TOOL KIT VARIABILITY OF THE PALEOLITHIC KHARGANYN-GOL-5 SITE IN NORTHERN MONGOLIA

Abstract

During the Late Pleistocene, Mongolia was probably a land of many population dispersals. The cultural shifts observed in archeological sequences document some of these events. Two lines of Upper Paleolithic development have been defined: industries rooted in the local Middle Paleolithic and intrusive assemblages from Siberia. At Orkhon-1, (Horizon 3 – Pits 1, 2) in Central Mongolia and Kharganyn-Gol-5, Horizons 7-6, in Northern Mongolia, transitional assemblages are characterized by the coexistence of Levallois with blade technology. The paper is devoted to stone tool kit analysis of cultural Horizons 4 – 7 from Kharganyn-Gol-5 site in Northern Mongolia. According to radiocarbon dating, the age of cultural Horizon 5 is older than 40,000 BP. The lower Horizons 6-7 contain the side-scrapers, Levallois retouched blanks and spur-like tools. Probably, these complexes can be related to Terminal Middle Paleolithic. Horizon 5 is characterized by combination of Middle Paleolithic Levallois tradition in primary flaking and Upper Paleolithic tool types, such as backed bladelets and can be determined as typical for Initial Upper Paleolithic. Tool assemblage of Horizon 4 is characteristic for the Early Upper Paleolithic. The assemblages of Kharganyn-Gol-5 site give the opportunity to define the complex of cultural attributes, which characterizes the Middle Paleolithic of Northern Mongolia.

Keywords

• northern mongolia
• middle paleolithic
• early upper paleolithic
• multilayer site
• stone tool type
• retouching
• chronological sequence