The origin of the easternmost Neanderthals: comparative studies of the Sibiryachikha industry from the Russian Altai
Final Report Abstract
The project set itself the task of testing scenarios that have emerged from the results of genetic analyses of Neanderthal groups, particularly in their easternmost distribution area, using archaeological finds and methods on a regional to sub-continental scale. The focus was on approximately 55,000-year-old stone artifact assemblages of the Sibiryachikha industry of the Russian Altai from the sites of Chagyrskaya and Okladnikov. Both are associated with the remains of genetically studied Neanderthals. Multivariate statistics show that within the rich Middle and Early Upper Paleolithic record of the Altai Mountains, the Sibiryachikhaindustry is a distinctly foreign body. To the contrary, there were pronounced similarities, including the 3D morphometry of bifacial tools, to the Central and Eastern European Micoquian, an industry with exclusively Neanderthal fossils. Therefore, archaeologically everything points to a rapid dispersal of Micoquian groups into Siberia perhaps 60,000 years ago. The distance bridged to the previous distribution limit of the Micoquian in the eastern Black Sea region is about 4,000 km. Genetic comparisons point to a greater proximity between the Neanderthal groups of the Altai Micoquian and those from Vindija Cave in Croatia and Mezmaiskaya Cave in the Caucasus. From an archaeological point of view, however, it cannot be decided whether these are actually the source areas of the Micoquian expansion into the Altai. Initial analyses of the local to regional Micoquian settlement pattern in the Altai revealed that pebbles from local riverbeds were processed in such a way that preferably large flakes and bifacial tools were produced, which in turn were often taken to other sites. This gives the impression of highly mobile groups who had learned to cope with the poor quality of the raw materials available locally. In order to narrow down the possible areas of origin of the Altai Neanderthal groups archaeologically, the location data of sites of the Central and Eastern European Micoquian, including the Altai, were collected and critically examined as part of a literature-based meta-study. All in all, 149 reliable sites were incorporated into a Geographical Information System, which, in addition to a prognosis for the location of further, previously unknown sites, enables analyses for the formation of site clusters, the weighting of different location parameters for site selection by Neanderthal groups and a quantitative prediction of possible dispersal corridors. An initial pilot study for southern Germany showed that the Neanderthal groups pragmatically used caves and rock shelters with non-optimal site parameters and - in contrast to the Upper Paleolithic groups, for example - did not exclusively use sites exposed to the South.
Publications
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Archaeological evidence for two separate dispersals of Neanderthals into southern Siberia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(6), 2879-2885.
Kolobova, Kseniya A.; Roberts, Richard G.; Chabai, Victor P.; Jacobs, Zenobia; Krajcarz, Maciej T.; Shalagina, Alena V.; Krivoshapkin, Andrey I.; Li, Bo; Uthmeier, Thorsten; Markin, Sergey V.; Morley, Mike W.; O.’Gorman, Kieran; Rudaya, Natalia A.; Talamo, Sahra; Viola, Bence & Derevianko, Anatoly P.
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Settlement patterns of the Middle Palaeolithic in Southern Germany. A GIS-supported predictive model for sites in Bavaria and Baden-Wurttemberg Das Siedlungsmuster des Mittelpaläolithikums in Süddeutschland. Eine GIS-gestützte Ar chäoprognose für Fundstellen in Bayern und Baden-Württemberg. Quartär Jahrbuch 38, 7-23.
Wiesner, C. M.
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Neanderthal technological variability: A wide-ranging geographical perspective on the final Middle Palaeolithic. Updating Neanderthals, 163-205. Elsevier.
Romagnoli, Francesca; Chabai, Victor; Gravina, Brad; Hérisson, David; Hovers, Erella; Moncel, Marie-Hélène; Peresani, Marco; Uthmeier, Thorsten; Bourguignon, Laurence; Chacón, M. Gema; Modica, Kevin Di; Faivre, Jean-Philippe; Kolobova, Kseniya; Malinsky-Buller, Ariel; Neruda, Petr; Garaizar, Joseba Rios; Weiss, Marcel; Wiśniewski, Andrzej & Sykes, Rebecca Wragg
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Weiter östlich als gedacht: Untersuchungen zur Herkunft der Neandertaler im Russischen Altai. In: Mischka, D., Grüner, A., Reinhardt, C., Uthmeier, Th. & U. Verstegen (Hrsg.) (2020): Vom Untergrund ins Internet. Die Aktivitäten der Jahre 2018 und 2019. Erlangen. Imagebroschüre Archäologische Wissenschaften an der FAU, Erlangen, 141-143.
Uthmeier, Th.
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Das Siedlungsmuster des Mittelpaläolithikums in Süddeutschland – Eine GIS-gestützte Archäoprognose für Fundstellen in Bayern und Baden- Württemberg. Archäologische Berichte 35. Verlag Deutsche Gesellschaft für Ur- und Frühgeschichte (DGUF), Kerpen-Loogh.
Wiesner, C. M.
