Blade technology in the Early Upper Palaeolithic of Tolbor-16 (North Mongolia)

The Tolbor valley (North Mongolia) has yielded a concentration of archaeological sites documenting multiple episodes of human occupation dated between the first half of the MIS3 and the Holocene. In the main stratified sites, two variants of Upper Paleolithic have been reported at the base of the cultural sequence. The lowermost archaeological assemblages are usually dated around 45 ka cal BP. They are referred to as Initial Upper Palaeolithic (IUP) based on the associations of multiple technological attributes (e.g. asymetric blade reduction and burin-core technology). Stratigraphically, the IUP is followed by another kind of assemblages named Early Upper Palaeolithic (EUP) - for the lack of better term and dated around 40 ka cal BP. Although considerable efforts have been devoted to the study of IUP in Mongolia and elsewhere, relatively little is known about the EUP and its variability. At Tolbor-4 (AH4) and Tolbor-15 (AH6-AH7), it shows a decrease in frequency of blade blanks, a switch toward unidirectional blade core reduction patterns and the appearance of bladelet technology. Here we present a detailed description of the laminar blank production in the EUP from Tolbor-16 with three main questions in mind: what characterizes the blade production? What are the relations between blade and bladelet reduction sequences? Finally, how consistent is the EUP technology in region? While a closer look at the blade technology should help to better understand what differentiates the two variants, improvements in their definition will allow for further discussions on evolutionary implications.