Western Beringia (Northeast Asia)
Abstract Archaeological and paleogeographic evidence suggests that Northeast Asia (Western Beringia) was a starting point from which prehistoric man began to explore the Western Hemisphere via the Bering Land Bridge. Current data suggest that the exploration by humans of the arctic zone of Western Beringia occurred no later than the second half of the Late Pleistocene, during the time span with favorable conditions for human dispersals. The Yana Site witnesses that at the end of the Karginsky, Paleolithic man almost reached the modern arctic coast at the Indigirka-Kolyma lowlands. Later, during the Sartan, some new complexes (cultures) appeared, represented by those sites as Khaya IV, Kheta, Druchak, Ushki I to V, etc. Changing landscapes and climates of Western Beringia in the Early Holocene provoked new developments and the disappearance of the Paleolithic cultures, which were replaced by the Mesolithic cultures more adapted to the new conditions.