The last gasp of the Siberian upper paleolithic period (ca 18,000-11,000 BP) is an important one to understanding the colonization of the American continents.
The predominant lifestyle was organized highly mobile hunting, with short-term residential camps. Dwellings were ephemeral, and locations were often used and reused, leading to fairly substantial artifact assemblages despite the brevity of occupation.
Stone tool industries had formal tools such as scrapers, projectile points, and burins, and microblade cores acted as multipurpose tools. Microblades made up an important subset. Hunting forays typically focused on single prey species, such as reindeer, red deer, or bison. Fishing becomes an important resources after about 12,000 BP.
Sites: Tashtyk, Kokorevo, Tarachikha, Diuktai Cave, Ust Mil 2, Ushki Lake 5 (all in Russian Siberia)
Sources
Goebel, Ted 2002 The "Microblade Adaptation" and Recolonization of Siberia during the Late Upper Pleistocene. Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association 12(1):117-131.
This glossary entry is part of the Dictionary of Archaeology.
