New information on early man in Northeastern European Russia

Abstract

During the period 1984–1986 archeological excavations were carried out in “Bol'shoy Glukhoy”; cave, a karst cave on the Chusovaya River, a tributary of the Upper Kama in northeastern European Russia. The excavations revealed a multilayer Paleolithic site, with at least five distinct Paleolithic culture layers. Three layers from the Upper Paleolithic represented only brief periods of occupance. The lowest culture layer is dated to the Acheulean archeological epoch of the Middle Pleistocene (Late Dnepr) on the basis of the morphology of the stone tools found, and of the geological and paleonto‐logical data. This provides evidence that man had already occupied the Upper Kama basin by the Lower Paleolithic. The association of artifacts with remains of a tundra fauna would indicate that these early occupants of “Bol'shoy Glukhoy”; cave were capable of coping with the severe climates of a Middle Pleistocene glacial phase.