The Upper Palaeolithic Dwellings of the Transbaikal (Southern Siberia) in Spatial Context

In the Upper Palaeolithic of Siberia, remains of dwellings are not common. One of the best examples, due to particular site formation process, can be found in the Transbaikal (i.e. east of Lake Baikal) region of southern Siberia, in the basins of Chikoi and Menza rivers.

Irina I. Razgildeeva made the meticulous reconstructions of the structure of dwellings that most probably were of tipi tent (well-known in U.S. West before the active colonisation at the end of nineteenth century) type. In the final stage of the Late Pleistocene, since ca. 20,000–25,000 years ago, people occupied the floodplain of the Chikoi River, and repeated floods sealed the remains of dwellings, thus preserving it for today’s researchers. The Studenoe cluster of late Upper Palaeolithic sites represent the rare possibly for understanding the spatial structure of settlements, types and sizes of dwellings, and some subsistence features.

General view of the Chikoi River valley where the Studenoe 2 site in located (indicated by arrow).

Yaroslav Kuzmin in 1986 visited the neighbouring Ust-Menza sites, and observed the geomorphology and alluvial sediments of the Chikoi River where numerous cultural layers are intercalated with sterile sands. This made the Ust-Menza and Studenoe clusters a kind of polygon where the peculiarities of human activity can be established in detail, and spatial organisation of cultural horizons can be reconstructed with a high degree of accuracy. Such research is almost impossible at the majority of Siberian Upper Palaeolithic sites where the cultural layer is usually a palimpsest of different occupations not divided by sterile strata.

The cleaning of the surface of cultural layer with stone linings at the Studenoe 2 site.

Spatial analysis conducted at the Studenoe 2 site allowed revealing a number of patterns. Complexes of single-chamber dwellings (with one hearth associated with charcoal-ash spots and accumulations of lithics), as a rule, were characterised by clusters of artefacts localised in the space of the layer with spatially distinct boundaries – external stones.

As for multi-chamber dwellings, zones of internal activity were concentrated near hearths and zones of entrances/exits. The hearths were located relative to each other at a distance not exceeding the size of their diameters. The finds were distributed mainly between the hearths where the largest concentration of artefacts and animal bones is observed. Areas without or with rare finds were situated in sectors opposite the entrances. In so-called rest areas, accumulations and narrow trails of small bone fragments were observed, analogous to the remains of “morning meals” when food was eaten “in bed” as noted by L. Binford.

The remains of multi-chamber dwellings at the Studenoe 2 site.

An ethnographic block of this book contains the details of the frame dwellings of hunter-fisher-gatherers of northern Eurasia, based on the rich photographic collection of the Russian Ethnographic Museum. Photographs were taken in different parts of Siberia in the late nineteenth – early twentieth centuries. The use of ethnographic information helps to understand better the structure of the Upper Palaeolithic dwellings.

The translation and editing of the original Russian book, published in 2018, was done by Richard L. Bland and Yaroslav V. Kuzmin. For two decades, they worked together and produced a number of translations of important sources on Siberian archaeology and prehistory, and also the two-volume biography of the best-known Siberian archaeologist Aleksei P. Okladnikov, written in Russian by Aleksander K. Konopatsky. Richard was tireless scholar who translated dozens of books on archaeology and history of Siberia and Alaska (Russian America), and numerous articles on these subjects. This book, unfortunately, became the last project of Bland and Kuzmin. When the volume was on the final stage of preparations at Archaeopress, Richard died in Oregon in July 2024. He will be missed by numerous Russian scholars who received his selfless assistance for many years.

The lithic artefacts from the Upper Palaeolithic layers of the Studenoe 2 site.

This book would be the important source of information for archaeologists, historians, and Quaternary geologists, including undergraduate and graduate students, and academics who are interested in prehistory of Siberia and the neighbouring regions of Northern and Eastern Asia and North America.

Spatial Analysis of Housing and Economic Complexes in the Upper Palaeolithic of Transbaikal (Southern Siberia) By Irina I. Razgildeeva Edited by Richard L. Bland, Yaroslav V. Kuzmin This book reviews the history of spatial analysis methods in Russian archaeology, focusing on Upper Palaeolithic complexes in Transbaikal. It introduces contextual analysis, examines the Studenoe 2 site, and includes an ethnographic section on northern frame dwellings. The study will be of interest for archaeologists, historians, and geologists.