Siberian chronology (Radiocarbon vol 44 no 2)

[Daryl Habel]

To all,

Vasil'ev, S.A., Kuzmin, Y.V., Orlova, L.A. & Dementiev,  V.N. (2002). Radiocarbon-based chronology of the Paleolithic in Siberia and its relevance to the peopling of the New World. Radiocarbon. 44 (2): 503-530.

is available in pdf. (Adobe reader required) at:

http://www.radiocarbon.org/Temp/503-530.pdf

In addition to the excellent 10-page appendix datelist (Table 1. Results from the updated 14C database of the Siberian Paleolithic), which enumerates 446 14C dates from 13 Middle Paleolithic (Mousterian) and 111 Upper Paleolithic sites older than ~12,000 BP, with site location (longitude and latitude), sample position, lab # and reference for each,  this paper discusses some controversial debates in current Siberian archaeology.

Subject headings include: 1) Introduction; 2) 14C database of the Siberian Paleolithic; 3)14C dating of bone collagen from Siberian paleolithic sites; 4) Evaluation of 14C dates in Siberian Paleolithic geoarchaeology; 5) Controversies in 14C chronology of the Upper Paleolithic in Siberia; 6) Modern human dispersal in Northern Asia: An outline; 7) Beringia and the peopling of America, and; 8) Conclusion.

There are three detailed maps, showing all Paleolithic sites enumerated in the appendix datelist (by number):  Figure 1 is a map of the Siberian entirety, showing scattered Paleolithic sites not numbered on  the more-detailed maps of  Figure 2 Yenisey River and Figure 3 Lake Baikal regions.

This is a must for anyone interested in the chronology of  the MP/UP transformation in NE Asia.

Enjoy,
Dar

P.S.  I'll add that one does not necessarily have to agree with the authors' conclusions to benefit from this paper.

[colin]

Thanks Dar - interesting stuff. There's been some fascinating finds  coming out of Siberia  in recent years, especially  the Altai, where as I mentioned in a post the other day AMH from 38kbp was found with Mousterian tools. It seems that the Upper Paelolithic there developed from the local Mousterian -  no sign of invading Africans with  a superior toolkit displacing the locals! Interesting too that some of the early teeth found there have been described as having affinities with both archaic East Asians and Neanderthals - I have a feeling Brace did some work on this, but I dont have a reference I'm afraid.
It will pay us to keep a sharp eye on the work of Derevianko et al in the time ahead, I suspect there will a lot more interesting stuff turned up.
Cheers
Colin

[Daryl Habel]

Thanks Dar - interesting stuff. There's been some fascinating finds  coming out of Siberia  in recent years, especially  the Altai, where as I mentioned in a post the other day AMH from 38kbp was found with Mousterian tools. It seems that the Upper Paelolithic there developed from the local Mousterian -  no sign of invading Africans with  a superior toolkit displacing the locals! Interesting too that some of the early teeth found there have been described as having affinities with both archaic East Asians and Neanderthals - I have a feeling Brace did some work on this, but I dont have a reference I'm afraid.
It will pay us to keep a sharp eye on the work of Derevianko et al in the time ahead, I suspect there will a lot more interesting stuff turned up.
Cheers
Colin

Hi Colin,

Thanks for the comment.  This has been noted both here and, in the past, at numerous times on the palanth-l forum.  I first heard of these Siberian Mousterians from reading Christy Turner's account:

Turner, Christy G. II (1992). New World Origins: New Research from the Americas and the Soviet Union. In Stanford, D.J. & Day, J.S. (eds.) Ice Age Hunters of the Rockies. Denver Museum of Natural History and University Press of Colorado. Niwot, Colorado. pp. 7-50.

But for the next few years, all the mainstream books (Stringer & Gamble 1993, etc.)  kept repeating the theme that the eastern boundary of the Mousterian realm was Teshik Tash.  Eventually, I found and purchased in its first year of publication:

Derev'anko, A.P., Shimkin, D.B. & Powers, W.R. (eds.) 1998. The Paleolithic of Siberia: New Discoveries and Interpretations. Urbana & Chicago: University of Illinois Press.

This has been a wonderful source of information, although it is starting to become a bit dated.  The reason I asked earlier about your reference for the 37-38kyr BP "early moderns" at Okladnikov Cave is that my book has a reference by Valery Alekseev (published posthumously):

Alekseev, V. (1998). The physical specificities of Paleolithic hominids in Siberia. In Derev'anko et al. (eds.), The Paleolithic of Siberia. New Discoveries and Interpretations. Urbana & Chicago: University of Illinois Press.  pp, 329-335.

Alekseev described the human remains from Okladnikov Cave as consisting only of 5 teeth (belonging to 3 individuals) from strata 2, 3 and 7,  as well as a very few post-cranial elements: a distal right humerus and a left patella ("probably belonging to the same adult individual from stratum 2") and a partial juvenile femur (from stratum 3).  Alekseev noted that the post-crania "do not bear any deviation from modern H. sapiens", but I'd have to say this is pretty scrappy material to be saying much about overall population characteristics.  One of the teeth, a lower right M2 from stratum 3, is distinguished by a significant differentiation of the occlusal surface - an archaic trait - insufficient to assign the hominid to AMH or Neanderthal, but "enough to speak of a certain morphological primitiveness of dental structure and thus the first evidence indicating that the southern regions of Siberia were occupied by hominids who differed from modern populations" (Alekseev 1998:332).  From a lower stratigraphic layer 7 (dated >40 kyr BP from several samples), there is a single isolated deciduous right M1 that the Siberians have informally referred to as "Neanderthal".  If this is all there is from Okladnikov Cave, I think I'll remain uncertain of the assignment for the Okladnikov hominid remains, until I hear of a better description.  Since I'm without access to your reference in "Anthropology, Ethnology & Archaeology of Eurasia",  I was wondering if there was any more (specific) information about the Okladnikov hominins you could add to this?

I'd also  be a bit skeptical of the dating (37-38 kyr BP) for these (scrappy) Okladnikov hominins.  There is a "chronological reversal" that appears in the Okladnikov dating (that is, the layer lying stratigraphically BELOW  the sample dated ~37.5 ka is dated LATER in time at ~33 ka (note that the dating for Okladnikov given in Vasil'ev et al., 2002, subject of this thread, uses a different terminology for the layers and the "reversal" is not evident in this datelist).   The discrepancy might be explained as  caused by disturbance or redeposition, or whatever, but  its presence remains (for me) a big question (along with other reservations) regarding the "precision" of dating the Okladnikov "modern" human remains (if that's what they really are)  to 37-38 kyr BP.

Cheers,
Dar

[colin]

Thanks for your comments, Dar.
Nothing I can really add to what you already know of Okladnikov. Not knowing enough to judge, I had taken it on trust that the humerus and patella were sufficiently diagnostic to demonstrate "modernity" as what I read sounded pretty definite, but perhaps as you suggest there are grounds to think them insufficient to make a determination. Hopefully, future finds will clarify what we are dealing with.

Anyway, I've ordered a copy of Alekseev's book from the library; so much discussion and research tends to centre on Europe, I'm hungry to know more about these tantalising finds further afield.
Cheers
Colin  

[Daryl Habel]

Thanks for your comments, Dar.
Nothing I can really add to what you already know of Okladnikov. Not knowing enough to judge, I had taken it on trust that the humerus and patella were sufficiently diagnostic to demonstrate "modernity" as what I read sounded pretty definite, but perhaps as you suggest there are grounds to think them insufficient to make a determination. Hopefully, future finds will clarify what we are dealing with.

Anyway, I've ordered a copy of Alekseev's book from the library; so much discussion and research tends to centre on Europe, I'm hungry to know more about these tantalising finds further afield.
Cheers
Colin  

Well, considering that your original post *did* sound pretty definite, I could only wonder about this, as Alekseev's description left me with considerable uncertainty.

In addition to those from Okladnikov Cave, other human remains from Siberia dating to the late Mousterian/early Upper Paleolithic consist of several teeth from Denisova Cave (Altai), Maloyalomanskaya Cave (Altai) and Malaia Syia (on the Kuznets Plateau).  But, so far as I know there are no other post-crania known earlier than the Mal'ta child burial (of ~25ka), which is definitely AMH.  

The teeth from Denisova Cave were also said to have hints of "Neanderthalism" or "Archaism", and supposedly date to between ~45-40 ka (dating the appropriate levels at Denisova has produced "ambiguous" results, last I heard).  However,  I haven't read any detailed study for these.  Earlier, on palanth-l, Jacques supplied the following reference:

Turner, Christy G., II. 1990. Paleolithic Siberian Dentition from Denisova and Okladnikov Caves, Altayskiy Kray, U.S.S.R. Current Research in the Pleistocene 7; 65-66.

The teeth from Malaia Syia, which has conventional 14C dates of 34,500 +/- 450 BP (SOAN-1226), 34,420 +/- 360 BP (SOAN-1257) and a 14C-AMS date of 29,450 +/- 420 BP (AA-8876), and Maloyalomanskaya Cave, which has a conventional 14C date on charcoal (from stratum 3, upper level) of 33,350 +/- 1,145 BP (SOAN-2500) were reported in:

Goebel, T. (1999). Pleistocene human colonization of Siberia and peopling of the Americas: an ecological approach. Evoluitionary Anthropology 8 (6): 208-227.

Goebel (1999:215) says these have not been described in detail (reference to Alekseeva & Maloletko 1984 article in Russian), but adds that "preliminary reports suggest that they are modern" (reference here to Larichev, V.E., personal communication).

Goebel is careful not to make definite conclusions, but tends toward accepting "replacement" of Middle Paleolithic archaic populations by anatomically modern populations producing Upper Paleolithic assemblages, so it seems quite reasonable that he would accept these teeth as "modern", especially since both Malaia Syia (with a few bone and antler tools) and Maloyalomanskaya Cave (with cervid tooth pendants), have Upper Paleolithic assemblages.

If you are really looking for an early AMH bearing a Mousterian industry in Central Asia, perhaps the best bet is Darra-i-Kur, Afghanistan:

Angel, J.L. (1972). A Middle Paleolithic temporal bone from Darra-i-Kur, Afghanistan. In Dupree, L. (ed.), Prehistoric Research in Afghanistan (1959-1966). Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. 62: 54-56.

In the same volume is:

Dupree, L. (1972). Tentative conclusions and tentative chronological charts. In Dupree, L. (ed.), Prehistoric Research in Afghanistan (1959-1966). Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. 62 (4): 74-84.

Dupree briefly mentions: "The Mousterian of Darra-i-Kur has suggestions of Upper Paleolithic blade elements, in addition to the possible transitional Homo sapiens sapiens skull fragment, and may possibly be in the zone of the origin of the Upper Paleolithic blade industries which spread westward through Asia, Europe, and North Africa" (Dupree 1972:74).

The site has a 14C date of 30.0 +1.9/-1.2 ka BP (Gx 1122), but this was a determination made in the early days of radiocarbon dating, and (according to Dan Barnes, who graciously forwarded all this information to me on Anne's old deja.com forum), "should probably be considered a minimum date."

It would be nice to re-investigate Darra-i-Kur and get some better dating results, but pass out the ammo before you head that way,  because it's in the Hindu Kush northeastern part of the country where Osama still has some friends, I think.

Cheers,
Dar