Late Paleolithic of Primorie (towards the problem of the origins)

The Final Paleolithic of Primorie is distinguished by the coexistence of laminar (reduction of subprismatic cores) and microblade (wedge-shaped microcores) technologies, and diversified toolkit with implements for processing all types of products procured by hunting and gathering. Sites with the Final Paleolithic material evidence are mostly concentrated in the continental part of the region and in the Zerkalnaya River Valley. The lithic assemblage is distinguished by the combination of the variety of bifacial tools, burins (including multifaceted and transversal), unifacial points, adzes and axes (with partial polishing of the working edge), end-scrapers, and retouched blades and bladelets. These complexes have been dated from the 16-15 ka BP to the Initial Holocene. The problem of how these complexes of the Final Paleolithic emerged in Primirie has not yet been resolved. The adoption process of technologies from the neighbors implies the existence of the earlier cultural complex which, however, has not been discovered in Primorie. Thus, it is possible to suggest that the carriers of the Late Paleolithic tradition migrated from the neighboring regions. Similar complexes with the same set of cores and tools, including the triad “bifaces-burins-chopping tools” have been found in the Amur region (the sites from the Selemdzha River basin) and in the southern part of Sakhalin Island (Ogonki-5 site). These complexes have a slightly earlier age (19-18 ka BP) than the sites in Primorie, and theoretically could have served as centers of migrations for the ancient population to Primorie. Unfortunately, there is no evidence of the documented Late Paleolithic complexes on the transitional territories. Thus, peopling of Primorie in the end of the Late Paleolithic might have happened from the Korean Peninsula.