Pleistocene climate change, natural environments and palaeolithic occupation of the Altai area, west-central Siberia

Abstract

Diversity of the relief and the Pleistocene environments of the mountain areas of SW Siberia played a major role in the history of the palaeolithic peopling of this territory. The geographical and contextual distribution of the cultural records reflects a climatic instability in the Altai area. The cyclic nature of the glacial and interglacial periods led to periodic landscape transformations and generation of specific ecosystems adjusted to particular topographic settings and responding to climatic variations.