Who Were the Chagyrskaya Neanderthals? The Possibility of Their Dispersal Across Central Asia and Southern Siberia

Abstract

My article in the previous issue, based on findings of archaeological excavations of Paleolithic sites in the Altai, primarily in Denisova Cave, as well as facts concerning the time of origin of Neanderthal anatomy and genetics in Europe, challenged the view, based on the genetic analysis of the Altaian Neanderthals, that they had migrated to the Altai before 175 ka BP and occupied Denisova Cave by turns with Denisovans. In fact, the Neanderthal occupation of the Altai began apparently no earlier than 60 ka BP. Thus far, Neanderthal fossils with a Micoquian Mousteroid industry have been found in three caves: Chagyrskaya, Okladnikov, and Strashnaya. This group of Neanderthals, evidencing the easternmost dispersal wave of those humans in Asia, was termed the Chagyrskaya group.