Carinated Pieces in Paleolithic Assemblages of Central Asia1

Before the 1970s, Eurasian Aurignacian artifacts of the carinated type were interpreted as tools, specifically endscrapers or burins. At present, they are more and more often regarded as cores for bladelets with a curved profile. In the southeast, their distribution area was previously believed to extend to the southern part of the Afghan-Tajik depression. Recent studies in western Central Asia, however, suggest that the boundary passes across northwestern High Asia. In this area, carinated pieces are associated with the Kulbulakian culture (35-30 to 20 ka; the upper chronological limit may be even later). Comparison with tentatively contemporaneous Aurignacian industries of the Levant, Zagros, and Gorny Altai indicates a common evolutionary trend, regional specificity notwithstanding.