Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Archaeological Research in Asia journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ara Full length article Intentional fragmentation of blades in the initial upper Paleolithic industries of the Kara-Bom site (Altai, Russia) Vyacheslav S. Slavinsky a , Evgeny P. Rybin a, ⁎ , Arina M. Khatsenovich a,b , Natalia E. Belousova a a Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, 17 Lavrentieva Ave, Novosibirsk 633090, Russia b Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Strasse 10, Jena 07745, Germany ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Altai Initial upper Paleolithic Refitting studies Intentional fragmentation Burin-core technology ABSTRACT Recent investigations have highlighted an Asian variant of the so-called Initial Upper Paleolithic (IUP) broadly comparable in age and material culture to techno-complexes further to the west, but also showing distinct derived features. Here, we describe and provide corroborating evidence for another distinct technology em- ployed in the Initial Upper Paleolithic of Kara-Bom site, Russian Altai, - intentional fragmentation (IF). The most effective means of understanding knapping technology are refitting studies of archaeological collections. This article examines several examples of refitted fragmented cores and blades, as well as debitage as the by- product of blank breakage. On the basis of refitting analysis, the morphological attributes of fragmentation and its by-product intermediate flakes are defined. This intentional approach was used to segment large blades partially transported to the site. IF produced large blade fragments representing multi-functional tool blanks and burin-cores for bladelet production. 1. Introduction The period between roughly 50–47 ka was marked by the nearly simultaneous appearance of Initial Upper Paleolithic (IUP) large blade industries (sensu Kuhn and Zwyns, 2014) throughout the vast terri- tories of Siberia and eastern Central Asia. These industries first ap- peared in several regions, separated by hundreds, sometimes even thousands of kilometers. From west to east, the primary IUP reference sites include Ushbulak in eastern Kazakhstan, Kara-Bom in the Russian Altai region, the Tolbor 4 and Tolbor 16 localities in northern Mon- golia, Tolbaga, Podzvonkaya and Kamenka in the Transbaikal area, and Shuidonggou in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of north-central China (Shunkov et al., 2016; Derevianko et al., 2000; Derevianko et al., 2007; Zwyns et al., 2014; Tashak, 2016; Lbova, 2000; Li et al., 2013). Although human fossil remains directly associated with IUP in- dustries have yet to be found, the startlingly coincident appearance of these complexes is correlated with the first evidence of early modern humans in Siberia (Fu et al., 2014). In addition to their approximate synchronicity (current dates from the Russian Altai are slightly older), these complexes are similar in terms of their technological and cultural attributes as well. The reasons for these similarities, as well as the differences among these assemblages, define principal research pro- blems. As noted by Kuhn and Zwyns (2014), a single genetic origin as well as independent convergent development of technology can be considered the roots of such resemblances. 2. Background Several principal common technological features characterize the IUP in southern Siberia and Central Asia. Almost all assemblages are based on high-quality cryptocrystalline chert. The main targeted pro- ducts of flaking were medium or large blades, the latter sometimes of very significant size (lengths up to 35 cm; widths up to 5–7 cm); the proportion of bladelets (laminar blanks with widths up to 12 mm) is also great. Primary flaking is characterized by alternate bidirectional reduction of cores. Spalls, alternately detached from opposing platforms along the long axis of the core, determined the shape of the targeted blank – a large convergent blade. Worked cores were volumetric, sub- volumetric and flat, depending upon the initial shape of the raw ma- terial and/or stage of reduction. Retouched or transversely flaked crested blades/laterals, removed from the side of cores, created and supported a convex working surface. Blades were detached along this convexity and, in such cases, nuclei had asymmetrical profiles in cross- section. The technology of burin-core reduction for bladelet and small blade production was the knapping method specific to the IUP of southern Siberia and Central Asia. A large blade or technical spall was usually used as a blank for a burin-core where the extremities of blanks were https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ara.2018.05.002 Received 30 January 2018; Received in revised form 7 May 2018; Accepted 18 May 2018 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: archeomongolia@gmail.com (E.P. Rybin). Archaeological Research in Asia xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx 2352-2267/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Please cite this article as: Slavinsky, V.S., Archaeological Research in Asia (2018), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ara.2018.05.002