In the early stages of the Initial Upper Paleolithic (hereafter IUP) of South Siberia and Central Asia settlement systems were adapted to the landscapes, climate, and fauna of the mountain belt and foothills; there are clear technological and typological associations between the main distribution areas of IUP assemblages. In the main regions of IUP distribution, nodal clusters of sites occupied either a section of a river valley, a closed inter-montane depression, or a system of depressions. Within those topographic boundaries, movements of social groups probably followed the known habitation areas and migratory patterns of ungulate prey. According to the available limited zooarchaeological evidence, animals were hunted in proximity to occupation sites which usually had outcrops of suitable stone raw materials for tool manufacture located nearby. The lithic technology of laminar reduction used by IUP populations necessitated orientation to sources of high-quality stone raw material. The most common type of settlements in IUP Northern Mongolia and Eastern Kazakhstan are workshops combined with settlement activities. In other regions (Transbaikal, Russian Altai) settlement characteristics are more diverse and include residential sites, localities with mixed activity, and short-term hunting camps. For most IUP sites we have evidence of the acquisition and transport of stone raw materials and blanks/tools to activity areas. The mobility systems of human populations are characteristic for the provisioning place of intended activity, and for regular changes of location in the course of routine movements through catchment areas. This research was supported by the Russian Scientific Foundation project # 19-18-00198.