The Early Paleolithic Go Da Site and the Bifacial Lithic Industries of Southeast Asia

The lithic industry of the stratified site Go Da in Central Vietnam is described, and its place among the contemporaneous Early Paleolithic sites of East and Southeast Asia is determined. Results of a morphological technotypological analysis of the Go Da assemblage are provided. Go Da is attributed to the An Khe-type sites situated in the eponymous area of Vietnam. Cores and tools were made from pebbles, less often from fl akes. Primary reduction focused on simple pebble cores with natural striking-platforms, whereas radial cores were less common. Predom inant among the tools are picks, scrapers of various modifi cations, choppers, and chopping tools, as well as denticulate and notched tools; also, bifaces occur. These tools belong to a single homogeneous industry, showing common features in primary reduction, preparation, and design of key artifacts. On the basis of analysis of the stratigraphic sequence of Go Da and the absolute date of 806 ± 22 ka BP, generated by the potassium-argon analysis of tektites, it is proposed that the site is older than other dated locations with the An Khe industry. Apparently, it resulted from a convergent evolution of the pebble-fl ake industry introduced by the fi rst wave of Homo erectus from Africa. Go Da and other An Khe sites likely belong to a vast habitation zone of Southeast Asian hominins with technologically and typologically similar industries dating to the boundary between the Lower and the Middle Pleistocene.

PROBLEMS OF THE EARLY PALEOLITHIC CULTURE OF CENTRAL ASIA (ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE SELUNGUR MONUMENT)

To date, more than 20 open and closed sites and finds of the Lower (Early) Paleolithic have been identified and studied in Central Asia. Examples: Burikazgan, Tanirkazgan, Kyzyltov 1, Kuldara, Lakhuti 1, Kulbulak, Kyzylolma, Toshsay, Dzharsai, Selungur, Chashma and other monuments. However, despite the fact that some monuments (Kizilolma, Kolbulak, Selungur, etc.) are well studied, there are various discussions about their cultural and periodic specifics. The stone crafts of these monuments have not been sufficiently studied from a technical and typological point of view, and their standard sheets have not yet been developed. Therefore, no unambiguous conclusions about the cultural and periodic features of the monuments were made. One of these monuments is the Selungur Cave. The article provides a brief overview of the history of the Early Paleolithic, the study of the Selungur Cave, the stone industry, fauna and flora, as well as the paleoanthropological finds of the Early Paleolithic, the only ones in the region (ancient human bones have not survived). found in other sites). In particular, the article briefly discusses critical views on the cultural-periodic interpretation of the Selungur site, as well as some comments on the cultural-periodic features of the monument

Evolution of the Lithic Industry in Central Dagestan During the Early Pleistocene: The Rising Occurrence of Flake Blanks

Archaeological data from stratified Early Pleistocene sites in Central Dagestan are arranged in a direct stratigraphic sequence, making it possible to reconstruct the changes in lithic industry over a span of 1.2 mln years, from ~2.0 to 0.8 Ma BP, and to separate the principal stages in the Early Paleolithic culture of the Caucasus. This study examines blanks found at sites of the Ainikab-Mukhkay group, such as Ainikab-1, and Mukhkay-1, -2, and -2a. Occurrences of large flake blanks (>10 cm) at the Oldowan and the Oldowan to Acheulean transitional stage are provided. Such blanks appear at the beginning of the Jaramillo paleomagnetic episode (~1.07 Ma BP). By the end of the Early Pleistocene, their share attains 25.77 % of the total number of blanks for morphologically distinct tools. They are absent in Oldowan deposits (~2 Ma BP). The totality of statistical data justifies the separation of the transitional Oldowan to Acheulean stage in the region, dating to 1.0–0.8 Ma BP.

Lithic technological responses to environmental change during the penultimate glacial cycle (MIS 7–6) at the Yangshang site, western Chinese Loess Plateau

A multidisciplinary fieldwork and research project was recently begun at the Yangshang site (220–140 ka), a late Early Paleolithic locale in the western Chinese Loess Plateau. 1696 lithic artifacts and 337 faunal remains were recovered during the excavation. Sedimentological and paleoenvironmental investigations indicate the site preserves a relatively long and minimally disturbed archaeological sequence associated with paleoenvironmental changes during MIS 7–6. A detailed techno-typological analysis of Yangshang's lithic assemblages was undertaken to examine the influence of glacial cycles on late Middle Pleistocene hominin technological strategies in the western Chinese Loess Plateau. The results show that while the Yangshang site is dominated by quartz-based core/flake assemblages typical of most Early Paleolithic sites in North China, the lithic assemblages provide evidence that different provisioning systems existed during the penultimate glaciation. We argue that these shifts reflect changes in land use and mobility that were tied to climate change. Our results suggest that theoretically informed statistical analyses of so-called unchanging and crude lithic technology can yield meaningful evidence for behavioral shifts.

The Early Paleolithic Go Da Site and the Bifacial Lithic Industries of Southeast Asia

В статье рассматривается каменная индустрия стратифицированной стоянки Года в Центральном Вьетнаме и определяется ее место среди синхронных памятников раннего палеолита Восточной и Юго-Восточной Азии. Дается морфологический технико-типологический анализ каменного инвентаря, сделан вывод о его принадлежности к индустрии анкхе, объекты которой расположены в районе г. Анкхе (Вьетнам). Заготовками для изготовления нуклеусов и орудий служили гальки, изредка отщепы. Первичное расщепление было ориентировано на эксплуатацию простых галечных нуклеусов с естественной ударной площадкой, реже использовались радиальные ядрища. Установлено преобладание в орудийном наборе изделий типа пик, скребел различной модификации, рубящих орудий типа чопперов и чоппингов, зубчатых и выемчатых инструментов, а также определено наличие в этой индустрии двусторонне обработанных изделий — бифасов. Эти материалы образуют единую гомогенную индустрию, которая проявляет однообразие в первичном расщеплении, подготовке и оформлении маркерных изделий. На основе анализа стратиграфического разреза стоянки Года и абсолютной даты 806 ± 22 тыс. л.н., полученной по тектитам калий-аргоновым методом, сделано предположение о более древнем возрасте этого памятника по сравнению с другими датированными объектами индустрии анкхе. Ее происхождение, по-видимому, связано с конвергентным развитием Homo erectus с галечно-отщепной индустрией, который представляет первую волну миграции гоминин из Африки. Рассматривается возможность включения археологических материалов стоянки Года как части индустрии анкхе в обширную зону обитания древних гоминин со сходными технико-типологическими характеристиками каменных индустрий на рубеже нижнего и среднего плейстоцена на территории Юго-Восточной Азии.