Institute for the History of Material Culture RAS
Pervobytnaia arkheologiia. Zhurnal mezhdistsiplinarnykh issledovanii
Prehistoric Archaeology. Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies
Pervobytnaia arkheologiia. Zhurnal mezhdistsiplinarnykh issledovanii
Prehistoric Archaeology. Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies

Kuzmin Ya. V. Ancient humans in Siberia during the Last Glacial Maximum: development of opinions in the last 40 years

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Institute of Geology and Mineralogy of SB RAS, 3 Academician Koptyug Av., Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia [kuzmin@fulbrightmail.org]

Abstract. The paper provides a brief overview of the his- tory of development of viewpoints (beginning with the 1970s) about the presence of ancient humans in Siberia and the Russian Far East during the Last Glacial Maximum. It is now securely established that the Late Paleolithic people permanently occupied Siberia south of 58° N at ca. 19,000–23,000 radiocarbon years ago; they also undertook long-distance travel to the High Arctic, up to 71° N, where they stayed all year round. Reliable information now exists that at least 36 archaeological sites belong to the Last Glacial Maximum in Siberia and the Russian Far East; for 16 of them, radiocarbon dating was conducted using charcoal, and for one, a human bone.

Keywords: Last Glacial Maximum, ancient humans, paleoenvironment, Siberia, Russian Far East.

Received 02.08.2021, accepted 30.08.11.2021.

DOI: 10.31600/2658-3925-2021-2-28-36

For citation: Kuzmin Ya. V. Ancient humans in Siberia during the Last Glacial Maximum: development of opinions in the last 40 years. Prehistoric Archaeology. Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies. 2021 (2), 28–36. DOI: 10.31600/2658-3925-2021-2-28-36

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