The Kara-Tenesh Palaeolithic site in the Altai: field studies in the 1970s-1990s

To date, the lithic assemblage of the Kara-Tenesh site is considered to be a part of the Initial Upper Palaeolithic complexes of the Altai Mountains. The collection contains representative evidence for studying early techniques of laminar reduction and various methods of blade processing, including the transformation of blades into projectile points. Despite the seemingly established opinion on the cultural and chronological attribution of the complex, there are a number of serious discrepancies between the objective content of this archaeological source and its role in modern reconstructions. Most of discrepancies result from integratingfield survey data from the 1970s-1990s into research. Until now there are no works systematizing information on the methodology, sequence, and location of excavations at the site. No works discuss correlation of stratigraphic observations and archaeological collections from different years. The present article is focused on some of these problems, more precisely, on reconstructing the chronological sequence, spatial localization, and methodology of fieldwork at the site in the late 1970s and early 1990s, and on the structure and preservation of the deposits. The analysis of archival documents, artifact collections, and published data has made it possible to identify excavation areas of the site with the evidence which may serve as a basis for correlating stratigraphic and archaeological data, and identifying heterochronous collections. The study resulted in a hypothesis, which was suggested for the first time, about the complex nature of cultural component in the Paleolithic layers of the site. It may reconcile the available radiocarbon determinations andfield observations of the most informative stages of excavations in the late 1970s.