Hunter-gatherer Groups Research Articles

Comparing measured dietary variation within and between tropical hunter-gatherer groups to the Paleo Diet

BackgroundAlthough human diets varied considerably before the spread of agriculture, public perceptions of preagricultural diets have been strongly influenced by the Paleo Diet, which prescribes percentage calorie ranges of 19–35% protein, 22–40% carbohydrate, and 28–47% fat, and prohibits foods with added sugar, dairy, grains, most starchy tubers, and legumes. However, the empirical basis for Paleolithic nutrition remains unclear, with some of its assumptions challenged by the archaeological record and theoretical first principles. ObjectivesWe assessed the variation in diets among tropical hunter-gatherers, including the effect of collection methods on implied macronutrient percentages. MethodsWe analyzed data on animal food, plant food, and honey consumption by weight and kcal from 15 high-quality published ethnographic studies representing 11 recent tropical hunter-gatherer groups. We used Bayesian analyses to perform inference and included data collection methods and environmental variables as predictors in our models. ResultsOur analyses reveal high levels of variation in animal versus plant foods consumed and in corresponding percentages of protein, fat, and carbohydrates. In addition, studies that weighed food items consumed in and out of camp and across seasons and years reported higher consumption of animal foods, which varied with annual mean temperature. ConclusionsThe ethnographic evidence from tropical foragers refutes the concept of circumscribed macronutrient ranges modeling preagricultural diets.

Spatial analysis of an Early Middle Palaeolithic kill/butchering site: the case of the Cuesta de la Bajada (Teruel, Spain)

Kill/butchering sites are some of the most important places for understanding the subsistence strategies of hunter-gatherer groups. However, these sites are not common in the archaeological record, and they have not been sufficiently analysed in order to know all their possible variability for ancient periods of the human evolution. In the present study, we have carried out the spatial analysis of the Early Middle Palaeolithic (MIS 9–8) site of Cuesta de la Bajada site (Teruel, Spain), which has been previously identified as a kill/butchering site through the taphonomic analysis of the faunal remains. Our results show that the spatial properties of the faunal and lithic tools distribution in levels CB2 and CB3 are well-preserved although the site is an open-air location. Both levels show a similar segregated (i.e. regular) spatial point pattern (SPP) which is different from the SPP identified at other sites with similar nature from the ethnographic and the archaeological records. However, although the archaeological materials have a regular distribution pattern, the lithic and faunal remains are positively associated, which is indicating that most parts of both types of materials were accumulated during the same occupation episodes, which were probably sporadic and focused on getting only few animal carcasses at a time.

3D digitization and archaeobotanical analysis of wooden artifacts

The study of wooden artifacts recovered in dry context is scarce. The objective of this work is to identify morphometric patterns in wooden artifacts and to evaluate their relationship with the technological manufacturing processes. To this end, wooden artifacts were analyzed from the site Cerro Casa de Piedra 7, through the 3D scanning, calculation of curvature directions and archaeobotanical analysis. These artifacts are associated to hunter-gatherer groups and different occupations of the early Holocene. The results obtained show, on the one hand, the efficiency of the use of these techniques in the analysis of wooden artifacts recovered in completely dry contexts. The use of 3D scanning techniques showed that they can improve the analysis of manufacturing traces and/or use of wooden artifacts and the possibility of simulating the obtained results by computer. On the other hand, they show the existence of morphometric patterns, sustained in time, which are related to the manufacturing of the artifacts from the Cerro Casa de Piedra 7. In summary, the archaeobotanical analysis methodology presented and developed in this work allows its application to the study of different woody materials regardless of their chronology and recovery site.

Seasonality and mobility of Epipaleolithic groups in the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula: tooth wear analysis of ungulates from Balma del Gai

The aim of this work is to provide evidence about the mobility of hunter-gatherer groups from the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula during the Epipaleolithic, more specifically, those from the Balma del Gai site (Moià, Barcelona, Spain). To do so, a study of the dental meso- and microwear of ungulates hunted by the groups that occupied the Balma del Gai site during the Epipaleolithic was carried out with two main objectives. First, we aimed to determine the diet of the hunted ungulates to reconstruct the habitat in which they lived in the areas near the site through the comparison of the dental microwear patterns with those of extant populations of directly related taxa that inhabited different regions. Second, we aimed to study the variability in the diet of the hunted ungulates to determine the durations of the occupations, and therefore, to characterize the mobility model (forager vs. collector) of the hunter-gatherer groups at Balma del Gai during the Epipaleolithic. The results indicate that the rock shelter was occupied on a seasonal basis. The browsing dietary traits of the red deer at the time of death combined with archaeological evidence suggest that the occupation took place during late summer and especially autumn. This points to a forager mobility pattern for the hunter-gatherer groups of Balma del Gai that could have been present throughout other contemporary human groups of the Mediterranean coast and pre-coastal area.

Systemic stress in hunter-gatherers from the Central Pampas Dunefields (Argentina): evaluating linear enamel hypoplasia during the Holocene

This research aims to evaluate whether the socio-environmental changes observed in the Central Pampas Dunefields (Argentina) throughout the Holocene (ca. 11,000–350 cal year BP) caused episodes of systemic stress in hunter-gatherer populations. Linear enamel hypoplasia was analyzed macroscopically with a 40 × magnifying glass and oblique light in 337 teeth from 26 adult individuals recovered from 11 archaeological sites. Data were analyzed following three levels of observation: individual, tooth, and number of dental enamel lines. 42.3% of the individuals presented linear enamel hypoplasia. The lines affected males and females similarly. No statistically significant differences were observed between the three Holocene periods. The age of growth-disruption events occurred between 2 and 6.05 years, and stress episodes are registered at earlier ages in the Late Holocene than in the other periods. The causes could be related to metabolic stress associated with weaning, post-weaning, variations in the availability of natural resources over time, development of infectious, and parasitic diseases during changes in social organization strategies and gastrointestinal diseases caused by non-potable water intake. At the regional level, Pampas shows moderate to high values of linear enamel hypoplasia, suggesting the exposure of hunter-gatherer groups to recurrent episodes of stress during the early stages of postnatal life.

Investigating the Early-to-Late Mesolithic Transition in Northeastern Italy: A Multifaceted Regional Perspective

Abstract This article focuses on the Mesolithic record of northeastern Italy, one of the key European regions for studying the last prehistoric hunter-gatherer groups. Most specifically, it aims to compare the rich Early and Late Mesolithic evidence, trying to shed some light on the shift between these two periods. Such a topic is approached at a regional scale, that is to say, by comparing the overall record and trying to identify similarities and divergences concerning different aspects of past lifeways such as settlement strategies, technology, exploitation of faunal resources, ornamental traditions and burial rituals. Overall, by providing an updated regional synthesis, the presented data highlight aspects of continuity and discontinuity between these two periods and contribute significantly to the debate concerning the modalities in which this transition took place in Southern Europe.

Land use and systematic survey in the study of hunter-gatherers from northwestern Patagonia, Argentina

In this paper, we focus on the results of the archaeological research in the Diamante Valley, the southernmost limit of the expansion of agriculture, sedentary societies, and the Inka empire (Fig. 1). We conducted the first fieldwork in this area involving random surface sampling, followed by test pits in open-air sites. Our analyses show changes in the settlement pattern of hunter-gatherer societies. During the first part of the Late Holocene (3000–1500 years BP), hunter-gatherers used the highlands and the piedmont seasonally. The archaeological evidence suggests a context of resource abundance and frequent movements from one patch of resources to the other in both biogeographic units. During the last part of the Late Holocene (post-1500 BP period), the increased demography made hunter-gatherers stay longer in each patch. In this later period, we observe a settlement pattern that combines, on the one hand, short-term particular tasks camps with shallow anthropogenic deposits, low artifactual density, richness, and diversity, and on the other hand, larger residential base camps with deep deposits, high artifactual density, richness, and diversity. We also find differences in how hunter-gatherers use the two biogeographic units. We find short-term non-residential camps and larger residential camps in the piedmont. Here we found versatile toolkits with abundant cores and cortex. Even though basalts are abundant in the highlands, there is a more significant amount of non-local raw materials, such as obsidians. Projectile points and scrapers dominate the assemblages, which might lead to task-specific activities such as hunting and processing guanacos. From these results, we can affirm that Late Holocene hunter-gatherer groups from Diamante Valley had an excellent knowledge of the landscape and took advantage of the different altitudinal gradients' different resources with an organized settlement pattern.

Infectious disease in the Pleistocene: Old friends or old foes?

The impact of endemic and epidemic disease on humans has traditionally been seen as a comparatively recent historical phenomenon associated with the Neolithisation of human groups, an increase in population size led by sedentarism, and increasing contact with domesticated animals as well as species occupying opportunistic symbiotic and ectosymbiotic relationships with humans. The orthodox approach is that Neolithisation created the conditions for increasing population size able to support a reservoir of infectious disease sufficient to act as selective pressure. This orthodoxy is the result of an overly simplistic reliance on skeletal data assuming that no skeletal lesions equated to a healthy individual, underpinned by the assumption that hunter-gatherer groups were inherently healthy while agricultural groups acted as infectious disease reservoirs. The work of van Blerkom, Am. J. Phys. Anthropol., vol. suppl 37 (2003), Wolfe et al., Nature, vol. 447 (2007) and Houldcroft and Underdown, Am. J. Phys. Anthropol., vol. 160, (2016) has changed this landscape by arguing that humans and pathogens have long been fellow travelers. The package of infectious diseases experienced by our ancient ancestors may not be as dissimilar to modern infectious diseases as was once believed. The importance of DNA, from ancient and modern sources, to the study of the antiquity of infectious disease, and its role as a selective pressure cannot be overstated. Here we consider evidence of ancient epidemic and endemic infectious diseases with inferences from modern and ancient human and hominin DNA, and from circulating and extinct pathogen genomes. We argue that the pandemics of the past are a vital tool to unlock the weapons needed to fight pandemics of the future.

Perforations in Columbellidae shells: Using 3D models to differentiate anthropogenic piercing from natural perforations

Perforated shells are often used to study socially mediated behaviour in past hunter-gatherer groups. One of the key issues regarding empty shells from beaches or fossil outcrops is determining human agency in the accumulation and modification of an assemblage. Here we investigate anthropogenic mediation in Initial Upper Palaeolithic and Early Ahmarian assemblages of Columbella rustica at Ksâr ‘Akil (Lebanon). We compare perforations in the archaeological specimens with data from newly gathered Columbellidae modern death assemblages from Tenerife (Spain) using three-dimensional shell-thickness models as templates. This approach, using micro-CT scans of pristine shells to map robust and fragile zones on shell outer-surfaces, allows us to contextualise the two datasets within their natural morphology. Our results show that in natural death assemblages the vast majority of perforations occur in structurally weak zones, and their distribution can be explained by shell morphology in combination with predator activity and other post-mortem damage. In our archaeological dataset we found a higher frequency of perforations in more robust zones and a higher uniformity in their location, size and shape. This suggests human mediation in either the selection or manufacture process of C. rustica beads at Ksâr ‘Akil from as early as the Initial Upper Palaeolithic and throughout the Early Ahmarian. Standardisation in perforation shape, size and distribution have been argued to be indicative of formalised manufacture processes and our results are thus more congruent with intentional bead manufacture than the selection of naturally-holed specimens.

THE POINTS FROM EL BUXU CAVE (ASTURIAS, SPAIN): First evidence of adhesive as hafting material in the Solutrean

A multidisciplinary research carried out on the Solutrean points of El Buxu cave is presented in this paper. The technological and functional analysis of this small but diverse assemblage of lithic points has established that all the pieces had been intentionally discarded on site; one of them broke up while being used, the others were left behind as they did not reach optimal functionality due to manufacturing mistakes. Traces of some kind of glue were identified on the tang dorsal face of the shouldered point that had been used (Layer 2). In order to avoid damage to these valuable samples Raman and IR microscopies, two non-destructive techniques, have been applied for the analyses. A collection of natural adhesives possibly used to join the lithic points to the shaft have also been studied by these techniques. The use of a mixture of resin and wax for this purpose is suggested. Haematite, Fe2O3, impregnate the residues of this adhesive. α- Quartz, α-SiO2, is the principal component of the rock from which these lithic pieces have been made. This is the first evidence of remains of adhesive in this type of Solutrean point. We believe that the unusability of all Solutrean points from El Buxu is related to the territory exploitation strategies of the hunter-gatherer groups during the LGM.

Conducting Fieldwork with San and Hadza (Post-)Hunter-Gatherer Communities in Africa: Regulatory and Ethical Issues

In this paper, we address some of the challenges and opportunities of conducting international research in psychology. We examine issues that arise from working in contexts that differ substantially from those in which most psychological research is still conducted. We take our experiences with Tanzanian and Namibian (post-)hunter-gatherers as a starting point for discussing regulatory and ethical issues. We have experienced a highly structured and regulated approach to research in Tanzania and a much less regulated situation in Namibia. We compare both and discuss conflicts that arise from differing demands of national regulations (or lack thereof) and funders or home institutions in the Global North. We focus on the special point of establishing informed consent. While the people we have worked with are not only often illiterate, they also have a very different background of experiences, which means that the translation of consent procedures is not sufficient, and other considerations need to come into play. We discuss cultural characteristics of hunter-gatherer groups, particularly norms related to individual autonomy, that convince us that our participants have the ability to consent nevertheless and compare this with the situation in other groups that we have worked with (for example, Indian farmers). However, we also reflect on ethical choices that become relevant in a digitalized world, particularly when working with children. We argue that an understanding of cultural models and norms is necessary to design and conduct meaningful psychological research and enable us to interpret findings correctly. We suggest to include communities that researchers work with into the research process wherever possible, to aim for long-term commitment and to cultivate an ethical stance regarding research, already in students that become involved in research projects.

Chelonians from the Middle Palaeolithic Site of Mealhada (Coimbra, Portugal): An Update

The results of a review of the chelonian remains retrieved in the excavations carried out in Mealhada (Coimbra, central Portugal) are presented here. Mealhada is a Portuguese Middle Palaeolithic classical site, discovered at the end of the 19th century, and chronologically ascribed to the interglacial Riss-Würm (ca. 120 ka BP). This study has allowed the identification, justification, and figuration of remains attributed to three Iberian chelonian taxa, Testudinidae indet., Mauremys leprosa, and Emys orbicularis, the last one being recognized for the first time in this site. Thus, an update on the data concerning the chelonian record from Mealhada has been achieved, offering new justified taxonomic evidence regarding Iberian chelonian taxa distribution during the Upper Pleistocene. Furthermore, chelonian consumption amongst pre-Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherer groups has been documented worldwide. Frequently a locally captured resource, archaeological turtle remains offer relevant information concerning the role that small prey has played in hominid nutritional choices. The potential presence of anthropic alterations (e.g., cutmarks) in some of the chelonian remains from Mealhada is here analysed and the human consumption hypothesis assessed.

Technological and Social Strategies for the Acquisition and Exploitation of Long-Distance Lithic Raw Materials in the Central Pampean Dunefields of Argentina

ABSTRACT The lithic raw material sources in the Pampas of Argentina present a very restricted distribution. This has generated various scenarios linked with the acquisition and conveyance of stones carried out by human groups in the past. We explore the mechanisms performed in the procurement, transport and exploitation of rocks by those hunter-gatherer societies that inhabited the Central Pampean Dunefields, an area where lithic resources are absent. The results obtained from five lithic assemblages from the Middle and Late Holocene points to a preference in the exploitation of Tandilia Hills stones through both periods, with an increase in rock diversity in the Late Holocene. Our data indicate a direct procurement of orthoquartzite and chert from Tandilia Hills, although the acquisition of the rest of the raw materials could have involved both direct and indirect procurement. These results may be related to the existence of more fluent exchange networks among Pampas hunter-gatherer groups.

Status does not predict stress among Hadza hunter-gatherer men

In recent years there has been much research regarding the extent to which social status is related to long-term indices of health. The majority of studies looking at the interplay between social status and health have been conducted in industrialized societies. However, it has been argued that most of human evolution took place in small, mobile and egalitarian hunter-gatherer groups where individuals exhibited very little variation in terms of material wealth or possessions. In this study, we looked at the extent to which two domains of social status, hunting reputation (being perceived as a good hunter) and popularity (being perceived as a friend), are related to physiological stress levels among Hadza men, hunter-gatherers living in Northern Tanzania. The results of our study show that neither hunting reputation nor popularity is associated with stress levels. Overall, our data suggest that, in at least some traditional small-scale societies exhibiting an egalitarian social model, such as the Hadza, the variation in social status measures based on both popularity and hunting reputation does not translate into one of the commonly used indices of wellbeing.

Can models of evolutionary transition clarify the debates over the Neolithic Revolution?

The 'Neolithic Revolution,' sometimes referred to as the emergence of agriculture at its earliest in the southern Levant, is the most significant shift in human history, shaping the world we live in today. Yet, after 100 years of study, its major cause, tempo (gradual or revolutionary), and impact of human intentionality remain disputed. Here, we examine the research potential of an evolutionary transition in individuality (ETI) to clarify this dramatic shift. Applying an ETI research perspective reveals how different causes and conditions lead to the same result, enabling a holistic view rather than a reduction of 'Neolithic' to 'agriculture,' or to one major climatic condition, inheritance system or standard evolutionary model, thus allowing us to clarify and bypass some of these heated, unresolved disputes. Additionally, unlike current archaeological emphasis on 'where,' 'when,' 'why' and 'how' questions, the ETI perspective offers a productive path for resolving a fundamental preliminary anomaly: why and how could the Neolithic lifeway evolve at all, given the selfish interest of individuals in a hunter-gatherer group? We do not intend to solve the shift to Neolithic lifeways, only to offer a fresh lens for examining it, emphasizing the relevance of tracking within and between group differences. This article is part of the theme issue 'Human socio-cultural evolution in light of evolutionary transitions'.

The role of the huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus) in Patagonian maritime hunter-gatherer strategies: The case of Diego Portales Island and Última Esperanza inland sea (Chile)

The biodiversity of animal species in the Última Esperanza inland sea (Magallanes region, Chile) provides an exceptional opportunity to study the economic and organizational strategies of maritime hunter-gatherer groups in the Fuego-Patagonian archipelago. The consumption of huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus) in Southern South America is well documented since the Middle Holocene, although its role in the subsistence strategies of maritime hunter-gatherers varies depending on the geographical and environmental area. The aim of this paper is to assess the implications of huemul exploitation on organizational strategies by Late Holocene maritime hunter-gatherer groups from the Última Esperanza inland sea (Magallanes region, Chile). In this work we present the results of a zooarchaeological analysis of the huemul assemblage from the sites of Bahía Easter 1 and Bahía Easter 2 (Diego Portales Island, Última Esperanza, Chile). The results show the high importance of huemul in the maritime hunter-gatherer diet, and provide new insights into the hunting and transport strategies of this prey. Furthermore, the integration of the data within the local and regional archaeological record allowed us to identify similarities at the scale of the inland sea, where huemul was frequently exploited both in island and coastal environments in contrast to what is documented in the neighboring Skyring Sea and Otway Sea.

Pierced antlers in the Southern Cone: Late Holocene hunter-gatherer groups of the low Paraná wetland

Pierced antlers, traditionally known as bâtons de commandement, are commonly found in many Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic sites in Europe. Despite their original association to symbolic uses, their function is in constant debate, having as many hypotheses as contexts of finding. Predominance of symbolic use was replaced by the emphasis of antler mechanical properties chosen to perform this type of artefact. In America, pierced antlers are practically absent, however, a large number of antlers with short branches and a central perforation were found in the Low Paraná wetland. They were recovered from hunter-gatherer sites dated in the Late Holocene. In this paper, we analyse their chronological and spatial distribution, the material association and the morphometrical and physical properties of the assemblages to discuss the functional significance of these items in the local contexts. Antlers with and without perforation are considered. As a result, we note that the assemblage under analysis is morphologically different from the European's ones with symmetrical branches, despite the same material properties being maintained in the selection of deer antler as raw material. In our case, antlers without perforation are interpreted as discarded from the manufacturing processes that involve other types of tools besides there is a different proposal for a near area as the República Oriental del Uruguay. Pierced antlers show fractures and use-wear patterns like those described in the international literature. Even if no functional identification can be confirmed, high stress and domestic activity can be proposed.

An expanded frame for lithic material choices

For a long time, lithic procurement strategies have been used as an indicator of mobility abilities and material preferences of various hunter-gatherer groups across time. Different procurement patterns between the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic in Europe have led to interpretations of species differences between Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens , and diverse influences of the environment on the populations. With the use of hypotheses on local or long-distance lithic procurement, agent-based models can function as a neutral and quantitative test of procurement choices. By statistically testing hypotheses made from ethnographic and archaeological studies, the material of four Middle Palaeolithic sites in the Middle Rhine area, Western Germany, set the frame for analysing procurement choices of the Neanderthals in their environmental setting. From the analyses of the agent-based models, it is visible that it is the availability of raw material resources that influences the procurement of the hunter-gatherer agent. By reflecting this result in the local environment and ecological options, it is argued that the advantages of local procurement succeeded the ones of long-distanced procurements for the Neanderthals. Thereby the study provides an example of the beneficial union of qualitative and quantitative methodologies in archaeological research, and how the science of the past can improve by adding computational methods of the present.

What's in a Hearth? Preliminary Findings from the Margal Hunter-Gatherer Habitation in the Eastern Mongolian Gobi Desert

abstract: Today's image of people inhabiting the vast steppe landscapes of Mongolia is inseparably linked to mobile animal herding. Indeed, archaeologists have confirmed that human-animal communities comprised of human herders and domestic livestock roamed across Mongolia's grassland environment and utilized semi-arid to arid regions such as the Gobi steppe desert for thousands of years. However, it is much rarer to catch a glimpse of the time before the advent of pastoralism in this part of the world. During the Neolithic (ca. 6000–1800 b.c.), the Gobi was much less of a desert than it is today. Sparsely scattered archaeological sites testify to the presence of hunter-gatherer groups that successfully exploited rich wetland environments. As a result of the pedestrian survey carried out by the Dornod Mongol Survey in the greater region of Delgerkhaan Uul, we discovered in situ remains of a Neolithic habitation site. Excavations at the Margal site uncovered a stratified hearth and a lithic assemblage embedded in a habitation layer and accompanied by a few faunal bone fragments. Our finds correspond with the Oasis 2 stage (ca. 6000–3000 b.c.) of the scheme established by Janz and colleagues dividing the Mongolian Neolithic into phases based on habitation, as well as subsistence patterns and technology. However, some typical Oasis 2 markers such as pottery and grinding tools are missing from the small assemblage uncovered from test excavations in 2017 and 2018. Margal likely belonged to a regional network of extended hunter-gatherer occupation relying on wild plant and faunal resources. The site represents the first of its kind in the region and has potential to shed light on hunter-gatherer subsistence and habitation decisions. In concert with adjacent archaeological surface scatters and contextualized in the supraregional network of hunter-gatherer habitation, it will contribute to refining current models of lifeways and transformations in Mongolian prehistory.

What’s in a Hearth?: Preliminary Findings from the Margal Hunter-gatherer Habitation in the Eastern Mongolian Gobi Desert

Today’s image of people inhabiting the vast steppe landscapes of Mongolia is inseparably linked to mobile animal herding. Indeed, archaeologists have confirmed that human-animal communities comprised of human herders and domestic livestock roamed across Mongolia’s grassland environment and utilized semiarid to arid regions such as the Gobi steppe desert for thousands of years. However, it is much rarer to catch a glimpse of the time before the advent of pastoralism in this part of the world. During the Neolithic (ca. 6000 – 1800 B.C.), the Gobi was much less of a desert than it is today. Sparsely scattered archaeological sites testify to the presence of hunter-gatherer groups that successfully exploited rich wetland environments. As a result of the pedestrian survey carried out by the Dornod-Mongol-Survey in the greater region of Delgerkhaan Uul, we discovered in situ remains of a Neolithic habitation site. Excavations at the Margal site uncovered a stratified hearth and a lithic assemblage embedded in a habitation layer and accompanied by a few faunal bone fragments. Our finds correspond with the Oasis 2 stage (ca. 6000 – 3000 B.C.) of the scheme established by Janz and colleagues dividing the Mongolian Neolithic into phases based on habitation and subsistence patterns and technology. However, some typical Oasis 2 markers such as pottery and grinding tools are missing from the small assemblage uncovered from test excavations in 2017 and 2018. Margal likely belonged to a regional network of extended hunter-gatherer occupation relying on wild plant and faunal resources. The site represents the first of its kind in the region and has potential to shed light on hunter-gatherer subsistence and habitation decisions. In concert with adjacent archaeological surface scatters and contextualized in the supraregional network of hunter gather habitation, it will contribute to refining current models of lifeways and transformations in Mongolian prehistory.