Tolbaga: Upper Paleolithic Settlement Patterns in the Trans-Baikal Region

Tolbaga: Upper Paleolithic Settlement Patterns in the Trans-Baikal Region

S.G. Vasiliev and E.P. Rybin.

The paper describes Tolbaga – one of the key early Upper Paleolithic (35–25 ka BP) sites in the Trans-Baikal region. The description focuses on the relationships between the transportation of stone to the site, knapping techniques and utilization of stones and bones, planigraphy of the site, and the consumption of game. Based on the interrelation between subsistence strategy and the utilization of stone, it is concluded that the life cycle of humans was adapted to seasonal hunting activities.

Keywords: Late Pleistocene, early Upper Paleolithic, lithic technologies, archeozoology, settling systems.