Middle Paleolithic technological diversity during MIS 3 in the Western Tian Shan piedmonts: Example of the Katta Sai 1 open -air loess site

This paper aims to reconstruct the general knapping scheme in the Katta Sai 1 assemblage dated to around 40 kya. The site was excavated within a large -scale fieldwork project of interdisciplinary studies on Middle Paleolithic settlements in the western Tian Shan piedmont. The technological analyses allow the identification of a new variant of human adaptation in the regional Middle Paleolithic. The locally -collected river pebbles were knapped using a predetermined Levallois core reduction scheme. Although some volumetric features can be identified within the assemblage, the technology differs from the other well -known sites in the region, such as Obi -Rakhmat of Kulbulak, where blade technology predominates.