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The Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition in Siberia Item Type Thesis Authors Goebel, Frank E. (Ted) Download date 24/09/2021 04:07:11 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/11122/8640 INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality ulustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. 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Order Num ber 9507294 The middle to upper paleolithic transition in Siberia Goebel, Frank E. (Ted), Ph.D. University of Alaska Fairbanks, 1994 Copyright ©1995 by Goebel, Frank E. (Ted). AH rights reserved. UMI 300 N. Zeeb Rd. Ann Aibor, MI 48106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE MIDDLE TO UPPER PALEOLITHIC TRANSITION IN SIBERIA A THESIS Presented to the Faculty of the University of Alaska Fairbanks in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By Frank E. (Ted) Goebel, B.A., M.A. Fairbanks, Alaska December 1993 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE MIDDLE TO UPPER PALEOLITHIC TRANSITION IN SIBERIA By Frank E. (Ted) Goebel RECOMMENDED: G. Richard Scott W. Roger Powers Advisory Committee phajr V X t W i W. Roger Powers Department Head APPROVED: y l ~ j o . i u & s Dean, College of Liberal Arts Dean of the Graduate School Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Abstract This dissertation presents results of recent research in Siberia directed at (1) developing an accurate archaeological chronology for the mid-Upper Pleistocene of Siberia (chiefly through accelerator radiocarbon methods), and (2) defining and characterizing the region's Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition. Eleven Middle Paleolithic sites are now known from southwest Siberia. Relative age estimates of these cultural occupations range from the Last Interglacial (oxygen- isotope substage 5e, 128,000-118,000 years ago) to the mid-Middle Pleniglacial (oxygen- isotope stage 3,50,000-40,000 years ago). Associated lithic industries are Levallois and Mousterian. Middle Paleolithic interassemblage lithic variability is hinged on die differential production of Levallois points and Levallois flakes, and the intensity of side scraper reduction. Hominid remains from two sites, Denisova Peshchera and Peshchera Okladnikov, appear pre-modem and exhibit affinities to Neanderthals from southwest Asia. At least 15 sites have been assigned to the Siberian early Upper Paleolithic. Radiocarbon dates range from 42,000 to 30,000 years ago. Occupations at Kara-Bom (component Ha), Makarovo-4, and Varvarina Gora predate the effective range of radiocarbon dating (40,000 years ago), and may be considerably older than radiocarbon dates suggest Initial Upper Paleolithic industries arc characterized by the detachment of blades from "flat-faced” parallel blade cores, the absence of Levallois techniques, the presence of bifacial and burin secondary reduction technologies, and tool kits with end scrapers, angle burins, wedges, gravers, bifacial knives, and slender retouched points on blades. Also occurring for the first time arc worked bone, ivory, and antler points, awls, and needles, pendants and other items of personal adornment and rare examples of mobiliary art Diagnostic hominid fossils are absent The Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition involved dramatic and multi-faceted changes in tool technologies and tool forms. Patterns of change are discrete rather than discontinuous; no transitional industries have been identified. Stratigraphic evidence indicates rapid succession from one technocomplex to the other. This evidence supports population replacement rather than continuity for the origins of the Siberian Upper Paleolithic. Whether this event also signals the appearance of modem humans in this and surrounding areas of inner Asia must await additional hominid fossil discoveries. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table of Contents List of Figures .......................................................................................................................ix List of Tables .......................................................................................................................xiv Dedication ...........................................................................................................................xvi Acknowledgments ..............................................................................................................xvii Chapter 1. Introduction .........................................................................................................1 Objectives and Organization of This Study ....................................................................1 Background: The Emergence of Modem Humans ........................................................ 5 Anatomy .....................................................................................................................5 Behavior .....................................................................................................................6 Spread-and-Replacement ....................................................................................6 Regional Continuity ............................................................................................ 8 Common Ground ......................................................................................................10 Chapter 2. The Pleistocene Setting .................................................................................... 13 Modem Climate and Physiography ............................................................................... 13 Global Paleoclimatic Framework .................................................................................. 17 Siberia in the Upper Pleistocene ...................................................................................20 The Kazantsev Interglacial, 128,000-118,000 B.P. ................................................ 21 North Siberia ..................................................................................................... 21 Southwest Siberia .............................................................................................. 23 Southeast Siberia ............................................................................................... 25 Discussion ..........................................................................................................27 The Zyrian Glacial, 118,000-75,000 BJP .................................................................29 North Siberia......................................................................................................30 Southwest Siberia .............................................................................................. 32 Southeast Siberia ............................................................................................... 34 Discussion ..........................................................................................................36 The Karga Interglacial, 60,000-25,000 B .P. .......................................................... 37 North Siberia ..................................................................................................... 38 Southwest Siberia .............................................................................................. 41 Southeast Siberia ............................................................................................... 44 Discussion ......................................................................................................... 47 Summary: Inter-Regional Stratigraphic Correlations .................................................48 Chapter 3. The Sites ............................................................................................................53