Siberia and neighboring regions in the Last Glacial Maximum: did people occupy northern Eurasia at that time?

摘要

An updated analysis of Paleolithic sites in Siberia and the Urals C-14-dated to the coldest phase of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), with its timespan currently determined as ca. 23,000-19,000 BP (ca. 27,300-22,900 cal BP), is presented. It is demonstrated that people continuously occupied the southern and central parts of Siberia and the Russian Far East (up to 58A degrees N latitude), and perhaps sporadically settled regions located even further north, up to 70A degrees N, throughout the LGM. This is in accord with our previous data, but is now based on a larger dataset, and also on a paleoecological analysis of the major pre-LGM archaeological sites in Siberia and the Urals north of 58A degrees N. It is clear that Paleolithic people in northern Eurasia were able to cope with the treeless tundra environment well in advance of the LGM, at least at ca. 34,000-26,000 BP (ca. 38,500-30,000 cal BP). Therefore, a high degree of adaptation to cold conditions allowed people to survive in Siberia during the LGM.