Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 51 (3) 2023   doi:10.17746/1563-0110.2023.51.3.116-123

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 to Early Holocene Paleoclimatic Boundaries
and Human Settlement of the East Siberian Arctic

V.V. Pitulko

Institute for the History of Material Culture, Russian Academy of Sciences, Dvortsovaya nab. 18A, St. Petersburg, 191186, Russia

Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera), Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya nab. 3, St. Petersburg, 199034, Russia

This article examines archaeological records relating to the East Siberian Arctic in the Stone Age. It spans approximately 50,000 years, from the early stage of MIS 3 to the Early Holocene. Human settlement of the region can be divided into three main stages: early (~50,000-29,000 BP, MIS 3), middle (~29,000-11,700 BP, MIS 2), and late (11,700-8000 BP). The peopling of Arctic Eurasia and the cultural evolution in that part of the world were driven both by abiotic and biotic factors, as evidenced by the correspondance between archaeologically detectable changes and key paleoclimatic events. Early human settlement of that region is associated with a population marked by West Eurasian genetic ancestry, whose cultural elements are typical for Southern Siberia. The early settlers were replaced by people displaying East Asian ancestry, migrating northwards under the impact of climatic changes. It is concluded that the successful peopling of the Arctic was facilitated by the adoption of critically important innovations such as sewing with eyed bone needles, and manufacture of long shafts and pointed implements made of mammoth tusks. Lithic industries marking various stages are described. That of the early stage is characterized by flake technology; in the middle stage, wedge-shaped core technology appeared; and the principal feature of the late stage is microprismatic technology, indicating total population replacement. The onset of the Holocene coincides with a key innovation—land transportation by dogsled, resulting in much higher mobility.

Keywords: Stone Age, Upper Paleolithic, human settlement of the Arctic, environment and climate change, complex technologies