The early Upper Palaeolithic of the Tunka rift valley, Lake Baikal region, Siberia

Abstract

This paper presents recent results of geological and archaeological research at Late Pleistocene sites in the Tunka rift valley (Lake Baikal region, southern Siberia), including new radiocarbon dating of the Palaeolithic layers at Bol'shoi Zangisan, Slavin Yar and Tuyana. The sites range in age from ∼26 to 45 ka 14C BP and represent the earliest evidence of human habitation in the area. Numerous faunal remains have also been identified in the archaeological horizons from which palaeoenvironmental conditions can be reconstructed. These data also provide important new information about the age, context, and development of an early microlithic industry in the Tunka-Pribaikal'e region during the late Karginskii interstadial, attributed to Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS3). Although further research is needed to verify the reconstructed site age models, archaeological evidence recovered at Tuyana and Bol'shoi Zangisan represent among the oldest known occurrences of microcore-microblade technology in North Asia.