New Upper Paleolithic site In Mongolia Tsatsyn Ereg-2

Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology, 2014

Proceeding of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences, 2020

In this article, we report artefacts found at the valley of Tsagaan Turuut River in the Khangai Mountain ranges in Central Mongolia. The artefacts were identified based upon core morphology, tool types and retouch. Regarding the core reduction techniques, single striking platform and single reduction platform cores are dominant. Although the tools on flake blanks predominant, tools such as points and knives with massive blades also occur. Side scraper, point, borer, combination tool, and borers are types that are less represented within the collection. This tool collection is highly similar to several IUP and EUP sites (Chikhen-2; Tolbor-4, 15 and 16) in Mongolia in terms of its reduction techniques and tool morphology. On a larger scale, it is similar to those of Early Upper Paleolithic sites in Trans-Baikal and Altai Mountains in Russia and North China.

Archaeology, Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia, 2013

This study presents analyses of a unique assemblage of lithic artifacts, 57 large akes, discovered in the Ikh Tulberiin Gol River valley of Northern Mongolia. The assemblage represents the rst Paleolithic cache ever discovered in Mongolia and is an isolated nd, not directly associated with a habitation or logistic activity site. Results of use-wear analysis suggest most of the akes were unused, with only a few minimally used for processing wood. GIS analyses of the local landscape indicate that the placement of the artifacts was likely symbolic, rather than utilitarian or for storage, lying in an east-west linear viewshed of the primary mountain pass to an adjacent river basin. Based on the context of the discovery as an isolated nd and technical-typological features of the artifacts, the assemblage is interpreted as a cache of tool blanks that was purposefully and symbolically positioned on the landscape relative to the primary mountain pass by Upper Paleolithic hunter-gatherers.

Article history: Available online xxx a b s t r a c t This article reports on materials excavated and analyzed since 2008 at the multi-component open-air Tolbor-15 Site (Selenge River basin, northern Mongolia). Also discussed are problems of chronology and periodization of the Mongolian Upper Paleolithic based on radiocarbon dating, including new determinations available for the Tolbor-4 and 15 sites, along with associated archaeological materials. The early stage of the Early Upper Paleolithic (EUP) in Mongolia persisted for a relatively long period and can be divided into two sub-chrons, the earliest ranging from 40 to 35,000 BP. The later stage of the Mongolian EUP, falling between 33 and 26,000 BP, is represented by assemblages from the Khangai Mountains (e.g., Tolbor-4 and 15, Orkhon-7) and the Gobi Altai district (e.g., Tsagaan Agui Cave, Chikhen Agui Rockshelter, Chikhen-2). The middle Upper Paleolithic in Mongolia has been identified only on the basis of sites in the Orkhon River valley, all of which post-date ca. 25,000 BP. The material culture of this long period is characterized by the complete replacement of blade industries by flake industries, along with the parallel development of the pressure-flaked microblade technique. The later phase of the Mongolian Upper Paleolithic is well-dated down to the end of the Pleistocene. Typical industries include those excavated at Tolbor-15, which are characterized by the predominance of microcores reduced by both pressure and percussion, the appearance of retouched points on flakes, and an increase in the number of microblades as a fraction of overall blade blanks.

Numerous questions remain regarding the timing and the context of Upper Paleolithic emergence in Northeast Asia. Available data allow the recognition of a form of Initial Upper Paleolithic (IUP) documented in the Altai circa 45e40 ka 14 C BP, and in the Cis-and Transbaikal around À37 ka 14 C BP. In Northern Mongolia, a series of assemblages show intriguing similarities with IUP laminar assemblages from South Siberia and suggest long distance contact/movements of population during the first half of MIS3. These contacts are potentially enabled by the main river that drains into Lake Baikal, the Selenga. By cutting through the Sayan and the Yablonovy mountain ranges, the Selenga drainage system provides a potential corridor connecting South Siberia with the plains of Mongolia. The Tolbor 16 site (Ikh Tulberiin Gol, Northern Mongolia) is located circa 13 km from the confluence with the Selenga. The first results presented here suggest that the lithic assemblage and the ornaments discovered at Tolbor 16 document the early appearance of Upper Paleolithic in the region. This newly discovered site offers the possibility to generate high-resolution contextual data on the first appearance of the blade assemblages in Mongolia and to test the 'Selenga corridor hypothesis'.

Situated between the Altai Mountains and the Chinese Loess Plateau, the current territory of Mongolia played a pivotal role in Pleistocene human population dynamics in Northeast Asia with archaeological evidence suggesting the existence of cultural links with southern Siberia beginning in the Late Pleistocene. Here, we present preliminary results from the newly discovered site of Kharganyn Gol 5 in northern Mongolia. The results obtained from the Kharganyn Gol 5 site allow new reconstructions of chrono-cultural sequences and human behavior in eastern Central Asia. The site has yielded evidence of human occupation corresponding to several phases of the regional Upper Paleolithic. In addition, we present the first evidence of human occupation of the region prior to Greenland Interstadial 12 (GI12; 40,000e43,000 BP) and discuss the implications of such data. The Kharganyn Gol River basin contains sedimentary rock formations including numerous raw material outcrops, containing various t...

Archaeology, Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia, 2010

Based on archaeological materials recovered from strati ed sites in the Khangai Mountains and the Gobi Altai regions and new radiocarbon dates for the Tolbor-4 and 15 localities, a tripartite chronological subdivision of the Mongolian Upper Paleolithic is suggested. The rst period is the Early Upper Paleolithic (40-26 ka BP). Sites dating to this period have been discovered both in the Khangai and the Gobi Altai regions. The second period began around 25 ka BP, but its terminal date is unknown. Sites of this period are located in the Orkhon Valley. The third period is co-terminus with the end of the Upper Paleolithic and is represented by Horizons 3 and 4 at the Tolbor-15 locality in the middle Selenge Valley.