extended abstracts - Geomorphic Processes and Geoarchaeology

Geomorphic processes and geoarchaeology
stages of the Upper Palaeolithic (with the exception of Spitsynian, which contains
imported raw-material).
3.2. Fuel. The quantity of large hearths, up to 1 m in diameter and up to 50 cm in
thickness, filled with bone charcoal at the Gravettian sites provides direct evidence for
heavy use of bone fuel. Most probably, bone was the primary fuel under the cold
conditions of MIS2, because wood charcoal is extremely rare at the sites of this period.
By contrast, wood charcoal is more common in the cultural layers of earlier periods,
although this may be related to taphonomic conditions of the more humic sediments of
these periods.
In general, fuel resources did not have a significant role in site location decisions.
The highly adaptive abilities of Palaeolithic populations, even under periglacial
conditions, ensured use of all available organic materials for fuel.
3.3. Plant resources. Although the Palaeolithic economy is traditionally
characterized as «hunting and gathering», the problem of gathering remains largely
unaddressed because of the lack of material evidence for plant use. Rogachev's
hypothesis of «complex gathering», based on the recovery of «pestle – grinders» as tools
for preparation of plant foods for long-term storage, recently received support from the
identification of traces of starch on the surface of these artifacts. Nevertheless, the role of
plant foods in the diet of Palaeolithic peoples is based primarily on actualistic logic and
ethnographic analogy. Most likely, vegetal foods did not play a major role in the diet and
did not significantly affect site location choices.
4. Conclusions
1. The lack of correspondence between specific cultures of the Upper Palaeolithic
and the regional concentrations of sites suggests the absence of a connection between the
spatial distribution of archaeological cultures and the environment.
2. The longitudinal distribution of Palaeolithic cultures along large river basins,
cutting across latitudinal climate zones, also supports the argument that such a connection
is absent.
3. Site locational criteria for settlements by Palaeolithic populations were uniform
for all periods and cultural traditions.
4. The two patterns: а) within deeply incised valleys, and b) on high elevations,
reflect different site location criteria and local conditions and do not correspond to
specific cultural traditions.
5. On the basis of our current state of knowledge, no specific consideration
(geomorphic setting, fuel, raw materials, etc.) seems to have been the only factor in the
choice of site location.
Grant RFBR: 11-06-12007- ofi-m.
HUMAN ADAPTATION TO THE PERIGLACIAL ENVIRONMENT IN THE
LATE PALAEOLITHIC
Sinitsyna G.V.
Institute of the History of Material Culture, RAS, St. Petersbur,
Russia, gv-sinitsyna@yandex.ru
The earliest sites of the Final Palaeolithic (12,800 – 10,100 BP, Bølling – younger
Dryas) in Eastern Europe are located in different landscape zones. They base on the
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