Estimated dependence of the early homo sapiens on raw material sources and analyses of rock types from the initial Upper Paleolithic complexes in South Siberia and central asia

This article presents petrographic and chemical research using ISP-MS data processed by cluster analysis. One hundred two samples were selected from the IUP collections of the Central and Northern Asia, including Altai Mountains (Kara-Bom, UP-1 and UP-2 complexes), Eastern Kazakhstan (Ushbulak, layers 6-7), Northern Mongolia (Tolbor-4, -16, -21, Kharganyn Gol 5), and Transbaikal region (Tolbaga). Samples of rocks from primary outcrops next to Paleolithic sites located next to primary outcrops or modern alluvial sources were also included. The comparative database of samples contained the artifacts from the Final Upper Paleolithic complex at Ust-Kyakhta-3 and artifacts and rock samples from alluvial deposits in the Orkhon River valley in Central Mongolia. Silicious rocks dominated among the selection ofsamples. Cluster analysis of major elements and impurities has revealed some similarities between rock types from complexes in Northern Mongolia, Altai, and Eastern Kazakhstan, while the Tolbaga rock types were different. Influence of stone raw materials on peopling the Central Asia, especially high mountains, was discussed. Raw materials were crucial for large blade production systems in both bidirectional and unidirectional systems of reduction. Producing large bidirectional blades was only possible using large blocks of raw material which were procured from primary and secondary sources, while exploitation of only one source was rare. It has been concluded that the IUP industries were directly dependent on sources of high-quality raw materials, and this dependence was the main reason for brief existence and rapid disappearance of this technocomplex from Asia.