Old traditions, new tendencies: Final Paleolithic cultural development in southern Siberia

This paper deals with the study of cultural manifestations in Siberia during the Younger Dryas. In spite of the relative scarcity of data and lack of detailed paleoenvironmental reconstructions for the time span under consideration, there is support for continuous and relatively dense human population in all main river basins southern Siberia. The Final Paleolithic saw important changes in subsistence activities as evidenced by the diversification of hunting practices in the southern Siberian mountains. In different parts of Siberia, this time span was manifested by an increase in bird procurement as one of the more important economic resources. At the same time, areas around Lake Baikal witnessed an increase in fishing and the exploitation of riverine resources.