The Mesolithic - Neolithic transition in the Upper Volga region resulted from the stone industry analyses

The paper deals with a phenomenon of neolithisation in the Upper Volga basin. The author studies the results of culture processes in the region based on: 1) the investigation of the stone assemblages from reference sites with non-ornamented ceramics or pottery with simple puncture impressions; 2) the tools types comparison over the final Mesolithic and initial Neolithic; 3) mapping of the non-ornamented/notch-ware pottery in European Russia. The transition to the Neolithic is associated with infiltrations of some puncture-ware pottery makers into the indigenous Mesolithic populations. It is most likely that the first vessels were imported into the region by migrants. The untraceable differences between the Final Mesolithic and the Early Neolithic stone industries may indicate a scarcely noticeable infiltration of newcomers from neighboring territories to the Upper Volga region. The manufacture tradition of the ceramics either non-ornamented or decorated by simple puncture impressions was formed in the regional culture environment. This event should be regarded as a particular transition time from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic. The later rise of the Neolithic was marked by shifts in the economy and by the local ceramic manufacture development accompanied by thin biface technique appearance in the stone assemblages. These changes give evidence of a transition to the Neolithic in the Upper Volga signalized by the progressive replacement of populations.