New Natural Science Research of Paleolithic Sites in the Southern Transurals

Currently known dozens of paleolithic sites in the Southern Urals are surface sites. This situation limits dating of the collections with primarily typological equivalents. Over the recent years the course of research has been unfolding near Kusimovo village in Abzelilovsky District of Bashkortostan. The research discovered a range of sites with materials dated back to the lower and early middle Palaeolithic. These are Kusimovo-6 and Kusimovo-7 workshop-sites and Kusimovo-8 scattered workshop-site, etc. They were studied with archaeological excavations and reseach pits. The researchers gathered substantial collections of stone items and studied their stratigraphy. The reseach pits at Kusimovo-8 scattered workshop-site and Kusimovo-6 workshop-site and paleoecological analysis revealed alternating warm humid and drought periods throughout the Neopleistocene. The researchers managed to narrow down the time frame based on two OSL dates, i.e. 258±13 and 136±9 thousand years ago. They indicate that the age of the deposits with lower and middle Paleolithic finds in this microdistrict dates back the middle Neopleistocene (MIS 6). Kyzyl-Yar-2 workshop-site in Baymaksky District of Bashkortostan is found with Acheulean items (hand axes, rough scrapers, archaic nucleuses, tsaldis, etc.). These items are concealed inside the rock constellations and large stones under exposed jasper. The spore & pollen analysis shows that gaps between the rocks and stones were filled with soil during different periods of the end of the late Neopleistocene and Holocene. The OSL date 20±4 thousand years ago confirms this conclusion. Thus, it is established that Kyzyl-Yar-2 workshop-site's cultural layers of the Lower Palaeolithic were washed out several times in different geological periods. It resulted in partial mixing and slight dislocation of the material. It implies a more thorough selection of the finds and fragments in the given site. The new researches used data of other related sciences and obtained additional information about the na[1]ture of the geological deposits and the age of Palaeolithic sites from the Southern Transurals.

Acheulean · Archaeology · Debitage · Excavation · Geography · Middle Paleolithic · Natural (archaeology) · Pleistocene · Stone tool · Geological Studies and Exploration · Geology · Marine and environmental studies · Paleontology · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Stratigraphy