Problems of Archaeology, Ethnography, Anthropology of
Siberia and Neighboring Territories

ISSN 2658-6193 (Online)

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2017 Volume XXIII

УДК 902.01

The Alay Site (Kyrgyzstan) as the Evidence of the Earliest Human Presence in the Highlands of Western Central Asia

Shnaider S.V., Abdykanova A., Taylor W., Kolobova K.A., Alisher kyzy S., Krivoshapkin A.I.

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Abstract

According to the recent research, humans first started to occupy high mountain regions during the Final Pleistocene-Early Holocene. Thus, some of the earliest high altitude sites (4000 m above sea level) which were found in the Andes date back to ca. 10 ka BP, while the first habitation sites in Tibet are dated to ca. 13 ka BP. Western Central Asia also has several high mountainous regions, including the Pamir Mountains and the Alay Valley. In 2017, the joint Russian-Kyrgyz expedition investigated the Alay site located at 2800 m above sea level. The results suggest that the artifact assemblage from this site belongs to the circle of other Late Pleistocene bladelet industries found in the region. If this is the case, the Alay site represents some of the earliest evidence for human occupation of high-altitude landscapes in the Eurasian continent.

Keywords

Stone Age, highlands, Western Central Asia, Alay Valley, bladelet industries

Chief Editor
Academician A.P. Derevyanko

Deputy Chief Editor
Academician V.I. Molodin

17, Аkademika Lavrentieva prosp., Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences

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