Libmonster ID: U.S.-1769

S. K. VASILIEV, A. P. DEREVYANKO, S. V. MARKIN
Institute of Archeology and Ethnography SB RAS

17 Akademika Lavrentieva Ave., Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia

E-mail:markin@archaeology.nsc.ru

Introduction

Numerous Paleolithic monuments discovered in various orographic regions of Altai, from foothills to internal intermountain depressions, differ significantly in the completeness of their study. Most of the sites in the foothill areas do not yet have geological, stratigraphic, biostratigraphic, or chronometric grounds. Compactly located multi-layered open (Anui II, Ust-Karakol I, etc.) and cave sites (Denisova, Okladnikova, Iskra) in the mountainous part of the Northwestern Altai, primarily in the valley of the Anui River, are studied within the framework of a comprehensive program for studying the paleoenvironment and culture of ancient man, based on modern methods of analysis [Natural History wednesday..., 2003].

Kaminnaya Cave, which is 1,100 m above sea level, unlike other Paleolithic sites in the Anuya basin, is located in the middle-altitude erosional mid-highlands, whose relief near the cave is characterized by weakly divided flat-humped accumulative forms combined with sharply cut slopes of watercourse valleys. The cave of the south-eastern exposition is a wide grotto in the mouth part and a narrow gallery adjacent to it at an angle, buried at the end by loose rocks. The endogenous part of the cave is formed by karst flows. Modeling of the grotto was carried out under the influence of the water environment and external factors caused by diurnal and seasonal temperature fluctuations. The first sounding of the cavity was carried out in 1982, and a stationary study was carried out in 1984 - 1990 and 1995 - 2004 (Derevyanko and Grichan, 1990; Archeologiya, Geologiya..., 1998).

Archaeological materials were found in all stratigraphic units of loose aggregate, except for alluvial rocks. Industries from the sediments underlying the Sartan sequence demonstrate Levalloisian, radial, and parallel rock splitting technologies with the production of scrapers, knives, anchos, and gear products. Sartan materials are primarily characterized by Upper Paleolithic cleavage techniques (prismatic splitting of raw materials, including elements of microplate technologies) and artifact typologies (scrapers, rare incisors, punctures, unusual chisel shapes of products, flakes and plates with traces of retouching, plates and microplates with a blunted edge, single bifaces). In addition, there are a variety of parallel and Levallois cores, scrapers, knives with artificially made edges, notched and serrated tools. Mainly volcanic and sedimentary rocks, jasperoids, and corneas were used as raw materials for the production of artefacts, the outcrops of which were found near the cave (Kulik and Markin, 2001). Of bone products, oval and rounded in cross-section are indicative

This work was supported by the Russian State Science Foundation (project No. 04-01-00528a) and the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (integration program "Evolution of natural processes, man and his culture in the Late Cenozoic of Siberia and their impact on the stability of eco - and Geosystems").

page 2

Table 1. Number of bone remains in Pleistocene deposits in Kaminnaya Cave, ind.

Taxa

Layers

10a

10v/3

10v/4

10g

10d

11a

11b

11b

11g

12

13

14a

14b

14a/1

14b/1

15/1

15/2

16j

18

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

Chiroptera

-

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Asioscalops altaica

-

-

-

7

-

27

32

30

8

3

2

2

-

1

-

-

-

-

-

Lepus cf. tanaiticus

1

-

-

-

-

5

16

1

3

-

-

-

-

2

1

1

-

-

-

Lepus tolai

5

1

-

2

-

30

39

11

8

1

6

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Ohotona sp.

-

-

-

-

-

5

2

4

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Citellus sp.

3

-

1

1

-

59

67

65

11

4

3

3

-

-

2

-

-

-

-

Marmota baibacina

15

1

1

17

-

30

79

48

26

12

14

5

3

7

5

4

1

-

-

Cricetus sp.

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

1

-

1

-

-

-

M. myospalax

-

-

-

-

-

20

19

33

2

-

-

-

-

1

2

1

-

-

-

Microtus sp.

1

-

-

-

-

11

132

236

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Vulpes vulpes

-

-

-

-

-

2

8

8

-

1

-

1

1

-

-

-

1

-

-

Canis lupus

1

-

-

-

-

12

12

11

9

-

1

4

1

-

2

-

1

-

-

Ursus arctos

-

-

-

-

-

1

1

1

1

2

-

1

-

-

-

-

2

-

-

Mustela nivalis

-

-

-

-

-

1

-

3

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Martes zibellina

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Meles meles

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

1

1

3

-

-

-

-

-

Gulo gulo

-

-

-

-

-

-

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Crocuta spelaea

4

-

-

-

-

18

28

17

14

-

-

7

-

8

2

3

1

-

-

Panthera spelaea

-

-

-

-

-

-

2

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

1

-

-

Lynx lynx

-

-

-

-

-

-

1

-

-

-

-

2

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Felis manul

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

1

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Mammuthus primigenius

-

-

-

-

-

-

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Coelodonta antiquitatis

5

1

-

8

-

33

53

59

53

2

-

1

-

14

17

1

-

-

-

Equus (E.) ferus

3

9

1

16

-

40

65

45

75

6

2

11

1

27

8

-

2

-

-

ex.gr E.. hydruntinus

-

-

-

-

-

1

2

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Alces alces

-

-

-

-

-

-

2

1

-

-

-

2

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

page 3

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

Cervus elaphus

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

11

2

-

1

1

-

4

1

1

-

-

1

Capreolus pygargus

-

-

-

-

-

-

3

1

3

-

-

-

1

6

1

-

2

-

4

Poёphagus mutus

-

-

-

-

-

1

1

1

-

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Bison priscus

-

-

-

-

-

1

24

17

23

-

-

5

7

5

2

-

-

-

-

Bison-Poёphagus

6

1

1

7

1

20

18

24

14

3

-

7

-

31

12

1

1

-

-

Saiga borealis

-

-

-

-

-

2

-

18

26

-

-

17

2

8

5

7

1

-

1

Capra sibirica

13

2

4

17

1

24

53

39

26

12

3

14

1

13

9

4

2

-

1

Ovis ammon

-

2

-

1

-

9

11

10

22

7

1

1

-

3

1

-

1

-

1

Capra-Ovis

15

-

-

12

-

29

101

21

85

5

30

13

-

50

17

1

-

-

-

Aves

3

-

-

5

-

20

39

31

6

1

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Undetectable debris

354

43

54

295

7

1 270

2 583

2 458

1 141

115

97

381

52

746

417

389

158

16

92

Total bone remains

429

61

62

388

9

1 671

3 395

3 206

1 559

176

161

480

70

930

504

414

174

16

100

needles, tools with a flattened base, ornaments made from animal tusks. Archaeological materials from deposits 9-1 characterize the stages of settlement of the cave from the Neolithic era to the time of the formation of the traditional culture of modern ethnic groups.

Judging by microtheriological data, the formation of Sartan cave deposits took place in a variety of open landscapes, where dry sedimentary areas dominated. In the composition of the small animal fauna, most species belong to representatives of the steppe (Lagurus lagurus, Microtus gregalis, Myospalax myospalax, Marmota sp. et al.) and mountain-steppe (Alticola strelzowi, A. macrotis) adaptations (Dupal, 2004).

Several phases in the development of vegetation and climate in the mid - mountain part of Northwestern Altai, which was located in the zone of distribution and subsequent migration of steppe, forest-steppe and forest belts of vegetation, are reconstructed from cave deposits dating back to 12.2-10.3 thousand years AGO. Neither tundra, tundra-steppe, or tundra-forest-steppe periglacial formations as zonal formations ever reached the Kaminnaya Cave area, namely, the Karakol River valley and adjacent watersheds, whereas Betula fruticosa, B. sect. Nanae, Alnaster fruticosus, Botrychium boreale, and other cold-hardy species almost constantly participated in the flora of the stadial and interstadial intervals. The combined presence in autochthonous palynospectra of Alnus glutinosa pollen and microthermal broadleaf species, such as Siberian linden (Tilia sibirica) and smooth elm (Ulmus cf. laevis), which do not grow in the conditions of the modern interglacial climate in the region, and similar preservation of cryophyte microstates, indicates the refugial nature of Altai vegetation (Bolikhovskaya and Markin, 2002).

Initial determinations of the remains of large mammals found in the Pleistocene layer of the cave in 1983-1988 were made by N. D. Ovodov. He established the presence of the following taxa: Lepus cf. timidus, Marmota baibacina, Canis lupus, V. vulpes, Ursus arctos, Crocuta spelaea, Felis lynx, Coelodonta antiquitatis, Equus sp., Cervus elaphus,C. capreolus,A. alces, Bison autPoephagus, OvisautCapra (Derevyanko and Grichan, 1990). Some of the materials discovered in 1995-1997 were determined by I. V. Foronova (Derevyanko et al., 1999). This article analyzes osteological materials collected in the cave in 1995-2003, as well as some remains obtained earlier from deposits at the pre-passage site, stratigraphically corresponding to layers 11b-11g in the inner part of the cave. The processed collection contained many remains of small mammals that are not considered in this article.

page 4

Studies have established the presence of representatives of eight Mammalia orders in the Pleistocene deposits in Kaminnaya Cave: Insectivora, Chiroptera, Lagomorpha, Rodentia, Carnivora, and Proboscidea. Perissodactyla and Artiodactyla belonging to at least 33 taxa (Table 1). The review below briefly describes the bone remains of 25 mammalian species and subspecies.

Stratigraphy and chronology of cave deposits

The thickness of loose rocks in the Kaminnaya Cave reaches 8 m, of which 7 m is accounted for by Pleistocene sediments. The initial stage of filling the cave is associated with the formation of floodplain alluvial deposits (layer 20) in the form of thin-layered loams and clays. Layer 19 (gravel-small-pebble rocks) of the channel facies of the stream flowing near the karst cavity follows higher along the section. The sediment is overlain by a layer (18) of thin-layered clay of floodplain alluvium. Further, the facies of alluvial formations that overlap the loam of layer 18 and in some places the "raised" bedrock of the cave floor are represented by: gravel-fine-pebble material (layers 17, 16k), lenses of medium-grained sands (layers 16z, 16i), coarse-grained sands (layer 16j), plastic thin-layered clays (layer 16e), gravel-small-pebble rocks with sand aggregate (layer 16d), interbedded strata of variegated thin-layered loams, dense clays and sandy loams, including gravel and gravel (layer 16g), alternating layers of loams and fine-grained sandy loams (layer 16b), gravel-pebble formations with sand and silty aggregate (layer 16b), small-pebble-gravel sediments with sand and silty aggregate (layer 16b). sand aggregate (layer 16a). The next cycle of sedimentation is reflected by overlying loams forming the subaerial part of the section. The beginning of sedimentation coincides with the formation of rocks of layers 15 (slightly porous loam with the inclusion of gravel and gravel), which differ in the shade of aggregate and the volume of gravel lenses (layers 15/1, 15/2, 15/3). The boundary of the first two divisions is defined by a number of features as the surface of a break in the sedimentation process of a layer. Further along the section (with a temporary break in sedimentation), loamy formations follow (layers 14a/1 and 14b/1), oversaturated with gravel and large fragments of coarse material in which the cave was developed. Above these sediments, the cave contains preserved deposits (layers 14a, 14b, 12, 13, 11a, 11b, 11b, 11g) of an externally loamy appearance, including products of limestone disintegration and material of various mineralogical composition that entered the cave from the external surface. The deposits either lie on the bedrock of the cave floor, or preserve the monoliths of the collapsed vault (the result of seismic activity that provoked the destruction of natural cavities), or overlap with a temporary break the middle part of the subterranean stratum (layers 14a/1 and 14b /1). During the completion of sediment accumulation in layers 11 in the left part of the cave, they were washed out; it is represented by structures with humus deposits (layers 10b / 1-10b/4, 10g). One of the structures probably contains traces (loamy sediment of layer 10d) of permafrost deformation. These rocks are overlain by loamy formations of layer 10a. The last cycle of sedimentation is associated with the formation of thin - layered rocks (various subdivisions of layers 9-1), which represent an alternation of beige phosphate-containing and gray humus sandy loams.

Paleomagnetic studies of the lower part of the section revealed zones of forward and reverse polarity. The reverse magnetization is confined to the boundaries of layers 14b / 1 and 15/1, 15/2 and 16a. However, comparison with the international DRAGON database, according to K. A. Chirkin, does not allow us to make a direct comparison of the obtained indicators with the available coordinates of virtual magnetic poles for various events in the history of the earth's magnetic field. The radiocarbon date for layer 14a/1 with a value > 40 Ka BP (AA-38041) also does not specify the age of precipitation. The time of formation of overlying directly magnetized loams corresponding to layers 14a-11a falls on the Upper Neo-Pleistocene Sartan events. This is evidenced by numerous radiocarbon dates (layer 14b - 15350 ± ± 240 BP (CO AN-3923), 14a - 14550 ± 230 BP (CO AN-3922), 13 - 14120 ± 95 BP (CO AN-3921), 12 - 13870± 390 BP (CO AN-3921)). AN-3920), 11g - 13 550 ± 140 hp (CO AN-3919), 11b-12160 ± 225 hp (CO AN-3918), 116 - 10860 ± 360 hp (CO AN-3514), 11a (middle part) - 10870 ± 150 hp (CO AN-3702), 11A (roof) - 10310 ± 330 hp. (SO AN-3402)), established by the remains of charcoal and bones of large mammals. For layer 11b, a date > 41 Ka BP (AA-38045) was obtained from two fragments of a woolly rhinoceros tooth, and for layer 11b, a date with values of 21530±690 BP (CO AN-3917) was determined from a bone fragment of a large mammal. These samples, which obviously represent the underlying sediments, may have been projected onto the surface formed during the Sartan period as a result of burrowing animals or humans. Dates obtained from enamel fragments of woolly rhinoceros teeth and tubular bones of large animals for layers 10b/2 - 13 850±

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± 140 BP (AA-38042), 10b / 3 - > 39400 BP (AA-38043), and 10b / 4-13920 ± 130 BP (AA-38044), contradict the relative chronology of Kaminnaya Cave sediments and indicate that the dated material was redeposited from its depth by a weakly flowing water flow. To clarify, the formation of layers 10b / 4-10b / 1 fills humus structures embedded in the sediments of layers 11 as a result of their erosion. Stratigraphic observations indicate that the erosion of this part of sediments occurred after their accumulation was completed (judging by the date of the roof of the Pa layer, 10310 ± 330 BP). For the middle part of layer 10a, there are two radiocarbon dates: 8850 ± 120 BP (CO AN-3700) and 8685 ± 100 BP (CO AN-3701), which refer the sediment to the Early Holocene. The radiocarbon chronology of layers 9 - 1 is based on numerous dates, the age range of which ranges from 5860 ± 75 BP to 410 ± 65 BP [Orlova, 1995; Archeologiya, Geologiya..., 1998; Markin et al., 2001].

Systematic review of species

Lepus cf. tanaiticus (Gureev, 1964). Judging by the preserved remains, a hare similar to the Don hare was found in the vicinity of the cave 3 times less often than the Tolai hare. The absence of a diagnostic lower jaw in the collection makes it difficult to accurately determine the species. The size of the few bones of the postcranial skeleton that can be measured indicates its similarity to both the Late Pleistocene L. tanaiticus, which is widespread from Eastern Europe to Eastern Siberia, and the modern white hare, L. timidus (Kuzmina, 1971; Averyanov and Kuzmina, 1993; Averyanov, 1995). The width of the collum scapulae is 7.2 mm, the maximum width of the distal end is 13 mm, the length / diameter of the articular cavity is 12.8/11.5 mm. The width of the two distal humerus sections is 11.8 and 12.8 mm, the medial diameter is 8.5 and 9.5 mm, and the groove diameter in both cases is 6.3 mm. The three lower ends of the tibia are wide/across 15,8; 15,2; 14,7/9,9; 9,5; 10,4 mm.

Lepus tolai (Pallas, 1778). The bones of the Tolai hare are marked in layers 10a-14a. Almost all of them are well preserved; only 1 copy is marked. with traces of acid corrosion. The remains of tolai fell into the cave deposits, probably mainly from the decayed toadstools of birds of prey. On a single fragment of the mandibula, the height in front of P2 (11.2 mm) and the length of the diastema (15.8 mm) were measured. In the table. 2 most elements of the L. tolai postcranium from the Sartan period of Gorny Altai are morphometrically characterized.

Vulpes vulpes (Linnaeus, 1758). All available fox remains are represented by fragments of teeth and bones of the postcranial skeleton, which are not suitable for morphometric analysis. Managed to measure

Table 2. Dimensions of Lepus tolai limb bones from Kaminnaya cave, mm

Soundings

n

lim

M

Scapula:

Shoulder blade neck width

5

5,1 - 5,7

5,44

"lower department

3

9,2 - 10,7

10,0

Joint surface length

3

9,1 - 10,6

9,90

Its diameter

4

7,9 - 9,7

8,65

Humerus:

Top end width

1

-

13,5

Its diameter is

1

-

15,4

Diaphysis width

1

-

4,5

Its diameter is

1

-

5,5

Width of the lower end

3

8,9 - 9,0

8,97

Its medial diameter

2

6,5 - 6,8

6,65

Diameter in the gutter

3

4,8 - 5,0

4,90

Radius:

Top end width

1

-

6,7

Its diameter is

1

-

4,5

Width of the lower end

1

-

7,9

Its diameter is

1

-

4,2

Soundings

n

lim

M

Pelvis:

Joint surface length

7

8,5 - 10,7

9,67

Its diameter

7

8,5 - 9,2

9,00

Ilium width, min

7

7,2 - 8,0

7,77

Femur:

Width of the lower end

2

14,7 - 14,8

14,8

Its diameter is

2

13,4 - 14,3

13,9

Tibia:

Width of the lower end

1

-

11,3

Its diameter is

1

-

6,7

Astragalus:

Bone Length

2

11,4 - 11,7

11,6

Joint block width

2

5,6 - 6,2

5,9

Calcaneus:

Bone Length

2

24,8 - 25,1

25,0

Width of the lower section

2

9,5 - 9,9

9,70

Its diameter is

2

8,6 - 8,8

8,70

Diaphysis width

2

4,5 - 5,2

4,85

" tuber calcanei

2

5,6 - 6,0

5,80

Its diameter is

2

4,8 - 5,0

4,90

page 6

only the diameter of the femoral head (12.8 mm) and the diameter of the distal humerus in the groove (9 mm). Judging by the size of the available bone and tooth fragments, they all belong to the common fox; fragments similar in size to Vulpes corsak or Alopex lagopus, known from deposits of Denisova Cave (Prirodnaya Sreda..., 2003), were not found in the layers of Kaminnaya Cave.

Canis lupus (Linnaeus, 1758). In terms of the number of bone remains among Carnivora, the wolf is second only to the cave hyena. Isolated teeth and their fragments, fragments of bones of distal parts of limbs predominate. Judging by the individual measurements of the upper and lower jaw teeth, the Sartan C. lupus did not differ significantly from the modern West Siberian C. I. lupus. Only P3 had smaller sizes, at the level of minimal indicators for wolves of the modern population (Table 3). Even larger tooth sizes are characteristic of C. lupus from Pleistocene deposits of Denisova Cave [Ibid.]. There are few postcranial skeletal bones that are suitable for measurement. The fragment of the distal humerus has a width of 14.7 mm in the groove, and the proximal half of the MS IV is wide/the diameter of the upper end and diaphysis is 8.7 / 14.2 and 7.7/6.7 mm, respectively. In layer 11g, a fragment of the metapodium was found with traces of a fused fracture in the lower third of the diaphysis.

Ursus arctos (Linnaeus, 1758). The bones of a brown bear in the cave deposits are represented only sporadically. Elements of the distal extremities predominate. From layer 14b, the 1st phalanx is known with traces of strong acid corrosion; apparently, the remains of the dead bear were eaten by cave hyenas. In layer 11b, a fragment of the upper canine was found, the length of the enamel part of the crown of which is 24 mm, the diameter of the crown at the exit from the alveolus is 18.5 / 14.7 mm. The 3rd metatarsal bone, the first two phalanges, and the tibia from layer 15/2, which, judging by the date of the overlying sediment, is > 40 thousand years old, are completely preserved. All these remains belonged to large specimens of U. arctos (Table 4).

Mustela nivalis (Linnaeus, 1766). Weasel bones were found in layers 11a and 11b. Only the proximal parts of the humerus are represented in the collections. The width of the upper end of humerus was measured only on one specimen-5 mm with a diameter of 4.2 mm; the other three had a diameter of 5.2; 5 and 5 mm. In the Pleistocene deposits of Denisova Cave, G. F. Baryshnikov established the presence of two forms of weasel from fragments of the lower jaw: a small one, close to the modern West Siberian M. n. nivalis, and a large one, similar to M. n. stoliczkana, which is now widespread in the arid zone of Central Asia [Ibid.].

Maries zibellina (Linnaeus, 1758). The only known left M 1 from layer 11b is from Sable. Its size (length 6.1 mm, width 8.3 mm) significantly exceeds the size of the 1st upper molar in modern M. zibellina, but is significantly smaller than that of the Holocene marten M. martes of the Baraba forest steppe (6,4 - 7,0 - 7,7 and 8,3 - 9,1 - 10 mm, n = 9). A few sable remains were also found in the Pleistocene layers of Denisova Cave [Ibid.].

Table 3. Dimensions of Canis lupus teeth, mm

Soundings

Fireplace Cave

Denisova Cave [Natural environment..., 2003]

South of Western Siberia, modernity

n

lim

M

n

lim

M

P 3:

Crown length

17,4

-

-

-

-

17

13,8 - 17,5

15,6

Width "

7,2

-

-

-

-

17

5,5 - 8,1

6,9

P 3.

Length "

12,5

-

2

14,9 - 15,3

15,1

21

12 - 14,8

13,6

Width "

6,2

-

2

6,4 - 7,0

6,7

20

5,4 - 8,0

6,4

P 4.

Length "

15,5

15,8

2

15,4 - 17,0

16,2

21

13,3 - 17

15,7

Width "

8,0

7,8

2

7,4 - 7,9

7,7

21

6,2 - 8,8

7,7

M 1:

Length "

27,8

-

1

-

29,7

21

24,5 - 31,5

28,3

Width "

11,1

-

3

11,2 - 11,4

11,3

21

9,9 - 13,2

11,2

M 3:

Length "

6,1

-

2

5,0 - 5,8

5,4

7

5,6 - 6,5

6,1

Width "

6,2

-

3

4,5 - 5,3

5,0

7

5,2 - 6,0

5,7

page 7

Table 4. Dimensions of Ursus arctos limb bones from Kaminnaya Cave, mm

Soundings

Tibia

MT III dex

Phalanx I (rear)

IV sin

V dex

Bone Length

290,0

81,5

49,0

44,4

Top end width

73,0

19,7

24,8

23,5

Its diameter is

76,0

31,0

19,0

17,3

Diaphysis width

31,0

16,2

16,0

16,8

Its diameter is

36,0

14,5

-

-

Width of the lower end in supraarticular mounds

70,7

21,2

18,5

17,8

The same in the joint

-

18,5

16,9

15,5

Lower end diameter

40,5

18,0

12,4

10,0

Meles meles (Linnaeus, 1758). Fragments of badger bones were found in layers 14a, 14b, and 14a / 1. From the available fragments of the postcranial skeleton, the humeral diaphysis from layer 14b/1 (width/diameter 12.3/13 mm) and the distal humerus from layer 14a, (width 31.3 mm, the same in the articular block - 20 mm, lateral diameter 15 mm, diameter in the trough 9.2 mm) were suitable for measurements. The remains belonged to M. meles at the level of large modern representatives of this species.

Gulo gulo (Linnaeus, 1758). The only find - a wrist bone (radiointermedium) - was found in layer 11b. Its dimensions (length/diameter projected on the bone axis 22/19. 5 mm,diameter without protrusion 13.4 mm) indicate that it belongs to a very large individual wolverine.

Crocuta spelaea (Goldfuss, 1810). The cave hyena occupies a prominent place in the tafocensis of Kaminnaya Cave and is the most numerous representative of Carnivora: the proportion of its remains reaches 4.6 % of all identifiable bones of large mammals. Among the hyena remains, 83.5% are teeth and their fragments. Of the bones of the postcranial skeleton, one metacarpal bone and several 1st and 2nd phalanges were completely preserved. In contrast to Denisova Cave, there were no obvious traces of acid corrosion on the bones and teeth of C. spelaea, indicating the possibility of cannibalism. According to the classification of G. F. Baryshnikov (2005), the Kaminnaya cave has almost all the signs of a temporary or seasonal shelter of cave hyenas.

The length of the entire right MS IV was 94 mm, the width/diameter of the upper end was 13.5/21.5 mm, the diaphysis was 11.9/10.1 mm, the width of the lower end in the supra - articular mounds was 16 mm, in the joint it was 14.8 mm, and the diameter of the distal end was 16 mm. Among the teeth, several specimens of the upper and lower 4 premolars were suitable for measurement (Table 5). The length of the P4 hyena from Kaminnaya Cave does not significantly differ from C. spelaea from Denisova Cave [Prirodnaya sreda..., 2003], Crimea, and Poland [Baryshnikov, 1995]. On the contrary, the size of P4 in the first group was noticeably smaller than that in cave hyenas of the indicated localities. It is possible that this indicates a slight decrease in the body size of C. spelaea on the eve of its final extinction in the Altai.

Panthera spelaea (Goldfuss, 1810). A gnawed distal third of tibia was found in layer 11b. The minimum diameter of its diaphysis is 30.2 mm. Width / diameter of the distal half of MS II diaphysis 15.5/15.7 mm, width of the lower end in the suprasus-

See Table 5. Dimensions of Crocuta spelaea teeth, mm

Soundings

Fireplace Cave

Denisova Cave [Natural environment..., 2003]

Krym Baryshnikov, 1997]

n

lim

M

n

lim

M

n

lim

M

P 4:

Crown length

4

38,5 - 41,7

40,10

1

-

40,50

20

37,5 - 43,9

40,00

Width "

1

-

22,80

2

22,0 - 23,1

22,55

16

20,4 - 24,2

22,14

P 4.

Crown length

3

22,1 - 23,7

22,77

3

23,2 - 24,3

23,90

22

22,0 - 26,2

23,54

"protoconida

3

12,1 - 13,1

12,60

3

12,6 - 14,1

13,57

22

12,3 - 15,2

13,47

Crown width

3

13,7 - 14,6

14,07

3

13,9 - 15,4

14,53

23

13,7 - 17,3

14,81

page 8

thoracic bumps / in the joint 24.6 / 22.3 mm, its diameter is 21.6 mm. In layer 15/2, almost the entire upper right canine was found. Its dimensions: the total length of 114.5 mm, the length of the enamel cone of the crown along the anterior surface is 54 mm, the diameter of the crown at the outlet of the alveolus is 31/25. 3 mm, the maximum width / diameter of the tooth in the middle is 36.2/29.5 mm. All the listed remains belonged to fairly large individuals of the cave lion.

Lynx lynx (Linnaeus, 1758). A fragment of the posterior half of P4 was found in layer Iv, the 2nd phalanx of the 5th foreleg toe was found in layer 11b, and the 1st phalanx of the 2nd foreleg toe was found in layer 14a. The length of the first phalanx is 33 mm, the width / diameter of the upper end is 10.1/9.5 mm, the diaphysis in the middle is 5.6/5.2 mm, the width of the lower end is 8.7 mm. The length of the 2nd phalanx is 18 mm, the width / diameter of the proximal part is 8/7. 4 mm, the width of the diaphysis is 6.2 mm; the lower end of the bone is partially destroyed. The same phalanges of the modern lynx, with a similar width of the epiphysis and diaphysis, differ somewhat longer, which is probably explained by the lower depth of the snow cover in the Upper Pleistocene.

Felis manul (Pallas, 1776). The right M4 - incomplete, with broken anterior and posterior parts-was found in layer 11g. The crown diameter is 3.9 mm (in a semi-adult individual of a modern manula cat (collection of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering SB RAS) - 3.8 mm). An incomplete left P4 was also found in layer 12: the crown length is 13.2 mm, which is significantly longer than that of the modern F. manul (10.4-12.2 mm) (Heptner and Sludsky, 1972).

Mammuthus primigenius (Blumenbach, 1799). An incomplete astragalus was found in layer 11b, which is the only reliably detectable part of the mammoth skeleton in Kaminnaya Cave. The bone belonged to a large adult. The width of the tibia facet is more than 111 mm, its diameter is more than 113 mm. The largest bone diameter is over 138 mm. The dimensions seem to exclude the possibility of redeposition of the bone. It can be assumed that about 10.5-11 thousand years AGO, the Northwestern Altai was still inhabited by a population of mammoths, one of the few remaining in Eurasia. The most recent known locality in Western Siberia, Lugovskoe near Khanty-Mansiysk, is dated to 14 c. 10700 BC. In the south of Western Siberia, the last mammoths lived about 13,300-12,900 BC, but the date for the Wolf's Mane (11,090 BC) suggests that small populations of mammoths were preserved here and in the past. later time [Orlova, Kuzmin, Dementiev, 2002, 2005].

Coelodonta antiquitatis (Blumenbach, 1799). Of the recorded remains of woolly rhinoceros (approx. 250 specimens), 93 % are fragments and fragments of teeth. Only 10 teeth are more or less complete. Only 18 remains belong to the postcranial skeleton; almost all of them have traces of severe rodents. At the same time, layers 11b-11g (ca. 11-13. 5 thousand years ago) contain rather large skeletal elements - fragments of ulna bones over 130 and 200 mm long, radial diaphysis, a whole calcaneus, and a series of astragalus, which probably excludes the possibility of their redeposition with noric ejections from older layers. The preserved remains made it possible to compare them with similar elements of the late Pleistocene woolly rhinoceros skeleton in southern Western Siberia. The sizes of the radius, metacarpal bones, and astragalus of the Sartan rhino from Kaminnaya Cave are close to the minimum values of the corresponding C. antiquitatis measurements of the Kazantsev and Karginsky periods (Pl. 6). The exception is a very large and massive calcaneus from the Iv layer, which in some respects exceeds the maximum values in the compared samples. A femoral head with a diameter of more than 104 mm was found in layer 15/1 (> 40 ka BP). A similar indicator in the Late Pleistocene woolly rhinoceros of Belgium is 92 - 105,1 - 128 mm, n = 13 (Germonpre, 1993). The relatively small amount of material available to us suggests that the final extinction of the woolly rhinoceros in the Altai was preceded by its crushing caused by unfavorable changes in the natural environment. The remains of C. antiquitatis found in Kaminnaya Cave are probably among the latest known in Eurasia. The latest dates for woolly rhinoceros remains were established for the Southern Urals (12300 BP) and for the central part of the West Siberian Lowland (Lugovskoe locality) (10700 BP) (Orlova, Kuzmin, and Dementiev, 2005). Date from 14 C of the rhino scapula fragment from Lobva Cave in the Middle Urals: 9500 ± 250 BP (Kosintsev, 1995).

Equus (Equus) ferus (Boddaert, 1785). The large caballoid horse is one of the background species in the taphocenosis of Kaminnaya Cave. The share of its remains is 13.6 %, and more than 98% is accounted for by fragments of teeth. Only 25 teeth were suitable for the measurements. The distal tibia of a large individual was found in layer 11g. Its width is 83.5 mm, its diameter is 52 mm. Horses of the Karginsky period from Krasny Yar, respectively 73 - 77,5 - 85,4 mm (n = 19) and 44 - 48,0 - 53,5 mm (n = 27), from Taradanovo - 70,2 - 77,0 - 90 mm (n = 41) and 41,7 - 47,9 - 55,2 mm (n = 42). Width of the articular surface of the incomplete 3rd phalanx, presumably posterior, 50.3 mm, diameter in the middle 29 mm (45 - 50,8 - 58,2 mm (n = 57) and 23 - 27,8 - 31,5 mm (n = 62)

page 9

Table 6. Dimensions of the limb bones of Coelodonta antiquitatis, mm

Soundings

Fireplace Cave W-3

Krasny Yar, layer 4 W-2

Taradanovo W-2

n

lim

M

n

lim

M

n

lim

M

Radius:

Diaphysis width

1

-

55,3

18

55,3 - 73,5

62,6*

4

52,7 - 61,2

57,2

Its diameter is

1

-

33,0

18

32,5 - 45,5

37,6

4

34,0 - 40,3

36,5

Metacarpal IV:

Diaphysis width

1

-

37,5

4

34,5 - 38,8

36,8

11

32,0 - 43,5

38,9

Its diameter is

1

-

22,0

4

20,4 - 26,5

23,5

11

20,3 - 28,2

23,3

Astragalus:

Maximum width

2

87 - 92

89,5

5

92 - 103

95,3

10

90,0 - 108,7

97,1

Joint block width

4

74,7 - 84,7

78,0

5

83 - 86

84,8

11

76,0 - 89,5

83,9

Height in the middle, min

4

63 - 68,5

65,7

5

66 - 72

69,0

11

61,0 - 73,6

68,1

Width of the lower articular surface

3

70,7 - 76,8

74,7

5

73,8 - 79,7

76,6

10

73 - 81

77,2

Medial height

4

71,3 - 73

72,2

5

77,5 - 83,2

80,3

10

67,5 - 81,5

75,8

Calcaneus:

Bone Length

-

129,0

2

130 - 131

130,5

8

116,0 - 136,7

122,2

Width of the lower section

-

85,3

2

80,0 - 81,5

80,8

9

72,0 - 82,5

77,2

Its diameter is

-

77,0

2

75 - 76

75,5

8

63 - 70

65,9

Diaphysis width, min

-

57,7

2

45,8 - 50,5

48,2

9

39,5 - 48,8

44,1

Diameter of tuber calcanei

-

73,5

-

-

-

8

63,0 - 76,4

68,8

-----

* Radius - Red Yar, R-W (layer 6).

Equus ex. gr. gallicus from Taradanovo). An entire metatarsal bone of a horse was found in layer 11b. Its measurements (according to [Eisenmann and Beckouche, 1986]): the length along the dorsal surface is 274 mm, the width/diameter of the diaphysis in the middle is 36/32. 5 mm, and the proximal end is 55.1 / 43.5 mm. The facet diameter for os tarsale III is 48 mm, for os tarsale IV - 13 mm. The width of the lower end in the supra - articular mounds is 50.7 mm, in the joint-51.7 mm. The diameter of the distal end at the crest is 37.8 mm, the smallest diameter of the medial condyle is 27.7 mm, and the largest diameter is 30 mm. In terms of size and proportions, this metatarzoid is close to the average values of metatarsal measurements of E. ex. gr. gallicus from the Karginsky period from Krasny Yar and Taradanovo (Vasiliev, 2004, 2005).

Analysis of materials from the Altai caves (Lair of the Hyena, Okladnikov, etc.) shows that in the second half of the late Pleistocene, a special form of horse lived here, very large, with massive metapods, different from the E. ex. gr.gallicus inhabiting the flat territory. Judging by the measurements of the teeth (tab. 7), by the end of Sartan time, this form of caballoid horse was noticeably shredded. A comparative analysis of graphical constructions based on metapodial bones suggests a significant similarity of caballoid horses that lived in the second half of the late Pleistocene in the territory from Eastern Europe to Western Siberia. All the known forms-E. latipes, E. uralensis, Equus ferus from the Altai, and E. ex. gr. gallicus-were apparently either closely related species or geographical and temporary subspecies of a once widespread horse species.

Equus ex. gr. hydruntinus (Regalia, 1907). Along with the remains of a large form of the caballoid horse, the Sartan layers of the Kaminnaya Cave contain a few remains of another, smaller representative of the genus Equus. In terms of tooth size and protocone length indices per M 1-2, the horse from Kaminnaya is most similar to the teeth of the Pleistocene donkey from Denisova Cave described by G. F. Baryshnikov (Prirodnaya Sreda..., 2003). The first phalanges, similar to those of the small horse from Kaminnaya, were also found in the Upper Ob region-Taradanovo (W-2) and Krasny Yar (R-W) near Novosibirsk (Tables 8, 9). In the cave deposits of Gorny Altai, the simultaneous presence of remains of two forms of horse - large and medium-sized-is almost universally noted. It is massive with obvious caballoid features and small, slender with archaic features in the structure of teeth and metapodia. Previously, such fossils were usually described as belonging to the Kulan (Vereshchagin, 1956; Galkina and Ovodov, 1975), but recently there have been grounds to consider them as belonging to the Kulan group.-

page 10

See Table 7. Dimensions of the upper and lower jaw teeth of Equus horses, mm

Soundings

Fireplace Cave W-3

Krasny Yar W-2

Krasny Yar R-W

n

lim

M

n

lim

M

n

lim

M

P 3-4
Crown length

9

25,2 - 29,7

27,67

16

27,0 - 33,2

29,86

22

26,0 - 33,3

28,91

"protokona

10

9,4 - 14,8

12,16

17

12,5 - 15,5

14,09

22

10,0 - 17,7

13,86

Tooth width

8

25,8 - 28,3

26,83

17

25,8 - 31,0

28,54

22

25,5 - 31,2

28,48

Protocol Index

9

37,8 - 54,8

43,95

16

39,4 - 55,4

47,19

22

38,0 - 60,4

47,94

M 1-2:

Crown length

4

23,5 - 26,2

24,70

21

24,7 - 29,5

26,83

22

23,5 - 29,0

25,96

"protokona

4

10,7 - 13,7

12,48

20

12,2 - 14,9

13,61

20

10,7 - 16,6

13,80

Tooth width

2

24,3 - 26,1

25,20

20

25,1 - 29,2

27,40

20

24,8 - 30,5

27,62

Protocol Index

4

44,4 - 57,5

50,53

20

43,1 - 58,9

50,73

20

45,5 - 61,7

53,16

M 3:

Crown length

5

25 - 31

26,52

4

28,8 - 30,5

29,70

7

25,7 - 31,2

28,39

"protokona

6

11,2 - 16,2

13,47

4

12,5 - 15,0

13,50

5

11,8 - 14,3

13,40

Tooth width

4

21,0 - 26,3

23,35

4

22,3 - 25,0

24,28

5

23,4 - 24,7

23,94

Protocol Index

5

44,8 - 53,6

50,79

4

43,4 - 49,2

45,45

4

45,9 - 52,9

47,20

P 2,

Tooth length

1

-

30,60

4

30 - 37

33,63

11

30,6 - 37,0

34,04

"post-flexida

1

-

13,70

3

14,7 - 15,8

15,40

10

10,8 - 19,0

15,49

Tooth width

1

-

15,70

4

14,7 - 18,5

16,70

10

15,5 - 18,7

16,80

Post-flexide index

1

-

44,77

3

44,5 - 49,1

45,79

9

34,4 - 52,9

45,51

M 1-2:

Tooth length

3

26,8 - 29,0

27,67

22

22,5 - 30,5

26,59

31

22,5 - 33,2

27,41

"post-flexida

3

10 - 11

10,40

21

9,0 - 16,8

11,91

29

6,7 - 14,5

11,11

Tooth width

3

14,2 - 14,8

14,43

20

13 - 20

16,29

30

14,8 - 19,3

17,15

Post-flexide index

3

45 - 63

51,67

21

34,6 - 67,2

44,79

29

29,5 - 51,5

40,53

M 3:

Tooth length

1

-

31,00

10

31,5 - 34,0

32,68

15

28,5 - 37,4

34,17

"post-flexida

1

-

8,00

11

7,7 - 12,7

10,64

14

8,1 - 13,5

10,93

Tooth width

1

-

13,30

12

13,1 - 17,0

14,83

16

12,8 - 17,4

14,50

Post-flexide index

1

-

25,81

9

23,1 - 37,5

32,56

13

25,0 - 38,4

31,99

Table 8. Dimensions of maxillary teeth (M 1-2) Equus ex.gr. hydruntinus, mm

Soundings

Fireplace Cave

Denisova Cave [Natural environment..., 2003]

n

lim

M

Crown length

23,6

23,2

8

20,5 - 26,9

24,6

"protokona

10,8

10,8

8

9,4 - 12,2

11,1

Crown width

25,8

24,7

7

22,5 - 27,8

25,9

Protocol Index

45,8

46,6

8

40,1 - 48,6

45,1

They can be considered as remnants of the Pleistocene donkey. In this regard, it is necessary to review all materials on Pleistocene horses of Southern Siberia and thoroughly study them using the latest techniques.

Alces alces (Linnaeus, 1758). Fragments of elk upper jaw teeth are found in layers 11b-11b and 14a. A decayed fragment of the upper jaw with half - destroyed teeth (P3-M2) of an adult A. alces was extracted from the sediments at the pre-entrance site of the cave.

page 11

Table 9. Dimensions of the first phalanges of Equus ex. gr. hydruntinus, mm

Soundings

Fireplace Cave W-3

Taradanovo W-2

Krasny Yar R-W

Rear doors

Front doors

Front doors

Front doors

1. Full length

75,6

85,1

84,0

85,2

85,3

83,0

2. Sagittal length, min

70,4

78,6

79,3

78,7

79,6

76,0

3. Width of the upper end

44,7

44,8

44,7

47,0

45,0

48,1

4. Its diameter

32,2

31,6

32,0

34,7

30,5

35,3

5. Width of the diaphysis

27,8

28,7

28,3

30,4

27,6

27,5

6. " lower end

35,2

40,0

40,2

41,8

41,0

38,9

7. Its diameter

21,5

22,7

21,2

23,0

21,5

23,0

Indexes:

3:1

59,1

52,6

53,2

55,2

52,8

58,0

5:1

36,8

33,7

33,7

35,7

32,4

33,1

6:1

46,6

47,0

47,9

49,1

48,1

46,9

Cervus elaphus sibiricus (Severtzov, 1873). Most red deer bone fragments from layers 10 and 11 are characterized by typical Holocene preservation. They were apparently redeposited from the upper horizons as a result of burrowing activity of predators and rodents. However, there are also a small number of remains (mainly fragments of teeth) of characteristic Pleistocene preservation. Table 1 shows only such residues for maral (and roe deer). At the pre - arrival site, two bones were extracted from sediments corresponding to layers 11b-11g, suitable for measurements. The largest length of the 1st phalanx is 65.5 mm, the sagittal length along the dorsal surface is 59.5 mm, the width / diameter of the upper end is 28/34. 4 mm,the lower end is 27.6 / 23.8 mm, the width of the diaphysis is 22.6 mm. The length of the calcaneus is 141.5 mm, the width / diameter of the distal part is 49/52. 5 mm, the smallest width of the diaphysis is 19.8 mm, and the width/diameter of tuber calcanei is 32.3 / 37.7 mm, which is close to the average values of calcaneus measurements of the Late Holocene Altai maral (Vasiliev and Grebnev, 1994).

Capreolus pygargus (Pallas, 1773). Like red deer bone fragments, roe deer bone fragments, which are quite numerous in the Holocene sequence, were partially deposited in the underlying sediments (especially in layer 10a). Individual remains of Pleistocene roe deer are also present throughout the section - from layer 11b to layer 18. There are very few bones that can be measured. The proximal part of the metatarsal bone was found in the Iv layer. Its width is 24.7 mm, its diameter is 27.3 mm. Similar indicators for Holocene roe deer in Altai are 21,8 - 23,6 - 26,5 mm (n = 30) and 23,5 - 25,2 - 27,3 mm (n = 27). The length of M 3 from layer 15/2 is 20.5 mm, its width is 10.5 mm (16 - 18,2 - 20,3 mm, n = 25 and 8,9 - 9,4- 10 mm, n = 27 [Ibid., 1994]). Thus, the available single remains indicate a rather large body size of the Late Pleistocene C. pygargus of Gorny Altai.

Poephagus mutus baicalensis (Vereschagin, 1954). At least three bone remains can be confidently attributed to the Baikal Yak. First of all, these are two whole metacarpal bones, one of which was found on the pre-passage site, the other - in layer 11b in the grotto part of the cave. The size of the metacarpale from Kaminnaya Cave (Table 10) was found to be close to the maximum values of the anterior metapodia of female Pleistocene yaks of Southern Siberia (Ovodov, 2005). Apparently, the yak also includes an incomplete, badly gnawed distal humerus from the Willow layer, the dimensions of which are significantly smaller than the minimum values of Bison priscus. The width of its lower articular block is 79.5 mm, while that of Bison priscus of the Kazantsev period from the Novosibirsk Ob region - 94 - 109,3 - 124,5 mm (n = 62), medial diameter of the lower end approx. 86.5 mm (102,3 - 118,6 - 132 mm, n = 56), chute diameter 38.6 mm (44 - 51,0 - 58 mm, n = 64), medial condyle height 50.3 mm (59 - 67,9 - 76,5 mm, n = 65). Obviously, this specimen also belonged to a female Baikal yak.

Bison priscus (Bojanus, 1827). Bone fragments belonging to the bison-yak make up a total of 10.3% of all detectable remains of large mammals. Judging by the size of the available fragments of bones and teeth, the overwhelming majority of them belonged to B. priscus. Only a small number of bones of the distal extremities were completely preserved. As the comparison showed, for most cases of-

page 12

Table 10. Metacarpal dimensions of female Poephagus mutus baicalensis, mm

Soundings

Fireplace room

cave

Southern Siberia (Ovodov, 2005)

1. Bone length

188

184,5

172 - 192

2. Width of the upper end

70

65,5

58,0 - 68,5

3. Its diameter

40

37,3

-

4. Width of the diaphysis

39,8

40,7

39,2 - 46,5

5. Its diameter

29,6

27

-

6. Width of the lower end

69,6

69,2

62,7 - 69,0

7. Its diameter

-

35,5

-

Indexes:

2:1

37,2

35,5

-

4:1

21,2

22,1

-

6:1

37,0

37,5

-

The minimum bone measurements of the Sartan bison from Kaminnaya Cave are close to the minimum values of the Karginsky bison from Taradanovo and the Kazantsev bison from Krasny Yar (Table 11). Especially significant in this respect is the comparison of a small series of the first five anterior phalanges. Along with this, bones were found (two astragalus, a central cuboid, and a third tarsal) that undoubtedly belonged to large old males; their size parameters approach the average or even maximum values of B. priscus bone measurements in the compared sample. Materials from other cave localities in the Altai - Okladnikov, the Hyena's Den (Ovodov, 1974), and a number of others - indicate that in the second half of the late Pleistocene, a very large form of B. priscus lived here, which did not differ much in the size of the bones of the postcranial skeleton from bison of the Middle-Late Pleistocene of other regions of Southern Siberia. Thus, small samples of bison bones from the Kaminnaya Cave suggest that at the end of the Sartan period, on the eve of its final disappearance from the territory of the Altai, the bison was found to have disappeared from the Altai territory.-

Table 11. Dimensions of Bison priscus postcranial skeleton bones, mm

Soundings

Fireplace Cave W-3

Krasny Yar R-W

Taradanovo W-2

n

lim

M

n

lim

M

n

lim

M

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Axis:

Width of the anterior articular surface

1

-

132,0

24

108,3 - 141,0

131,4

-

-

-

" dens ephistrophei

1

-

54,0

24

54,0 - 65,5

59,6

-

-

-

Vertebral body length

1

-

95,5

20

112,7 - 127,6

120,4

-

-

-

Vertebral body width, min

1

-

85,3

24

70,0 - 94,0

86,6

-

-

-

Humerus:

Joint block width

2

96,0 - 106,5

101,3

62

94,0 - 124,5

109,3

-

-

-

Diameter in the gutter

2

52,5 - 56,3

54,4

64

46,1 - 63,2

52,5

-

-

-

Height of the medial condyle

2

64,0 - 68,0

66,0

65

59,0 - 76,5

67,9

-

-

-

Radius:

Width of the lower end

1

-

90,5

36

93,2 - 123,6

109,9

13

82,3 - 111,2

96,9

Its diameter is

1

-

58,0

42

56,5 - 76,0

67,2

12

52,5 - 71,0

61,3

Metacarpal:

Width of the lower end

1

-

79,2

57

73,7 - 100,2

87,0

37

72,2 - 93,0

81,3

Its diameter is

1

-

42,3

53

39,5 - 51,8

46,6

33

39,0 - 50,3

44,2

page 13

End of Table 11

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Phalanx I (front):

Maximum length

5

72,0 - 80,5

76,6

34

72,5 - 91,6

79,9

72

70,0 - 93,0

80,3

"sagittal, min

5

63,2 - 73,2

68,0

34

63,5 - 82,0

71,7

73

61,0 - 82,7

71,7

Top end width

5

35,0 - 43,0

40,0

34

36,5 - 49,5

43,8

72

34,7 - 52,7

45,6

Its diameter is

5

40,5 - 50,0

45,1

33

38,0 - 56,0

46,3

72

38,5 - 55,2

47,1

Diaphysis width

5

34,5 - 43,0

38,3

34

34,0 - 47,0

41,1

73

33,0 - 51,2

42,3

"lower end

5

36,8 - 44,3

40,6

32

35,3 - 49,0

43,6

69

35,4 - 56,0

45,4

Astragalus:

Lateral length

2

89,5 - 94,7

92,1

65

82,1 - 102,5

91,5

128

76,2 - 104

88,7

"medial

2

83,2 - 84,0

83,6

65

77,8 - 95,1

84,8

125

70,3 - 92,3

82,2

Width of the lower end

3

52,1 - 67,0

61,7

65

53,3 - 67,3

60,5

115

47,5 - 63,6

57,2

Medial cross section

2

54,2 - 57,3

55,9

57

46,5 - 58,0

52,1

87

42,5 - 55,3

49,7

Centrotarsale:

Bone Width

-

86

53

68,2 - 91,4

80,1

67

63,5 - 88,4

76,2

Its diameter

-

81

49

61,0 - 84,0

73,1

61

62 - 85

71,0

Phalanx I (rear):

Maximum length

-

81,0

25

74,0 - 90,0

82,3

64

73,7 - 89,5

82,3

"sagittal, min

-

72,0

26

72,2 - 88,0

73,1

64

64,8 - 81,5

73,6

Top end width

2

36,0 - 42,8

39,4

25

33,2 - 47,0

40,7

59

35,3 - 48,5

40,8

Its diameter is

2

43,0 - 47,5

45,3

25

39,5 - 52,5

46,7

60

40,7 - 54,0

46,1

Diaphysis width

-

36,5

28

30 - 43

36,6

63

29,0 - 42,5

36,6

"lower end

-

41,6

26

34,2 - 44,7

40,2

64

31,2 - 47,2

39,9

Phalanx II (rear):

Maximum length

-

54

20

50,2 - 59,0

54,8

56

50 - 63

56,4

"sagittal, min

-

45,7

18

43,1 - 49,3

46,6

56

41,4 - 53,7

47,7

Top end width

-

34,5

18

35,5 - 45,0

39,6

57

35,9 - 52,0

42,3

Its diameter is

-

37

19

37 - 49

43,5

45

37 - 54

45,6

Diaphysis width

-

28

19

28,0 - 34,7

31,6

56

28,8 - 39,3

33,2

"lower end

-

27,8

16

28,8 - 37,0

33,6

52

29,5 - 42,4

35,1

Tarsale III:

Bone Length

2

53,0 - 56,0

54,5

8

48,0 - 53,5

51,4

2

50,0 - 54,2

52,1

Width "

3

33,5 - 37,6

35,1

8

30,7 - 34,8

33,0

2

32,0 - 33,7

32,9

Height in the middle

3

14,8 - 16,6

15,8

8

16,2 - 22,0

18,6

2

14,8 - 16,0

15,4

the zones were noticeably crushed, although quite large individuals were still found among them, the size of the body was not much inferior to the bison of an earlier time.

Saiga cf. borealis (Tscherskii, 1876). Saiga remains are found almost throughout the entire section of Pleistocene sediments, starting from the Pa layer. Almost exclusively represented are elements of the distal parts of the limbs-phalanges, bones of the wrist and tarsus, as well as fragments of teeth. Some of the bones were severely damaged by acid corrosion, which made them unsuitable for morphometric treatment. According to the size of the bones of the postcranial saiga skeleton from Kaminnaya Cave (pl. 12) was noticeably smaller than the Upper Pleistocene S. borealis from the Crimea, but somewhat larger than the modern S. tatarica (Baryshnikov, Kasparov, and Tikhonov, 1990). It is noteworthy that the Karginsky saiga from the Novosibirsk Ob region also corresponded to the minimum size parameters of Pleistocene and modern saigas (Vasiliev, 2005), judging by the size of horn rods (isolated finds). Apparently, a special form of S. cf. borealis, smaller than in the western regions of its range, lived in the Altai and southern Western Siberia during the Karginsky-Sartan period.

Capra sibirica (Pallas, 1776). Among the remains of large mammals, fragments of Capra-Ovis bones are most massively represented in the taphocenosis of Kaminnaya Cave.

page 14

Table 12. Dimensions of Saiga borealis limb bones, mm

Soundings

Kaminnaya Cave;

Late Paleolithic Crimea, Kasparov and Tikhonov (Baryshnikov, 1990)

n

lim

M

n

lim

M

Carpi 2+3:

Bone Width

3

14,2 - 15,0

14,5

-

-

-

Bone diameter

4

16,7 - 17,0

16,9

-

-

-

Maximum height

4

9,5 - 9,7

9,6

-

-

-

Phalanx I (front):

Maximum length

-

49,0

46

46,5 - 54,5

49,9

"sagittal, min

-

44,4

-

-

-

Top end width

-

12,5

69

12,2 - 15,7

13,5

Its diameter is

-

17,2

59

14,5 - 18,5

16,5

Diaphysis width

-

9,8

-

-

-

"lower end

5

8,9 - 11,7

10,4

91

10,1 - 13,5

11,8

Its diameter is

5

9,3 - 11,6

9,9

126

9,3 - 13,0

11,6

Phalanx II (front):

Maximum length

2

23,0 - 23,0

23,0

40

22,0 - 27,5

24,8

"sagittal, min

2

21,0 - 21,0

21,0

-

-

-

Top end width

1

-

10,6

43

10,3 - 12,3

11,3

Its diameter is

1

-

14,6

44

12,2 - 15,4

13,6

Diaphysis width

1

-

8,5

-

-

-

"lower end

2

8,2 - 8,5

8,4

42

9,0 - 11,3

10,1

Its diameter is

1

-

11,0

43

10,1 - 13,7

11,8

Astragalus:

Lateral length

2

30,0 - 30,0

30,0

33

30,4 - 35,1

32,2

Medial "

3

27,1 - 27,9

27,4

31

28,2 - 32,6

29,7

Width of the lower end

4

16,7 - 18,6

17,6

34

16,2 - 20,7

18,8

Lateral cross section

4

15,0 - 17,0

16,2

25

16,1 - 19,3

17,2

Centrotarsale:

Bone Width

1

-

25,1

8

23,2 - 27,5

24,8

Diameter "

1

-

24,8

8

23,5 - 25,6

24,2

Phalanx I (rear):

Maximum length

1

-

42,3

100

37,3 - 46,4

42,4

"sagittal, min

1

-

38,0

-

-

-

Top end width

2

10,3 - 10,8

10,6

81

11,3 - 14,7

12,9

Its diameter is

2

15,2 - 15,4

15,3

85

13,3 - 16,7

15,2

Diaphysis width

1

-

7,8

-

-

-

"lower end

2

9,7 - 9,9

9,8

92

8,6 - 12,9

10,8

Its diameter is

2

9,8 - 10,5

10,2

92

9,1 - 11,7

10,5

more than 30 %. Approximately half of them (mostly small fragments of teeth) were conditionally assigned to Capra-Ovis. Among the bones that were identified before the species, the remains of Capra sibirica are 3 times more common than Ovis ammon. Some bones, especially the 1st and 2nd phalanges, have been severely acid-corroded in the hyenas ' stomachs. Small series of bones of the same name belong mainly to the distal parts of the limbs (Table 13). The size of the phalanges of the Siberian mountain goat from Kaminnaya Cave did not differ from Capra sibirica from the Pleistocene deposits of Denisova Cave, and the size of the astragalus was somewhat smaller than the latter (Prirodnaya Sreda..., 2003).

page 15

Table 13. Dimensions of limb bones Capra sibirica from the Fireplace Cave, mm

Soundings

n

lim

M

Humerus:

Width of the lower end

1

-

40,0

"articular surface

1

-

38,0

Diameter in the gutter

1

-

19,1

Height of the medial condyle

1

-

24,0

Metacarpal:

Top end width

1

-

32,8

"nizhny Novgorod"

2

35,1 - 39,0

37,1

Its diameter is

1

-

24,0

Phalanx I (front + rear):

Top end width

1

-

15,7

"nizhny Novgorod"

6

14,0 - 17,2

16,5

Tibia:

Width of the lower end

1

-

35,2

Its diameter is

2

26,6 - 27,0

26,8

Astragalus:

Lateral length

3

36,5 - 39,0

37,5

Sagittal "

4

27,0 - 31,5

29,1

Medial "

3

32,5 - 36,2

34,4

Width of the lower end

2

24,0 - 24,7

24,4

Medial cross section

2

19,5 - 22,0

20,8

Centrotarsale:

Bone Width

2

33,5 - 36,5

35,0

Diameter "

2

30,2 - 30,8

30,5

Soundings

n

lim

M

Metatarsal:

Diaphysis width

1

-

19,8

"lower end

1

-

33,1

Its diameter is

1

-

24,0

Phalanx II (front):

Maximum length

3

29,5 - 32,8

31,0

"sagittal, min

2

26,2 - 27,3

26,8

Top end width

4

16,7 - 19,5

18,3

Its diameter is

3

17,5 - 21,3

18,8

Diaphysis width

2

13,2 - 14,5

13,9

"lower end

1

-

15,0

Phalanx II (rear):

Maximum length

5

29,0 - 34,5

30,8

"sagittal, min

5

25,8 - 29,2

27,4

Top end width

4

15,2 - 17,2

16,4

Its diameter is

3

15,7 - 19,4

17,1

Diaphysis width

3

11,0 - 12,5

11,7

"lower end

3

11,3 - 13,0

12,0

Phalanx III (front + rear):

Bone Length

4

30,0 - 37,3

34,2

"dorzalnaya

4

23,8 - 31,5

28,0

Bone Height

4

16,2 - 21,5

18,6

Joint surface length

4

14,0 - 15,2

14,8

Width " "

4

10,3 - 11,8

11,1

Ovis ammon (Linnaeus, 1758). Only a few of the argali bones were found to be suitable for measurement. The width of the anterior articular surface of the 2nd cervical vertebra was 65.2 mm with a vertebral body length of 62 mm. Carpi radiale length is 30 mm, the highest height in the anterior region is 18.7 mm, the lowest height in the middle is 12.7 mm. os malleolare length is 23.3 mm, height is 23.6 mm, bone diameter is 13 mm. The diameter of the femoral head is 34 mm. The lateral, sagittal, and medial lengths of the astragalus are 46; 36.5 and 42.7 mm, respectively; the distal width is 29.7 mm; and the medial and lateral bone diameters are 25 and 25.6 mm, respectively. The width of the diaphysis of the distal half of the metatarsal bone is 19.8 mm, the width / diameter of the distal end is 33.1 / 24 mm. The length / width of three copies of M3 is 38.2 / 14; 35.2/12 and 12.5 mm. The dimensions of the first phalanges are shown in Table 14.

Table 14. Dimensions of the first Ovis ammon phalanges from the Fireplace Cave, mm

Soundings

Front panel

Rear doors

n

lim

M

Maximum length

52,2

2

56,8 - 57,5

57,2

"sagittal, min

44,5

2

51,7 - 53,0

52,4

Top end width

-

3

18,1 - 20,3

18,9

Its diameter is

22,0

2

23,8 - 28,4

26,1

Diaphysis width

17,5

2

15,3 - 16,5

15,9

"lower end

20,3

1

-

18,6

Its diameter is

17,5

1

-

15,3

page 16

Taphonomy

The osteological collection from the Pleistocene deposits of Kaminnaya Cave contains a total of 13.8 thousand bone remains. The vast majority of bone material is highly fragmented. In order to assess the degree of its fragmentation, undetectable bone remains were divided into four size classes: 1 - 2, 2 - 5, 5 - 10 and more than 10 cm (Table 15). As follows from the above data, the degree of fragmentation of bone remains in different horizons varies slightly, and only for the subdivisions of the tenth layers there is a slight decrease in the specific weight of fragments of a small size class. In general, the material from the Kaminnaya Cave differs from the materials of the Denisova Cave, demonstrating significantly better completeness of preservation. So, if the difference in specific gravity between the remains of the first two size classes (1-2 and 2-5 cm) is insignificant: 73.1 and 21.6 % in Kaminnaya and 74.2 and 24.7% in Denisova caves, then between the remains of the third and fourth size classes (5-10 cm and >10 cm) it is much larger more substantial: 4.8 and 0.5 % in Kaminnaya and 0.5 and 0.05% in Denisova caves. The collections also differ sharply in the ratio of detectable remains: while 25.4 % of the material from Kaminnaya Cave could be determined to a species, genus, or class, in Denisova Cave this became possible for less than 1% of osteological remains [Ibid.].

In contrast to the Denisova Cave deposits, the Kaminnaya deposits contain intact large bones: the metatarsal bone of a horse, two metacarpal bones of a Baikal yak, four astragalus and the calcaneus of a woolly rhinoceros, a mammoth astragalus, etc.

The predominant color of bone remains is yellowish-brown, the preservation of bone matter is good, the surface of bone fragments is smooth, dense, without signs of delamination or peeling. Most of the bone remains belong to the zero stage of weathering (Behrensmeyer, 1978). The bones from the sediments at the pre-emergence site are more weathered, fractured (stages 2-3), and marked by traces of the impact of the plant root system.

The formation of the cave taphocenosis occurred as a result of the food activity of predatory mammals, birds, and primitive man. The leading role here probably belonged to the clans of cave hyenas (Baryshnikov and Vereshchagin, 1997), which actively used the karst cavity not only as a shelter, but also for breeding offspring. This is evidenced by a significant proportion (approx. 15 %) of Crocuta spelaea milk teeth, a high degree of bone fragmentation, the presence of almost all their large fragments of characteristic traces of strong bites, the presence of coprolites and numerous bones and teeth with traces of acid corrosion. According to G. F. Baryshnikov, most of the small fragments of braids-

Table 15. Distribution of bone fragments of large mammals in Pleistocene deposits of Kaminnaya Cave

Layer

Size Class

1-2 cm

2-5 cm

5-10 cm

> 10 cm

Ext.

%

Ext.

%

Ext.

%

Ext.

%

10a

150

42,9

130

37,1

61

17,4

9

2,6

10v/2

23

53,5

13

30,2

7

16,3

-

-

10g

133

49,8

102

38,2

29

10,9

3

1,1

10d

4

44,4

4

44,4

1

11,1

-

-

11a

890

74,0

227

18,9

79

6,6

6

0,5

116

1647

77,6

411

19,4

57

2,7

7

0,3

11 v

1471

70,4

509

24,4

96

4,6

14

0,7

11 g

1222

71,6

387

22,7

81

4,7

16

0,9

14a

933

83,5

158

14,1

25

2,2

1

0,1

14b

20

44,4

19

42,2

5

11,1

1

2,2

14a/1

584

80,8

119

16,5

20

2,8

-

-

14b/1

304

71,2

103

24,1

20

4,7

-

-

15/1

123

91,1

12

8,9

-

-

-

-

15/2

180

63,2

76

26,7

28

9,8

1

0,4

16j

46

83,6

8

14,5

1

1,8

-

-

18

69

72,6

23

24,2

3

3,2

-

-

page 17

tei was deposited in cave deposits from decayed coprolites of cave hyenas [Ibid.]. Hyenas could bring to the den both parts of the carcasses of their own prey, and the remains of fallen animals collected in the vicinity of the cave, as well as the remains of meals of other predators - cave lions and wolves, and possibly humans. As actualistic observations show, after the feast of predators, the heads and distal parts of the limbs are most often left with relatively little value in terms of food. N. M. Przhevalsky (1948) drew attention to the frequent occurrence of such remains of Yaks, kulans, and argali in the high-altitude steppes of the Tibetan Plateau. Materials from another non - human cave site in the Altai, the Hyena Den, indicate that Crocuta spelaea was most often picked up and brought to the cave by the heads and distal limbs of hoofed animals that usually remained almost untouched by other predators - horses, Pleistocene donkeys, bison, Baikal yaks, woolly rhinos, and even young ones mamontov (Ovodov, 1974; Ovodov and Martynovich, 2004, 2005). With their powerful jaws, hyenas almost completely gnawed and then digested the brought remains, as a result of which the cave deposits mainly got the most resistant to destruction elements of the skeleton or their fragments - a huge number of isolated teeth, strongly gnawed metapodia, astragalus, calcaneus. Most of the smaller bones of the wrist and metatarsal, phalanges were usually disposed of completely by cave hyenas. The deposits in the Kaminnaya Cave are also dominated by the remains of teeth and distal limbs, but the degree of bone fragmentation is much higher here. Considering that there were isolated bones of a cave lion and a brown bear in the cave, but there were no fragments of their baby teeth, we can conclude that the cavity was used by representatives of these species mainly as a temporary shelter. Some of the old and sick animals died here, and their corpses were eaten by cave hyenas: the distal tibia of a cave lion and the 1st phalanx of a brown bear, which was subjected to acid corrosion, were strongly gnawed in the cavity. Sporadic inhabitants of the cave were also smaller predators-wolves, foxes and, possibly, manul.

Large birds of prey, primarily owls and owls, played an important role in the accumulation of rodent, rabbit and bird bones in the cave. More than 1/4 of the total detectable material (27.7 %) consists of osteological remains of small mammalian and bird species trapped in cave deposits from decayed toadstools. No fish bones were found in the Kaminnaya Cave material, and only the lower jaw is represented from the remains of bats.

Unfortunately, the role of primitive man in the accumulation of osteological remains in the cave cavity cannot be fully assessed. Professor K. Turner (University of Arizona, USA) reviewed some of the material from the Fireplace Cave. On several fragments of tubular bones of mountain goat or argali from layers 11b - 11g, they marked thin cuts with stone tools. The same traces were found on the distal part of the woodchuck's tibia. Several large fragments of tubular bones were also found (for example, in layer 11b - a fragment of the bison humerus diaphysis), which split in a characteristic way along their force areas, probably as a result of impact. No burnt bones were found in the reviewed material. There is no doubt that some of the small fragments of bones appeared during the cutting of hunting prey, crushing of tubular bones during the extraction of bone marrow. It is not possible to separate them with certainty from the thousands of similar small fragments that are the result of the food activity of the cave hyena and other predators. Most likely, during most of the period of formation of the Pleistocene sequence man didn't live in the Fireplace Cave all the time. His stay in the cave was most likely episodic, possibly seasonal. For the vast majority of time (perhaps for years or decades in a row), the cave cavity was a den and shelter of large predators - the cave hyena, cave lion, brown bear, and wolves. In this connection, there are great difficulties in interpreting the archaeozoological material. The results of the predators ' food activity overlapped with the traces of primitive man's vital activity, significantly obscuring them. During periods of human absence, the cave was visited or permanently inhabited by predatory animals, primarily cave hyenas, and food waste accumulated during the hunting activities of ancient man was disposed of or taken away. Apparently, the process of sedimentation in the cave was relatively slow, which is why all more or less large bones or their fragments could only get into the burial site by accident, for example, as a result of a collapse, burrowing, etc. This circumstance, as well as the high food activity of cave hyenas and other predators, can be explained by such a noticeable predominance of small fragments of bones and teeth in the taphocenosis of the Kaminnaya Cave.

page 18

Paleoecology

During the final stage of the Pleistocene and the entire Holocene, thanks to the vital activity of predatory animals, birds and primitive man, the cavity of the Fireplace Cave was a universal natural accumulator of bone remains of animals that lived in the surrounding area. The species diversity represented in the cave tafocenosis, along with the relative abundance of remains of certain species, allows us to reconstruct the paleogeographic situation fairly accurately and trace its changes over time.

In the Sartan deposits of Kaminnaya Cave, the remains of large mammals inhabiting open landscapes absolutely dominate in terms of the number of species and bone remains. The most numerous remains are those of horse (14.3% of the identifiable bones of large mammals), woolly rhinoceros (11.2 %), bison (approx.9%), argali (less than 10%), saiga antelope (3.4%), marmot (13.1%), tolai hare (5.4%). The remains of the Baikal yak (at least 0.2%), the Pleistocene donkey (0.2%), and the manul cat (0.1%) are small but very significant. Approximately 20% are bone fragments of the Siberian mountain goat, an inhabitant of rocky biotopes.

Animals that are typical taiga inhabitants are represented by a single find - a sable tooth (layer 11b). This suggests that in some places in the deep river valleys and on the mountain slopes of the northern exposure, small areas of taiga forests were preserved. The wolverine, whose bone was found in layer 11b, can only be considered a purely forest animal; in the modern era, its constant penetration hundreds of kilometers deep into the tundra and steppe zones has been noted [Mammals..., 1967]. The lynx, three bones of which were found in layers 11b and 14b, is a typical forest animal for most of its range, but it can also inhabit sparse forests and floodplains of rivers with shrubby thickets (Geptner and Sludsky, 1972), where its main prey in the Pleistocene was probably numerous hares. The remains of brown bear bones, especially isolated ones, can also not be used as an indicator of the paleoenvironment. It is known, for example, that even in the time of N. M. Przhevalsky, the pika-eating bear (Ursus arctospruinosus) was very numerous in the upland steppes of Northern Tibet, where it fed mainly on pika and marmots [Przhevalsky, 1948].

The remains of elk and maral are not numerous in the Sartan layers - 0.3 and 0.8%, respectively. Recent studies have established that the ecology of the Middle and Late Pleistocene elk and red deer, which were part of the mammoth fauna, differed from the modern representatives of these species. Morphofunctional features in the mandibular structure indicate that these animals were much less associated with forest habitats and preferred rather semi - open (forest - steppe) landscapes (Boeskorov, 1999, 2001; Vasiliev, 2005). The roe deer (0.4% of bone remains) in its distribution avoids open steppe areas; it adheres to thickets in the valleys of steppe rivers and is very numerous in the forest-steppe (Geptner, Nasimovich, Bannikov, 1961).

Ecologically, the Baikal yak hardly significantly differed from the modern Tibetan yak (Poephagus mutus) and, apparently, was also a typical inhabitant of semi-desert high-mountain steppes, dry, cold, and with little snow (Przhevalsky, 1946). Other representatives of the Central Asian faunal complex-tolai hare and manul-now live in the southern, steppe, and Altai regions. Manul adheres to a rough terrain with the presence of shelters in the form of rock outcrops, placers of stones, and avoids areas where the snow cover depth exceeds 20 cm (Geptner and Sludsky, 1972). Tolai's distribution area is also limited to the low-snow steppe and desert regions of Central and Central Asia. Specialized for life in steppes and semi-deserts, the saiga antelope does not tolerate a snow depth of more than 15-20 cm (Vereshchagin and Baryshnikov, 1980). Individual bones of the Pleistocene donkey found in layers 116 and 11b most likely indicate not a significant xerophyticization of the climate and expansion of open landscapes, as suggested by I. V. Foronova (Derevyanko et al., 1999), but only a significant reduction in the range and abundance of this species in the Altai during the cold Sartan period. In the Karginsky deposits of the Hyena's Den cave, among more than 2.4 thousand horse bones, the remains of a relatively heat-loving Pleistocene donkey are several times more numerous than the bones of a large caballoid horse (Ovodov and Martynovich, 2004).
The initial conclusions of I. V. Foronova (Derevyanko et al., 1999) that the remains of large mammals in the tenth strata (in particular, the abundance of Cervidae bones) indicate a reduction in the area of open spaces and a large afforestation of the territory are based, in our opinion, on an incorrect interpretation of the material. All 28 fragments of roe deer bones and 6 maral bones found in these layers have typical Holocene preservation, which is typical of the overlying strata, i.e. they were evidently obtained here as a result of redeposition.

Judging by the date of layer 14a/1 (> 40 KA BP), layer 14a/1 and the underlying layers can be defined as Karginsky or pre-Karginsky, with an open lower boundary

page 19

Table 16. Frequency of occurrence of bone remains of large mammalian species in Sartan and pre-Sartan layers of Kaminnaya Cave

Taxa

Layers 10a-14b

Layers 14a/1-18

Ext.

%

Ext.

%

Lepus cf. tanaiticus

26

1,4

4

1,3

Lepus tolai

104

5,4

-

-

Marmota baibacina

251

13,1

17

5,5

Canis lupus

51

2,7

3

1,0

Ursus arctos

7

0,4

2

0,6

Crocuta spelaea

88

4,6

14

4,5

Coelodonta antiquitatis

215

11,2

32

10,3

Equus (E.) ferus

274

14,3

37

11,9

Equus ex. gr. hydruntinus

4

0,2

-

-

Alces alces

5

0,3

-

-

Cervus elaphus

15

0,8

7

2,3

Capreolus pygargus

8

0,4

13

4,2

Bison-Poephagus

183

9,5

52

16,7

Saiga borealis

65

3,4

22

7,1

Capra-Ovis

584

30,5

101

32,5

Total bone remains

1880

100

304

100

[Derevyanko and Markin, 2005]. A total of 318 detectable bone remains were obtained for this group of sediments, and in layer 16 all fragments are classified as undetectable, while layer 18 contains only a few detectable bones (see Table 1). Despite the difference (almost 9 times) in the volume of samples of faunal remains from Sartan and pre-Sartan layers, an attempt was made to their comparisons. It turned out that in the lower part of the Pleistocene sequence, the relative abundance of such species as woolly rhinoceros, cave hyena, and Capra-Ovis changed insignificantly. On the contrary, the number of bison remains increased by 1.8 times, saiga-by 2.1 times, maral-by 2.9 times. The number of roe deer bones increased dramatically (10.5 times). At the same time, the number of steppe forms decreased: the horse - by 1.2 times, the marmot-by 2.4 times, and the tolai hare completely disappeared (Table 16). Thus, based on the available data for the lower (pre-Spartan) layers of the Kaminnaya Cave, forest-steppe landscapes are reconstructed. The formation of these horizons (at least layers 14a/1 - 15/2), judging by the general appearance of the faunal association, can relate to one of the interstadials, most likely Karginsky.

Conclusion

Thus, the study of paleoteriological material from the Kaminnaya Cave makes it possible to reconstruct the landscapes of cold and low-snow steppes for the final part of the Sartan period in the north-west of Gorny Altai. At the stage of climate warming, elements of the forest-steppe landscape may have appeared. Forests, apparently, were preserved only in some places along the river valleys and on the slopes of the mountains of the northern exposure. The presence of manul, saiga, tolai hare, and Baikal yak bones indicates that the average long - term snow cover depth probably did not exceed 15-20 cm. The faunal association from the lower pre-Spartan part of the section has a pronounced forest-steppe appearance. Numerous saiga remains indicate that the depth of snow cover was no higher than in the Sartan era.

Judging by the available radiocarbon dates, the mammoth faunal group, which included such megafauna species as the mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, bison, Baikal yak, horse, Pleistocene donkey, saiga antelope, and cave dog, remained almost completely intact in the north-west of Gorny Altai until the end of the Sartan period (approximately 11-10. 5 thousand years AGO). hyena, cave lion, as well as a number of species represented in the modern teriofauna of Altai. This region was probably one of the last refugia on the territory of Eurasia, where representatives of the mammoth biome still lived. Based on the materials of the Kaminnaya Cave, a decrease in the size of teeth and bones of the postcranial skeleton (and the body of the patient) was noted.-

page 20

responsible) hairy rhinoceros, bison, horse, and probably cave hyena relative to the size of the same species that lived in the south of Western Siberia in the late Pleistocene.

The accumulation of osteological remains in the Pleistocene deposits of Kaminnaya Cave occurred mainly as a result of the vital activity of predatory animals - cave hyenas, to a lesser extent wolves, cave lions, brown bears, foxes, and birds of prey. There are few cuts on bone fragments left by Paleolithic man. The main objects of his hunting were, obviously, the most massively represented species - mountain goats, argali, saigas, bison and horses. Apparently, the man did not live in the cave all the time. His stay here was episodic, possibly seasonal. During most of the formation of the Pleistocene sequence, the cave served as a den or temporary shelter for predatory animals, primarily the cave hyena. During periods of absence of humans, predators partially or completely disposed of and stole the accumulated waste of their hunting activities, which significantly complicates the interpretation of the material in the archaeozoological aspect.

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The article was submitted to the Editorial Board on 27.03.06.

page 22


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