Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 38 (4) 2010

Annotation:  Three Scenarios of the Middle to Upper Paleolithic Transition. Scenario 1: The Middle to Upper Paleo Kalavan-2 (North of Lake Sevan, Armenia): A New Late Middle Paleolithic Site in the Lesser Caucasus The Role of Science-Based Methods in the Study of Ancient Pottery as a Source of Historical Informa Physical and Chemical Properties of Ceramics from the Chronologically Transitional (Late Bronze – E The Utinka Burial Peat-Bog Sites in the Eastern Urals The Origin and Development of the Wucheng Culture (in the Context of Intercultural Contacts between Circle Dance Festival “Gorka”: Traditions and Innovations The Open Letters of Sergei Borisov: From the History of Photography in the Altai The Origins of the Andronovo (Fedorovka) Population of Southwestern Siberia, Based on a Middle Bron Models of Man’s Biosocial Adaptation in an Industrial Society   

Three Scenarios of the Middle to Upper Paleolithic Transition. Scenario 1: The Middle to Upper Paleolithic Transition in Central Asia and the Near East

A.P. Derevianko.

Specifi c features of the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition in Eastern Central Asia and the Near East are discussed. It is concluded that the processes in these territories, as in Northern Asia, had much in common according to a number of important technological and typological characteristics, making it possible to speak of a single Eurasian scenario. Common features include primary reduction techniques, the emergence of prismatic and narrow-faced cores, the progressively increasing role of knife-like blades and microblades, the abundance of tools on blades, the standardization of the tool kit, and the predominance of Upper Paleolithic forms in the 45–38 ka time range. Generally, materials from various regions (Southern Siberia, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, and the Levant) suggest that Upper Paleolithic industries evolved from local terminal Middle Paleolithic ones throughout Northern and Central Asia and the Near East. This is attested to by the survival of certain Middle Paleolithic types at the early stages of the Upper Paleolithic.

Keywords: Middle Paleolithic, Upper Paleolithic, Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition, Central Asia, Near East.