scholarly journals BARMAKY SITE IN THE CONTEXT OF EPIGRAVETTIAN OF THE MIDDLE DNIEPER BASIN

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 107-125
Author(s):  
V. P. Chabai ◽  
D. V. Stupak ◽  
A. P. Veselsky ◽  
D. V. Dudnyk
Keyword(s):  
Red Deer ◽  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Cultural Layer ◽  
Paleolithic Site ◽  
Cultural Layers ◽  
Field Campaigns ◽  
Loess Deposits ◽  
Fauna Composition

The Upper Paleolithic site Barmaky, 2nd cultural layer from Volyhnia-Lublin upland is the most western manifestation of Epigravettian of the Mid Dnieper basin. During several field campaigns the 147 m2 of cultural deposits with three pits and one chalk / marl concentration were studied (fig. 1). The silty-loess deposits of Barmaky, 2 accumulated about 19 kyr cal BP (table 1) under the permafrost conditions. The fauna assemblage is represented by: mammoths, bison, reindeer, red deer, horse, bear, wolf, wolverine, polar fox, fox and hare. More than 100 thousand artifacts were recovered during the last two field campaigns. In essential account (without chips, chunks, unidentifiable debitage), the artifacts assemblage is represented by: cores and pre-cores — 0.87 %; flakes — 45.23; blades — 17.34; bladelets — 14.27; micro-blades — 7.34; burin spalls — 8.08; tools — 6.79 % (table 2). The reduction sequences are based on the flaking of uni-, bidirectional sub-cylindrical and narrow flaking surface unidirectional cores for blades and bladelets (table 3; fig. 2). There is no evidence of micro-blade technology implication. The structure of tool-kit is characterized by the dominance of burins — about 50 %; microliths — 25 %; and truncated pieces — about 18 % (table 4). The rest of tool classes are represented by a few percentages each. Among them are the end-scrapers on blades with truncated base (fig. 3). The most part of burins are represented by pieces made on obliquely truncated blades (table 5; fig. 4). Also, the obliquely truncated blades dominate the truncated pieces assemblage (table 6; fig. 5). The most representative type of microliths is the micro-points with abruptly retouched straight back and obliquely retouched base (table 7; fig. 6). The points, pendants, bracelet fragment made on tusk and perforated fossil marine shells from local chalk deposits are available. The composition of microliths, burins and end-scrapers in Barmaky, 2 tool-kit is characteristic to the cultural layers beyond the dwelling structures on such base-camps as Mezhyrich (fig. 7). Also, the presences of pits and fauna composition are close to what expected from Epigravettian base-camps. The artifacts assemblage of Barmaky, 2 belongs to the Mizyn industry. Also, Barmaky, 2 is the earliest manifestation of Epigravettian in the Mid Dnieper basin.

scholarly journals 14C Dating of the Upper Paleolithic Site at Krems-Hundssteig in Lower Austria

Radiocarbon ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
E M Wild ◽  
C Neugebauer-Maresch ◽  
T Einwögerer ◽  
P Stadler ◽  
P Steier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Radiocarbon Date ◽  
Cultural Layer ◽  
Archaeological Remains ◽  
14C Dating ◽  
Paleolithic Site

The open-air archaeological site at Krems-Hundssteig is a well-known Upper Paleolithic site located in Lower Austria. The site was discovered in the late 19th/early 20th centuries when a large number of archaeological remains were collected during the course of loess quarrying. Although no systematic excavation has ever been performed, Krems-Hundssteig has been described since its discovery as typical of the Aurignacian period in this region based on the numerous archaeological finds; accordingly, the culture has been named Kremsien by some authors. Surprisingly, the artifacts found in a recent excavation adjacent to this location showed solely Gravettian features, calling into question the original assignment to the Aurignacian. Although the earlier assignment was supported by a radiocarbon date of ∼35 kyr BP (Hahn 1977), new accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C dates proved that the recently excavated cultural layer originates from the Gravettian period. Older paleosols were also detected by sondage drillings at some depth below it.The new results indicate that a large Aurignacian level and a substantial complex of Gravettian layers are present in this area. Therefore, it must be assumed that more than 1 cultural level was affected and destroyed by the historic loess quarrying, and that the assemblage of Krems-Hundssteig artifacts, traditionally ascribed to the Aurignacian, might be interspersed with Gravettian pieces.

scholarly journals Archeozoological Characteristics of the Shchapova 2 Paleolithic Site in Irkutsk

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
pp. 3-22
Author(s):  
D. G. Malikov ◽  
◽  
V. V. Sizova ◽  
N. E. Berdnikova ◽  
I. M. Berdnikov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cervus Elaphus ◽  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
Red Deer ◽  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Large Mammals ◽  
Paleolithic Site ◽  
Layer 4 ◽  
Steppe Bison ◽  
Short Time ◽  
Bone Remains

The paper presents the detailed results of the archaeozoological study of the large mammals from the Shchapova 2 Upper Paleolithic site located in Irkutsk. Excavations in 2019 revealed four conditionally defined horizons with archaeological and faunal material; within the studied area subaerial sediments of deluvial origin were uncovered. Layers 3 and 4 were attributed to the Karginian period (MIS 3), layer 2 to the Early Sartanian period (MIS 2), layer 1 to the Holocene (MIS 1). The largest number of bone remains was obtained from layer 4. Altogether we recognized ten taxa: Spermophilus sp., Panthera spelaea, Mammuthus primigenius, Equus sp., Coelodonta antiquitatis, Cervus elaphus, Megaloceros giganteus, Alces alces, Rangifer tarandus, Bison priscus. The species composition of Shchapova 2 site is characteristic of the Late Pleistocene of region with a predominance of horse and steppe bison, diversity of cervids and presence of woolly mammoth and rhinoceros. Most of the bones have only slightly weathered surfaces. It indicates that the bulk of the bone remains were only exposed for a short time on the surface or in the soil prior to deeper burial. The analysis of the faunal material suggests that the accumulation of bones from layers 3 and 4 took place in the hunter camp. The subsistence strategy was based primarily on two game animals: horse and steppe bison. Horses and steppe bison were killed in the immediate vicinity of the site. Sometimes red deer and moose were hunted from remote areas. Large parts of horse and steppe bison carcasses were transported from a kill and initial butchering site to a residential and consumption site. Most likely the complete and unprocessed reindeer carcasses were brought to the camp. Reindeer skull fragments found in the layer 4 indicate that the Shchapova 2 site most likely was seasonally occupied during late autumn or winter. However, due to the small amount of bones these data are preliminary. The fauna from the Upper Paleolithic site Shchapova 2 is indicative of tundra-steppe. The presence of red deer and moose remains suggests the forest in the vicinity of the site, probably represented by floodplain forests.

scholarly journals Comparison Study of Cultural Layers Preservation at the Moiltyn Am Site (Central Mongolia)

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 70-85
Author(s):  
Daria V. Marchenko ◽  
Arina M. Khatsenovich ◽  
Evgeny P. Rybin ◽  
Dashzeveg Bazargur ◽  
Gunchinsuren Byambaa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Research Methods ◽  
Sediment Accumulation ◽  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Comparison Study ◽  
Paleolithic Site ◽  
Central Mongolia ◽  
Layer 4 ◽  
Value Range ◽  
Cultural Layers

Archaeological sites with unclear conditions of sediment accumulation and stratigraphic disturbances are always complicated to research. Usually other sites in the region with better preservation of cultural layers helps to understand and divide them into cultural chronological stages. However lack of such sites results in the need to find other approaches and research methods to study stratigraphic positions of cultural horizons. Purpose. This article considers approaches and methods and their application to estimate the preservation of cultural layers at the Upper Paleolithic site of Moiltyn Am in Central Mongolia. Results. The authors analyzed positions of artifacts from layers 1.2, 2, 3 and 4. Indexes of layer 1.2 fall within the value range, characteristic to rockfall. Layers 2 and 3 are also close to rockfall, but the level of isotropy falls outside the limits of its range. Layer 4 is closer to the range of solifluction. Conclusions. The authors correlated lithological divisions, revealed in 2018–2019, and stratigraphic units, that previous researchers divided and described. Sediments of Layer 4 were accumulated under the solifluction process and went through post-sedimentological disturbances, that also impacted the underlying layers. Layers 2 and 3 were formed under drier conditions.

scholarly journals Výsledky revízneho výskumu mladopaleolitickej lokality v Moravanoch nad Váhom-Podkovici (Slovenská republika)

2021 ◽  
pp. 11-28
Author(s):  
Bibiána Hromadová ◽  
Adrián Nemergut ◽  
Laurent Klaric ◽  
Martina Moravcová Ábelová ◽  
Martin Vlačiky
Keyword(s):  
Field Research ◽  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Faunal Remains ◽  
Paleolithic Site ◽  
The North ◽  
Multidisciplinary Analysis ◽  
New Material ◽  
Cultural Layers ◽  
Cultural Classification ◽  
Stone Industry

The Paleolithic site in Moravany nad Váhom-Podkovica is located in the north-eastern part of the Moravian settlement area and is among the most famous Upper Paleolithic sites in Slovakia. It is a key site of the Willendorf-Kostenkian and the so-called shouldered Point Horizon in Central Europe. Despite decades of research, interest during the previous century and the numerous existing – but lost or scattered – collections, the context of the finds and the characteristics of the cultural layers remain almost unknown. Modern research methods and the absence of the relevant chrono-cultural classification of the assemblages led to reopening the field research. This research aims to review and reassess the results of older excavations, to identify the exact location of the site and the conditions of the preservation of the layers. The goal is also to collect new material suitable for multidisciplinary analysis and dating as most of the old collections have been scattered. The new excavations conducted at the site in 2016 and 2019 brought interesting results, such as a preserved anthropogenic layer with an evident structure filled with datable material. This article presents the methodology and the results of this work with a focus on the first mineralogical evaluations, the analysis of faunal remains and an overview of the stone industry.

scholarly journals Age of the Upper Paleolithic sites in Kapova and Ignatievskaya caves (Southern Ural): revision and interpretations of the radiocarbon dates

2020 ◽  
pp. 5-16
Author(s):  
Y.V. Dublyansky ◽  
V.N. Shirokov
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Cultural Layer ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Cave Sediments ◽  
Animal Bones ◽  
Cultural Layers ◽  
Practical Recommendations ◽  
Late Part ◽  
The Last Glacial

There are two caves containing groups of wall paintings of the Upper Paleolithic age known in the Southern Ural: Kapova (Shulgan-Tash) and Ignatievskaya (Yamazy-Tash). In total, about 200 pictorial motifs have been recorded in the Kapova cave, among which there are life-like depictions of Pleistocene animals (mammoth and rhinoceros). Some 180 pictorial motifs have been found in the Ignatievskaya cave, which also show images of the Pleistocene fauna (mammoth and rhinoceros), although less realistic than those in the Kapova cave. The cultural layers have been discovered in the cave sediments at both sites. Archaeological excavations in the Kapova cave revealed multiple cultural layers which contained remains of the hearths, stone artefacts, fragments of ochre, decorations made of stone and tusk, a piece of burnеd clay cup, bone tools and animal bones (some with traces of ochre paint). In the Ignatievskaya cave, the Paleolithic cultural layer contains numerous fragments of charcoal, stone artefacts, rare fragments of ochre, decorations made from teeth of arctic fox and bison and from mammoth tusk, as well as the bones of Pleistocene animals. In the past two decades, a series of radiocarbon dates has been reported by different researchers based on the charcoal and bones from the cultural layers in both caves. Seventeen dates have been reported for the Kapova cave, including 14 Upper Paleolithic, 2 Bronze Age and 1 modern dates. The materials from the cultural layer of the Ignatievskaya cave have yielded 6 radiocarbon dates; another 3 dates were obtained directly from the charcoal used for the black paintings in the cave. Our analysis of publications, in which the radiocarbon dates from the Upper Paleolithic cultural layers of the Kapova and Ignati-evskaya caves are used, has revealed that the dating results are often reported inaccurately or incompletely, which leads to serious errors in interpretations. In particular, the incorrect use of non-calibrated radiocarbon dates as calendar ages, completely changes the paleoclimatic context of the cave occupation; for the Kapova cave, for instance, such misinterpretation shifts the dates of the cave visiting and painting from the late part of the Last Glacial Maximum and early deglaciation to the Bølling-Allerød interstadial. In this paper, we revisit the published radiocarbon ages for these two Southern Ural sites, provide practical recommendations and re-emphasize the importance for accurate and complete reporting of radiocarbon ages in publications.

scholarly journals Research of the Late Paleolithic Site Pritubinsk I in the South-Minusinsk Hollow: On the Variability of Kokorevo Culture of the Middle Yenisei

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 3-16
Author(s):  
E. V. Akimova ◽  
◽  
V. M. Kharevich ◽  
I. V. Stasyuk ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Current Data ◽  
Cultural Layer ◽  
Scientific Interest ◽  
Paleolithic Site ◽  
North West ◽  
Late Paleolithic ◽  
Cultural Layers ◽  
Xix Century ◽  
Expected Outcomes

Since the XIX century, South-Minusinsk hollow has been an area of scientific interest for the Paleometal Epoch and Middle Ages researches although many years of intense focus investigations of any ancient sites have not brought the expected outcomes. Based on current data, the territory of South-Minusinsk hollow had been affected by disastrous meltwater freshets three times during the Sartan period (MIS 2), which destroyed cover deposits that could have included the Late Paleolithic sites and Pleistocene fauna remains. Currently, the only known Late Paleolithic site there is Pritubinsk I. Survey works were conducted in 2017–2018. The first cultural layer (11 492±200 ВР) included 853 stone artefacts, mostly small flakes and generalized flakes. The collection also consists of wedge-shaped microcores, graftoir scrapers, burins on small blades and flakes, choppers, retouched flakes and blades. The second cultural layer (14 485±150 ВР) included 320 items among them wedge-shaped core, bigger burins, circular end-scrappers, fragments of blades and microblades, numerous pieces and flakes. The most interest is a «trove» of five end-scrappers (three of them had a broken handle), large blades, flakes with retouche, a piece of a chisel-like tool and three flakes. Trasological study revealed traces of scraping, supplemented by traces of cutting and shaping on six subjects, as well as traces of transportation, which indicate that cores, blanks and tools had been carried all together. Stone inventory of both cultural layers allows us to attribute it to the Kokorevo archaeological culture of the Middle Yenisei. However, the southernmost Kokorevo sites are remote north-west from Pritubinsk I for more than 150 kilometers. Discovering of the site in the lower reaches of Tuba river rises a question about the references of industries between Kokorevo sites of the Yenisei and remote Pritubinsk I. The collection of stone inventory is characterized by multiple multifunctional tools and lack of large cores, which are traditional for Kokorevo. We suppose that Pritubinsk I could have been a hunter’s camping with certain functions (dressing, production of the tools etc.). As for the large cores, they could have been produced in other places. As a result, Pritubinsk I is the only evidence that Kokorevo people settled far away to the East from the indicated area.

scholarly journals The studies on the Sungir Upper Paleolithic site in 2014–2015

2021 ◽  
pp. 8-35
Author(s):  
Konstantin Gavrilov ◽  
◽  
Ekaterina Voskresenskaya ◽  
Daria Eskova ◽  
Sergey Lev ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Structure ◽  
Spatial Organization ◽  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Cultural Layer ◽  
Paleolithic Site ◽  
Archaeological Material ◽  
Stratigraphic Position ◽  
Archaeological Work ◽  
Stone Industry ◽  
Technological Study

The article is devoted to the results of archaeological excavations carried out on the Sungir in 2014-2015. The main purpose of these works was to obtain new data on the spatial structure of the cultural layer of the Sungir site. The relevance of these studies is caused by still unsolved question of whether Sungir can be considered as a site with a complex archaeological stratigraphy or the features of its spatial structure are only the result of natural postdepositional processes. Descriptions and characteristics of the stratigraphy of sediments, the spatial organization of the cultural layer, the species’ attribution and taphonomy of the faunal collection, the typology and technology of the stone industry, as well as new radiocarbon dating are given. It is noted that the excavations of 2015 were conducted on the peripheral part of the accumulations which were opened in the excavation unit III by O.N. Bader. Most of the animal bones found during excavations can be considered as belonging to species that the settlers hunted. The analysis of the stone inventory allowed us to identify the following production chains of manufacture: the production of large flakes, the production of blades, and the production of thin bifaces. The data obtained during the typological and technological study of blades and bladelets make it possible to suggest the existence of the fundamental differences between the Sungir industry and the industries of the Aurignacian technocomplex. Predominance of large flakes in the Sungir stone industry, as well as the characteristic techniques in bifaces production, which were recorded in the collection, allow us to consider so-called Streletskian culture as a more reasonable analogy to it. The stratigraphic position both of artifacts and accumulations of archaeological material, as well as the spatial context of the dated bone samples from reconnaissance trench No. 4 (2014), support the conclusion that the cultural layer of the Sungir site was formed in several stages. The results of archaeological work carried out on Sungir in 2014–2015 indicate the real perspectives for its further study. One of the urgent tasks facing the researchers of this outstanding site is the reconstruction of the spatial structure, including its archaeological stratigraphy.

scholarly journals Stone industry of the Kamennobalkovsky culture – current state of research (on the materials of the 2nd cultural layer of sites Kamennaya Balka II and Tretiy Mys)

2020 ◽  
pp. 66-85
Author(s):  
Nina Anatol'evna Khaikunova ◽  
Ekaterina Aleksandrovna Vinogradova
Keyword(s):  
Morphological Analysis ◽  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Cultural Layer ◽  
Current State ◽  
Cultural Layers ◽  
The Subject ◽  
State Of Research ◽  
Stone Industry

The subject of this research is the collection of tools from the middle cultural layers of Upper Paleolithic monuments Kamennaya Balka II and the Tretiy Mys located in the Lower Don. The monuments that have been studied over the course of 50 years by scientific archaeological expeditions of Moscow University and State Historical Museum required additional examination and clarification of the main characteristics of stone industry, according to which was determined the Kamennobalkovsky Paleolithic culture. The traditional typological method of research was applied in working with the collections. The basic categories of tools processed via morphological analysis served as the foundation for this research. The author describes and compares the main categories of instrument, such as microliths with a blunted point, incisors, scrapers, burins, scaly and denticulate tools. The author identified and verified the signs that confirm similarity of the monuments and discrepancies in morphology of the groups and categories of tools. As a result, belonging of the middle cultural layers of monuments to Kamennobalkovsky culture was verified, which implies the 1,500-2,000 years of existence and development of the culture. It is also noted that the differences can be of temporal or industrial in nature at different sites of the monuments. The inventory of the main cultural layer of Kamennaya Balka II and 2nd cultural layer of the site Tretiy Mys is characterized with individual attributes that are distinct from the earlier or later layers of Kamennaya Balka sites.

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