The Northern Route for Human dispersal in Central and Northeast Asia: New evidence from the site of Tolbor-16, Mongolia

Abstract

The fossil record suggests that at least two major human dispersals occurred across the Eurasian steppe during the Late Pleistocene. Neanderthals and Modern Humans moved eastward into Central Asia, a region intermittently occupied by the enigmatic Denisovans. Genetic data indicates that the Denisovans interbred with Neanderthals near the Altai Mountains (South Siberia) but where and when they met H. sapiens is yet to be determined. Here we present archaeological evidence that document the timing and environmental context of a third long-distance population movement in Central Asia, during a temperate climatic event around 45,000 years ago. The early occurrence of the Initial Upper Palaeolithic, a techno-complex whose sudden appearance coincides with the first occurrence of H. sapiens in the Eurasian steppes, establishes an essential archaeological link between the Siberian Altai and Northwestern China . Such connection between regions provides empirical ground to discuss contacts between local and exogenous populations in Central and Northeast Asia during the Late Pleistocene.

How old are the oldest Homo sapiens in Far East Asia?

“…In the midlatitudes, they were already present before 45,000 y ago in eastern Europe ( 6 ). They also rapidly expanded eastward up to 57° northern latitude in Siberia ( 7 ), and along a “northern route” avoiding the Himalayan range, they may have reached Mongolia and northern China ( 8 ).…”

Zaraa Uul: An archaeological record of Pleistocene-Holocene palaeoecology in the Gobi Desert

“…A large lithic scatter eroding from the whitish/yellow silty sand deposits of this ridge, Zuun Shovkh, are typologically consistent with the Initial to Early Upper Palaeolithic in Mongolia (ca. 45,000–26,000 cal BP [ 39 , 40 ]. The luminescence date on the sand matrix, dated at 31,600 ± 1590 years (UW3780) ( Table 2 ), is consistent with wet-phased glacial expansions in the Altai Mountains in western Mongolia [ 41 ].…”

Populations dynamics in Northern Eurasian forests: a long-term perspective from Northeast Asia

“…Initial migration and settlement of the NEG probably followed a northerly route from west to east by ca. 45,000 BP (Zwyns et al, 2019), skirting the northern limits of the NEG at that time. In contrast, the peopling of the Americas probably followed the coasts from the more southern, coastal latitudes of the NEG by ca.…”