Early Upper Paleolithic industries of the Northern Tien Shan foothills: issues of chronology, periodization, and cultural status

The article provides an overview of the Early Upper Paleolithic (EUP) of a poorly studied region — the foothills of the Northern Tien Shan (Central Asia, Kazakhstan). New data on the chronology of the EUP sites are presented, issues of preliminary periodization and cultural attribution of lithic industries are discussed. Until recently, only one site with Upper Paleolithic materials was known in the region (Northwestern Tien Shan) — the Ch.Ch. Valikhanov site. In 2004–2023, multi-layered sites of Maibulak, Rakhat, Uzynagash 1–3, Kyzylauz-2, and Kurama were discovered and are being studied at the foothills of the Northern Tien Shan. The radiocarbon age (AMS) of the EUP sites (or individual layers) is ≥35,000–27,500 uncal BP (≥41,000–30,000 cal BP). Three main cultural complexes are distinguished in the lithic industries: the first complex (≥41,000 cal BP), the second complex (~41,000–39,500 cal BP) and the third complex (~36,000–30,000 cal BP). Currently, a cultural gap between ~39,500–36,000 cal BP is noted. The most numerous are the sites with the lithic industry of the third complex. It is characterized by various carinated cores-scrapers, nosed scrapers, carinated cores-burins, curved and curved-twisted bladelets, retouched blades and bladelets, numerous and varied scrapers, knives, denticulate-notched tools, rare burins, etc. In the primary knapping, a combination of subprismatic, centripetal and Levallois, a carinated technique is noted. Each of them was aimed at obtaining a certain type of blanks. A wide variety of stone raw materials used is recorded at the sites. In general, the EUP industries of the Northern Tien Shan have analogies with the Proto-Aurignacian in a broad sense and the Aurignacian traditions, but at the same time they are distinguished by certain originality. Thus, in the foothills of the Northern Tien Shan, a new large cultural cluster of EUP sites is outlined, which in general can be designated as the Tien Shan Aurignacian.