Paleolithic occupation of arid Central Asia in the Middle Pleistocene

Central Asia is positioned at a crossroads linking several zones important to hominin dispersal during the Middle Pleistocene. However, the scarcity of stratified and dated archaeological material and paleoclimate records makes it difficult to understand dispersal and occupation dynamics during this...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2022-10, Vol.17 (10), p.e0273984-e0273984
Main Authors: Finestone, Emma M, Breeze, Paul S, Breitenbach, Sebastian F. M, Drake, Nick, Bergmann, Laura, Maksudov, Farhod, Muhammadiyev, Akmal, Scott, Pete, Cai, Yanjun, Khatsenovich, Arina M, Rybin, Evgeny P, Nehrke, Gernot, Boivin, Nicole, Petraglia, Michael
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anthropological research
Archaeology
Arid regions
Arid zones
Biology and Life Sciences
Climate
Deserts
Dispersal
Dispersion
Earth Sciences
Environmental aspects
High water levels
Hominids
Hydrology
Ice sheets
Moisture availability
Moisture effects
Paleoclimate
Paleolithic
People and Places
Pleistocene
Population biology
Precipitation
Regions
Rivers
Semiarid zones
Social Sciences
Steppes
Water levels
Water supply
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Summary:Central Asia is positioned at a crossroads linking several zones important to hominin dispersal during the Middle Pleistocene. However, the scarcity of stratified and dated archaeological material and paleoclimate records makes it difficult to understand dispersal and occupation dynamics during this time period, especially in arid zones. Here we compile and analyze paleoclimatic and archaeological data from Pleistocene Central Asia, including examination of a new layer-counted speleothem-based multiproxy record of hydrological changes in southern Uzbekistan at the end of MIS 11. Our findings indicate that Lower Palaeolithic sites in the steppe, semi-arid, and desert zones of Central Asia may have served as key areas for the dispersal of hominins into Eurasia during the Middle Pleistocene. In agreement with previous studies, we find that bifaces occur across these zones at higher latitudes and in lower altitudes relative to the other Paleolithic assemblages. We argue that arid Central Asia would have been intermittently habitable during the Middle Pleistocene when long warm interglacial phases coincided with periods when the Caspian Sea was experiencing consistently high water levels, resulting in greater moisture availability and more temperate conditions in otherwise arid regions. During periodic intervals in the Middle Pleistocene, the local environment of arid Central Asia was likely a favorable habitat for paleolithic hominins and was frequented by Lower Paleolithic toolmakers producing bifaces.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0273984