Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 37 (1) 2009

Annotation:  Environment and Human Behavior in Northern Mongolia during the Upper Pleistocene Bear in Mind: Bear Hunting in the Mesolithic of the Southern Caucasus L.B. Kirtcho. Two Bronze Age Steles in Gorny Altai Electron Probe Microanalysis of the Paste from Ceramics of the Far East Eurasian Coins of the 13th century from the Northern Caucasus Absolute Dendrochronological Scales of Archaeological Sites in European Russia A Dendrochronological Analysis of Wood from Pskov Dendrochronological Studies of Medieval Novgorod (Based on the Findings of Archaeological Excavatio On the Semantics of Animal Style Ornithomorphic Images in Pazyryk Ritual Artifacts Treasures of the Sacred River Everyday Diet of the Buryats in the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries The Ethnic Environment of Diasporas in Western Siberia Demography of the Siberian Nenets in the First Third of the 20th Century Modern Altai Crafts Human Crania from the Tes Burial Ground, Kamenka III: The Analysis of Metric and Nonmetric Traits Analysis of Temporal Anthropometric Changes in Various Groups of Israeli Males The International Conference on the Neolithic of the Sea of Japan Basin (Vladivostok, 17–18 March, 2   

Environment and Human Behavior in Northern Mongolia during the Upper Pleistocene

V.L. Kolomiets, S.A. Gladyshev, E.V. Bezrukova, E.P. Rybin, P.P. Letunova, and A.A. Abzaeva.

This paper discusses the results of multidisciplinary studies of culture-bearing horizons uncovered at the Tolbor-4 site in Mongolia. Lithological analysis suggests that the entire sedimentary sequence belongs to the terminal Upper Pleistocene. The lowermost portion of the profi le is attributed to the late Zyryanka period, the middle portion to the Karga period, and the upper portion, Layers 2 and 3, to the Sartan period. Layers 4 and 5 seem to be contemporaneous; however this attribution contradicts the chronology established on the basis of techno-typological analysis of archaeological materials and their correlation with analogous well-dated sites in contiguous regions. This contradiction can be resolved only through the generation of chronometric dates. Palynological analysis of samples from the Tolbor-4 profi le suggests a gradual and continuous desiccation of the local climate, a regime that was benefi cial for human habitation, without any catastrophic changes throughout the period of human occupation of the site. Key words: Late Pleistocene, lithological analysis, palynological analysis, technical

Keywords: Late Pleistocene, lithological analysis, palynological analysis, technical-typological characteristics of artifacts.