Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 48 (1) 2020   DOI: 10.17746/1563-0110.2020.48.1.029-040

Annotation:  Early Upper Paleolithic Serpentine Ornaments from Ust-Karakol, Northwestern Altai Unshaped Bone Tools from Denisova Cave, Altai The Sartan Upper Paleolithic Assemblages of the Northwestern Altai Stages in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene Peopling of Lake Bolshoye Ushkovskoye Shore, Kamchatka Fishing in the Early Holocene Human Ecosystem of the Northern Angara Region: Findings from Stratifi Late Bronze Age Smelting and Processing Furnaces of the Eastern Variant of the Pakhomovskaya Culture Late Bronze Age Petroglyphs of Unyuk Mountain, in the Minusinsk Basin Tagar Artifacts at the Stavropol State Museum Reserve (G.N. Prozritelev’s Collection) An Early Pazyryk Kurgan at Khankarinsky Dol, Northwestern Altai: Chronology and Attribution of Artif The Triquetras from the Filippovka Kurgans, Southern Urals Early Iron Age Carpenter Tools from the Altai and Adjacent Territories A Comparative Analysis of Structural and Developmental Trends at Major Cheptsa Fortifi ed Sites in t Ancestors of the Oriental Horse in Eurasia: Origin and Distribution Regional Features of the Traditional Clothing of Ukrainians and Belarusians in the South of the Russ Collection Related to the Omaguaca Indians from the Pucara de Tilcara Fortress, Northwestern Argenti   

The Sartan Upper Paleolithic Assemblages of the Northwestern Altai

S.V. Markin and K.A. Kolobova

Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia

This article highlights the results of comprehensive studies at Sartan cave and open-air sites (MIS 2) in the northwestern Altai. Their stratigraphic profiles include loam layers, often with geest. Absolute dates are discussed, as well as the relative stratigraphic position of lithological layers within profiles of stratified Pleistocene sites, using available paleoenvironmental data. The Sartan sites of the region are base-camps with a complete sequence of raw material reduction. Such a combination of base-camp and workshop features indicates the proximity of raw material sources. The main hunting targets were animals inhabiting mosaic landscapes. Sites correlated with various stages of the Sartan glaciation have yielded stone and bone assemblages of the final stage of the regional Upper Paleolithic. Petrographic characteristics of lithic assemblages and sources of raw material are evaluated. Typological and technological properties of industries are listed. The Late Upper Paleolithic of southern Siberia reveals a combination of Upper and Middle Paleolithic features, evidencing cultural conservatism. These industries are rather similar to those of central, southeastern, and northeastern Altai and to contemporaneous industries of southern Siberia.

Keywords: Sartan glaciation, Final Upper Paleolithic, northwestern Altai, lithic assemblages, bone assemblages, petrographic composition, artifact typology