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Introduction INTRODUCTION THE CULTURAL HiSTOBY of Northern Asia holds much of interest for the student of culture process and human adaptation. The variety of often rigorous environments, the presence or absence of geographic barriers affecting movement and diffusion, the impingement of contrasting ethnic and cultural forces from east and west—to name only a few of the factors involved—make this an area of rime concern to anthropology. Developments here, also, may shed important Eght on historical problems of Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Far East, and even the New World. In fact, the prehistory of Northern Asia is attracting growing interest among American archaeologists and anthropologists owing to its sig- nificance for basic research, including that into the question of the origins of the indigenous populations and cultures of the New World, a major interest of long standing in American anthropology. The seemingly isolated Western Hemisphere provides a laboratory situation for the testing of many basic theoretical assump- tions regarding human behavior, "human nature," and cultural evolution. Deter- mination of the nature and extent of Old World influence on the Americas is vital to the solution of such problems. Since a considerable if not preponderant part of this influence must be attributed to Northern Asia, its identification and evalua- tion depends primarily on the fullest possible knowledge of the prehistory of this part of the world. The present volume was conceived as a contribution to provide information on the archaeology and also on the Pleistocene geomorphology of Northern Asia, since the latter is indispensable to an understanding of the earlier phases of human history here. The past thirty years have seen a commendable amount of data collection and research in both fields. Much still remains to be done, but this part of the world is no longer the proverbial "blank spot" of popular imagina- tion. The dearth of information in the Western World is primarily a product of the language barrier, and is thus more apparent than real. From the growing Russian literature, the Advisory Committee of this series has selected for publica- tion here eighteen papers of permanent value or major interest not available else- where, which appeared in Soviet sources during the years 1948-63. As it stands, the volume is primarily directed at the specialist with some knowledge of the area. For those persons approaching the subject for the first time, or with only a limited acquaintance, the following works will provide general orientation and aid in placing the papers in proper perspective. The outstanding work in English is Henry N. Michael's "The Neolithic Age in eastern Siberia" (Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 48, part 2, 1958). A briefer but important treatment of western Siberia is Demitri B. Shimkin's "Western Siberian archaeology, an interpretative summary" (Selected Papers of the Fifth International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences, Philadelphia, 1960, pp. 648-661). For northeastern China, the most comprehensive treatment will be found in Kwang-chih Chang's The Archaeology of Anicent China (Yale University Press, 1963). Marija Gimbutas's "The pre- history of Eastern Europe, Part I" ( Bulletin of the American School of Prehistoric x Introduction Research, no. 20, 1956) and "Middle Ural sites and the chronology of northern Eurasia" (Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, vol. 24, 1958, pp. 120-157) con- tain much that is relevant to Siberian problems. Other general treatments include Chester S. Chard's "An outline of the prehistory of Siberia. Part I. The pre-metal periods" (Southwestern Journal of Anthropology, vol. 14, no. 1, 1958, pp. 1-33), "The Neolithic in Northern Asia: A culture area approach" (Anthropologica, n.s., vol. 2, no. 2, 1960, pp. 240-248), and "Soviet scholarship on the prehistory of Asiatic Russia" (Slavic Review, vol. 22, no, 3,1963, pp. 538-546). The following more-specialized discussions focus on particular regions or topics: CHARD, CHESTER S. Chronology and culture succession in the Northern Kuriles. American Antiquity, vol. 21, no. 3, 1956, pp. 287-292. Observations on the Lena Neolithic. Asian Perspectives, vol. 1,1957, pp. 183—198. Mesolithic sites in Siberia. Asian Perspectives, vol. 2, no. 1, 1958, pp. 118-127. Organic tempering in Northeast Asia and Alaska. American Antiquity, vol. 24, no. 2, 1958, pp. 193-194. Routes to Bering Strait. American Antiquity, vol. 26, no. 2, 1960, pp. 283-285. The Old World roots: Review and speculations. Anthropological Papers of the University of Alaska, vol. 10, no. 2, 1963, pp. 115-121. Check-stamped pottery in prehistoric Eurasia. In A Pedro Bosch-Gimpera en el septuagésimo aniversario de su nacimiento, Mexico, 1963, pp. 95—101. GAUL, [AMES. Observations on the Bronze Age in the Yenisei Valley, Siberia. Papers of the Peabody Museum, vol. 20, Cambridge, 1943, pp. 149-186. JETTMAR, KARL. The Karasuk culture and its southeastern affinities. Bulletin, Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, no. 22, Stockholm, 1950, pp. 83-126. The Altai before the Turks. Bulletin, Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, no. 23, Stockholm, 1951, pp. 135-223. Movius, HALLAM L., JR. Late Pleistocene (4th glacial) conditions and Palaeolithic settlement in Soviet Central Asia and Western Siberia. Actes du IV Congrès Inter- national du Quaternaire, 1955. QuiMHY, GEORGE I. The prehistory of Kamchatka. American Antiquity, vol. 12, no. 3, 1947, pp. 173-179. TOLSTOY, PAUL. Some Amerasian pottery traits in North Asian prehistory. American Antiquity, vol. 19, no. 1, 1953, pp. 25-39. The archaeology of the Lena basin and its New World relationships. American Antiquity, vol. 23, no. 4, 1958, pp. 397-418; vol. 24, no. 1, 1958, pp. 63-81. YOSHIZAKI, MASAKAZU. Prehistoric culture in southern Sakhalin. Arctic Anthropology, vol. 1, no. 2, 1963, pp. 131-158. Malta, the subject of the first archaeological report in the present volume, is the type site for the early stage of the Siberian Palaeolithic; there are no indu- bitable sites of comparable age with the exception of the Ust-Kanskaya Cave in the Altay, which is thought to represent a still earlier time. Current estimates place the age of Malta at 15,000-20,000 years, which seems not unreasonable in the light of the radiocarbon date from the later site of Afontova Cora II. The initial work at Malta was carried out intermittently between 1928 and 1937; the reports which appeared are not readily accessible for the most part. The present paper deals with the new excavations carried out in 1956-57 by one of the original investigators, M. M. Gerasimov, a famous figure in Soviet science well known for his reconstructions of the features of early human skulls. It is important because the author seems to have no plans for publishing a more definite report on this key site, and because his views and interpretations differ in important respects from his earlier ones. It has been the general view that the early stage Introduction xi of the Siberian Palaeolithic displayed definite western elements, which disappear in the subsequent "classic" Siberian Palaeolithic, the roots of which are now traced to Mongolia ( cf. "Northeast Asia," Asian Perspectives, vol. 8, no. 1, 1964 ). Gerasimov here plays down the western aspect, denying, for example, the pres- ence of true burins and real prismatic cores. The paper is of particular interest for its description of Palaeolithic dwellings with clear division into men's and women's sides, and differing structures for summer and winter use. The discovery of actual hafted tools is also noteworthy. Those who, like the present writer, have been privileged to examine the materials recovered can only regret that a fuller report will not be forthcoming. The only other sources on the 1956-57 excava- tions are to be found in Kratkiye soobshcheniya Instituía arkheologii, no. 82, 1961, pp. 128-134, and Asian Perspectives, vol. 5, no. 1, 1962, pp. 118-119. The author of the next three papers, Academician A. P. Okladnikov, is a tower- ing figure in Siberian archaeology who has devoted a lifetime to pioneering investigations in the eastern half of the area and is responsible for the bulk of our information. His report on the Lena valley is still the only work on the Palaeolithic of this important region, describing in detail all possible occurrences, based on his own observations. It is important to bear in mind that the later stages of the Siberian Palaeolithic are clearly postglacial, and it is here that the Lena sites would seem to belong, with the possible exception of Chastinskaya. All are merely temporary campsites with scanty remains. The basis for assigning them to the Palaeolithic is mainly typological, plus in some cases a geological- stratigraphic situation comparable to that of the late Palaeolithic finds on the Angara and Yenisey rivers. Judging by the evidence presented, man was a late- comer in the Lena valley and did not penetrate north of Yakutsk until fairly recent times. Okladnikov's summary and interpretation of the available data on the Yenisey Neolithic is also the only source on an important region. The Yenisey served both as a major frontier and also as a channel of communication through the heartland of Siberia. Information on the Neolithic stage here is drawn mainly from scattered finds, typologically dated; these are described and discussed, and their signif- icance examined. A few sites are referred to but never described. Cultural paral- lels and possible imports from the Baykal region, most apparent in the earlier stages, provide a basis for cross-dating. Some links are also seen with the Afan- asyevo culture of the steppe and with western Siberia and even the Urals. Ofcladnikov believes there is evidence indicating the arrival of Uralian tribes from the west towards the close of the Neolithic—most probably the ancestral Samoyedic stock.
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