Provenance of the pumice manuports from archaeological sites at the Vitim River, East Siberia, Russia

Abstract

This article presents and discusses the results obtained by X-ray fluorescence and KAr methods regarding pumice pieces found at two archaeological sites: Ust’-Karenga XVI (9000–8000 cal BP) and Kovrizhka III (∼13,000 cal BP) (Vitim River, Transbaikalia, Russia). KAr dating and geochemical characteristics of pumice from the Kovrizhka and Ust’-Karenga sites indicate that they are a product of the eruptions of the Udokan volcanic field, and not the Vitim volcanic field, which are two volcanic regions of Transbaikalia. Ancient people residing at both sites were aware of the same resources within the territories, despite the fact that they lived at different times; this is evidenced by the fact that the archaeological material found in the ritual pit of Ust’-Karenga XVI is similar in terms of cultural remains to the archaeological finds of the Kovrizhka group of sites of the age range from ∼6700 to 13,000 cal BP. In this work, we assume that ancient people used not only stone resources but also thermal springs of the territory of the Udokan volcanic field. Based on the paleogeographical data of the region, we reconstruct the possible routes used by ancient humans to deliver and/or exchange raw materials necessary for economic purposes. Our new data in combination with previously published data for Transbaikalia and other regions of Siberia suggest that the connection between the ancient populations living in these areas often persisted at distances >1000 km.