Toolstone characterization, description, morphometrics, and microwear of a lithic sample from Uptar, Magadan Oblast, Northeastern Siberia, Russia

Abstract

The peopling process of North and South America started in Northeast Asia and was a cultural evolutionary event. An evolutionary approach to archaeology, however, begins with detailed description of assemblages. The Uptar site, Russia, played a prominent role in debates about New World colonization, due to the presence of a “fluted” bifacially flaked stone lanceolate. However, in recent years, Uptar has received less attention. We were given the opportunity to study a sample of the Uptar lithic assemblage, and here we compiled descriptions based on thin-sections for mineralogical and textural analyses; X-ray diffraction (XRD) for mineralogical identification; X-ray fluorescence (XRF) for geochemical analysis; computerized axial micro-tomography (MicroCT) for micro-textural analysis; technological descriptions; morphometric analysis of its bifaces; and microwear. At a very basic level, our reexamination of this Uptar lithic sample suggests that the site was potentially a re-tooling site, whereby used or broken tools were discarded and new tools were manufactured. We found little evidence of microblade technology in our sample. Our results also suggest that fluted-point technology continues to be absent in Northeast Asia, and that the precise relationship of Uptar to North American Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene cultures remains unknown. Most importantly, our report provides descriptive data that can be used by others in future comparative and meta analyses.