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Acknowledgements: The authors thank G. Marciani and O. Jöris for comments on archaeology; C. Jeong, M. Spyrou and K. Prüfer for comments on genetics; M. O’Reilly for graphical support for Fig. 5 and Extended Data Fig. 9; the entire IT and laboratory teams at the Department of Archaeogenetics of MPI-SHH for technical assistance; M. Meyer and S. Nagel for support with single-stranded library preparation; K. Post, P. van Es, J. Glimmerveen, M. Medendorp, M. Sier, S. Dikstra, M. Dikstra, R. van Eerden, D. Duineveld and A. Hoekman for providing access to human specimens from the North Sea (The Netherlands); M. D. Garralda and A. Estalrrich for providing access to human specimens from La Riera (Spain); J. Górski and M. Zając for providing access to human specimens from Maszycka cave; C. Di Patti for providing access to human specimens from San Teodoro 2 (Italy); P. Blaževičius for providing access to the Donkalnis human remains and the new radiocarbon dates; the Italian Ministry of Culture and Soprintendenza Archeologia Belle Arti e Paesaggio for the Provinces of Verona, Rovigo, and Vicenza for granting access to the human remains of Tagliente 2; F. Fontana, who carries out investigations of the Riparo Tagliente site (Italy); the Friuli Venezia Giulia Superintendency for providing access to the human tooth Pradis 1; and the Soprintendenza Archeologia Belle Arti e Paesaggio for the Provinces of Barletta-Andria-Trani and Foggia for providing access to the Paglicci human remains. This project has received funding by the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreements no. 803147-RESOLUTION (to S.T.), no. 771234-PALEoRIDER (to W.H.), no. 864358 (to K.M.), no. 724703 and no. 101019659 (to K.H.). K.H. is also supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG FOR 2237). E.A. has received funding from the Van de Kamp fonds. PACEA co-authors of this research benefited from the scientific framework of the University of Bordeaux’s IdEx Investments for the Future programme/GPR Human Past. A.G.-O. is supported by a Ramón y Cajal fellowship (RYC-2017-22558). L. Sineo, M.L. and D.C. have received funding from the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR) PRIN 2017 grants 20177PJ9XF and 20174BTC4R_002. H. Rougier received support from the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences of CSUN and the CSUN Competition for RSCA Awards. C.L.S. and T. Saupe received support from the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (project no. 2014-2020.4.01.16-0030) and C.L.S. received support from the Estonian Research Council grant PUT (PRG243). S. Shnaider received support from the Russian Science Foundation (no. 19-78-10053)., Modern humans have populated Europe for more than 45,000 years1,2. Our knowledge of the genetic relatedness and structure of ancient hunter-gatherers is however limited, owing to the scarceness and poor molecular preservation of human remains from that period3. Here we analyse 356 ancient hunter-gatherer genomes, including new genomic data for 116 individuals from 14 countries in western and central Eurasia, spanning between 35,000 and 5,000 years ago. We identify a genetic ancestry profile in individuals associated with Upper Palaeolithic Gravettian assemblages from western Europe that is distinct from contemporaneous groups related to this archaeological culture in central and southern Europe4, but resembles that of preceding individuals associated with the Aurignacian culture. This ancestry profile survived during the Last Glacial Maximum (25,000 to 19,000 years ago) in human populations from southwestern Europe associated with the Solutrean culture, and with the following Magdalenian culture that re-expanded northeastward after the Last Glacial Maximum. Conversely, we reveal a genetic turnover in southern Europe suggesting a local replacement of human groups around the time of the Last Glacial Maximum, accompanied by a north-to-south dispersal of populations associated with the Epigravettian culture. From at least 14,000 years ago, an ancestry related to this culture spread from the south across the rest of Europe, largely replacing the Magdalenian-associated gene pool. After a period of limited admixture that spanned the beginning of the Mesolithic, we find genetic interactions between western and eastern European hunter-gatherers, who were also characterized by marked differences in phenotypically relevant variants.

This article studies the discoid Didacna sp. shell beads discovered at Kaylu, a Middle Holocene burial site located in Southern Turkmenistan. Microscopic, morphometric, spectrometric, and SEM analyses were carried out on the material to identify how the beads were manufactured and used. New radiocarbon dating and bioanthropological data to age and sex the two skeletons discovered in the burials are provided. A regional synthesis shows that personal ornaments from the Caspian region were diversified through time and that a stylistic shift between the last foragers and the first farmers occurred. We also observed strong correspondences between the personal ornaments documented in the northern, eastern, and western Caspian Sea during the Neolithic, with no evidence of similar symbolic production in Northern Iran. We propose that a northern route may have allowed the diffusion of common ornamental traditions in the Caspian region to the exclusion of the southern Caspian. Alternatively, discontinuities in material culture diffusion in coastal areas could be evidence of maritime voyaging. Seafaring may have granted the fast and spatially erratic diffusion of specific bead types, people, information, knowledge, and symbols from both sides of the Caspian Sea, by long maritime voyages or by leapfrog diffusion during the Neolithic.

In the Fergana Valley and the surrounding territories, the number of archaeological sites increased during the Early Holocene. The coincidence of this cultural event, represented by the Obishirian archaeological unit with the onset of the Holocene, suggests that this growing intensity of human activity was driven by climate change, in particular warming and/or wetting. To test this hypothesis, we used fossil terrestrial molluscs from Obishir-V, the eponymic Obishirian site in southern Kyrgyzstan, as a proxy of palaeoenvironmental conditions. We studied pre-Obishirian loess-like deposits from the final Pleistocene and the Early–Middle Holocene sequence of Obishirian-bearing deposits. We analysed taxonomic composition of the mollusc assemblages and used it to infer palaeoecological characteristics, namely preferences in temperature and humidity as well as in differing habitats. Our results showed that the palaeolandscapes and the vegetation during the accumulation of the studied deposits remained almost unchanged. The mollusc assemblages reveal constant dry and warm climatic conditions and stable steppe-like vegetation. Our observations of rather stable climatic conditions in the Fergana Valley during the Pleistocene–Holocene turnover suggests that climate was only a minor driver of the rapid demographic change in Central Asia during those times. Some other factors beyond the changes of humidity must have played an important role. On the basis of our data derived from fossil mollusc assemblages at Obishir-V, we propose to consider the hypothesis that the factor responsible for the intense human occupation of the Fergana Valley during the Early Holocene had not an environmental, but rather a cultural background, such as the neolithization process, such as introduction of domestic livestock.

This paper presents the results of the study of raw material procurement on two late Middle Paleolithic sites, Katta Sai 1 and Katta Sai 2, located in the western Tian Shan piedmont. The previous studies allowed to identify an unknown Levallois variant of human cultural adaptation in the regional Middle Paleolithic. Predetermined flake technology focused on obtaining the thin triangular flakes or even blades. At the same time, the river pebbles of effusive rocks brought from the nearby river gorges were used for knapping. The paper analyses the sources of the raw material collected, and its knapping quality together with the technological features indicating how the manufacturing scheme was adjusted to the quality of used raw material.

Purpose. The paper describes the experience of implementing a brand new interactive education platform at Novosibirsk State University (NSU). The purpose of the platform is to effectively use all potential communication channels between the object and the subject of knowledge in the system of higher professional education. The modular exposition and education project “Archaeology of Eurasia” developed by the education and research centre “New Archaeology” includes material sources and several digital stands designed following modern trends in education, latest information technologies and many years of experience in teaching archaeology at NSU. Results. The platform is based on primary principles of contemporary teaching approaches, such as brevity, imagery, diversity of sources, interactivity. Its active use in the educational process at the NSU Institute for the Humanities (IH) has shown to improve the quality of teaching and the level of learning skills. The project applies interdisciplinary methodology, which includes the best achievements in the field of educational and information technologies and archaeological science. Conclusion. For the NSU IH this project is a new experience to transfer from the usual classroom to a fundamentally different learning environment which provides an endless variety of opportunities for teaching and learning. Combination of the virtual exposition and real exhibits provides the opportunity to find the optimal algorithm of the interaction between the visitor and the expositional and educational space.

Bracketed by the Zagros, Hindukush, Altai, and Himalaya Mountains, Central Asia was a likely a migration route for early people moving into North and East Asia. Because of its central geographic setting, the area also channeled cultural and technological influences and exchange between adjoining regions in early prehistory. In this paper we analyze techno-typological characteristics of stone tool assemblages assigned to Early and Late Epipaleolithic industries from two key archaeological sites in Tajikistan – Tutkaul and Obi-Kiik. We compare –these industries with preceding Upper Paleolithic assemblages from the same region, as well as with cultural entities from the Levant and Zagros which share technological traits. Our study reveals key similarities, suggesting that the Tutkaul and Obi-Kiik techno-complexes belong to a single Epipaleolithic culture – which we refer to as the Tutkaulian – split into a three-stage developmental sequence. We argue that the Tutkaulian, defined by bladelet-based primary reduction and an abundance of geometric microliths, with a chronological progression from trapeze-rectangle to lunate forms, has its origins in the local Upper Paleolithic culture (Kulbulakian) emerging through repeated episodes of cultural exchange with earlier or synchronous Levantine and Zagros industries.

The transition from hunting to herding transformed the cold, arid steppes of Mongolia and Eastern Eurasia into a key social and economic center of the ancient world, but a fragmentary archaeological record limits our understanding of the subsistence base for early pastoral societies in this key region. Organic material preserved in high mountain ice provides rare snapshots into the use of alpine and high altitude zones, which played a central role in the emergence of East Asian pastoralism. Here, we present the results of the first archaeological survey of melting ice margins in the Altai Mountains of western Mongolia, revealing a near-continuous record of more than 3500 years of human activity. Osteology, radiocarbon dating, and collagen fingerprinting analysis of wooden projectiles, animal bone, and other artifacts indicate that big-game hunting and exploitation of alpine ice played a significant role during the emergence of mobile pastoralism in the Altai, and remained a core element of pastoral adaptation into the modern era. Extensive ice melting and loss of wildlife in the study area over recent decades, driven by a warming climate, poaching, and poorly regulated hunting, presents an urgent threat to the future viability of herding lifeways and the archaeological record of hunting in montane zones. Introduction - Mountain zones and the emergence of herding economies in Eastern Eurasia Results - Remote sensing - Pedestrian and horseback survey - Radiocarbon dating and cultural patterns Discussion - Weapon manufacture - Hunting strategies and butchery - Ritual activity - Other cultural activities - Role of mountain zones in emerging pastoral societies - Implications of climate change and poaching Conclusion Methods

Purpose. The rock shelter Badynoko site is one of the key archaeological sites of the Eastern Elbrus region, which contains stratified archaeological complexes of the Final Pleistocene and Early Holocene. Stone industries at this site are the most important evidence for studying the cultural dynamics, economic and technological transformations that took place during the Epipalaeolithic time in Northern Caucasus. We aimed at conducting technological analysis of the Badynoko’s archaeological complexes using experimental data on knapping flint and obsidian raw materials. To achieve this goal, we analyzed available information on morphometric criteria to identify knapping techniques. Our research interests included experimental modelling of the main methods which were used at the rock shelter Badynoko site for producing obsidian lamellar blanks; we also identified knapping techniques for producing blanks from other lithic materials. Results. We described the main strategies used in processing lithic materials which existed during the Final Pleistocene and Early Holocene periods at the rock shelter Badynoko site. Identified are basic techniques applied in the fracture zone and methods for producing lamellar blanks of several types, namely microblades, bladelets, and blades. The common feature of all the assemblages is that primary flaking was meant to obtain bladelets and microblades from volumetric cores mainly by unidirectional knapping. The technological and morphological study of each type of the blanks has allowed us to link the production of these items with different stages of utilizing cores and determine knapping techniques used, such as direct hitting with a soft mineral chipper tool and pressure. Conclusion. Based on our technological reconstructions, we provide a more detailed description of the evolution of strategies and knapping techniques used to process lithic materials during various stages at the rock shelter Badynoko site.

The development and dispersal of agropastoralism transformed the cultural and ecological landscapes of the Old World, but little is known about when or how this process first impacted Central Asia. Here, we present archaeological and biomolecular evidence from Obishir V in southern Kyrgyzstan, establishing the presence of domesticated sheep by ca. 6,000 BCE. Zooarchaeological and collagen peptide mass fingerprinting show exploitation of Ovis and Capra, while cementum analysis of intact teeth implicates possible pastoral slaughter during the fall season. Most significantly, ancient DNA reveals these directly dated specimens as the domestic O. aries, within the genetic diversity of domesticated sheep lineages. Together, these results provide the earliest evidence for the use of livestock in the mountains of the Ferghana Valley, predating previous evidence by 3,000 years and suggesting that domestic animal economies reached the mountains of interior Central Asia far earlier than previously recognized. Results - Site excavation. - Archaeofaunal remains. - Cementum analysis and dental eruption/wear. - Animal DNA. Discussion Methods - Excavation. - Radiocarbon dating. - Thermoluminescence dating. - Zooarchaeology and ZooMS. - Cementum analysis. - DNA analysis. -- PCR amplification. -- Library construction and sequencing. -- PCA of genome-wide sequences. -- Mitochondrial genome analysis.

The Eastern Pamir (eastern Tajikistan) is a high-mountain plateau with elevations up to 7000 m, currently characterized by extremely severe environmental conditions and harboring a specialized montane fauna, which in part is shared with that of the Tibetan Plateau. The modern bird fauna of High Asia comprises a diversity of both ancient and recently diverged endemics, and thus is of general importance for historical biogeography and understanding the origin of modern high mountain ecosystems. However, the past history of the Central Asian highland avian communities remains practically unknown, as no fossil bird assemblages from high elevation areas were previously reported. In particular, it remains completely unexplored how birds responded to late Quaternary climatic fluctuations. Here we report the first fossil bird fauna from the High Asia and the first fossil birds from Tajikistan. An assemblage from the late Pleistocene through middle Holocene of Istykskaya cave (4060 m) in Eastern Pamir surprisingly comprises a remarkable diversity of waterbirds, including a few species that are completely absent from High Asia today and that were not reported globally from such high altitudes. The diversity of waterbirds incudes taxa of various ecological preferences (shorebirds, underwater and surface feeders, both zoophagous and phytophagous), strongly indicating the presence of a productive waterbody at the vicinity of the site in the past. These observations correspond to recent palaeoclimatic data, implying increased water availability in this region, currently occupied by high mountain semi-deserts. Our findings for the first time show that milder environmental conditions of late Quaternary attracted lowland species to the Central Asian highland wetlands. The reported assemblage yet contains several characteristic highland taxa, indicating a long-time persistence of some Central Asian montane faunistic elements. In particular, it includes the Tibetan Sandgrouse (Syrrhaptes tibetanus), a highly-specialized montane dweller, which is for the first time found in the fossil record.

We are a group of archaeologists, anthropologists, curators and geneticists representing diverse global communities and 31 countries. All of us met in a virtual workshop dedicated to ethics in ancient DNA research held in November 2020. There was widespread agreement that globally applicable ethical guidelines are needed, but that recent recommendations grounded in discussion about research on human remains from North America are not always generalizable worldwide. Here we propose the following globally applicable guidelines, taking into consideration diverse contexts. These hold that: (1) researchers must ensure that all regulations were followed in the places where they work and from which the human remains derived; (2) researchers must prepare a detailed plan prior to beginning any study; (3) researchers must minimize damage to human remains; (4) researchers must ensure that data are made available following publication to allow critical re-examination of scientific findings; and (5) researchers must engage with other stakeholders from the beginning of a study and ensure respect and sensitivity to stakeholder perspectives. We commit to adhering to these guidelines and expect they will promote a high ethical standard in DNA research on human remains going forward., C.J.F. acknowledges support from the Australian Research Council Discovery Project DP160100811. V.G. acknowledges support from the National Research Foundation (NRF) South Africa; opinions expressed and conclusions arrived at are those of the authors and are not necessarily attributed to the NRF. M.O. acknowledges support from Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico grant 302163/2017-4 and from Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo grant 2018/23282-5. P.S. acknowledges Francis Crick Institute core funding (FC001595) from Cancer Research UK, the UK Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust. V.S. acknowledges funding from the Alon Fellowship. M. Soressi acknowledges support from Dutch Research council grant VI.C.191.070. A.S.-N. acknowledges the János Bolyai Research Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. K.T. was supported by a J. C. Bose Fellowship (JCB/2019/000027), SERB and CSIR, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India. C.W. acknowledges support from the European Research Council (ERC-2017-StG 804844- DAIRYCULTURES) and the Werner Siemens Stiftung.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been infecting humans for millennia and remains a global health problem, but its past diversity and dispersal routes are largely unknown. We generated HBV genomic data from 137 Eurasians and Native Americans dated between ~10,500 and ~400 years ago. We date the most recent common ancestor of all HBV lineages to between ~20,000 and 12,000 years ago, with the virus present in European and South American hunter-gatherers during the early Holocene. After the European Neolithic transition, Mesolithic HBV strains were replaced by a lineage likely disseminated by early farmers that prevailed throughout western Eurasia for ~4000 years, declining around the end of the 2nd millennium BCE. The only remnant of this prehistoric HBV diversity is the rare genotype G, which appears to have reemerged during the HIV pandemic., The research was funded by the Max Planck Society, the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (771234–PALEoRIDER, to W.H.; 805268–CoDisEASe to K. Bos; 834616–ARCHCAUCASUS to S.H.), the Slovak Academy of Sciences and the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme and Marie Curie Actions under the Programme SASPRO (1340/03/03 to P.C.R.), the ERA.NET RUS Plus–S&T programm of the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (277–BIOARCCAUCASUS to S.Re. and S.H.), the Werner Siemens Stiftung (“Paleobiochemistry”, to CW), the Award Praemium Academiae of the Czech Academy of Sciences (to M.E.), the Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences (RVO 67985912, to M.Dobe.), the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (19-09-00354a, to M.K.K. and V.V.K.; 19-78-10053 to SSh), the German Research Foundation (DFG-HA-5407/4-1–INTERACT to W.H. and RE2688/2 to S.Re.), the French National Research Agency (ANR-17-FRAL-0010–INTERACT, to M.F.D., M.Ri., S.Ro., S.Sai., D.Bi., and P.Le.), the Wenner-Gren Dissertation Fieldwork Grant (9558 to S.Sab.), and the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan (AP08856654 to L.B.D., L.M., and E.Kh. and AP08857177 to A.Z.B.).

International audience; The Pamir plateau is one of the highest mountain systems in the world, presenting a highly challenging environment for human occupation. During the Soviet era, researchers discovered several stratified archaeological sites in the Pamir zoneincluding the Oshhona site, which yielded a large collection of lithic artefacts and personal ornaments made of bone. Pairing archaeozoological and biomolecular methods (Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry) with use-wear analysis, we investigate the tradition of personal bone ornament production that emerged in the Pamir mountains during the Middle Holocene. Our analyses indicate that inhabitants of Oshhona site used a wide range of faunal remains to manufacture non-utilitarian itemsincluding pendants, elongated beads, and engraved bone. Comparison of raw materials, manufacture technology, and style provide compelling evidence of cultural links between the Pamir and the middle highlands of the Tian Shan. Although available anthropological and genetic evidence is too scattered to assess the possibility of population movements, our results point to a shared techno-cultural tradition or common cultural adaptation in bone ornament production across these two regions, perhaps developing as a response to life at high altitudes in Central Asia during the Middle Holocene.

While classic models for the emergence of pastoral groups in Inner Asia describe mounted, horse-borne herders sweeping across the Eurasian Steppes during the Early or Middle Bronze Age (ca. 3000–1500 BCE), the actual economic basis of many early pastoral societies in the region is poorly characterized. In this paper, we use collagen mass fingerprinting and ancient DNA analysis of some of the first stratified and directly dated archaeofaunal assemblages from Mongolia’s early pastoral cultures to undertake species identifications of this rare and highly fragmented material. Our results provide evidence for livestock-based, herding subsistence in Mongolia during the late 3rd and early 2nd millennia BCE. We observe no evidence for dietary exploitation of horses prior to the late Bronze Age, ca. 1200 BCE – at which point horses come to dominate ritual assemblages, play a key role in pastoral diets, and greatly influence pastoral mobility. In combination with the broader archaeofaunal record of Inner Asia, our analysis supports models for widespread changes in herding ecology linked to the innovation of horseback riding in Central Asia in the final 2nd millennium BCE. Such a framework can explain key broad-scale patterns in the movement of people, ideas, and material culture in Eurasian prehistory.

The stratifi ed site of Obishir-5 is one of the most important Final Pleistocene to Early Holocene sites in western Central Asia. In the Early Holocene component (10,700–8200 cal BP) of this site (layers 2 and 3), we discovered one of the oldest and largest assemblages of soft stone ornaments known from the region. It includes 5 items: three oval, sub-triangular, and sub-rectangular pendants, one“labret”-like ornament, and one ornament blank. All specimens come from stratifi ed and well-dated contexts. As a result of the petrographic, experimental, use-wear, and technological analysis, we reconstructed the chaine operatoire of these artifacts. To produce them, local raw materials (talcite and serpentinite) were transported from a source located 4.5 km away from the site. Small pebbles, shatters, and spalls split from nodules were used as blanks. The surface of the blank was fi rst prepared using grinders and burins, then biconical drilling and polishing were used to fi nish the artifact. Our results point to an established tradition of personal ornament production from soft stone in western Central Asia during the Early Holocene. Comparison of these nonutilitarian artifacts with those from other Final Pleistocene to Early Holocene archaeological complexes across Central Asia, the Middle East, and the Near East suggests that personal ornament manufacture may be an important hallmark of social developments across a broad geographic region.

Until recently, every industry with geometric microliths in Central Asia has been classified as Mesolithic solely on the basis that this technology appeared quite late in the region. The situation was further complicated by the absence of absolute dates for Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic sites from this region. Recent research has proved a clear association between the earliest geometric microliths in Central Asia and the Upper Paleolithic Kulbulakian culture (Shugnou, layer 1; Kulbulak, layer 2.1). The most comprehensive archeological collection in Central Asia that documents the shift from the production of non-geometric microliths (backed bladelet, Arzheneh points) to geometric microliths (scalene triangles) in a very early chronological context is Dodekatym-2 site. The main morphometric characteristics of the Central Asian Upper Paleolithic geometric microliths correspond to the development of the Upper Paleolithic and Epipaleolithic of the Near East (Masraquan cultures) and the Middle East (Zarzian culture). The absolute dates available for the Dodecatym-2 site are older than presently known ones for the early Epipaleolithic Levantine industries with geometric microliths, thus making it possible to conclude that Central Asia was at least one of the microlitization origin centers.

Пещера Сельунгур является самой большой карстовой полостью на территории западной части Центральной Азии, содержащей остатки материальной культуры древнего человека, палеоантропологические и палеонтологические находки в нескольких литологических подразделениях. Памятник исследовался в 80-х гг. XX в., и первоначально был определен как нижнепалеолитический объект. В результате изучения пещеры на новом этапе исследований в 2014-2017 гг. было доказано, что каменные комплексы пещеры Сельунгур имеют среднепалеолитические характеристики. Научная значимость объекта, объясняющаяся уникальностью антропологических и археологических находок, требует продолжения ее полевого изучения с применением новейших геофизических методов, облегчающих планирование раскопок, учитывая значительный размер самой пещеры и мощность рыхлых отложений. В данной статье описывается первый опыт применения комплексных геофизических методов в пещере на территории Центральной Азии. Применение методов электротомографии и магнитометрии продемонстрировало свою эффективность для определения потенциально наиболее информативных участков будущих археологических раскопов, непотревоженных в результате исследований прошлых лет, со значительной мощностью рыхлых отложений и без крупных известняковых глыб.

International audience

This paper presents the results of a large-scale fieldwork project of interdisciplinary studies on the Middle Paleolithic settlement in the western Tian Shan piedmont. A complex of newly discovered “loess Paleolithic” open-air sites near Yangiobod (Uzbekistan), Katta Sai, was excavated. The excavations allowed identification of a new variant of human adaptation in the regional Middle Paleolithic. In the light of the newest anthropological and genetic data, this new archaeological sites fit to the current studies on the relations between different human species during the Middle and Early Upper Paleolithic in Central Asia. Geoarchaeological investigation of the sites has shown that the Paleolithic assemblages of Katta Sai are not preserved in situ. Cultural levels suffered from rill erosion, and most of the artifacts were re-deposited by water flow, and accumulated in secondary positions on the bottom of the branched rill system. This paper aims to reconstruct the subsequent processes of the site formation and to present the complicated geological situation of the studied sites of the Katta Sai complex, with implication for the archaeological interpretation of Paleolithic assemblages of the region.

Summary Modern humans have inhabited the Lake Baikal region since the Upper Paleolithic, though the precise history of its peoples over this long time span is still largely unknown. Here, we report genome-wide data from 19 Upper Paleolithic to Early Bronze Age individuals from this Siberian region. An Upper Paleolithic genome shows a direct link with the First Americans by sharing the admixed ancestry that gave rise to all non-Arctic Native Americans. We also demonstrate the formation of Early Neolithic and Bronze Age Baikal populations as the result of prolonged admixture throughout the eighth to sixth millennium BP. Moreover, we detect genetic interactions with western Eurasian steppe populations and reconstruct Yersinia pestis genomes from two Early Bronze Age individuals without western Eurasian ancestry. Overall, our study demonstrates the most deeply divergent connection between Upper Paleolithic Siberians and the First Americans and reveals human and pathogen mobility across Eurasia during the Bronze Age.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

The Alay site represents the earliest, high-altitude human-occupation site currently known in western Central Asia. Recent recovery and analysis of a lithic assemblage from Alay underlines the importance of this site and its role in the cultural and technological development in later Eurasian prehistory.

На современном этапе развития археологической науки геометрические микролиты рассматриваются как важные хозяйственные, культурные и хронологические маркеры, появление которых в археологических коллекциях свидетельствует об использовании композитных орудий, о повышении степени мобильности древних человеческих коллективов, миграциях и об обмене технологическими навыками. Предлагаемая работа посвящена обоснованию раннего возраста появления геометрических микролитов в форме неравносторонних треугольников. В прошлом, исследователи верхнего палеолита Центральной Азии констатировали отсутствие в индустриях не только техники притупления и геометрических микролитов, но и мелкопластинчатой технологии. Результаты археологических исследований, проводимых нашей командой в регионе с 1998 г. свидетельствуют о хронологически раннем появлении геометрических микролитов и техники притупления в верхнепалеолитических индустриях. Результаты позволили отказаться от выдвинутой ранее гипотезы и доказать относительно раннее проявление мелкопластинчатой технологии в контексте кульбулакской верхнепалеолитической культуры западной части Центральной Азии. В рамках кульбулакской культуры мы можем проследить основные тренды развития верхнего палеолита, включая тренд на микролитизацию в контексте техник притупления. Этот тренд имеет технологическую связь с распространением кареноидных нуклеусов и их дальнейшим замещением призматическими нуклеусами. Имеющиеся абсолютные даты свидетельствуют о существовании кульбулакской культуры в период от 39 до 23 калиброванных л.н., At the current stage of archaeological science development, geometric microliths are regarded as important economic, cultural and chronological markers, the appearance of which indicates the use of composite tools, the increase in the mobility of ancient humans, migrations and the exchange of technological ideas. The proposed article is devoted to justifying the early age of scalene triangles appearance. Formerly, researchers of the Central Asian Upper Paleolithic had stressed the sheer absence of not only the backing technique and geometric microliths but also of the technology for bladelet production in that region. Archeological studies that have been carried out in that region since 1998 provide new information about the local Upper Paleolithic and prove the early appearance of geometric microliths and the backing technique in Central Asian Upper Paleolithic. Research results over the last decade have made it possible to refute this assumption and prove the comparatively early appearance of bladelet technologies in the context of the Upper Paleolithic Kulbulakian culture. In the Kulbulakian assemblages, we can trace some of the main trends of the development of Upper Paleolithic in western Central Asia, including the trend towards the backing type of microlitization. This trend has a strong connection to the spread of carinated pieces and its further replacement by prismatic cores. On the basis of the available absolute dates, the time span of the Kulbulakian is estimated at 39–23 kyr BP.

Intensive research on the Mesolithic of western Central Asia began in the mid twentieth century, when the discovery of key sites allowed for the formulation of the main regional cultural-chronological schemes (Figure 1).