ИСТИНА

Diring Yuriakh in Eastern Siberia is the northernmost known Early Palaeolithic site in Eurasia. It is located on the oldest terrace (VIII) (Tabagan) of the Lena River in Yakutiya. The prominent Soviet archaeologist Yu.A. Mochanov discovered Diring Yuriakh in 1982. Lithostratigraphic criteria were used to identify up to 16 geological units, all of alluvial or aeolian origin. The cultural layer, containing quartzrich pebbles and artefacts, lies on the eroded surface of reddish ferruginous channel sands and epigenetically embedded polygonal sand-filled ice wedges. More than 4,000 artefacts were found at the site, all made from pebbles, boulders and fragments of quartzite. Various types of tools are represented: unifacies, hammerstones, flakes, and choppers. Most have traces of wind polishing and grinding. The age of the Diring Yuriakh site is of particular importance to our understanding of the dispersal of ancient hominins in Northern Asia. The artefacts, and the geology and geomorphology point to an Early Palaeolithic age. From the typological and technological parameters of the lithics, Mochanov argued that Diring Yuryikh was comparable to the Oldowan complexes of East Africa and could be dated to between 1.8 and 3.2 Ma [2]. This led him to the hypothesis of a separate centre of hominin evolution in Northern Siberia, and this argument initiated a wide discussion of Diring Yuriakh and its position in the Early Palaeolithic of Eurasia. Prior to this study, various dating methods have been attempted, e.g. the presence of several magnetic reversals indicate the site is older than 780 000 years, a result supported by Soviet TL ages (older than 1.1 Ma) [2]. In early 1990 new TL ages between 270 and 370 ka were obtained [3]. Analysis of these results by Huntley and Richards [1] emphasized that these ages were probably saturated and thus underestimates. In the site discussion, particular attention was paid to the climate at the time of occupation. When did conditions, in what is now one the most inhospitable parts of Siberia, allow hominins to colonize it? What was the timing of the initial hominin dispersal in Beringia? Until now, this issue remains unclear. To address these questions, we undertook new studies at Diring Yuriakh and obtained 14 new ages focussing on cultural layer 5. Using quartz OSL and feldspar pIRIR50,290 signals from sand-sized grains, quartz and feldspar were compared to determine the degree of bleaching in the upper part of the section, and showed that quartz was probably well bleached before sedimentation. Our results provide new chronological constraints on the cultural layer and the geomorphological evolution of Diring Yuriakh. The study was supported by the RSF No. 21-17-00054.