Radiocarbon dating and chronology of the Early Upper Paleolithic at Kostenki

Investigations during the last 5 years at Kostenki (central Russia, Voronezh area) have uncovered several new archeological assemblages dating to the earliest phase of Upper Paleolithic occupation (36–42(?) ka). These discoveries, in conjunction with an expanded scope of research at Kostenki, have forced a reassessment of the East European early Upper Paleolithic record and generated a set of new questions. The paper addresses one of the most important of these questions—the problem of two discordant chronological time-scales, one based on radiocarbon evidences and another on various analyses by pertinent disciplines (paleomagnetism, palynology, tephrochronology, and others).