Lyobov A. Orlova1 and Yaroslav V. Kuzmin2

 

14C STUDY OF THE TIMING OF MOUSTERIAN(UPPER PALEOLITHIC TRANSITION

IN SIBERIA AND THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST

 

1Institute of Geology, Universitetsky Pr. 3, Novosibirsk 630090,

RUSSIA

2Pacific Institute of Geography, Radio St. 7, Vladivostok 690041,

RUSSIA

 

 

The transition from Mousterian to Upper Paleolithic in Siberia was

characterized by significant changes in stone tool technology, and

probably by replacement of a Neanderthal population by anatomically

modern people. Presently, the only region in Siberia where the

multilayered sites with both Mousterian and Upper Paleolithic cultural

layers were excavated and 14C dated, is in the foothills of the

Altai Mountains. On the Kara-Bom site, the Mousterian layer (# 1)

was radiocarbon dated to > 44,400 radiocarbon years [BP] (AA-8894A)

(Goebel, 1993). The earliest Upper Paleolithic layers (# 2a-d) were

dated from 43,300+/-1600 BP (GX-17596) to 30,990+/-460 BP (GX-17593)

(Goebel et al., 1993). However, the Mousterian layers in the

Okladnikov Cave were dated from 43,300+/-1500 BP (RIDDL-722)

(Derevianko, Markin, 1992) to 28,470+/-1250 BP (SOAN-2459). In the

Denisova Cave, Mousterian layers were dated to 39,390+/-1310 BP

(SOAN-2489), 35,140+/-670 BP (GX-17599), layer 21 (Goebel, 1993);

and 46,000+/-2300 BP (GX-17602), entrance, layer 9 (Goebel, 1993).

Other regions within Siberia include the Mousterian (?) sites

which were 14C dated at the Mokhovo 2 site in Kuznetsk Basin at

30,330+/-445 BP (SOAN-2861), and the Arta 2 site in Transbaikal

at 37,360+/-2000 BP (LE-2967). The earliest Upper Paleolithic sites

in Siberia and the Russian Far East are dated to > 39,000 BP

(AA-8880A), Makarovo 4 in the Lena River headwaters (Goebel, Aksenov,

1995); 38,460+/-1100 BP (SOAN-1625), Kandabaevo; 34,860+/-2100 BP

(SOAN-1522), Tolbaga; and > 35,300 BP (AA-8893A), Varvarina Gora

(Goebel, Aksenov, 1995), all sites in Transbaikal; and 32,570+/-1510

BP (IGAN-341), Geographical Society Cave, Maritime Province.

The existing Radiocarbon Database for the Siberian Paleolithic

sites includes about 315 14C determinations older that 10,000 BP,

and about 120 14C dates between 10,000 and 6,000 BP. Presently, we

have about 20 14C dates for the Mousterian sites. This comprehensive

collection of chronometric data allows us to evaluate the age of

transitional periods in Siberian prehistory such as Mousterian-Upper

Paleolithic and Paleolithic-Neolithic.

The results obtained presumably show the temporal but not spatial

coexistence of both latest Mousterian and earliest Upper Paleolithic

cultural traditions in Siberia. It's quite clear that in the

southern part of Siberia, Altai Mountains and possibly Transbaikal,

we have rather "overlapping" in 14C chronology of the Mousterian

and Upper Paleolithic cultures than the very early, before 43,000 BP,

Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic transition as it was suggested by

T. Goebel (1993). The whole Mousterian-Upper Paleolithic transition

seems to happened gradually, within the time interval ca.

28,500-43,000 BP.

This study was supported by grants from the Russian RFFI

(# 96-05-64837, 96-06-80688).

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