Paleoenvironment, the stone age. Рубрика в журнале - Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia
The Peopling of Tajikistan by Homo sapiens Denisovan
Scientific article
The study published in the previous issue of this journal addressed the dispersal and early morphological and genetic evolution of H. s. denisovan in Iran, following the split of the ancestral taxon H. heidelbergensis into two taxa, Neanderthals and Denisovans, in the Levant ~400 ka BP. The latter taxon was first described owing to the sequencing of DNA extracted from the fragment of the fifth finger phalanx from layer 11.2 of Denisova Cave, Altai. Having left the Levant 400–350 ka BP, Denisovans began to spread via Iran to Central Asia and eventually to the Altai. Humans appeared in Denisova Cave ~300 ka BP, having crossed vast territories of Central Asia different in terms of environment, climate, landscape, flora and fauna, and partly populated by aborigines—the late populations of H. erectus. Adapting to changing environments, assimilating native humans, and undergoing natural selection, H. s. denisovan evolved both genetically and morphologically. Here, the spread of Denisovans in Tajikistan will be discussed.
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The Peopling of Uzbekistan by Homo sapiens Denisovan
Scientific article
This study continues a series of articles published in two last issues of this journal, exploring the split of the ancestral species H. heidelbergensis ~400 ka BP in the Levant and the subsequent origin of two filial species, Neanderthals and Denisovans. Certain members of H. heidelbergensis had moved to Europe, where a new taxon, H. s. neanderthalensis, emerged 200–150 ka BP. Others had migrated to Central Asia via Iran ~400–350 ka BP. Their assimilation of native populations of H. erectus, adaptation to changing environments, and natural selection led to the emergence of H. s. denisovan. In Uzbekistan, no Early Paleolithic sites are known. Based on archaeological evidence, one can presume that this territory was first peopled by Denisovans, who had migrated there from Tajikistan during MIS 6. At the final stage of the Karatau culture in Tajikistan, associated with pedocomplex 4 (MIS 11), new elements appeared in primary lithic reduction, types of stone tools, and the ways they were fashioned. In Uzbekistan, excavations of two key sites, Kulbulak and Obi-Rakhmat, have been ongoing for over five decades. Owing to long stratigraphic sequences, the evolution of the Middle Paleolithic industry of Denisovans has been traced over a long period spanning MIS 7–3. The only cave site excavated in Central Asia to-date, is Teshik-Tash in Uzbekistan, where Neanderthal fossils were found together with a Mousterian industry.
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The Russian Archaeological Project in South America: Principal Findings and Prospects
Scientific article
This study outlines the findings of field and laboratory studies by the first Russian archaeological expedition to South America in 2014–2015 and 2017–2018 in collaboration with colleagues from Ecuador and Japan. The project focused on sites of the Archaic (10.8–6.6 ka BP) and Early Formative period (5.5–3.5 ka BP) in the coastal zone of Santa Elena Province, Ecuador. Excavations at Real Alto (Valdivia culture) and Loma Alto (Las Vegas culture) yielded representative archaeological, anthropological, and faunal samples and a large series of AMS dates, providing a basis for a number of novel proposals regarding the chronology and periodization of cultures, their origin, and early pottery-production in South America. Specifically, we have demonstrated that at the very beginning of the Formative period, two early ceramic traditions coexisted—Valdivia and “San Pedro”. We have demonstrated the peculiarity of the “Tropical package” in the stone toolkit, and traced the previously unknown features of the funerary rites of the Las Vegas and Valdivia cultures. Radiocarbon analysis helped to correct the chronology of the late stage of the pre-ceramic Las Vegas culture (8.0–4.8 ka BP) and to estimate the tentative date of the earliest pottery manufacture at 4.8–4.7 ka BP. In conclusion, we outline the top priorities and prospects of Russian archaeological studies on the Pacific coast of South America, underscoring the importance of international cooperation.
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Scientific article
This article discusses difficulties in the use of Japanese archaeological terminology, especially with regard to the Jōmon period. The history of the notions of “style”, “type”, and “form” is outlined, which are the most adequate concepts for the interpretation, classification, and description of new styles of the Jōmon pottery. The evolution of the terms is traced using the works by Yamanouchi Sugao and Kobayashi Tatsuo. Their basic views on the typology of Jōmon artifacts and the notions behind the key terms are described.
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The Vengerovo-2A Neolithic cemetery, Southwestern Siberia: results of a multidisciplinary study
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Scientific article
Over the recent decade, abstracts of many thousands of folktales recorded in Europe and Asia have been added to our Electronic Catalogue of World Mythology and Folklore. Their analysis reveals systematic parallels between the traditions of Western Eurasia and America, those of the Plains Indians in particular. Such motifs are especially apparent in Ancient Greek mythology (Phaethon’s fall, Pasiphae and the bull, cranes attacking dwarfs, etc.). Although they have been known since the 19th century, no explanation for them could be proposed for a long time. The situation changed thanks to recent advances in Siberian paleogenetics. Before the peak of the Last Glacial Maximum, Eastern Siberian populations (Yana RHS and Malta) exhibited European affinities. By the mid-Holocene, population replacement occurred. It was not abrupt, but eventually resulted in a breakup of the initial cultural continuum spanning the Eurasian boreal zone and later extending to the New World. Many of the Western Eurasian–American motifs are episodes from stories of adventures. On the other hand, parallels between traditions of the Indo-Pacific rim of Asia and America mostly relate to motifs that are mythological in the narrow sense (etiological and cosmological), including early ones, evidently stemming from Africa. From the Hunno-Sarmatian, if not Scythian age onward, Southern Siberian and Central Asian motifs had been transferred to Western Eurasia on a large scale. Classical sources mirror an earlier stage of European mythology, hence the difference between the Ancient Greek set of motifs and that peculiar to later European traditions.
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The earliest Paleolithic assemblages from Denisova cave in the Altai
Scientific article
The article presents the results of multidisciplinary studies of the Early Middle Paleolithic assemblages from the lower part of the Denisova Cave Pleistocene sequence in the East Chamber and the Main Chamber of the cave. Data on geochronology, small and large vertebrate fauna, palynology, stratigraphy and micromorphology of sediments containing the earliest archaeological fi nds at the site, as well as on petrography, traceology and archaeozoology are presented. We des cribe human fossils and aDNA studies based on them. These materials demonstrate that the fi rst inhabitants of the cave and those associated with the Early Middle Paleolithic traditions were Denisovans. On the basis of the collection, which includes over 35,000 artifacts, the technology and typology of the Denisova industry are reconstructed. We focus on the comparison of the Denisova Early Middle Paleolithic with chronologically closest industries of North and Central Asia. The most similar industry is the Acheulo-Yabrudian of the Near East. Parallels concern primary reduction techniques and tool types. A hypothesis explaining the appearance of Middle Paleolithic traditions in Southern Siberia is proposed. We demonstrate continuity in the evolution of the lithic industries of Denisova up to the autochthonous emergence of the Upper Paleolithic ca 50,000 years ago.
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The early Neolithic complex on the Tartas-1 site: results of the AMS radiocarbon dating
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The incipient Neolithic of the Kurile islands: the culture of long barrows
Scientific article
This study introduces a recently discovered Neolithic culture of insular Northeast Asia. The initial stage of the Kurile Neolithic is described using findings from the 2019–2020 excavations at Kitovyi-2 and -4 on Iturup Island, the Greater Kurile Chain, Sakhalin Region. Several types of Neolithic feature were first revealed on the Kuriles by excavating large areas. The site includes dwellings mostly of two types–terranean with wooden frames that are not dug into the ground, and semisubterranean. Artifacts include linear-relief pottery and retouched bifacial stone tools on flakes and entire singularities, processed by advanced polishing. For the first time on the Kuriles, long barrows encircled by basalt plates along the perimeter were detected. These structures with evidently non-utilitarian enclosures made of plates, tentatively identified as places for cremation burials and funerary rites, indicate symbolic behavior. On the basis of this key criterion, we propose to attribute Kitovyi-2 and -4 to the culture of long barrows. Stratigraphic evidence, supported by radiocarbon analysis, allows us to establish the initial stage of the Kurile Neolithic, dating to 13.0–8.5 cal ka BP.
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The origin of H. S. Denisovan and their dispersal across Iran
Scientific article
Before the early 2000s, anthropologists spoke of two taxa existing in the Late Middle and Early Upper Pleistocene: anatomically modern humans in Africa and Neanderthals associated with the Mousterian industry in Eurasia. Therefore, all Eurasian Paleolithic sites dating to that period were believed to be Mousterian and were associated with Neanderthals. In 2010, owing to the sequencing of mtDNA from a fragment of the distal phalanx of the hand found in Denisova Cave, a third species was introduced, genetically different from both anatomically modern humans and Neanderthals. This new taxon was termed H. s. denisovan—or simply Denisovan. Further studies showed that this population dispersed in the Late Middle and Early Upper Pleistocene across vast territories of Central and Southeast Asia. A question arose as to where Denisovans had originated and which routes they had taken to get to the Altai. A series of articles forthcoming in this journal will address these questions. The first of them focuses on the origin of Denisovans on the basis of H. heidelbergensis and on their migration via Iran to Central Asia.
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Scientific article
We outline the results of mineralogical and geochemical analyses of Middle Pleistocene sediments of layer 21 in the Main Chamber of Denisova Cave, Altai. The aim of the study was to reveal a set of mineralogical and trace element markers of the black-colored horizons or lenses and to distinguish them from other types of cave sediments. Results were matched with those relating to a similar set of markers of black-colored horizons in the Holocene part of the section in the East Chamber. Results indicate probable sources of organic and organogenic substances in layer 21. The preservation of geochemical marks was assessed for Pleistocene in comparison with Holocene strata, where those markers are distinct. Black-colored lenses in layer 21 resemble biogenic sediments from Holocene section of the East Chamber. Both layers are characterized by high contents of N-bearing organic matter, P, Zn, Cu, and Cd. In bulk samples from Holocene sediments, numerous fragments of chitin (insect exoskeletons) and patches of newly formed Ca and Ca-Mg phosphates were found. We conclude that these peculiar lenses consist mostly of guano from insectivorous bats, and had undergone deep biodegradation. All black-colored horizons and lenses studied in Denisova Cave have a similar set of geochemical markers and distinctly differ from the adjacent strata by their phase, macro- and trace element compositions.
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The “Makarovo” component of Sosnovyi Bor, Southern Angara, revisited
Scientific article
The paper presents the findings of a revision of a flint assemblage subjected to aeolian corrasion from Sosnovyi Bor horizon VI, southern Angara, in the Angara-Belaya geoarchaeological region. Initially, the industry was attributed to the “Makarovo Paleolithic Horizon” and dated to the pre-Karga/pre-Murukta stage in accordance with the idea of extreme deflation periods in Siberia. Our revision has resulted in a more accurate assessment of the assemblage composition, correcting the views of the toolkit, flaking strategies, and aeolian corrasion of lithics. We challenge the earlier idea that narrow-faced cores were made on bifaces. Instead, the findings indicate the use of volumetric prismatic and flat-parallel cores with a maximal reduction of residual forms. Two types of blanks are described: blades and bladelets. Small tools include burins, implements with a fashioned tip (“nose” or “spur”), retouched blades (the retouch sometimes extends to proximal parts). Signs of aeolian corrasion range from weak luster to completely worn-off facets and pitted surfaces. Chronological and cultural proximity of Sosnovyi Bor to Makarovo IV industries is questioned despite similarities in post-deposition conditions and flaking, because the tool kits are markedly different. The closest parallels are found among Early Sartan small-blade industries of Trans-Baikal and Yeniseian Siberia. Abrasion could have occurred during the cold and arid maximum of the last glaciation. We conclude that the industry dates to the middle stage of the Upper Paleolithic.
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Upper Paleolithic of the Yenisey: new discoveries, old debates
Scientific article
This paper integrates the results of studies relating to the Upper Paleolithic of the Yenisey, collating traditional ideas with fi ndings made in the latest decades. Excavations on the Upper and Middle Yenisey are being carried out by several research teams. Sites representing the hitherto little known Early Upper Paleolithic (Yasnoye I, Afontova Gora II-Sklon) have been discovered, but so far the fi ndings do not suffi ce for their cultural attribution. The key site for that period in the region remains Malaya Syia, for which a series of new dates ranging between 34–29 ka has been generated. Traditions revealed there continued at a later site, Sabanikha. The Middle Upper Paleolithic is characterized by the prevalence of various blade industries, which in most cases cannot be separated into clear-cut groups resembling archaeological cultures. Certain industries are archaic, with Mousterian-like lithic assemblages and elaborate bone and tusk processing (Kurtak IV). During the later phase of the Pleistocene, along with cultures such as the Afontova and Kokorevo, blade industries survived, continuing traditions of the preceding stage (Golubaya I, Maltat, Konzhul). A peculiar variant of the Upper Paleolithic has been identifi ed, combining features of both cultures and a series of foliated bifaces (Kuibyshevo II). Discussions are ongoing around the effect of various factors on the cultural differentiation, including the relationship between the Afontova and Kokorevo cultures.
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