LONG-DISTANCE OBSIDIAN TRANSPORT IN PREHISTORIC NORTHEAST ASIA

A brief overview of recent obsidian source studies in Northeast Asia (Japan, Russian Far East, Korea, and Northeast China) is presented. Obsidian was a valuable commodity since the early Upper Palaeolithic, and the length of distances between sources and utilisation sites at that time (ca. 30,000–10,000 BP) was up to 800 km. In the Neolithic of Japan (Jomon), several large exchange networks existed, with obsidian transportation up to 1000 km from source to sites, often across wide-open waters. The use of multiple obsidian sources shows the complex nature of raw material acquisition and use in prehistory

The beginnings of prehistoric agriculture in the Russian Far East: Current evidence and concepts

The current situation with studies of prehistoric plant cultivation in the Russian Far East is presented. A critical analysis of existing concepts and models of the oldest agriculture in this region is also included. Reliable data allows us to conclude that humans in the southern Russian Far East (Primorye Province) began to cultivate millet at c. 4700–4600 BP (c. 3600–3400 calBC) in the context of the early Zaisanovka cultural complex of the Late Neolithic. The most probable source area for prehistoric agriculture in the Russian Far East was neighbouring Northeast China (Manchuria).V članku predstavljam trenutno stanje raziskav prazgodovinske kultivacije rastlin na ruskem Daljnem vzhodu. Vključena je tudi kritična analiza obstoječih konceptov in modelov o najstarejšem poljedelstvu na tem območju. Zanesljivi podatki kažejo, da so ljudje v južnem delu ruskega Daljnega vzhoda (provinca Primorye) pričeli gojiti proso ok. 4700–4600 BP (ok. 3600–3400 calBC) v kontekstu zgodnjega kulturnega kompleksa Zaisanovka v poznem neolitiku. Najverjetnejše izvorno območje prazgodovinskega ruskega poljedelstva na Daljnem vzhodu je sosednja severna Kitajska (Mančurija)

The origins of pottery in East Asia and neighboring regions: An analysis based on radiocarbon data

Patterns for the emergence of pottery-making in greater East Asia based on radiocarbon dates associated with the earliest pottery assemblages are presented. According to a critical evaluation of the existing evidence, the oldest centers with pottery in East Asia are located in South China (dated to ca. 18,000 cal BP), the Japanese Islands (ca. 16,700 cal BP), and the Russian Far East (ca. 15,900 cal BP). The claim for earlier pottery in South China at the Xianrendong Cave, supposedly dated to ca. 20,000 cal BP, cannot be substantiated. The appearance of pottery in other parts of greater East Asia was a slow process, without clear diffusion from any of these centers toward the periphery. In neighboring Siberia, the oldest pottery dated to ca. 14,000 cal BP is known from the Transbaikal

The earliest centres of pottery origin in the Russian Far East and Siberia: review of chronology for the oldest Neolithic cultures

The earliest pottery from the Russian Far East, Osipovka and Gromatukha cultural complexes, was radiocarbon-dated to c. 13 300–12 300 BP. In Siberia, the earliest pottery is known from the Ust-Karenga complex, dated to c. 11 200–10 800 BP. The Osipovka and Gromatukha complexes belong to the Initial Neolithic, and they are contemporaneous with the earliest Neolithic cultures in southern China and Japan. In spite of the very early emergence of pottery in the Russian Far East, there is no evidence of agriculture at the beginning of the Neolithic, and subsistence remains based on hunting and fishing, including anadromous salmonids in the Amur River and its tributaries.Najzgodnejša keramika z ruskega Daljnega vzhoda, iz kulturnih kompleksov Osipovka in Gromatukha, je radiokarbonsko datirana okoli 13 300 do 12 300 BP. Najzgodnejša znana keramika iz Sibirije je iz kompleksa Ust-Karenga, datirana pa je okoli 11 200 do 10 800 BP. Kompleksa Osipovka in Gromatukha pripadata začetnemu neolitiku in sta sočasna z neolitskimi kulturami na južnem Kitajskem in Japonskem. Kljub zelo zgodnjemu pojavu keramike na ruskem Daljnem vzhodu pa ni dokazaov o kmetovanju na začetku neolitika. Način preživljanja še vedno temelji na lovu in ribolovu vključno lososov (anadromous salmonids) v reki Amur in njenih pritokih

Siberia and neighboring regions in the Last Glacial Maximum: did people occupy northern Eurasia at that time?

An updated analysis of Paleolithic sites in Siberia and the Urals 14C-dated to the coldest phase of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), with its timespan currently determined as ca. 23,000–19,000 BP (ca. 27, 300–22,900 cal BP), is presented. It is demonstrated that people continuously occupied the southern and central parts of Siberia and the Russian Far East (up to 58° N latitude), and perhaps sporadically settled regions located even further north, up to 70° N, throughout the LGM. This is in accord with our previous data, but is now based on a larger dataset, and also on a paleoecological analysis of the major pre-LGM archaeological sites in Siberia and the Urals north of 58° N. It is clear that Paleolithic people in northern Eurasia were able to cope with the treeless tundra environment well in advance of the LGM, at least at ca. 34,000–26,000 BP (ca. 38,500–30,000 cal BP). Therefore, a high degree of adaptation to cold conditions allowed people to survive in Siberia during the LGM

Paleodietary patterns of the Cherepakha 13 site population (Early Iron Age) in Primorye (Maritime) province, Russian Far East, based on stable isotope analysis

New paleodietary data were obtained after the discovery and excavation in 2015–2017 of the Cherepakha 13 site in the southern part of Primorye (Maritime) Province in far eastern Russia. The site is located near the coast of Ussuri Bay (Sea of Japan) and belongs to the Yankovsky cultural complex of the Early Iron Age 14C-dated to ca. 3000 BP (ca. 1200 cal BC). The stable isotope composition of the bone collagen for 11 humans and 30 animals was determined. For humans, the following values (with ±1 sigma) were yielded: δ13C =–10.2 ± 0.8‰; and δ15N = +12.4 ± 0.3‰. The majority of terrestrial animals show the usual isotopic signals: δ13C =–19.4 ÷ –23.3‰; and δ15N = + 4.6 ÷+6.6‰ (for wolves, up to +10.1‰); dogs, however, have an isotopic composition similar to humans: δ13C = –11.7 ± 1.2‰; and δ15N = +12.4 ± 0.4‰. Marine mammals have common values for pinnipeds: δ13C =–13.7 ÷ –14.6‰; and δ15N = +17.4 ÷ +18.0‰. The main food resources for the population of Cherepakha 13 site were (1) marine mollusks, fish, and mammals; and (2) terrestrial mammals; and possibly C4 plants (domesticated millets)

Grey wolf genomic history reveals a dual ancestry of dogs

The grey wolf (Canis lupus) was the first species to give rise to a domestic population, and they remained widespread throughout the last Ice Age when many other large mammal species went extinct. Little is known, however, about the history and possible extinction of past wolf populations or when and where the wolf progenitors of the present-day dog lineage (Canisfamiliaris) lived(1-8). Here we analysed 72 ancient wolf genomes spanning the last 100,000 years from Europe, Siberia and North America. We found that wolf populations were highly connected throughout the Late Pleistocene, with levels of differentiation an order of magnitude lower than they are today. This population connectivity allowed us to detect natural selection across the time series, including rapid fixation of mutations in the gene IFT8840,000-30,000 years ago. We show that dogs are overall more closely related to ancient wolves from eastern Eurasia than to those from western Eurasia, suggesting a domestication process in the east. However, we also found that dogs in the Near East and Africa derive up to half of their ancestry from a distinct population related to modern southwest Eurasian wolves, reflecting either an independent domestication process or admixture from local wolves. None of the analysed ancient wolf genomes is a direct match for either of these dog ancestries, meaning that the exact progenitor populations remain to be located.Peer reviewe