THREE SCENARIOS OF THE MIDDLE TO UPPER PALEOLITHIC TRANSITION

Abstract

Specifi c features of the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition in Eastern Central Asia and the Near East are discussed. It is concluded that the processes in these territories, as in Northern Asia, had much in common according to a number of important technological and typological characteristics, making it possible to speak of a single Eurasian scenario. Common features include primary reduction techniques, the emergence of prismatic and narrow-faced cores, the progressively increasing role of knife-like blades and microblades, the abundance of tools on blades, the standardization of the tool kit, and the predominance of Upper Paleolithic forms in the 45–38 ka time range. Generally, materials from various regions (Southern Siberia, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, and the Levant) suggest that Upper Paleolithic industries evolved from local terminal Middle Paleolithic ones throughout Northern and Central Asia and the Near East. This is attested to by the survival of certain Middle Paleolithic types at the early stages of the Upper Paleolithic.