Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 41 (1) 2013

Annotation:  Chagyrskaya Cave: A Middle Paleolithic Site in the Altai Large Mammal Fauna from the Pleistocene Deposits of Chagyrskaya Cave, Northwestern Altai (Based on 2 Environmental Conditions During the Early Human Settlement of Chagyrskaya Cave (Altai) Dental Remains from the Middle Paleolithic Layers of Altai Cave Sites An Archaic Human Ulna from Chagyrskaya Cave, Altai: Morphology and Taxonomy The Neanderthals of Okladnikov Cave, Altai: Environment and Diet Based on Isotopic Analysis The Sibiryachikha Facies of the Middle Paleolithic of the Altai The Burial Rite of the Early Scythian Nomads of Tuva (Based on the Bai-Dag I Cemetery) The Oxus Temple: Localization of the Avestan Vahvi Daitya Sacred Space in the Worldview and Art of the Tungus-Manchu Ethnic Minority, Sakhalin Island Interethnic Dynamics among the Indigenous Peoples of Southern Siberia (Demographic Aspect)   

Chagyrskaya Cave: A Middle Paleolithic Site in the Altai

A.P. Derevianko, S.V. Markin, V.S. Zykin, V.S. Zykina, V.S. Zazhigin, A.O. Sizikova, E.P. Solotchina, L.G. Smolyaninova, and A.S. Antipov.

This article presents the results of multidisciplinary studies conducted at Chagyrskaya – an Upper Pleistocene karst cave in the northwestern Altai where Middle Paleolithic stone tools and fossil remains of Neanderthals were found. Taphonomic aspects of the site are addressed, and results of science-based analyses including radiocarbon and paleomagnetic dating are presented. The deposits are similar to loess-like Upper Pleistocene loams of Western Siberia. Among the Middle Paleolithic industries of the Altai, the Chagyrskaya industry is paralleled only by that of Okladnikov (formerly Sibiryachikha) Cave. Both represent a local Middle Paleolithic Mousteroid facies, named Sibiryachikha after the eponymous site.

Keywords: Geology, granulometric analysis, chemical analysis, micromorphological analysis, paleomagnetic analysis, loess, small mammals, Middle Paleolithic.