Dynamics of the Altai Paleolithic industries in the archaeological record of Denisova Cave

This publication presents data resulted from an analysis of the recent Middle and Upper Paleolithic archaeological evidence documented at Denisova Cave in the Russian Altai. A new phase in the study of the site is associated with the works undertaken in the East Chamber during 2004-2016. A long stratigraphic sequence exposed in this part of the cave, like the strata of Pleistocene deposits in the Main Chamber, has become a reference section for the study of prehistory in the region. A large collection of archaeological finds that quantitatively exceeds those recovered in previous years, new biostratigraphic and geochronological data obtained from Pleistocene deposits of the cave, make it possible to reconstruct the dynamics in the development of the Middle and Upper Paleolithic stone tool industries of the Altai on a qualitatively new level. The article presents the major techno-typological characteristics of the stone tool industries from the East Chamber, their stratigraphic, paleoecological and geochronological context. We show a correlation between the Paleolithic stone tool industries from the East Chamber and contemporary assemblages from the Main Chamber, as well as the cave entrance, and identify their place among other Paleolithic cave and open-air sites of the Altai. The continuity of a techno-typological sequence in the development of the stone tool industries from Denisova Cave and other stratified sites in the Altai and the emergence of the Upper Paleolithic from a local Middle Paleolithic tradition suggest that the stone tools and articles of personal adornment appear to have been produced by Denisovans. This conclusion is consistent with a complete lack of any fossil remains from anatomically modern humans in the Altai Paleolithic.