Abstract: | The palaeontological data on mammal remains from two Middle Palaeolithic (ca. 125 000 years ago – 27 200 BP) and 34 (ca. 34 000–12 000 BP) Upper Palaeolithic cultural complexes in the upper part of the Yenisei River basin (southern Siberia) are considered. General features of the faunal assemblages are established. Several issues are discussed, including (a) changes in species composition through time and palaeoenvironmental implications of the zooarchaeological records; (b) patterns of human exploitation (hunting) of mammals; (c) issue of mammoth hunting and (d) possibility of domestication of dog in the late Upper Palaeolithic in the Yenisei River basin. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |