Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 51 (3) 2023   doi:10.17746/1563-0110.2023.51.3.059-066

Annotation:  A.P. Derevianko’s Multivolume Three Global Human Migrations in Eurasia and Its Place in Paleolithic Core-Shaped Tools from the Early Pleistocene Deposits at Bairaki, Moldova Early-Middle Acheulean Occupation of the Northern Transcaucasian Highland Nikolaevo-Otradnoye II—A New Early and Middle Paleolithic Site in the Northeastern Azov Region On the Attribution of Lithic Industry from the Early Paleolithic Site of Bogatyri/Sinyaya Balka, the Gazma Cave—A Final Middle Paleolithic Site in Azerbaijan: Paleogeography, Chronology, Archaeology Variability in the Sibiryachikha Assemblages of the Altai Mountains (Based on Materials from Okladni Spatial Structures of the Initial/Early Upper Paleolithic at Tolbor-21, Northern Mongolia A Complex of Stratifi ed Upper Paleolithic Sites in the Foothills of the Northern Tien Shan: General Late Pleistocene Environments of East Kazakhstan (Based on Ushbulak Site Materials) A New Type of IUP Settlement in the Selenga River Basin, Northern Mongolia: The Kharganyn Gol-13 Sho Morpho-Stratigraphy, Sedimentology, and Radiocarbon Chronology of Suyanggae Sites, Focusing on Loc. Khengerekte-Sukhotino—An Upper Paleolithic Culture in Transbaikalia Late Pleistocene to Early Holocene Paleoclimatic Boundaries and Human Settlement of the East Siberia Late Upper Paleolithic of the South Minusinsk Basin and its Mountain Surroundings: Research Results Ɖiem Cave: A Stratified Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene Site in Northern Vietnam A Case of Systemic Connective Tissue Disorder in a Pazyryk Male from the Altai Mountains   

Spatial Structures of the Initial/Early Upper Paleolithic at Tolbor-21,
Northern Mongolia

D.V. Marchenko¹, A.M. Khatsenovich¹, T. Bolorbat², B. Gunchinsuren², N. Zwyns^{3, 4}, C. Paine^{5, 6}, and E.P. Rybin¹

¹Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia

²Institute of Archaeology, Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Zhukovyn Gudamzh 77, Ulaanbaatar, 13343, Mongolia

³Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Pl. 6, Leipzig, 04103, Germany

⁴University of California-Davis, Shields Avenue 1, Davis, 95616, CA, USA

⁵University of the Highlands and Islands, East Road, Kirkwall, KW15 1LX, UK

⁶University of Cambridge, Cambridge, Downing Street, CB2 3DZ, UK

This article describes the spatial structures of archaeological horizon 4 at Tolbor-21 in northern Mongolia, on the basis of data from 2015-2017. The presence of non-utilitarian items, faunal remains with traces of human impact, and the use of fire render this site near outcrops of raw materials promising for the reconstruction of the spatial organization of Early Upper Paleolithic sites in northern Mongolia. Spatial analysis included visual observations and statistical procedures (clustering with two algorithms) aimed at identifying patterns in the distribution of finds in various areas. The influence of natural processes on the distribution of artifacts was evaluated with fabric analysis based on the positions of the long axes of finds. As a result, it was found that solifluction variously affected the archaeological horizon in different parts of the slope. The effect was strongest in excavation 2, where two possibly overlapping episodes of fire-related activity have been reconstructed. Nevertheless, it is possible to separate two complexes differing in terms of finds, including significantly modified tools and bones with traces of human impact (“fireplace 1”) and a concentration of small artifacts (“fireplace 2”). In the upper part of the slope (excavation 4), near the stone structure, an accumulation of cores at the advanced reduction stages is reconstructed, as well as an area where ungulate carcasses were butchered. An area associated with primary reduction has been separated in excavation 1. The differential use of the camp area by its inhabitants seems to be an important feature of the subsistence strategy of the population of northern Mongolia during the initial stages of the Upper Paleolithic.

Keywords: Northern Mongolia, Initial Upper Paleolithic, Early Upper Paleolithic, spatial analysis, fabric analysis, spatial clusterization