Conference PaperPDF Available

Yunyugen -the Late Pleistocene locality of the mammoth fauna in the basin of the Yana River (North-Eastern Siberia)

Authors:
  • Research Institute of Applied Ecology Of The North, Yakutsk, Yakutia
Abstracts Book
P-17
Yunyugen the Late Pleistocene locality of the mammoth fauna in
the basin of the Yana River (North-Eastern Siberia)
Gavril Novgorodov*1 ; Semyon Grigoriev1 ; Мaksim Сheprasov1 ; Lena Grigorieva2 ; Alexei Tikhonov1 3
1Mammoth Museum of Institute of applied ecology of the North/ North Eastern Federal University/ Russian
Federation, 2International Common Use Center "Molecular Paleontology" of Institute of applied ecology of
the Nort/ North Eastern Federal University/ Russian Federation, 3Zoological Museum/ Zoological Institute,
Russian Academy of Sciences/ Russian Federation
Content
The basin of the Yana River and adjacent territories are one of the most promising regions in the
Northern Eurasia not only for the finds of fossil mammal skeletal remains, but also for the well
preserved carcasses of mammoths, woolly rhinoceroses and other representatives of the
Pleistocene-Holocene faunistical complex [1]. Thus for the last 15 years in the basin of this river,
more than half of all unique finds of the representative of mammoth fauna with soft tissues in
Yakutia have been found. The most famous and well-studied locations of the mammoth fauna
such as Sullar Khaya, Oskhordoh, Muus Khaya, the permafrost megaslump Batagaika, etc. are
situated on this territory. Over the past five years, the unique location of Yunyugen in the middle
stream of the Yana River (68° 55’2.87 N; 134° 28’56.25 E) becomes famous. In fact, the location
was discovered in 1885 by the Russian polar explorer E.V. Toll during the geological
investigations of the north of the Yana-Indigirka lowland and the New Siberian Islands, where he
collected 20 skulls of the Pleistocene bison.
Bone remains of the fossil animals are localized along the Yunyugen stream valley. During the
field work in 2012 and 2016 the bone remains of the almost all large mammals of the Late
Neopleistocene of Yakutia, such as woolly mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, Pleistocene bison,
reindeer, red deer, horse, snow sheep, saiga antelope, muskox, red fox, wolf, wolverine, cave lion,
brown bear and mountain hare were found there. Also the mummified ptarmigan nestling of
unknown geological age was excavated from the depth around 1 m from the surface.
In 2012 and 2016 years 528 bones of the animals of mammoth fauna were selected and
described. According to the osteological analysis, the bison remains are dominated - 43%, woolly
mammoth represented by 22%. It is surprisingly that a large number of bone remains of woolly
rhinoceros (18%) is presented, because usually for Yakutia its presence is not exceeding the 5%
from the total bone remains in collections [2]. A similar large ratio of this species (25%) was
observed on the Yukagir plateau and on the Bolshoi Khomus Yuryakh River [3]. We also noted a
significant amount of bone remains of the red deer Cervus elaphus in comparison with other
locations of the mammoth fauna in the Arctic part of Yakutia. Such finds are more common in the
Kolyma Lowland and in the Central Yakutia [4]. Also the peculiarity of the location of Yunyugen is
a small percentage (7%) of the bone remains of the horse in our collections, in comparison with
the generalized data for Yakutia (26.9%) [2]. The other species are represented by small number
of the finds.
The results of a small series of radiocarbon dates of the bones from Yunyugen falls within the
Kargin interstadial: Bison priscus LE 9888, 36,300 ± 640; Coelodonta antiquitatis LE 9889 40,500
± 1,600; Canis lupus GrA57022, 44,650 + 950 / -700; Mammuthus primigenius LE 9887 47,600 +
2600 / -2000.
The wolf was dated by a humerus, while the damage on which were determined by the
archaeologists as was made by an ancient man. Thus, Yunyugen can be the oldest human site
on the north of Siberia [5].
References
1. Grigoriev S.E., Cheprasov M.Yu., Savvinov G.N., Tikhonov A.N., Novgorodov G.P., Fedorov
S.E., Boeskorov G.G., Protopopov A.V., Plotnikov V.V., Belolyubsky I.N., Protodeaconov K.E., J.
Van der Plicht. Paleontological and archaeological studies in the basin of the Yana River// Bulletin
of the North-Eastern Federal University named M.K. Ammosov. No. 1 (57), 2017. - P. 20-35.
2. Lazarev P.A. Large mammals of the anthropogen of Yakutia. - Novosibirsk: Science, 2008. -
160 p.
3. Sher A.V. The role of the Bering land in the development of the Holarctic mammalian fauna in
the late Cenozoic // Beringia in the Cenozoic. - Vladivostok, 1976. pp. 227-241.
4. Lazarev P.A., Tomskaya A.I. Mammals and biostratigraphy of the late Cenozoic of Northern
Yakutia. Yakutsk: Ed. JAF SB AS USSR, 1987. - 172 p.
5. Pitulko V., Pavlova E., Nikolskiy P. Revising the archaeological record of the Upper
Pleistocene Arctic Siberia: Human dispersal and adaptations in MIS 3 and 2 // Quaternary
Science Review, 2017, Vol. 165. P. 127-148.
Keywords: Yana river, locality, mammoth fauna, Late Pleistocene
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any citations for this publication.
Article
As the main external driver, environmental changes largely predetermine human population distribution, especially in the Arctic, where environmental conditions were often too extreme for human survival. Not that long ago the only evidence of human presence here was the Berelekh site in the lower reaches of the Indighirka River. This landmark dates to 13,000–12,000 years ago but it was widely accepted as documentation of the earliest stage of human dispersal in the Arctic. New research discussed here, shows that humans began colonizing the Siberian Arctic at least by the end of the early stage of MIS 3 at around 45,000 years ago. For now, this earliest known stage of human occupation in the arctic regions is documented by the evidence of human hunting. The archaeological record of continued human occupation is fragmentary; nevertheless, evidence exists for each significant phase including the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Siberian Arctic human populations were likely supported by the local mammoth population, which provided humans with food and raw material in the form of mammoth tusks. Processing of mammoth ivory is recognized widely as one of the most important peculiarities of the material culture of ancient humans. In fact, ivory tool manufacturing is one of the most important innovations of the Upper Palaeolithic in northern Eurasia. Technology that allowed manufacturing of long ivory shafts – long points and full-size spears – was critical in the tree-less open landscapes of Eurasian mammoth steppe belt. These technological skills reach their greatest extent and development shortly before the Last Glacial Maximum but are recognizable until the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary across Northern Eurasia in all areas populated by mammoths and humans. Loss of this stable source of raw material due to the late Pleistocene mammoth extinction may have provoked a shift in post-LGM Siberia to the Beringian microblade tradition. This paper reviews the most important archaeological findings made in arctic Siberia over the last twenty years.
Article
The main stages of faunal evolution in Beringida are discussed - Middle-Late Pleistocene, Early Pleistocene and Late Cenozoic the fauna of Beringida (including Alaska) developed as one. The stages of disruption of the land connection in the narrow zone of Beringia had a relatively minor role in the history of this fauna. Recent data support A.Turgarin's idea of the autochthonous evolution of the cold-resistant ('Arctic') fauna within Beringida. During the Late Cenozoic we must consider Beringida not as a land bridge across which an intercontinental faunal exchange took place, but as an independent region in which a peculiar fauna evolved that repeatedly dispersed into the Old and New worlds. -from Author
Van der Plicht. Paleontological and archaeological studies in the basin of the Yana River
  • S E Grigoriev
  • M Cheprasov
  • Yu
  • G N Savvinov
  • A N Tikhonov
  • G P Novgorodov
  • S E Fedorov
  • G G Boeskorov
  • A V Protopopov
  • V V Plotnikov
  • I N Belolyubsky
  • K E Protodeaconov
Grigoriev S.E., Cheprasov M.Yu., Savvinov G.N., Tikhonov A.N., Novgorodov G.P., Fedorov S.E., Boeskorov G.G., Protopopov A.V., Plotnikov V.V., Belolyubsky I.N., Protodeaconov K.E., J. Van der Plicht. Paleontological and archaeological studies in the basin of the Yana River// Bulletin of the North-Eastern Federal University named M.K. Ammosov. No. 1 (57), 2017. -P. 20-35.
Large mammals of the anthropogen of Yakutia
  • P A Lazarev
Lazarev P.A. Large mammals of the anthropogen of Yakutia. -Novosibirsk: Science, 2008. -160 p.
Mammals and biostratigraphy of the late Cenozoic of Northern
  • P A Lazarev
  • A I Tomskaya
Lazarev P.A., Tomskaya A.I. Mammals and biostratigraphy of the late Cenozoic of Northern Yakutia. Yakutsk: Ed. JAF SB AS USSR, 1987. -172 p.