Late Quaternary Geology and Geochronology of Diring Yuriakh, An Early Paleolithic Site in Central Siberia

Abstract

AbstractDiring Yuriakh, an archaeological site on the highest terrace of the Lena River in subarctic eastern Siberia, provides evidence for the oldest and northern-most Early Paleolithic occupation in Asia. Stratigraphic and sedimentological studies at the site show that artifacts occur on a single eolian deflation surface that is underlain by fluvial sediments with inset cryogenic sand wedges and overlain by eolian deposits. Thermoluminescence ages on the fine-grained extracts from the eolian sediments and sand wedges that bound the artifact level indicate that the occupation occurred >260,000 yr B.P. and may possibly date between 270,000 and 370,000 yr B.P. This study documents that the artifacts from Diring Yuriakh are an order of magnitude older than artifacts from any previously reported site from Siberia. The antiquity and subarctic location of Diring Yuriakh indicates that people developed a subsistence strategy capable of surviving rigorous conditions in Siberia by ≥260,000 yr B.P.