New chronology and cultural attribution of archaeological complexes at the Moiltyn Am site in Central Mongolia

The territory of the present-day Mongolia was a natural crossroads for prehistoric human movements and geographical nexus of demographic expansions to the east and south from many points of origin. Although it has been suggested that the initial peopling of this region occurred still in the Early Paleolithic, only the Middle Paleolithic (MP) and later industries have been found there in reliable stratigraphic contexts. Peopling of Central Mongolia, which was attested at the sites in the Orkhon River valley, is associated only with unreliable dates, and the complexes with Levallois technology found in that area and in the Gobi Altai show relatively late dates of ca 30,000 BP and later. Since 2018, the Russian-Mongolian-American Expedition has been conducting geochronological research in the Orkhon valley, focused on establishing stratigraphic position and reliable dating of Levallois industries. Research has revealed significant post-depositional processes at the Moiltyn am site and new dates support that conclusion. The season of 2019 has resulted in gathering a representative collection of Levallois end-products produced following Levallois uni- and bidirectional convergent methods for points and Levallois parallel method for flakes. However, the industry from horizons 4, 5, and 6 cannot be attributed to the MP. This industry points to the Initial Upper Paleolithic with lithic production based on pebbles from the alluvium. The lack of finds associated with the MP can be explained by the reduced stratigraphic sequence down the slope, which did not contain the layer with the MP evidence.