The Middle Paleolithic of Tsagaan Agui Cave in the Gobi Altai region of Mongolia and its Siberian and Central Asian links

Stratified Middle Paleolithic industries in Mongolia are mostly known from final Middle Paleolithic complexes in the Orkhon and Kharganyn Gol valleys in the north-central part of the country, while Middle Paleolithic sites in the Gobi Desert have not attracted as much attention. Re-analysis of archaeological collections made during excavations of Tsagaan Agui Cave in 1987–1989 have made it possible to define transitional specific tool types as well as the systems of primary flaking employed through different lithic complexes. Recent excavations of Tsagaan Agui in 2021 and 2022 place the lithic complexes first identified there in the 1980s into a more refined chronological sequence. Preliminary technological and typological analyses reveal the non-Levallois Mousterian character of the Middle Paleolithic industry at Tsagaan Agui Cave. Here, we attempt to identify analogs of this industry in Siberia and eastern Asia.