Late Pleistocene Environments of East Kazakhstan (Based on Ushbulak Site Materials)
https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2023.51.3.075-085
Abstract
We reconstruct environmental conditions at various stages of the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene of East Kazakhstan. The reconstructions are based on materials from the stratified Ushbulak site in the Shilikta Valley, spanning a period from the Early Upper Paleolithic to the Bronze Age. Climatic changes were evaluated using natural science methods-mineralogical, ZooArchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS), OSL- and AMS-dating, etc. Sevaral stages, relating to environmental changes, are evaluated. The fi rst period (~52–37 ka BP) was period of moderately warm and relatively humid climate, with predominantly forest-steppe, meadow-steppe, and semidesert landscapes. The second period (~25–21 ka BP) coincided with a transition from a moderately warm to a very cold and more arid climate dominated by steppes. The third period (~18–16 ka BP) was transitional from the glacial maximum to the postglacial interstadial, with a relatively cool and arid climate and mostly steppe and forest-steppe landscapes. The fourth period (~15–14 ka BP) was characterized by the warmest climate in the Late Pleistocene; steppe and forest-steppe vegetation dominated. During the latest, Early Holocene period, the climate was warm and humid, with savanna-like landscapes. The analysis of natural-climatic conditions allows us to conclude that the early stage of the site’s functioning, characterized by the highest intensity of settlement, was optimal for ancient man.
Keywords
East Kazakhstan,
paleoclimate,
paleontology,
ZooMS,
litho-chemical analysis,
mineralogical and geochemical analyses
Supporting agencies: All the field and geochemical studies, as well as ZooMS analysis, were carried out under the Russian Science Foundation Project No. 21-78-10146 “Upper Paleolithic Mosaic—Cultural and Technological Variability of Lithic Industries in the Foothill Zones of the North of Central Asia in the Second Half of the Late Pleistocene”; general faunal analysis was executed under R&D Program FWZG-2022-0008 “Central Asia in Antiquity: Archaeological Cultures of the Stone Age in a Changing Environment”.
About the Authors
A. A. Anoikin
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences; Altai State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090
Pr. Lenina 61, Barnaul, 656049
G. D. Pavlenok
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090
V. I. Silaev
Institute of Geology, Komi Federal Research Center, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Pervomaiskaya 54, Syktyvkar, 167982
S. V. Shnaider
ZooSCAn International Research Laboratory, IRL 2013, CNRS–IAET SB RAS
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090
V. V. Koval
Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 8, Novosibirsk, 630090
A. Y. Devyatova
Trofi muk Institute of Petroleum Geology and Geophysics, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Pr. Akademika Koptyuga 3, Novosibirsk, 630090
S. K. Vasiliev
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090
E. N. Bocharova
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090
V. M. Kharevich
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090
Z. K. Taimagambetov
National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Pr. Tauelsizdik 54, Astana, 010000
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For citations:
Anoikin A.A., Pavlenok G.D., Silaev V.I., Shnaider S.V., Koval V.V., Devyatova A.Y., Vasiliev S.K., Bocharova E.N., Kharevich V.M., Taimagambetov Z.K. Late Pleistocene Environments of East Kazakhstan (Based on Ushbulak Site Materials). Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia. 2023;51(3):75-85. https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2023.51.3.075-085
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