Middle Paleolithic bone industry in Central Asia, first evidence from Obi-Rakhmat Grotto (Uzbekistan)

Baumann M. Girya E. Crépin L. Julien M.-A. Rendu W. Saifullaev B. Krivoshapkin A.
February 2025 Elsevier Ltd

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports
2025 #61

The use of bone tools in contexts predating the Upper Paleolithic of Homo sapiens in Eurasia is no longer subject to debate. However, the recent evidence highlighting significant Neanderthal bone industries demonstrates that this phenomenon has been largely underestimated. A re-evaluation of each assemblage through a systematic search for bone artifacts is now a necessary prerequisite for accurately assessing the nature and variability of bone production over time and across past humanities. Such an approach should precede any attempt at a broader understanding of the mechanisms underlying their emergence and development. With this in mind, we initiated an investigation in Central Asia, a key region for Middle Paleolithic human settlements, where the potential for bone artifacts has remained weakly tested until now. Here, we present the preliminary results from Obi-Rakhmat (Uzbekistan). Dated to 90–40 ka BP, it is one of the few multilayered sites in the region to have yielded human remains. The original composition of the set of bone artifacts, which reflects that of the lithic assemblage, confirms our expectations and opens new avenues for research on this emerging topic.

Bone tools , Central Asia , Middle Paleolithic , Obi-Rakhmat , Technology , Traceology

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TraceoLab, University of Liege, Quai Roosevelt 1B, Liege, 4000, Belgium
Institute of Material Culture History, Russian Academy of Sciences, Dvortsovaya nab. 18, Liter A, St. Petersburg 191181, Russian Federation
Angoulême Museum, 1 rue Friedland, Angoulême, 16 000, France
GéoArchÉon, 30 rue de la Victoire, Viéville-sous-les-Cotes, 55210, France
Archaeozoological Center for the Study of Central Asia, IRL 2033 ZooStan, CNRS, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Al-Farabi Avenue 71, Almaty, 050040, Kazakhstan
Institute of Archaeology Named After Ya. Gullyamov, Abdullaeva Street 3, Samarkand, 140061, Uzbekistan
APSACA Laboratory, National Center of Archaeology, Mirzo Ulugbek Street 81, Tashkent, 100060, Uzbekistan
UMR 7194 HNHP, MNHN-CNRS, University of Perpignan Via Domitia, 52 avenue Paul-Alduy, Perpignan, 66860, France
UMR 7194 HNHP, MNHN-CNRS, Institute of Human Paleontology, 1 rue René Panhard, Paris, 75013, France

TraceoLab
Institute of Material Culture History
Angoulême Museum
GéoArchÉon
Archaeozoological Center for the Study of Central Asia
Institute of Archaeology Named After Ya. Gullyamov
APSACA Laboratory
UMR 7194 HNHP
UMR 7194 HNHP

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