Radiocarbon dates, microblades and Late Pleistocene human migrations in the Transbaikal, Russia and the Paleo-Sakhalin-Hokkaido-Kuril Peninsula
Document Type
Article
Department or Administrative Unit
Anthropology and Museum Studies
Publication Date
12-15-2016
Abstract
We compare late Pleistocene archaeological 14C databases from the Transbaikal, Russia and the Paleo-Sakhalin-Hokkaido-Kuril Peninsula (PSHK) to the appearance and disappearance of microblade technology for evidence of human migration. In the Transbaikal, we identify as many as three events at 24,830, 22,740, and ∼15,000 cal bp, respectively. On the PSHK, we see migration at ∼26,800, and likely again at ∼13,000 cal bp. We offer an explanation for the Last Glacial Maximum origin of northeast Asian microblades that reconciles several major points of current competing theories. The later migration signals in both areas are weaker and associated with terminal Pleistocene (Bølling-Allerød-Younger Dryas) environmental changes at the beginning of the Mesolithic Period in the Transbaikal and the Incipient-Jomon Period on PSHK. In the former, the second migration event may have been repopulation of an empty or sparsely inhabited area. In the latter, it appears to be population replacement when microblades completely disappear from the Peninsula without a reduction in the number of 14C dates.
Recommended Citation
Buvit, I., Izuho, M., Terry, K., Konstantinov, M. V., & Konstantinov, A. V. (2016). Radiocarbon dates, microblades and Late Pleistocene human migrations in the Transbaikal, Russia and the Paleo-Sakhalin-Hokkaido-Kuril Peninsula. Quaternary International, 425, 100–119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2016.02.050
Journal
Quaternary International
Rights
© 2016 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.
Comments
This article was originally published in Quaternary International. The full-text article from the publisher can be found here.
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