A 35,000 year-old camp site unearthed in Kazakhstan

Archaeologists from the U.S., Germany, Japan and Australia have arrived to Kazakhstan to study a unique Stone Age site in Zhambyl region of Almaty oblast, according to local reports.

Excavations at the Maibulak site [Credit: Web]

The Maibulak site, located 50km from Almaty, was first noted several years ago by the dean of history, archaeology and ethnology school of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University Zhaken Taimagambetov. 

The site in Zhetyssu is one of the few 'early man' sites in the world that has been preserved by a layer of soil. Excavations at the site have been in and out over the past 8 years. 

Hearth. Cultural horizon III [Credit: Web]

"Maibulak is some kind of transition from Mousterian age to the Upper Palaeolithic. This is the time of transition from the Neanderthal man to Cro-Magnon. This period is very interesting for foreign researchers," Taimagambetov said.

According to the researchers, the site is over 35,000 years old. Scientists are already finding samples that may become a sensation. 

Palaeolithic stone tools from Maibulak [Credit: Web]

"We are collecting the soil to perform laboratory tests. Information about climate of our planet in the ancient times is very important for many sciences, including ecology," the Ph.D. fellow of Colorado University Catherine Horton said.

Experts noted that such sites are a basis for the hypotheses that the territory of Kazakhstan was part of the "road to the East" during migration of the population around the world.