LAND USE AND SETTLEMENT PATTERNS IN THE MOUNTAIN BELT OF SOUTH SIBERIA: MOBILITY STRATEGIES AND THE EMERGENCE OF ‘CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY ’ DURING THE MIDDLE-TO-UPPER PALAEOLITHIC TRANSITION

A variety of topics (palaeoenvironmental records, evolution of lithic industries, land use and settlement patterns, settlement structures, procurement of raw materials), related to the emergence of ‘Cultural Geography ’ in South Siberia during the Middle-to-Upper Palaeolithic transition, are reviewed in this paper. I distinguish two major regions within the mountainous part of South Siberia: the Russian Altai and the Transbaikal. In both territories, the earliest appearances of the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic and the highest densities of currently known sites in Siberia have been identified. The differences in lithic technology and settlement patterns between these two regions indicate differing responses of populations migrating from th