Kazakhstan - Paleolithic sites and geomorphology of Karatau mountain range

The Karatau mountain range, situated north of the middle course of the Syrdaria river, is a tectonic uplift to 1500 m. that happened 1.5-1 million years ago. It shows today, on its top, fragments of former plains, on the slopes, evident layers of the phases of formation; on its feet fossil terraces and the world-wide unique phenomenon of griffons, resurgences of underground waters sedimenting carbonates. For these reasons, the area is an important polygon of geological studies. Besides its geological importance, the Karatau mountains assume an ever greater paleonthological importance for the presence of exclusive and extremely well preserved fossils belonging to the early pleistocenic fauna (Koskurganskaya fauna: equus mostbahensis, elasmarii sibiricum, strutio species, etc.), and for its Paleolithic sites where stone tools assemblages have been found that represent the all process of development of stone-ages cultures from the early stages of the Early Paleolithic (1 million BP) to the Neolithic period (6500 BP).