The past hidden underwater: new data on Stone Age sites on the Shulbinka reservoir (Republic of Kazakhstan)
Pavlenok G. Bocharova E. Papin A. Kharevich V. Taimagambetov Z. Anoikin A.
30 June 2025Margulan Institute of Archaeology
Kazakhstan Archeology
2025#28Issue 2198 - 214 pp.
Due to an exceptionally low water level in the Shulbinka Reservoir in 2024, researchers were able to investigate previously submerged archaeological sites at Shulbinka and Osikha. For the first time, a sufficiently representative collection of flint artifacts was recovered from the Osikha site, enabling both cultural and chronological attribution. The article presents a detailed techno-typological analysis of the lithic collections obtained during the 2024 field season. The study demonstrates that the Shulbinka industry is generally consistent with the materials excavated at the site during the 1980s. The Osikha assemblage, in turn, allows for a confident attribution of the site to the final stage of the Upper Paleolithic. A comparative analysis of the Osikha industry with stratified assemblages from key Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic sites in the region, namely, Shulbinka, Ushbulak, and Karasai, supports this conclusion. The application of seriation methods to the Paleolithic industries of Eastern Kazakhstan enabled the construction of a relative chronology for these complexes. The results align well with both the technological characteristics of the industries and the available absolute dates, thus confirming the validity of the proposed correlations. Moreover, comparison with Upper Paleolithic sites from adjacent regions indicates the contemporaneous existence of diverse human communities across Central Asia during this period.
East Kazakhstan , lithic industry , Osikha site , seriation , Shulbinka site , Upper Paleolithic
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Candidate of Historical Sciences, IAET SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russian Federation
Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, Russian Federation
Doctor of Historical Sciences, academician NAS RK, professor, National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Astana, Kazakhstan
Candidate of Historical Sciences
Novosibirsk State University
Doctor of Historical Sciences
10 лет помогаем публиковать статьи Международный издатель
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