Olesia Uspenskaya’s scientific contributions

The article examines a collection of perforated shells of freshwater bivalve mollusks Corbicula from cultural layers 2 and 3 of the Upper Palaeolithic site of Rakhat. The Rakhat site was discovered in 2006, and excavations have been in progress since 2018. The site is located in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau (Northern Tien Shan, Kazakhstan). The site contains 16 cultural layers dating back to ~28,000—19,000 uncal BP (~31000—23000 cal BP). Layers 2 and 3 belong to the upper part of the cultural sequence and have been radiocarbon dated to 19385 ± 40 uncal BP and 19520 ± 45 14C uncal BP (~ 23700—23300 cal BP). These layers, as well as the entire group of cultural layers 1—5, yielded an innovative lithic industry characterized by the presence of scalene triangles. The shells in question belong to the species Corbicula tibetensis Prashad, 1929. Currently, the Corbicula mollusks do not live in the rivers and lakes of the studied area. The article reconstructs the methods used to perforate shells and argues in favor of artificial origin of the red pigmentation on their surfaces. The perforated shells from Rakhat are the first finds of the Upper Palaeolithic personal ornaments in Kazakhstan.

The Upper Palaeolithic of the western Central Asia remains poorly understood. On the vast plains and mountainous territories, few sites of this age are known. In this regard, new sites discovered in the contact zone of the steppe and mountain belts of the Northern Tien Shan (Kazakhstan) acquire particular significance. Favorable natural conditions contributed to the active settlement of this territory, and the features of loess sedimentation contributed to the preservation of cultural remains. The first site, discovered and studied in 2004—2006, was the multilayered Maibulak site. The site contains seven cultural layers dated to different stages of the Upper Palaeolithic. The most significant and unique lithic collections were found in cultural layers 3—6, which date back to the Early Upper Palaeolithic. Lithic inventory from layer 6 occupies a special place among them. Two radiocarbon dates were obtained on charcoal from this layer: 35 420 ± 450 14С BP and 34 970 ± 665 14С BP (median 40 557 cal BP and 40 152 cal BP). The lithic industry from layer 6 has certain similarities with the Early Baradostian, Early Ahmarian, Fumanian, Proto-Aurignacian and other synchronous materials from Western Eurasia characterised by the presence of bladelet production technology.