Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 51 (3) 2023   doi:10.17746/1563-0110.2023.51.3.075-085

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   

Late Pleistocene Environments of East Kazakhstan
(Based on Ushbulak Site Materials)

A.A. Anoikin^{1, 2}, G.D. Pavlenok¹, V.I. Silaev³, S.V. Shnaider⁴, V.V. Koval⁵, A.Y. Devyatova⁶, S.K. Vasiliev¹, E.N. Bocharova¹, V.M. Kharevich¹, and Z.K. Taimagambetov⁷

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

²Altai State University, Pr. Lenina 61, Barnaul, 656049, Russia

³Institute of Geology, Komi Federal Research Center, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pervomaiskaya 54, Syktyvkar, 167982, Russia

⁴ZooSCAn International Research Laboratory, IRL 2013, CNRS–IAET SB RAS, Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia

⁵Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 8, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia

⁶Trofimuk Institute of Petroleum Geology and Geophysics, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pr. Akademika Koptyuga 3, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia

⁷National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Pr. Tauelsizdik 54, Astana, 010000, Kazakhstan

We reconstruct environmental conditions at various stages of the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene of East Kazakhstan. The reconstructions are based on materials from the stratified Ushbulak site in the Shilikta Valley, spanning a period from the Early Upper Paleolithic to the Bronze Age. Climatic changes were evaluated using natural science methods—mineralogical, ZooArchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS), OSL- and AMS-dating, etc. Sevaral stages, relating to environmental changes, are evaluated. The first period (~52-37 ka BP) was period of moderately warm and relatively humid climate, with predominantly forest-steppe, meadow-steppe, and semidesert landscapes. The second period (~25—21 ka BP) coincided with a transition from a moderately warm to a very cold and more arid climate dominated by steppes. The third period (~18—16 ka BP) was transitional from the glacial maximum to the postglacial interstadial, with a relatively cool and arid climate and mostly steppe and forest-steppe landscapes. The fourth period (~15—14 ka BP) was characterized by the warmest climate in the Late Pleistocene; steppe and forest-steppe vegetation dominated. During the latest, Early Holocene period, the climate was warm and humid, with savanna-like landscapes. The analysis of natural-climatic conditions allows us to conclude that the early stage of the site’s functioning, characterized by the highest intensity of settlement, was optimal for ancient man.

Keywords: East Kazakhstan, paleoclimate, paleontology, ZooMS, litho-chemical analysis, mineralogical and geochemical analyses