Preview

Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia

Advanced search

Shulbinka Paleolithic Site, Eastern Kazakhstan, Revisited

https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2020.48.4.027-044

Abstract

This study revises the cultural and chronological attribution of the Shulbinka site, Eastern Kazakhstan, with reference to recent ideas of the Early Upper Paleolithic in northern Central Asia, including new sites dating to that stage (Tolbor-21, Ushbulak, etc.) and a representative series of absolute dates relevant to the site’s chronology. We describe the discovery of the site and principal findings of excavations carried out more than 20 years ago, focusing on the comprehensive analysis of artifacts from Shulbinka, conducted in 2019. We demonstrate that the estimated age and the cultural attribution of the site disagree with earlier interpretations. Earlier claims about the presence of Levallois and Mousterian components in the primary reduction system appear poorly supported. The idea that artifacts from the site resemble those of the Early Upper Paleolithic is subjected to a critical inquiry. As it turns out, the closest parallels to this assemblage are found among the Final Upper Paleolithic industries of southern and central Siberia. Important traits include the combination of large cores for making flakes, blades with edge-faceted and wedge-shaped microcores, and the predominance of end-scrapers and chisel-like tools. Few parallels can be found with industries of different cultural and chronological periods. Based on these analyses, we conclude that the site of Shulbinka dates to the Final Paleolithic. The absence of Final Middle Paleolithic or Early Upper Paleolithic markers makes the site irrelevant to debates around the origin of the Upper Paleolithic in the region.

About the Authors

A. A. Anoikin
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences; Novosibirsk State University
Russian Federation

Senior Researcher, IAE; Senior Researcher, NSU.

Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090; Pirogova 1, Novosibirsk, 630090



G. D. Pavlenok
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation

Researcher

Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090



V. M. Kharevich
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation

Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090



N. A. Kulik
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation

Senior Researcher.

Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090



Z. K. Taimagambetov
National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan

Chief Researcher

Pr. Tauelsizdik 54, Nur-Sultan, 010000



References

1. Abramova Z.A. 1979 Paleolit Yeniseya: Kokorevskaya kultura. Novosibirsk: Nauka.

2. Abramova Z.A. 1986 Klinovidnye nukleusy v paleolite Severnoi Azii. In Paleolit i neolit. Leningrad: Nauka, pp. 11-16.

3. Alisher kyzy S., Shnaider S.V., Kolobova K.A., Krivoshapkin A.I. 2020 Novye dannye po mezolitu Vostochnogo Prikaspiya: Kamennaya industriya grota Dam-Dam-Cheshme-2 (po materialam raskopok A.P. Okladnikova). Stratum plus, No. 1: 257-278.

4. Anoikin A.A., Pavlenok G.D., Kharevich V.M., Taimagambetov Z.K., Shalagina A.V., Gladyshev S.A., Ulyanov V.A., Duvanbekov R.S., Shunkov M.V. 2019 Ushbulak - a new stratified Upper Paleolithic site in Northeastern Kazakhstan. Archaeology, Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia, vol. 47 (4): 16-29.

5. Derevianko A.P., Olsen J.W.,Tseveendorj D., Gladyshev S.A., Nokhrina T.I., Tabarev A.V. 2008 New insights into archaeological record at Chikhen Agui Rockshelter (Mongolia). Archaeology, Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia, No. 2 (34): 2-12.

6. Derevianko A.P., Petrin V.T., Rybin E.P. 2000 The Kara-Bom site and the characteristics of the MiddleUpper Paleolithic transition in the Altai. Archaeology, Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia, No. 2: 31-52.

7. Derevianko A.P., Petrin V.T., Rybin E.P., Chevalkov L.M. 1998 PaleoliticheskiHe kompleksy stratifitsirovannoi chasti stoyanki Kara-Bom (mustye - verkhniy paleolit). Novosibirsk: Izd. IAET SO RAN.

8. Derevianko A.P., Shunkov M.V. 2005 Stanovleniye verkhnepaleoliticheskikh traditsiy na Altae. In Perekhod ot srednego k pozdnemu paleolitu v Evrazii: Gipotezy i fakty. Novosibirsk: Izd. IAET SO RAN, pp. 283-311.

9. Derevianko A.P., Zenin A.N., Rybin E.P., Gladyshev S.A., Tsybankov A.A., Olsen J.W., Tseveendorj D., Gunchinsuren B. 2007 The technology of Early Upper Paleolithic lithic reduction in Northern Mongolia. Archaeology, Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia, No. 1 (29): 16-38.

10. Geologiya SSSR. Vostochnyi Kazahstan. 1967 Moscow: Nedra, vol. 41.

11. Kharevich V.M., Akimova E.V., Vashkov A.A. 2017 K probleme verkhney granitsy kokorevskoy kultury v pozdnem paleolite Yeniseya (po materialam stoyanki Troitskaya). Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta, No. 418: 182-190.

12. Kungurov A.L. 2008 Problemy issledovaniya mezolita Altaya. Izvestiya Altaiskogo gosudarstvenogo universiteta, No. 4-2 (60): 121-126.

13. Lisitsyn N.F. 2000 Pozdniy paleolit Chulymo-Yeniseyskogo mezhdurechya. In Trudy IIMK RAN, vol. II. St. Petersburg: Izd. IIMK RAN.

14. Matsuy V.M., Mukhamedzhanov S.M., Erofeev V.S., Tsekhovsky Y.G. 1973 Pozdniy kaynozoy Kazakhstanskogo Priirtyshya. Alma-Ata: Nauka.

15. Merts V.K. 2008 Periodizatsiya golotsenovykh kompleksov Severo-Vostochnogo Kazakhstana. Omsky nauchny vestnik. Ser.: Istoricheskiye nauki, No. 1 (63): 22-26.

16. Morimoto S., Kato S., Kunitake S., Shiba К., Kato H., Petrin V.T., Taimagambetov Z.K., Artyukhova O.A., Mamirov T.B., Ospanov E.B. 2019 The Study of Upper Paleolithic Culture in Kazakhstan. Nara: [s.n.]. (In Japanese). (Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties Research Report; vol. 22).

17. Okladnikov A.P. 1966 K voprosu o mezolite i epipaleolite v aziatskoi chasti SSSR. Sibir i Srednyaya Aziya. In U istokov drevnikh kultur (epokha mezolita). Moscow; Leningrad: Nauka, pp. 213-223. (MIA; No. 126).

18. Petrin V.T., Taimagambetov Z.K. 2000 Kompleksy paleoliticheskoy stoyanki Shulbinka iz Verkhnego Priirtyshya. Almaty: Al-Farabi Kaz. Gos. Nats. Univ.: IAET SO RAN.

19. Prirodnaya sreda i chelovek v paleolite Gornogo Altaya. 2003 Novosibirsk: Izd. IAET SO RAN.

20. Rybin E.P. 2014 Tools, beads, and migrations: Specific cultural traits in the Initial Upper Paleolithic of southern Siberia and Central Asia. Quaternary International, vol. 347: 39-52.

21. Shnaider S.V. 2015 Tutkaulskaya liniya razvitiya v mezolite zapadnoi chasti Tsentralnoy Azii. Cand. Sc. (History) Dissertation. Novosibirsk.

22. Shnaider S., Kolobova K., Filimonova T., Taylor W., Krivoshapkin A. 2020 New insights into the Epipaleolithic of western Central Asia: The Tutkaulian complex. Quaternary International, vol. 535: 139-154.

23. Shunkov M.V., Kozlikin M.B., Derevianko A.P. 2020 Dynamics of the Altai Paleolithic industries in the archaeological record of Denisova Cave. Quaternary International. URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2020.02.017

24. Slavinsky V.S., Rybin E.P., Belousova N.E., Fedorchenko A.Y., Khatsenovich A.M., Anoikin A.A. 2017 Spetsificheskiy sposob podgotovki zony rasshchepleniya nukleusov v nachalnom verkhnem paleolite Yuzhnoi Sibiri i Tsentralnoi Azii. Stratum plus, No. 1: 221-244.

25. Taimagambetov Z.K. 1981 Otchet ob issledovanii pamyatnikov kamennogo veka v zone stroitelstva Shulbinskoi GES v Vostochnom Kazakhstane letom 1981 goda. In Arkhiv Instituta istorii, arkheologii i etnografi i Komiteta nauki Ministerstva obrazovaniya i nauki Respubliki Kazakhstan. (Manuscript).

26. Taimagambetov Z.K. 1983 Shulbinskaya stoyanka. In Arkheologiya epokhi kamnya i metalla Sibiri. Novosibirsk: Inst. istorii, filologii i filosofii SO AN SSSR, pp. 161-167.

27. Taimagambetov Z.K. 1987 Kamennyi vek. In Arkheologicheskiye pamyatniki v zone zatopleniya Shulbinskoy GES. Alma-Ata: Nauka, pp. 9-23.

28. Taimagambetov Z.K., Ozherelyev D.V. 2009 Pozdnepaleoliticheskiye pamyatniki Kazakhstana. Almaty: Kazak universiteti.

29. Zaibert V.F., Potemkina T.M. 1981 K voprosu o mezolite lesostepnoi chasti Tobolo-Irtyshskogo mezhdurechya. Sovetskaya arkheologiya, No. 3: 108-130.


Review

For citations:


Anoikin A.A., Pavlenok G.D., Kharevich V.M., Kulik N.A., Taimagambetov Z.K. Shulbinka Paleolithic Site, Eastern Kazakhstan, Revisited. Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia. 2020;48(4):27-44. https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2020.48.4.027-044

Views: 369


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.


ISSN 1563-0110 (Print)