New data on the early upper Paleolithic of Central Siberia from the Sabanikha 3 site

Abstract

South Siberia and the Northern Central Asia is one of the centers of Upper Paleolithic appearance and expansion. One of the northern areas of UP expansion is Central Siberia and the Yenisei River valley. The appearance of modern anatomical type humans in this area is presumed in the final MIS3 and is associated with the Early Upper Paleolithic (EUP). Currently, the key problem of EUP studies in Central Siberia is that archaeological artifacts come from redeposited or unstratified complexes. This article discusses the preliminary results of the Sabanikha 3 study, a new EUP site in the Yenisei River valley. In situ characteristics of the cultural layer from Sabanikha 3 site are unique for the region. New archaeological, paleontological, and spatial data from the stratified complex allow to fill the existing lacuna in the reconstruction of Central Siberia occupation by anatomically modern humans at the MIS3/MIS2 boundary.