Geoarchaeology of the Kostenki–Borshchevo sites, Don River Valley, Russia

Abstract

The Kostenki–Borshchevo localities include 26 Upper Paleolithic sites on the first and second terraces along the west bank of the Don River, near Voronezh on the central East European Plain. Geoarchaeological research from 2001 through 2004 focused on sites Kostenki 1, 12, and 14, with additional work at Kostenki 11 and 16, and Borshchevo 5. The strata are grouped into three units (bottom up): Unit 1, > 50 ka, consists of coarse alluvium (representing upper terrace 2 deposits) and colluvium, overlain by fine‐grained sediments. Unit 2 includes archaeological horizons sealed within two sets of thin lenses of silt, carbonate, chalk fragments, and organic‐rich soils (termed the Lower Humic Bed and Upper Humic Bed) dating 50–30 ka. Separating the humic beds is a volcanic ash lens identified as the Campanian Ignimbrite Y5 tephra, dated elsewhere by Ar/Ar to ca. 40 ka. The humic beds appear to result from the complex interplay of soil formation, spring deposition, slope action, and other processes. Several horizons buried in the lower part of Unit 2 contain Upper Paleolithic assemblages. The springs and seeps, which are still present in the area today, emanated from the bedrock valley wall. Their presence may account for the unusually high concentration of Upper Paleolithic sites in this part of the central East European Plain. Unit 3, < 30 ka, contains redeposited loess with a buried soil (Gmelin Soil) overlain by a primary full‐glacial loess with an associated Chernozem (Mollisol), forming the surface of the second terrace. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Volcanic ash layers illuminate the resilience of Neanderthals and early modern humans to natural hazards

“…For example, visible ash of the CI was used to synchronize Paleolithic records from sites in southern Italy (16) and Russia (17,18). Focusing only on visible volcanic ash layers, however, limits the number of isochrons that can be used as well as the geographic range over which they can be traced.…”

Thirty thousand-year-old evidence of plant food processing

“…S2). Pollen analysis indicates an unstable climatic alternation during the transition from warmer to colder interstadial conditions and a limited extent of forest (13). On the basis of its stratigraphic position within the upper humic bed, the cultural layer of the site belongs to the middle chronological group of the Kostenki sites.…”

“…The highest frequency is in the range from 5 to 10 μm. The latter may be tentatively attributed to Botrychium (moonworts), a fern that was widespread around the site (13) and is characterized by a starch-rich root that is easy to grind. Nevertheless, the scarcity of the grains makes it impossible to arrive at a definitive source.…”

“…A number of Upper Paleolithic sites also yielded grindstones (8)(9)(10), some of which may have served for grinding plant tissue, whereas others were used for grinding ochre (11). Here we report on starch grains recovered on grinding stones from three Mid-Upper Paleolithic (Gravettian or Gorodtsovian) sites across Europe: Bilancino II in Italy (12), Kostenki 16 in Russia (13), and Pavlov VI in the Czech Republic (14).…”

The early upper Paleolithic of eastern Europe reconsidered

“…A wide range of dates (radiocarbon and some OSL) are available for Layer III, but both the stratigraphic position of the artifacts and the less anomalous dates suggest an age comparable to the Syuren' 1 assemblages. 47 Human skeletal remains have been recovered from both Aurignacian occupations. An isolated molar (present location unknown) was reported from Syuren' 1 in the 1920s; an isolated tooth and several postcranial bones were found at K 1-III in 1989.…”