SUNGIR REVISITED NEW DATA ON CHRONOLOGY AND STRATIGRAPHY OF THE KEY UPPER PALEOLITHIC SITE, CENTRAL RUSSIAN PLAIN
Authors
Kuzmin, Yaroslav V
Boudin, Mathieu
Wojcieszak, Marine
Discipline
History and Archaeology
Subject
chronology, Early Upper Paleolithic, Russian Plain, stratigraphy, Sungir
Audience
Scientific
Date
2022-09-12Publisher
Radiocarbon
Metadata
Show full item recordDescription
Chronological and stratigraphic frameworks are of the utmost importance for Upper Paleolithic archaeology, physical anthropology, and ecology. Wide ranging radiocarbon (14C) dates were previously obtained for the Sungir burial complex in the central part of European Russia, which is well-known as the richest funeral Paleolithic assemblage in the world yet recorded. The major problem was the contamination caused by consolidants used during the recovery of human bones in the 1960s. The stratigraphy and spatial structure of the Sungir site were also not well understood previously. New radiocarbon and stable isotope data are generated for the Sungir burials. While some dates were younger due to incomplete removal of contamination, the XAD 14C age
on S-1 burial (ca. 29,780 BP) was found to be statistically the same as the previously performed HYP 14C age for this burial (ca. 28,890 BP). Four animal bones found in cultural layer below the burial date to ca. 28,800–30,140
BP, suggesting that both this layer and human burials date to roughly this age range. Narrowing these ages further is difficult considering the larger errors of the 14C dates. This shows that future research attempting to 14C date material excavated many years ago needs to eliminate potential contamination from consolidants through analyses
such as FTIR, prior to 14C dating. The chronology and stratigraphy of Sungir do not contradict to correlation of its lithic artifacts with the Streletskian assemblage as the East European variant of the Final Szeletian technocomplex (Early Upper Paleolithic).
Citation
Kuzmin, Yaroslav V; Boudin, Mathieu; Wojcieszak, Marine (2022-09-12). SUNGIR REVISITED NEW DATA ON CHRONOLOGY AND STRATIGRAPHY OF THE KEY UPPER PALEOLITHIC SITE, CENTRAL RUSSIAN PLAIN. , Radiocarbon; 64/5 (2022) : 949-968,
Identifiers
Type
Article
Peer-Review
Yes
Language
eng
