in Northern Asia was strongly affected by climatic fluctuations that took place during the Upper Pleistocene and had a significant impact on human migration routes.

scholarly journals Zooarchaeology through the lens of collagen fingerprinting at Denisova Cave

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha Brown ◽  
Naihui Wang ◽  
Annette Oertle ◽  
Maxim B. Kozlikin ◽  
Michael V. Shunkov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Variability ◽  
Morphological Analysis ◽  
Altai Mountains ◽  
Large Mammals ◽  
Northern Asia ◽  
Upper Pleistocene ◽  
New Approaches ◽  
Human Bones ◽  
Cyclical Pattern ◽  
Bone Fragments

AbstractDenisova Cave, a Pleistocene site in the Altai Mountains of Russian Siberia, has yielded significant fossil and lithic evidence for the Pleistocene in Northern Asia. Abundant animal and human bones have been discovered at the site, however, these tend to be highly fragmented, necessitating new approaches to identifying important hominin and faunal fossils. Here we report the results for 8253 bone fragments using ZooMS. Through the integration of this new ZooMS-based data with the previously published macroscopically-identified fauna we aim to create a holistic picture of the zooarchaeological record of the site. We identify trends associated with climate variability throughout the Middle and Upper Pleistocene as well as patterns explaining the process of bone fragmentation. Where morphological analysis of bones from the site have identified a high proportion of carnivore bones (30.2%), we find that these account for only 7.6% of the ZooMS assemblage, with large mammals between 3 and 5 more abundant overall. Our analysis suggests a cyclical pattern in fragmentation of bones which sees initial fragmentation by hominins using percussive tools and secondary carnivore action, such as gnawing and digestion, likely furthering the initial human-induced fragmentation.

scholarly journals Chronological Framework of the Siberian Paleolithic: Recent Achievements and Future Directions

Radiocarbon ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 757-766 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaroslav V Kuzmin
Keyword(s):  
Russian Far East ◽  
Far East ◽  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Northern Eurasia ◽  
Middle Paleolithic ◽  
Neolithic Period ◽  
Altai Mountains ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Russian Far East

In Siberia, the accumulation of radiocarbon dates from archaeological sites since the 1960s makes it possible to compile a general Paleolithic 14C database, which contains about 440 entries as of late 2005. With these data, we can reveal the main chronological patterns of Paleolithic complexes, with a focus on the late Middle Paleolithic (Mousterian) and Upper Paleolithic. The 14C dates for late Middle Paleolithic industries in Siberia are quite “young,” up to about 30,000–28,500 BP and perhaps ∼27,000 BP. The emergence of the Upper Paleolithic in Siberia took place relatively early compared with Eastern Europe. At about 43,000–35,000 BP, blade-dominated industries existed in the Altai Mountains and Lake Baikal region, and numerous adornments are known from several sites of that age. The late Upper Paleolithic complexes with microblade technology from the Altai Mountains are 14C dated to about 35,000–28,000 BP, and represent the earliest unequivocal evidence of microblade manufacture in northern Eurasia. The end of the Paleolithic in Siberia is related to the appearance of pottery, which indicates the beginning of the Neolithic period. In northern Transbaikal, the earliest pottery complexes are dated to about 12,000–11,000 BP and in the Russian Far East even to ∼13,000 BP, while in most of Siberia they date to approximately 8000–6000 BP. The most important features of the Siberian Paleolithic chronology are: a) the long persistence of Middle Paleolithic complexes, until about 30,000–27,000 BP; b) very early Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition, ∼43,000 BP, closely connected with the emergence of art and symbolic behavior in the earliest Upper Paleolithic at this time; c) the very early origin of microblade complexes, at least at about 35,000 BP; and d) a gradual Paleolithic–Neolithic transition, beginning in the Russian Far East at ∼13,000 BP and in Transbaikal about 12,000–11,000 BP, in most of Siberia at about 8000–6000 BP, and even later in some northern regions.

scholarly journals Epidemiological aspects of retrovirus (HTLV) infection among Indian populations in the Amazon Region of Brazil

2003 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 901-914 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo Ishak ◽  
Antonio Carlos Rosário Vallinoto ◽  
Vânia Nakauth Azevedo ◽  
Marluísa de Oliveira Guimarães Ishak
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Subtype ◽  
Demographic Data ◽  
Epidemiological Data ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Laboratory Diagnosis ◽  
Amazon Region ◽  
Human Migration ◽  
Migration Routes ◽  
Modes Of Transmission ◽  
Clear Cut

HTLV was initially described in association with a form of leukemia in Japan and a neurological disease in the Caribbean. It was soon shown that HTLV-II was endemic among Amerindians and particularly among Brazilian Indians. The Amazon Region of Brazil is presently the largest endemic area for this virus and has allowed several studies concerning virus biology, the search for overt disease, epidemiological data including detailed demographic data on infected individuals, clear-cut geographic distribution, definition of modes of transmission and maintenance within small, epidemiologically-closed groups, and advances in laboratory diagnosis of the infection. A new molecular subtype named HTLV-IIc was further described on the basis of genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. This subtype is present in other areas of Brazil, indicating that the virus is additionally both a valuable marker for tracing past human migration routes in the Americas and a probable marker for social habits of the present human population. HIV, the other human retrovirus, is still not prevalent among indigenous communities in the Brazilian Amazon, but these groups are also easy targets for the virus.

scholarly journals The absolute chronology of Boker Tachtit (Israel) and implications for the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition in the Levant

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (25) ◽  
pp. e2014657118
Author(s):  
Elisabetta Boaretto ◽  
Marion Hernandez ◽  
Mae Goder-Goldberger ◽  
Vera Aldeias ◽  
Lior Regev ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Late Phase ◽  
Optically Stimulated Luminescence ◽  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Middle Paleolithic ◽  
Lithic Assemblage ◽  
Early Upper Paleolithic ◽  
The Absolute ◽  
Dramatic Shift ◽  
Early Upper

The Initial Upper Paleolithic (IUP) is a crucial lithic assemblage type in the archaeology of southwest Asia because it marks a dramatic shift in hominin populations accompanied by technological changes in material culture. This phase is conventionally divided into two chronocultural phases based on the Boker Tachtit site, central Negev, Israel. While lithic technologies at Boker Tachtit are well defined, showing continuity from one phase to another, the absolute chronology is poorly resolved because the radiocarbon method used had a large uncertainty. Nevertheless, Boker Tachtit is considered to be the origin of the succeeding Early Upper Paleolithic Ahmarian tradition that dates in the Negev to ∼42,000 y ago (42 ka). Here, we provide 14C and optically stimulated luminescence dates obtained from a recent excavation of Boker Tachtit. The new dates show that the early phase at Boker Tachtit, the Emirian, dates to 50 through 49 ka, while the late phase dates to 47.3 ka and ends by 44.3 ka. These results show that the IUP started in the Levant during the final stages of the Late Middle Paleolithic some 50,000 y ago. The later IUP phase in the Negev chronologically overlaps with the Early Upper Paleolithic Ahmarian of the Mediterranean woodland region between 47 and 44 ka. We conclude that Boker Tachtit is the earliest manifestation of the IUP in Eurasia. The study shows that distinguishing the chronology of the IUP from the Late Middle Paleolithic, as well as from the Early Upper Paleolithic, is much more complex than previously thought.

On the issues related to the discoid cores

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 174-178
Author(s):  
Youcheng Chen ◽  
Tongli Qu
Keyword(s):  
Middle Stone Age ◽  
Middle Pleistocene ◽  
Middle Paleolithic ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
The West ◽  
Upper Pleistocene ◽  
Old World ◽  
Insight Into

AbstractThe discoid core and the Levallois core are important symbols of the Middle Paleolithic Age in the west of the Old World. The two types of artifacts show not only technical relationships but also differences. The discoid core can be classified into two sub-types, namely the unifacial and the bifacial classes. In China, discoid cores may have appeared in the upper Middle Pleistocene, and prevailed in the lower and middle Upper Pleistocene, which corresponded to the middle Paleolithic Age in Europe and to the Middle Stone Age in Africa. The discovery and study of discoid cores provide significant insight into the culture of the Middle Paleolithic Age in China.

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