Lithics in the steppe landscape: An off-site spatial analysis of stone artefacts in the Khanuy Valley, Mongolia

Resilient herders: A deeply stratified multiperiod habitation site in northwestern Mongolia

“…9c). The microblade core types might have chronological significance, as has been suggested elsewhere (Janz, 2012:201-202;Janz et al, 2017;Seitsonen et al, 2018). The width of blades and microblades (microblade width < 10 mm) might also bear chronological significance, although at the moment the assemblage is very small (Figs.…”

“…Lithics were found throughout the sequence, including the layers with Iron Age ceramics; continuation of lithics use into Iron Age times has recently been suggested in Mongolia (Gardner and Burentogtokh, 2018). Even though the assemblage is small, it exhibits trends which appear to be in line with the general tendencies observed in the Mongolian Holocene lithic reduction sequence, admittedly sparsely known, with an emphasis on microblade production (e.g., Janz et al, 2017;Seitsonen et al, 2018;Zwyns et al, 2014). Fine-grained cryptocrystalline raw materials prevail throughout the sequence, but there are temporal differences in the characteristics of selected raw materials.…”

“…Most of the prehistoric open-air occupation sites in Mongolia have shallow, mixed archaeological deposits, and appear ephemeral in character (Clark, 2014:92;Gardner and Burentogtokh, 2018;Houle, 2010). Many sites appear to represent relatively short-term habitation events, whereas some appear as palimpsests of seasonally recurring and partly overlapping sites (e.g., Houle, 2010: Chapter 3;Seitsonen et al, 2018). Only occasionally thicker deposits have been encountered at open-air localities (e.g., Fitzhugh, 2004:10-12;Gladyshev et al, 2012;Houle, 2016;Taylor et al, 2020;Vella, 2017; and just beyond the border in Tuva, see Semenov, 2018).…”

Symbolic innovation at the onset of the Upper Paleolithic in Eurasia shown by the personal ornaments from Tolbor-21 (Mongolia)

“…S5 , n° 14), roughly 100 km away from the Tolbor archaeological sites. This deposit is in the Khanuy Gol Valley watershed, the eastern tributary of the Selenga River, where numerous Paleolithic sites have been identified 57 . Because, the Kholboo Uul graphite sources are relatively far from the Khanuy Gol fluvial basin (circa.…”

The osteometric identification of castrated reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) and the significance of castration in tracing human-animal relationships in the North

“…Regardless of the ongoing research, the knowledge and understanding of the place, timing, and nature of the varied reindeer management strategies of the past remain obscure. There is a myriad of reasons for this, including geographical and temporal variations of types of reindeer herding (e.g., Lundmark 2007 ; Andersen 2011 , p 11; Sommerseth 2011 ), supplementary livelihoods (Tegengren 1952 ; Hultblad 1968 , p 206; Nielssen 1986 ; Lundmark 1982 , p 144; Lundmark 2007 ), and the elusiveness of the archaeology of (semi-)nomadic peoples which largely stems from its archaeological invisibility (Seitsonen et al 2018 ; Tervaniemi and Magga 2019 ; Seitsonen 2020 ). The difficulty in interpreting reindeer bone finds from archaeological sites is that domestic reindeer lack clear features of the domestication syndrome and the phenotypic plasticity of the reindeer skeleton.…”