The Upper Paleolithic of the Central Russian Plain examines the hunter-gatherer adaptations on the Upper Paleolithic central Russian Plain. The book offers both a culture history for the area and an explanation for the changes in human adaptation. It presents what has been found at 29 major Upper Paleolithic sites occupied over a period of some 14,000 years. The book presents details of the archaeological inventories and assemblages found at the 29 sites, together with the geography and geology of the study area. It then uses environmental data to model environmental conditions and resource distribution during the various periods of human occupation, as well as to predict optimal strategies for exploiting available resources. Subsequent chapters present the relative and chronometric dating schemes. The book also elucidates the man-land relationships, ensuing subsistence strategies, settlement types present in the archaeological record, settlement systems, and sociopolitical behavior. The text will be significant to archaeologists, paleoecologists, and anthropologists interested in hunter-gatherers and late Pleistocene adaptations.

Table of Contents:
List of Figures List of Tables Preface Acknowledgments1 Introduction Objectives and Significance Past Research in the Study Area History of Paleolithic Archaeology in the USSR Methodology and Assumptions 2 Upper Paleolithic Sites on the Central Russian Plain Geography and Geomorphology of the Study Area Pleistocene Stratigraphy and Chronology Profiles of the Sites Raw Data Tables 3 The Environmental Given The Study Area Today General Features of the Late Valdai The Bryansk Interstadial: 27,000-24,000 B.P. Environment between 24,000 and 20,000 B.P. The Valdai Maximum: 20,000-18,000 B.P. Climate after the Glacial Maximum: 18,000-12,000 B.P. The Structure of the Landscape in the Late Valdai 4 Chronology and Land Use Relative Dating of the Sites Chronometrie Dating of the Sites Proposed Chronological Ordering of the Sites Upper Paleolithic Land Use: The Location of the Sites Conclusions 5 Subsistence Practices and Duration of Occupation in the Late Valdai Methodology Subsistence and Floral Resources Storage Strategies Subsistence and Faunal Resources Seasonality of Occupation Modeling Changes in Subsistence Practices 6 Site Types and the Settlement System Settlement Systems: Present and Past Data from the Central Russian Plain Classificatory Methodology Types of Sites on the Central Russian Plain Population and Duration of Occupation Settlement System Analysis 7 Sociopolitical Integration Introduction Assumptions and Methodology Social Networks Sociopolitical Relationships and Organization Ritual Behavior Summary and Conclusions8 Conclusions and Implications Introduction Data and Models Problems of Temporal and Spatial Scale The Central Russian Plain Microcosm and the European Upper Paleolithic World The Data and Our Theoretical Constructs References Index