South of Eastern Europe and Upper Paleolithic diversity around the Last Glacial Maximum

Abstract

In contrast to the still standing paradigm of local evolution in Upper Paleolithic (UP) research in Eastern European Paleolithic archaeology, this article proposes a view that sees the Late UP record as a punctuated presence of different UP industries in the southern part of Eastern Europe, i.e. the Great North Black Sea region. This punctuated presence seems to be predominantly connected to the influence of palaeoenvironmental conditions around the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Basic UP features can be summarized as follows: the exclusive occurrence of Epi-Aurignacian sites during Heinrich Event 2; the permanent presence of a regional variant of Epigravettian sites in the Great North Black Sea region since the LGM sensu stricto despite lacking evidence of the preceding Gravettian; the absence of any “generic industrial links” between the Gravettian and Epigravettian in the central part of Eastern Europe; an Early Epigravettian “hiatus” in the central part of Eastern Europe that might explain the presence of some assemblages of “Magdalenian character” before the appearance of Late Epigravettian sites.