Dating our Siberian Arrival from the Americas

Kuzmin, Y.V. and Orlova, L.A.  Radiocarbon Chronology of the Siberian Paleolithic.  Journal of World Prehistory (1998), Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 1-53.

The area under study may be subdivided into two parts:  Siberia proper and the Russian Far East.  In American geography textbooks they are often described together (e.g., Simmons, 1990).  Russian geographers, however, separate these two regions because of significant differences in climate and vegetation (e.g., Suslov, 1961).  The territory of Siberia belongs to the Arctic Ocean drainage basin,  and the Russian Far East belongs to the Pacific Ocean drainage basin (Fig. 1). p 3

Instead, the Mousterian-Upper Paleolithic transition seems to have occurred gradually in Siberia and the Russian Far East, within the time interval ca. 43,000-28,500 BP. p. 31

Hence, we accept this age of ca. 23,500 BP as a maximum for Ust-Mil 2 (see also Kuzmin, 1994, p. 368).  This interpretation also fits well with the general developmental scheme of microblade industries in Northeast Asia (Yi and Clark, 1985; Abramova, 1989).  The anomalous C-14 dates from Ust-Mil 2 [30,000 ± 500 BP (LE-1001), 33,000 ± 500 BP (LE-1000), and 35,400 ± 600 BP (LE-954)] might be explained by the redeposition of "ancient" wood from early Karginian sediments in the lower part of the section into the younger deposits containing the Dyuktai-culture artifacts (cf. Clark, 1988).  Similar caveats about the unsuitability of wood as a material for precise C-14 dating of the Dyuktai culture have also been made by Abramova (1979c, 1989) and Yi and Clark (1985).  pp. 36-37

It is clear that the Afontovo and Kokorevo cultures coexisted in the Yenisei River basin during the interval from ca. 21,000 to ca. 11,700 BP.  The sequence at Listvenka (Afontovo-like in layers 14-19, Kokorevo in layers 7-13; and Afontovo again in layers 2-6) (Drozdov et al., 1990, pp. 131-147) probably reflects the intrusion, at about 15,000 BP, of a Kokorevo population, northward from the core area some 15,000 BP, of a Kokorevo population, northward from the core area some 150-200 km away.  p. 37

During the last 15 years, after larger-scale excavations of the Dyuktai sites, some new dates have been obtained.  For Ikhine 2, there are two new dates on bone [presumably submitted after the minor excavations of 1992 (Mochanov and Fedoseeva, 1996, p. 195)]:  20,080 ± 150 BP (SOAN-3185) and 19,695 ± 100 BP (SOAN-3186).  These are significantly younger than the previous C-14 dates, which range between 31,200 and 24,300 BP.  Ikhine 1 was first dated in the 1980s to 16,660 ± 270 BP (IM-452) (Kashin, 1991).  Ezhantsy, for which an age of ca. 35,000 BP was originally suggested (Mochanov, 1977), was dated in the 1980s to 17,150 ± 345 BP (IM-459) (Kashin, 1991).  Thus, we may accept a preliminary conclusion that the youngest C-14 dates from Ikhine 2, ca. 24,600-24,300 BP (Mochanov, 1977), along with newly released dates from Ikhine 1 and Ezhantsy, accord quite well with the general model of the appearance of microblades in Siberia ca. 23,000-20,000 BP.  pp. 38-39

          The distinctive feature of Sartan Glaciation pollen spectra from Yakutia is a very low content of arboreal pollen.  We can see the same feature in the Ikhine 1 pollen diagram for the upper part of layer 3 (the overlying layer 2 with artifacts is dated to ca. 16,600 BP).  A very low arboreal pollen content is characteristic of Ezhantsy, layer 3, containing Dyuktai tools and dated to ca. 17,200 BP; and for Ikhine 2, layer 4, dated to ca. 31,200-24,300 BP.  Based on all the observed data, the radiocarbon age of the Dyuktai culture may be estimated at ca. 24,600-10,000 BP.

          In the Russian Far East, the earliest C-14 date for microblades is from Ust-Ulma 1, layer 2b, at ca. 19,400 BP.  Other typical microblade industries from the middle Amur River basin and the Primorye are dated to ca. 15,300-10,100 BP, while in Northeaster Siberia, microblade assemblages are dated to ca. 13,400-8000 BP.  p. 39

The Mesolithic layers have dates of ca. 10,500-8200 BP.  However, on the basis of the most recent series of C-14 dates, the boundary between the Upper Paleolithic and the Mesolithic at Eleneva Cave (the contact of the sixteenth and seventeenth cultural layers) dates to ca. 9600-9300 BP (Orlova, 1998).  In the Angara River basin, Mesolithic sites are dated to ca. 9900-7300 BP.  On the shore of Lake Baikal, where Mesolithic cultures are well defined (Medvedeve et al., 1990), they are dated to ca. 10,300-6500 BP.  In the Transbaikal, the Mesolithic as a separate stage (Konstantinov, 1994) is radiocarbon-dated to ca. 12,600-6700 BP.  p. 40

In Russian archaeology, the most important criterion for defining the Neolithic is the beginning of pottery manufacture (e.g., Krushanov, 1989).  The emergence of pottery in East Asia at the end of Pleistocene, ca. 14,000-12,000 BP, was one of the most revolutionary innovations in Old World prehistory (Barnes, 1993, pp. 64-72).  Thus, the end of the Paleolithic and the beginning of the Neolithic mark a very important chrono-cultural boundary.  p. 40

Thus, we now have strong evidence for the existence of the earliest pottery in the Russian Far East occurring at ca. 13,300 BP (Kuzmin et al., 1997).  In the Amur River basin and the Transbaikal, the Paleolithic-Neolithic transition goes back to ca. 13,300-10,400 BP.  In other parts of Siberia and the Russian Far East, the transition took place much later:  at ca. 7900-6700 BP in the Yenisei and Angara River basins and at ca. 6000 BP in the Lake Baikal area and Yakutia.  p. 41

The archaeology and radiocarbon chronology of the Siberian Paleolithic provide the background for modeling the peopling of the Americas (Morlan, 1987; Powers, 1996).  According to West (1996), the initial peopling of extreme northwestern North America (Alaska and adjacent areas) took place ca. 11,800-11,700 BP.  Thus, the Siberian cultures which may be the "progenitors" of the Paleoindian cultural complexes must be at least 13,000-12,000 C-14 years old.  p. 41-42

Some publications on the peopling of the New World (e.g., Dikov, 1979; Morlan, 1987; Laukhin, 1990) show the glaciation in this region as a vast and continuous glacial belt in the mountain ranges, which could have prevented migration toward Alaska.  However, the most recent data (Velichko, 1993) show that glaciation was quite limited in most mountain systems, and glaciers were numerous only in the Verkhoyansk Range and the Kamchatkan mountains (Fig. 3).  During the Sartan Glacial maximum, the level of the Bering and Chukchi Seas was about 100 m below that of today and the vast landmass known as the Bering Land Bridge connected Siberia and North America.  Thus, between 20,000 and 18,000 BP several migration routes to the New World were accessible.  Nevertheless, there are no reliable Paleolithic finds of this or comparable age east of the Lena River basin.  p. 42

Using the most reliable dates-those on charcoal from primary stratigraphic contexts-we concluded that the age of the Clovis progenitors was at least ca. 24,000 BP (Ust-Kova).  This suggests that Clovis progenitors could have migrated to North America from southern Siberia before the maximum of the Last Glaciation.  However, the complete absence of macroblade sites in Northeastern Siberia (except for the very young sites of Ushki-1 and Kukhtui 3) prevents our tracing the routes of such migrants.  This situation constrains all existing models for the peopling of the New World.  p. 44-45

The earliest C-14 dates for the Nenana cultural complex in Alaska are ca. 11,200 BP and perhaps 11,800 BP (West, 1996).  The oldest C-14 age of the Clovis cultural complex in central and southwestern North America is ca. 11,600 BP (Haynes, 1992, 1993; Taylor et al., 1996).  The age of Monte Verde in southernmost South America, which is claimed to be the oldest in the Americas, is ca. 12,500 BP (Dillehay and Pino, 1997).  The fact that Monte Verde is some 500-900 C-14 years older than any other widely-accepted Paleoindian site has resulted in much speculation about the possible timing and routes for the peopling of the Americas.  However, the concept of the "practicable accuracy" of archaeological C-14 dates (Krenke and Sulerzhitsky, 1992) makes it difficult to assert that Monte Verde is actually older than the Nenana and Clovis complexes.  They are all quite close to each other in age, with differences of <1000 C-14 years, while internal variations in their series of dates are at least 500-800 C-14 years.  p. 45

The numerous radiocarbon dates from the Siberian Paleolithic allow us to elucidate the chronology of the most important changes in Siberian prehistoric life and technology.  The Middle-Upper Paleolithic boundary may be drawn approximately between 43,000 and 28,500 BP; the Early-Late Upper Paleolithic boundary may be placed at ca. 24,000-19,000 BP; and the Paleolithic-Neolithic boundary, between ca. 13,000 and 6000 BP.  p. 46

Alvah's comment: What is clear from this paper is that the Upper Paleolithic is in it's infancy at 43,000 and that it continued to develop following its derivation, becoming full blown Upper Paleolithic as sapiens migrated into Europe. If the dates are correct the first encounters between Homo sapiens and Homo erectus may have occurred in Western Siberia. Following this encounter the use of lithic tools by H sapiens expanded along with their range. If this trail is traced back into the Americas then the use of "bone before stone" could help in linking pre-Clovis bone tool technologies to Alaska and then into western Siberia. Only in the Americas does an ancestor to Homo sapiens exist that would not require a metamorphous from the separate species that was H erectus.