Archaeological and environmental cave records in the Gobi-Altai Mountains, Mongolia

Vanwezer, Nils; Breitenbach, Sebastian F. M.; Gázquez, Fernando; Louys, Julien; Kononov, A. M.; Sokol'nikov, Dmitry; Erdenedalai, Avirmed; Burguet-Coca, Aitor; Picin, Andrea; Cueva-Temprana, Arturo; Sánchez-Martínez, Javier; Taylor, William; Boivin, Nicole; Bayarsaikhan, Jamsranjav; Petraglia, Michael D.

doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2021.03.010

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 107 publications

(140 reference statements)

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“…Despite the numerous caves that we recorded during our survey, only a few contain thick sediment sequences. A similar situation seems to occur in Uzbekistan and neighbouring Mongolia, where recent surveys recorded only a few cave sites (Nishiaki et al, 2018(Nishiaki et al, , 2019Vanwezer et al, 2021). The formation of cave sites requires human activity and a geomorphological setting that promotes the accumulation and preservation of sediments (Mentzer, 2017).…”

Section: Investigating Cave Erosion By Combining Field Survey and Mic...mentioning

confidence: 72%

The effect of formation processes on the frequency of palaeolithic cave sites in semiarid zones: Insights from Kazakhstan

et al. 2022

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Central Asian caves with Palaeolithic deposits are few, but they provide a rich record of human fossils and cultural assemblages that has been used to model Late Pleistocene hominin dispersals. However, previous research has not yet systematically evaluated the formation processes that influence the frequency of Palaeolithic cave sites in the region. To address this deficiency, we combined field survey and micromorphological analyses in the piedmont zone of south Kazakhstan. Here, we present our preliminary results focusing on selected sites of the Qaratau mountains.Sediment cover varies among the surveyed caves, and loess-like sediments dominate the cave sequences. The preservation of cave deposits is influenced by reworking of cave sediments within the caves but also by the broader erosional processes that shape semiarid landscapes. Ultimately, deposits of potentially Pleistocene age are scarce. Our study provides new data in the geoarchaeologically neglected region of Central Asia and demonstrates that micromorphology has great analytical potential even within the limitations of rigorous survey projects. We outline some of the processes that influence the formation and preservation of cave deposits in Kazakhstan, as well as broader implications for the distribution of Palaeolithic cave sites in Central Asia and other semiarid environments.

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Section: Investigating Cave Erosion By Combining Field Survey and Mic...mentioning

confidence: 72%

The effect of formation processes on the frequency of palaeolithic cave sites in semiarid zones: Insights from Kazakhstan

et al. 2022

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Hunting, herding, and people in the rock art of Mongolia: New discoveries in the Gobi-Altai Mountains

Vanwezer

Taylor

Bayarsaikhan

et al. 2021

Archaeological Research in Asia

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Human observations of late Quaternary coastal change: Examples from Australia, Europe and the Pacific Islands

Nunn

Ward²,

Stéphan³

et al. 2022

Quaternary International

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Archaeological and environmental cave records in the Gobi-Altai Mountains, Mongolia

Cited by 4 publications

References 107 publications

The effect of formation processes on the frequency of palaeolithic cave sites in semiarid zones: Insights from Kazakhstan

The effect of formation processes on the frequency of palaeolithic cave sites in semiarid zones: Insights from Kazakhstan

Hunting, herding, and people in the rock art of Mongolia: New discoveries in the Gobi-Altai Mountains

Human observations of late Quaternary coastal change: Examples from Australia, Europe and the Pacific Islands

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