ERC Consolidator Grant · 2024
Were They Modern Humans? The Problem of the Initial Upper Palaeolithic in West Central Asia
The Initial Upper Palaeolithic (IUP) is a term describing lithic assemblages dated roughly to 50–40 kya in the Near East, Central Europe and North-Eastern Asia, which show traits of the emergence of blade technology, traditionally associated with the expansion of modern human groups. Several sites with IUP traits have also been recently recognised in West Central Asia (Uzbekistan and Tajikistan), but astonishingly they date to a period between 77 and 43 kya (Obi-Rakhmat, Khudji, Katta Sai 2, Khodjakent, Kuksaray 2, Ertash Sai 2). Through this project, we aim to answer the question of whether there were indeed modern human groups who lived in Western Central Asia at this time and left behind…
From the public funding record at EU CORDIS. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.