Cutting Edge Technology: A Comparison of the Environmental Impact on the Emergence and Dispersal of Microblades in Siberia and Northern China

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

During the Upper Paleolithic, microblade tools emerged in Siberia and northern China, representing a significant technological advancement in tool-making and tool use. It is hypothesized that microblades emerged early in Siberia as an adaptation to the cold high-altitude environments, and the intensification of forager mobility due to the harsh environments led to its dispersal in North Asia through migration and cultural diffusion. Crafting microblade tools was a complex process that required a high degree of skill and knowledge. The environmental conditions and available resources in each region likely influenced the emergence of these tools in specific ways. It has been argued that knowledge of blade production may have given foragers in Siberia the skills necessary to invent microblades and the environmental conditions may have necessitated it. The adaptive significance afforded to this highly mobile toolkit allowed for it to spread rapidly throughout North Asia. This study explores how the colder environments of these regions impacted the emergence and dispersal of microblade tools in North Asia through spatial and statistical analyses of microblade sites and Paleoenvironmental data.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 40368.0