Geoarchaeology and Dating of
Paleolithic Sites in the Transbaikal, Siberia

Ted Goebel

Figure 1: Map of Russia showing locations of Transbaikal Paleolithic sites

Figure 2: Studenoe-2 excavation, 1996.

Figure 3: Studenoe-2 dwelling feature, 1997 (courtesy of Ian Buvit).

Figure 4: Microblades and microblade core (on right) from Studenoe-2.

Introduction

Since 1996, Russian and American archaeologists have been working together on a series of Paleolithic archaeological sites located in the Transbaikal region of Siberia (Figure 1). Most of this work has focused on the Studenoe, Tolbaga, and Masterov Kliuch Upper Paleolithic sites (Buvit 2000; Goebel et al. 2000a; Goebel et al. 2000b; Goebel and Waters 2000). A major goal of our research has been to construct a cultural chronology for the Upper Paleolithic of this region using accelerator radiocarbon methods, as well as to understand the geological setting of these sites and how they have been disturbed since the late Pleistocene. This article summarizes some of these findings.

Studenoe-2

The Studenoe-2 site is a late Upper Paleolithic site located along the Chikoi River. Mikhail and Aleksandr Konstantinov excavated here from 1974 to 1980, and again from 1996 to the present. More than 300 sq m have been excavated to a depth of about 5 m (Figure 2). Cultural remains at Studenoe-2 occur in fine-grained alluvial sediments of the Chikoi River's second terrace. Within this profile of sands and silts are a series of at least seven Upper Paleolithic cultural levels. Excavations have unearthed several dwelling features. The feature shown in Figure 3 is an oval-shaped feature 7x4.5 m in size. Its outline is marked by a ring of at least 67 boulders and cobbles, and its floor is marked by a thin lens of ash and ochre. At least four hearths occur in a line following the long axis of the dwelling. These hearths are rock-lined oval features filled with ash and charcoal. Lithic artifacts in and around these dwelling features include thousands of flakes and retouching chips, microblades, and several microblade core fragments (Figure 4), as well as several retouched blades and flakes, burins, side scrapers, end scrapers, and gravers. Also found in the late Upper Paleolithic levels are several bone needles, a bone awl, and three rhyolite beads and four bead preforms. The remarkable preservation of the site's features is due largely to its geomorphic setting. Features were rapidly buried by low-energy floods that repeatedly deposited fine-grained sediments upon the surface of the terrace.

Dating of the site's cultural occupations has proven to be significant. The two lowest late Upper Paleolithic microblade occupations have yielded accelerator radiocarbon ages of between 17,900 and 17,000 years ago. These are the earliest radiocarbon ages on microblade technologies in the Transbaikal region. In other areas of Siberia, microblades are thought to be older, but at these older sites microblades occur in disturbed geological contexts, and radiocarbon ages can not be reliably tied to the artifacts. Here at Studenoe-2, radiocarbon samples are from hearths that are clearly tied to the microblades, providing us with the earliest unequivocally dated examples of these technologies in Siberia, perhaps even in northeast Asia. These data suggest that late Upper Paleolithic microblade industries emerged somewhere in the eastern Baikal or Mongolian regions immediately following the last glacial maximum, about 18,000-17,000 years ago. These industries then spread rapidly throughout northeast Asia, reaching Japan by 14,000 years ago and Alaska by 10,500 years ago.

Tolbaga

Tolbaga is an early Upper Paleolithic site located along the Khilok River. The site was excavated by Mikhail Konstantinov in the 1970s, and by Sergei Vasil'ev in the 1980s. In 1996 we visited Tolbaga with Sergei Vasil'ev, to examine exposed stratigraphic profiles and study the geomorphic context of the site (Figure 5). More than 1000 sq m have been excavated to a depth of about 1.5 m, leading the recovery of an extensive lithic and faunal assemblage. The lithic assemblage is the type-assemblage of the early Upper Paleolithic "Tolbaginskaia Culture" of the Transbaikal. Retouched blades, end scrapers, side scrapers, knives, and burins dominate the assemblage. Also found was a piece of Upper Paleolithic art—the head of a bear carved onto a woolly rhinoceros vertebra (Figure 6).

Tolbaga lies in colluvial slope sediments characterized as sands and sandy loams with varying amounts of angular rock rubble (Figure 7). These are the result of alternating episodes of gradual creep and rapid slope wash. The main early Upper Paleolithic component lies in sediments at a depth of about 1 m below the modern surface, but some cultural material has been reworked into above-lying sediments as well. Most of the artifacts are oriented with the modern slope, and appear to have been moved by colluvial processes. Thus, the Paleolithic living floor is not intact and the Paleolithic artifacts are not in a primary context.

Figure 5: Tolbaga site (note backdirt piles just below treeline).	Figure 6: Mikhail Konstantinov holding the carved bear's head from Tolbaga, 1996.	Figure 7: Tolbaga stratigraphic profile, 1996.

Our studies have also included a redating of the site. Earlier attempts to radiocarbon date Tolbaga by Mikhail Konstantinov and his colleagues resulted in two discordant ages—34,860±2100 and 27,210±300 years ago. The older date has always been considered more accurate because of artifact similarities between the Tolbaga assemblage and the assemblage from the nearby Varvarina Gora site, also radiocarbon dated to about 35,000 years ago. To test this, we submitted two samples of bone for accelerator radiocarbon analysis to the University of Arizona Accelerator Laboratory. A sample of bone from Mikhail Konstantinov's excavation yielded an age of 25,200±260 years ago, and a sample of bone from Sergei Vasil'ev's excavation yielded an age of 29,200±1000 years ago. These new ages suggest that the Tolbaga early Upper Paleolithic site may be younger than previously thought—closer to 30,000-25,000 years ago than 35,000 years ago. An equally plausible interpretation of the wide range of radiocarbon ages for the site may be that Tolbaga saw repeated occupations by early Upper Paleolithic people between about 35,000 and 25,000 years ago. Proving this stratigraphically will be impossible given that living floors have been obliterated by colluvial slope processes.

Masterov Kliuch

Masterov Kliuch is located along the Khilok River about 250 km west of Chita. This early Upper Paleolithic site is set upon a bluff overlooking the river, in the "toe" of an apron of colluvial sediments that covers the slope of Masterov Mountain. The site was discovered by Mikhail Meshcherin in 1990. We conducted excavations there with Meshcherin in 1996 (Figure 8). To date, about 30 sq m have been excavated, unearthing two Upper Paleolithic components as well as a late Holocene Bronze Age component.

Early Upper Paleolithic artifacts are contained within poorly sorted deposits of clayey sand to sandy clay. Two early Upper Paleolithic components have been identified. Component I, at the base of the profile, has been radiocarbon dated to 32,510±1440 and 29,860±1000 B.P. (Figure 9), and contains retouched blades, scrapers, and gravers. Flat-faced blade cores and bipolar flake cores are also present. Component II is situated stratigraphically above component I. It, too, contains early Upper Paleolithic artifacts but has not been radiocarbon dated.

Horizontal and vertical distributions of artifacts vary between component. For component I, artifacts lie within a tightly defined vertical zone less than 10 cm thick. Horizontally, they cluster into a set of concentrations, and conjoined artifacts are very close, both vertically (typically less than 1 cm) and horizontally (less than 20 cm). For component II, artifacts are more widely scattered both vertically and horizontally, and no artifacts could be conjoined. These data suggest that artifacts of component I lie in their primary locations, while artifacts of component II are redeposited from further upslope.

Figure 8: James Johnson excavating at Masterov Kliuch, 1996.	Figure 9: Early Upper Paleolithic artifacts of component 1 in situ at Masterov Kliuch (note Bronze Age pit fill on left of profile).	Figure 10: Field camp at Masterov Kliuch.

Conclusions

Thus, our geoarchaeological investigations of the Studenoe, Tolbaga, and Masterov Kliuch sites have important implications for reconstruction of hunter-gatherer behavior during the Upper Paleolithic of the Transbaikal. Fluvial deposits, especially overbank flood deposits, are excellent contexts for the discovery of intact Upper Paleolithic sites. In these fluvial systems archaeological sites are excellently preserved as a result of low-energy flooding and the accumulation of fine-grained sediment that effectively covered and sealed Upper Paleolithic living floors. At sites like Studenoe-2, flood events occurred with much regularity, so that many meters of sediment accumulated during the late glacial, between 18,000 and 10,000 years ago, leading to the preservation of multiple cultural components in well-stratified situations.

Colluvial deposits are also important geomorphic settings for the Upper Paleolithic of the Transbaikal; however, these settings are not always conducive to site preservation and integrity. At Tolbaga, early Upper Paleolithic artifacts appear to have been removed from their original contexts through various slope processes. If multiple occupations are represented in the assemblage, these can not be teased apart through careful excavation and documentation of artifact provenience and association. At Masterov Kliuch, two early Upper Paleolithic components occur—one of these in what appears to be a primary context and the other in a secondary context. Clearly, geoarchaeological studies are critical to understanding the natural processes through which these sites have been formed and deformed, and whether artifact and feature distributions are the result of cultural activity or natural events.

For More Information

To learn more about the Studenoe, Tolbaga, and Masterov Kliuch sites, see the following papers:

Buvit, Ian
2000 The Geoarchaeology and Archeology of Stud'onoye, and Upper Paleolithic Site in Siberia. Master's Thesis, Department of Anthropology, Texas A&M University.

Goebel, Ted, and Michael R. Waters
2000 New AMS 14C Ages for the Tolbaga Upper Paleolithic Site, Transbaikal, Siberia. Current Research in the Pleistocene 17:32-34.

Goebel, Ted, Michael R. Waters, Ian Buvit, Mikhail V. Konstantinov, and Aleksander V. Konstantinov
2000a Studenoe-2 and the Origins of Microblade Technologies in the Transbaikal, Siberia Antiquity 74:567-575.

Goebel, Ted, Michael R. Waters, and Mikhail N. Meshcherin
2000b Masterov Kliuch and the Early Upper Paleolithic of the Transbaikal, Siberia. Asian Perspectives 39:47-70.