AN OCCUPATION LAYER FROM A KARST CAVITY: AN INTEGRATED CASE STUDY OF DENISOVA CAVE
M.B. Kozlikin
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography SB RAS, 17, Acad. Lavrentiev av., Novosibirsk, 630090, Russian Federation
Keywords: Горный Алтай, Денисова пещера, плейстоцен, палеолит, литология, стратиграфия, палеонтология, геохронология, комплексный подход, Altai Mountains, Denisova cave, Pleistocene, Paleolithic, lithology, stratigraphy, paleontology, geochronology, integrated study
Abstract
Cave sites provide the most comprehensive insights into Paleolithic culture and environmental contexts of early human occupation. Archaeological caves are often recognized as stratified sites. A section structure in cave sediments as well as distribution of associated archaeological evidence depend on many different factors. The results of research carried out at stratified Paleolithic sites in the Altai Mountains, a key region for studying prehistory of North Eurasia, can be considered a prominent example of an integrated approach to investigate culture-bearing cave deposits. The most important findings have been obtained from examination of Paleolithic sites located in the Northwest Altai. Amongst them Denisova Cave is the most intensively studied archaeological locality. The investigation of loose sediments at the site involved a wide range of modern research techniques developed for archaeology, stratigraphy, lithology, paleontology, geochronology and other related disciplines. Thanks to such complex approach, a long sequence of sediments from Denisova Cave, containing cultural evidence spanning from the Middle Paleolithic to the Late Middle Ages, has now become a key section to study prehistory of the region. The cave deposits discussed in this paper represent a complex multi-component geological body, which contains evidence for human occupation. Each studied site in the cave reveals its own characteristic lithologic and stratigraphic sequence formed depending on the morphology of isolated cavities and their location in the karst system. Many sedimentation features change considerably starting from the cave entrance up to its far reaches. The chronological sequence of deposits in the cave sections has been made based on a dataset resulted from lithological and biostratigraphic studies, as well as absolute dating and paleomagnetic analysis of the Pleistocene deposits. The integrated research of stone tool industries, supported by geochronological evidence, has made it possible to correlate archaeological data recorded in different parts of the cave and to develop a cultural and chronological pattern showing changes that occurred in the Paleolithic assemblages of Denisova Cave.
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