Front Cover

Human Colonization of the Arctic: The Interaction Between Early Migration and the Paleoenvironment

Human Colonization of the Arctic: The Interaction Between Early Migration and the Paleoenvironment

Copyright

Dedication

Contents

List of contributors

Foreword

One - Regions of initial colonization

One - European North

Fennoscandia

1.1 - Postglacial human colonization of Fennoscandia

1.2 - Northern Scandinavia: synthesis

1.3 - Northern Scandinavia: paleogeography of the Kola Peninsula

1.3.1 Introduction

1.3.2 Northwestern part of the Kola Peninsula

1.3.2.1 Central part of the Kola Peninsula

1.3.2.2 Southern part of the Kola Peninsula

1.3.3 Conclusion

1.4 - The Early Holocene (Mesolithic) sites on the Kola Peninsula

1.4.1 Western sector

1.4.2 Eastern sector

1.5 - Eastern Fennoscandia and the adjacent regions of the northwestern East European Plain

1.5.1 Introduction

1.5.2 General characteristics of the changes in environment during the Late Glacial

1.5.2.1 Holocene

1.5.3 Specific characteristics of environments and the initial colonization of the territory

1.5.4 Initial colonization of southeastern Fennoscandia

1.5.5 Main archaeological sites of Southern Finland and of the Ladoga region of Karelia

1.5.6 Discussion

1.5.7 Archaeological cultures and local specific features

1.5.8 Conclusions

North and North-East of the East European Plain

1.6 - North of the East European Plain

1.6.1 Evolution of landscapes and climate during the Late Glacial and the Holocene

1.6.2 The oldest settlements and environments

1.6.3 The Veretye culture sites

1.6.4 The burial complex of Peschanitsa

1.6.5 Popovo burial ground

1.6.6 North

1.6.7 Visskiy 1 peatland

1.6.8 Parch 1 and Parch 2

1.6.9 Lek-Lesa 1

1.6.10 Conclusion

1.7 - Environments of the Northeastern East European Plain at the time of the initial human colonization

1.7.1 Introduction

1.7.2 Paleolithic sites in the Pechora drainage basin

1.7.3 Mamontova Kurya

1.7.4 Byzovaya

1.7.5 Medvezhya Cave

1.7.6 Paleolithic sites in the middle reaches of the Kama River

1.7.7 Talitskogo (Ostrov)

1.7.8 Garchi I

1.7.9 Zaozerye

1.7.10 Conclusion

1.8 - Middle and Upper Paleolithic sites in the Northeast of the East European Plain

1.8.1 Middle Paleolithic

1.8.1.1 Elniki II locality

1.8.1.2 Garchi I site (lower cultural layer)

1.8.2 Early Upper Paleolithic

1.8.2.1 The Mamontova Kurya site

1.8.2.2 The Zaozerye site

1.8.2.3 Garchi I site (upper layer)

1.8.2.4 Byzovaya site

1.8.3 Final Paleolithic

1.8.3.1 Talitskogo site

1.8.3.2 Medvezhya Cave site

1.8.3.3 Pymva-Shor site

1.9 - Environments of the Paleolithic sites in the Northeast of the East European Plain

1.9.1 The Late Pleistocene Environments in the Northeast of the East European Plain

1.9.2 Subsistence of prehistoric people

Arctic Islands

1.10 - Arctic islands of the Barents and Kara seas

1.10.1 Early settlements on the Spitsbergen archipelago

1.10.2 Novaya Zemlya

Two - Siberian North

2.1 - West Siberia

2.2 - North of West Siberia

2.2.1 General traits of the landscape system evolution

Late Pleistocene

Karginsky megainterstadial

MIS 2 (50,000–24,000 14C BP)

The Sartan cold phase

MIS 2 (24,000–17,000 14C BP)

Late Glacial

(17,000–10,200 14C BP)

Holocene

Preboreal

(10,200–9300 14C BP)

Boreal

(9300–8000 14C BP)

Atlantic

(8000–4500 14C BP)

2.2.2 Geological and archaeological context of the sites

Paleolithic

Mesolithic, Neolithic

2.3 - Central Siberia (the Yenisey-Lena-Yana Region)

2.3.1 Introduction

2.3.2 Environments of northern Central Siberia in the second half of the Late Pleistocene (30,000–10,000 BP) and in the Early Ho...

2.3.3 Principal regions of the initial settlement

2.3.3.1 The Yana and Yenisey drainage basins

2.3.3.2 The Lena and Aldan drainage basins

2.3.4 Regions of the later colonization

2.3.4.1 The Lena drainage basin

2.3.5 Taymyr Peninsula

2.3.6 Initial colonization of the north of Eastern Siberia: a synthesis

2.3.6.1 Unresolved problem

2.3.6.2 An analysis of radiocarbon dates

2.3.7 Conclusion

Three - Beringia (Northeast of Asia, Alaska, Yukon)

3.1 - Western Beringia (Northeast Asia)

3.1.1 Indigirka-Kolyma region

3.1.1.1 Early man sites in the Indigirka-Kolyma region

3.1.1.2 Late Pleistocene sites

3.1.1.3 Early Holocene sites

3.1.2 Kamchatka

3.1.3 Chukchi Peninsula

3.1.3.1 Description of the sites

3.1.3.2 Late Pleistocene sites

3.1.3.3 Early Holocene sites

3.1.4 Initial human colonization of Western Beringia: a synthesis

3.1.5 Conclusion

3.2 - Eastern Beringia: climates and environments during the initial peopling

3.3 - The Paleolithic of eastern Beringia from western Alaska to Canadian Yukon

3.3.1 Introduction

3.3.2 Characteristics of ancient-most archaeological sites of eastern Beringia

3.3.2.1 Sites from the Porcupine River and Upper Tanana River Valleys

3.3.2.1.1 Bluefish Caves

3.3.2.1.2 Little John

3.3.2.1.3 Healy Lake

3.3.2.1.4 Tangle Lakes

3.3.2.1.5 Upward Sun River (formerly known as Little Delta Dune)

3.3.2.1.6 Swan Point

3.3.2.1.7 Mead

3.3.2.1.8 Broken Mammoth

3.3.2.2 Nenana Valley

3.3.2.2.1 Dry Creek

3.3.2.2.2 Walker Road

3.3.2.2.3 Moose Creek

3.3.2.2.4 Owl Ridge

3.3.2.2.5 Bull River II

3.3.2.2.6 Carlo Creek

3.3.2.2.7 Eroadaway

3.3.2.2.8 Panguingue Creek

3.3.2.3 Northern and western Alaska

3.3.2.3.1 Serpentine Hot Springs

3.3.2.3.2 Mesa

3.3.2.3.3 Putu-Bedwell-Hilltop

3.3.2.3.4 Nogahabara-1

3.3.2.3.5 Spein Mountain

3.3.2.3.6 Sluiceway-Tuluaq

3.3.2.4 Other sites

3.3.2.4.1 Trail Creek Caves

3.3.2.4.2 Lime Hills Cave 1

3.3.2.4.3 Ground Hog Bay 2

3.3.2.4.4 On Your Knees Cave

3.3.3 Summary of Paleolithic human dispersals into eastern Beringia at the end of the Pleistocene

3.3.3.1 First evidence of humans in eastern Beringia

3.3.3.2 Settling interior Alaska during the Allerød interstade

3.3.3.3 Artifact assemblage variability during the Younger Dryas and settling new areas of Beringia

3.3.4 Conclusions

Four - Canadian North

4.1 - Peopling of the Eastern Canadian Arctic

4.1.1 Introduction

4.1.2 Glacial history

4.1.3 Climatic history

4.1.4 Site descriptions

4.1.5 Synthesis

4.1.6 Conclusion

Acknowledgments

Five - Greenland

5.1 - First people in Greenland*

5.1.1 Introduction

5.1.1.1 Setting the stage

5.1.1.2 Greenland at 5–4ka BP

5.1.1.3 The role of sea ice

5.1.2 Saqqaq culture: first people in West Greenland

5.1.2.1 Sermermiut

5.1.2.2 Qajaa

5.1.2.3 Qeqertasussuk

5.1.2.3.1 Fauna

5.1.2.4 Nipisat

5.1.2.5 Niivertussannguaq

5.1.2.6 Tupersui

5.1.3 Northeast Greenland: Independence I

5.1.3.1 Landmarks of the Independence I pioneers in Peary Land

5.1.3.2 Adam C. Knuth Site

5.1.3.3 Pearylandville

5.1.3.4 Vandfaldsnæs

5.1.3.4.1 Discussion

5.1.3.5 Settlement patterns

5.1.3.6 Dwellings

5.1.3.7 Overwintering in the High Arctic

5.1.3.8 Saqqaq and Independence I lithic typology

5.1.4 Conclusion

Six - Iceland

6.1 - Iceland at the time of initial colonization

Two - Specific features of the initial colonization

7 - Expansion of ecumene northward and the diet of the Paleolithic population of Eurasia: Neanderthals and Homo sapiens

7.1 Ecology of human diet at the Mousterian and Upper Paleolithic

7.2 Adaptive process and food specialization in the Neanderthal communities

7.3 Isotopic evidence for the diet of Neanderthals

7.4 Human diet of the Upper Paleolithic based on isotope analysis

7.5 Conclusion

8 - The Mesolithic population in the north of Eastern Europe (reconstruction of social activity according to archaeological and anthropological data)

8.1 Anthropological materials

8.2 Demographic features

8.3 Specific features of the funeral rites

8.4 Reconstruction of social activity

9 - Way to North: Anthropological Evidence of Adaptivity of the First Inhabitants in the High Latitudes

9.1 Biological adaptation and the Arctic adaptive type: a synthesis

9.2 Sami, Nenets, Eskimo (Inuits): indigenous population of the North, representatives of the Arctic adaptive type

9.3 Resolution capabilities of the paleoanthropology as applied to reconstruction of adaptation processes in the past

9.4 Specific paleoanthropological materials on the humans’ dispersal over the high latitudes

9.5 Conclusion

10 - Genetic data on peopling high latitude areas

10.1 Introduction

10.2 Cartographic analysis of gene pool structure in Eurasia

10.2.1 Two atlases

10.2.2 MtDNA atlas

10.2.3 Y-chromosomal atlas

10.2.4 West–East

10.2.5 North

10.2.6 Two migrations

10.3 The origin of the Sami gene pool

10.4 Ancient DNA

10.4.1 Concept

10.4.2 Methodology

10.4.3 Yuzhny Oleni Ostrov

10.4.4 Bolshoy Oleni Ostrov

11 - Stages of the initial human colonization of Arctic and Subarctic

11.1 Introduction

11.2 Middle Paleolithic

11.3 The Early Upper Paleolithic

11.4 Middle Upper Paleolithic

Northern Eurasia

Pleniglacial

11.5 Late Upper Paleolithic

Northern Eurasia

Late Glacial

North America

Late Glacial

11.6 Mesolithic and Neolithic. Holocene

Conclusion

References

Index

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

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