The Volchia Griva mammoth site as a key area for geoarchaeological research of human movements in the Late Paleolithic of the West Siberian Plain

• Published in: Quaternary International
• Main Authors: Leshchinskiy, Sergey V., Zenin, Vasiliy N., Bukharova, Oksana V.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: кварцевое сырье; геохимические методы; палеоэкология; поздний палеолит; Западно-Сибирская равнина; геоархеологические исследования; Волчья Грива; палеонтологический памятник природы; ob river; Siberia
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2020.08.036; https://vital.lib.tsu.ru/vital/access/manager/Repository/koha:000897691

The purpose of geoarchaeological research at the Volchia Griva site, the largest mammoth “cemetery” in Asia, is to study comprehensively both biotic and abiotic relationships of the Late Palaeolithic humans. Works conducted in 2015–2018 showed that humans did not play a significant role in the accumulation of the bone-bearing horizon formed within the interval of ca. 20–10 ka BP. It turned out that the Volchia Griva is not a settlement of “bone culture” and not the result of mass battue hunting. The peak activity of the Paleolithic humans at the Volchia Griva corresponded to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Recovery of backed micro-points and the truncated blade fragment indicates that the lithic assemblage is similar to bladelet-based industries of the Siberia and Middle Urals existed ca. 24–17 ka BP. The lack of local raw material sources explains the transportation of finished tools, blades and flakes to the Volchia Griva. The uncommon finds are the artifacts made of rock crystal. Geochemical studies (XRL, ICP-MS, and SIMS methods) of artifact quartz and potential raw materials from nearby sources, located ca. 170–240 km east of the Volchia Griva (Novosibirsk Ob River region) showed a large difference between them. Thus, the presence of rock crystal artifacts can be explained by either the active raw material exchange or long-distance migrations of the Paleolithic populations from northeast Kazakhstan or the Southern Urals (located from 500 to more than 1000 km away). © 2020 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA