Evidence for early human occupation at high altitudes in western Central Asia: the Alay site

Abstract

The Alay site represents the earliest, high-altitude human-occupation site currently known in western Central Asia. Recent recovery and analysis of a lithic assemblage from Alay underlines the importance of this site and its role in the cultural and technological development in later Eurasian prehistory.

Early pastoral economies along the Ancient Silk Road: Biomolecular evidence from the Alay Valley, Kyrgyzstan

“…Because the specimen was not suitable for radiocarbon dating, it is impossible to determine conclusively whether this specimen was originally associated with the deposit or whether it represents intrusive material. However, typological analysis of stone tools from the site suggests that it dates to between the LGM and the early Holocene, and is analogous to layers 4 and 5 at the site of Obishir-V in the Ferghana Valley [ 15 ]. These Obishir-V layers show evidence of specialized sheep/goat consumption, making an association of the present Ovis specimens with the archaeological deposits at the Alay site reasonable.…”

“…An exposed and eroding cultural layer of Paleolithic stone tools was identified, along with small tooth fragments which were collected for analysis. We conducted several test excavations, the results of which were recently published by Shnaider et al [ 15 , 19 ] These did not yield dateable organic remains.…”

“…Although the ancient economy of the region that falls today within the state of Kyrgyzstan is poorly characterized [ 12 ], the Ferghana Valley has been inhabited since the Paleolithic period [ 13 , 14 ]. In Alay itself, the eponymous Alay site provides evidence that the valley was at least occasionally used by Paleolithic hunter-gatherers [ 15 ]. During the late 3 rd and early 2 nd millennium BCE, much of the region of Central Asia bracketing the Alay valley witnessed key changes in material culture, including the appearance of distinctive architecture, localized metal working, and “steppe” style ceramics [ 16 ].…”

Early Holocene human occupations in the western Tian Shan (Central Asia): Insights from the Alpysbaev Cave

“…Ongoing works at several key Epipalaeolithic and Mesolithic sites highlights the interpretive potential of this record, documenting high-altitude adaptations (4000 m.a.s.l.) at Kurteke and Alay (Shnaider et al, 2018) and symbolic behaviour and stone tool technology at Obishir-5 in Kyrgyzstan (Shnaider et al, 2017). Despite these discoveries, a fully multidisciplinary reconstruction of the chrono-cultural and palaeoenvironmental aspects of this period is still in its infancy, with most inferences regarding the cultural and technological changes in the Early Holocene of Central Asia remaining preliminary in nature.…”