Abstract
Northern Mongolia and southwest Transbaikalia, encompassing the Selenga River Basin, constitute the geographical core of the earliest known Initial Upper Paleolithic (IUP) laminar industries. Comparison of the broad spectrum of criteria presented here allows reconstructing variability within these IUP industries, determining regional traits in settlement systems, and the character of population mobility. Workshops were the main site-type identified, visible as several short-term occupational episodes. One of our foci is illuminating the role of the Selenga River Valley and its tributaries as the principal migration corridors for population diffusion in the Upper Paleolithic. Although some unique regional features are apparent, the technology and typology of the lithic industries demonstrate great similarity. We suggest that the cumulative evidence indicates the recent divergence of Mongolian and Transbaikalian IUP populations stemming from a common ancestral group of humans.
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