Characterization of the Obsidian Used in the Chipped Stone Industry in Kendale Hecala

Kendale Hecala is located on the Ambar River in the Upper Tigris Basin, province of Diyarbakır in Southeast Anatolia. Various raw materials, including obsidian, radiolarite, chert, jasper, chalcedony, and quartzite, were used in the lithic industry. Obsidian artefacts constitute an average of 64% of the chipped stone assemblage. Technological analysis reveals that obsidian was brought to the settlement as nodules and chipped into various tools at the settlement. Understanding the operational sequence of the lithic industry, chaîne opératoire, including the distribution of raw material from source to site, is important to demonstrate the socio-cultural organization of the settlement in Southeastern Anatolia during the Ubaid period. In order to identify source varieties, the obsidian artefacts uncovered from Ubaid layers of Kendale Hecala were analyzed by macro-observations, and the characterization of archaeological samples was performed using a handheld XRF. Multivariate analysis of the data indicates the use of obsidian from different resources at the settlement, including Nemrut Dağ, Bingöl B, and Group 3d.

Mesolithic Sites in the Upper Tobol

The article introduces prehistoric artifacts from the sites of Karasor-5, Karasor-6, and Karasor-7 obtained in 1998. The archaeological site of Karasor is located in the Upper Tobol region, near the town of Lisakovsk. Stone tools, pottery fragments, a ceramic item, and a bronze arrow head were collected from a sand blowout, which had destroyed the cultural layer. The paper gives a detailed description of the pottery. The stone tools were examined using the technical and typological analysis, which featured the primary splitting, the morphological parameters and size of plates, the ratio of blanks, plates, flakes, and finished tools, the secondary processing methods, and the typological composition of the tools. The nature of the raw materials was counted as an independent indicator. The pottery fragments, the bronze arrow head, and the ceramic item belonged to the Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age. The stone industry of the Karasor archeological cluster proved to be a Mesolithic monument of the Turgai Trough. The technical and typological analysis revealed a close similarity with the Mesolithic sites of the Southern and Middle Trans-Urals, as well as the forest-steppe part of the Tobol-Irtysh interfluve. The stone artifacts were dated from the Mesolithic to the Early Iron Age.

Effect of Ornamental Stone Waste Incorporation on the Rheology, Hydration, Microstructure, and CO2 Emissions of Ordinary Portland Cement

The ornamental stone industry generates large amounts of waste thus creating environmental and human health hazards. Thus, pastes with 0–30 wt.% ornamental stone waste (OSW) incorporated into ordinary Portland cement (OPC) were produced and their rheological properties, hydration kinetics, and mechanical properties were evaluated. The CO2 equivalent emissions related to the pastes production were estimated for each composition. The results showed that the paste with 10 wt.% of OSW exhibited similar yield stress compared to the plain OPC paste, while pastes with 20 and 30 wt.% displayed reduced yield stresses up to 15%. OSW slightly enhanced the hydration kinetics compared to plain OPC, increasing the main heat flow peak and 90-h cumulative heat values. The incorporation of OSW reduced the 1-, 3-, and 28-days compressive strength of the pastes. Water absorption results agreed with the 28 days compressive strength results, indicating that OSW increased the volume of permeable voids. Finally, OSW incorporation progressively reduced the CO2 emission per m3 of OPC paste, reaching a 31% reduction for the highest 30 wt.% OSW content. Overall, incorporating up to 10 wt.% with OSW led to pastes with comparable fresh and hardened properties as comported to plain OPC paste.

Women in the Stone Sector: Challenges and Opportunities from an Educational Point of View

In the era of Industry 4.0, gender discrimination still exists especially in be male-dominated workplaces, such as the stone sector. Combating gender discrimination in the stone sector is a demanding task that calls for integrated planning and targeted interventions. This paper presents the results of the “WinSTONE” Erasmus+ project, aiming at the development of suitable training tools for the integration of women in the stone industry. Based on the main challenges, as well as on the emerging opportunities for women in the sector, a training methodology is being developed to deal with the actual needs.

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

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.

Gloss and Modelling Studies of Stone Polishing, Using Linear Polishing Machines With Rotating Heads

The ornamental stone industry has always played an important role in the world economy, particularly in building construction. Polishing the slabs to increase its gloss, is an important processing operation to enhance the beauty and richness of these natural materials. Many industrial polishing machines rely on rotating heads movement along zigzag trajectories, eroding the surface as stochastically as possible, to avoid scratches and other visual defects caused by paths too symmetric. The displacement of the polishing head after a single zigzag movement and after a single rotation have been used to quantify the polishing process as these two parameters are related with the final stone gloss and are a measure of the efficiency of the polishing process. Applying experimental and new computer simulation techniques, we studied the influence of these two tool displacement parameters on the final stone gloss, and acquired insight into the accuracy of the simulation techniques that were applied here for the first time. We concluded that: 1) a clear correlation can be established between experimental and simulation data; 2) the two displacement parameters represent an effective way to control the quality and efficiency of the polishing process; 3) there is a limit for the gloss acquired through polishing processes, so polishing above a given threshold decreases the efficiency without increasing the quality.

PROBLEMS OF THE EARLY PALEOLITHIC CULTURE OF CENTRAL ASIA (ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE SELUNGUR MONUMENT)

To date, more than 20 open and closed sites and finds of the Lower (Early) Paleolithic have been identified and studied in Central Asia. Examples: Burikazgan, Tanirkazgan, Kyzyltov 1, Kuldara, Lakhuti 1, Kulbulak, Kyzylolma, Toshsay, Dzharsai, Selungur, Chashma and other monuments. However, despite the fact that some monuments (Kizilolma, Kolbulak, Selungur, etc.) are well studied, there are various discussions about their cultural and periodic specifics. The stone crafts of these monuments have not been sufficiently studied from a technical and typological point of view, and their standard sheets have not yet been developed. Therefore, no unambiguous conclusions about the cultural and periodic features of the monuments were made. One of these monuments is the Selungur Cave. The article provides a brief overview of the history of the Early Paleolithic, the study of the Selungur Cave, the stone industry, fauna and flora, as well as the paleoanthropological finds of the Early Paleolithic, the only ones in the region (ancient human bones have not survived). found in other sites). In particular, the article briefly discusses critical views on the cultural-periodic interpretation of the Selungur site, as well as some comments on the cultural-periodic features of the monument

Age and Natural Environment of the Horse Hunters' Site Sholma I in the Right Bank of the Volga in Chuvashia

The paper presents new data on the dating and paleogeography of the Sholma I site, which has been studied by the authors since the early 2000s on the Tsivil River in Chuvashia. Two AMS dates obtained from horse bones from the 2017 excavation: 10838-10717 Cal BC (95,4%) (UOC-8154) и 11131-10846 Cal BC (95,4%) (UOC-8155) confirmed the authors ' opinion expressed in 2009 that the site of the final Paleolithic functioned in the natural conditions of the interstadial warming of the Allerød at the end of the ice Age. Results of a soil study of samples in 2017, in particular, analyzes for the content of gross phosphorus and microbiomorphs carried out by A. A. Golyeva are highlighted. Analogies to the features of the blade stone industry and trapezoid inserts of throwing weapons in the sites of the Pleistocene and Holocene boundary are revealed. As a result, the authors have outlined two possible directions of communication of specialized hunters who came to the Middle Volga region with a characteristic set of combat weapons in the conditions of interstadial warming. It could be south-east and south-west directions. The south-eastern one is represented by complexes with trapezia of the lower layers of the Shiderty 3 site in north-eastern Kazakhstan and the Gora Mayak settlement in the Samara trans-Volga region, and the south-western one – by the sites with trapezia and other forms of inserts that existed during Allerød in the valleys of the Seversky Donets and the Middle Don.

Materials of the Early Neolithic Culture of Site Dobroe 9 at the Upper Don

In the vicinity of Site Dobroe on the right bank of the Voronezh River it was discovered an accumulation of the Neolithic monuments, on the three of which the Early Neolithic pottery of the Srednedonskaya culture of the VI millennium BC was received. At the Site Dobroe 9, a homogeneous lithological layer was revealed, containing only the materials of this culture: pottery, bones, stone products. At the moment, 99 sq.m. of the site were researched by the excavations. The date of the pottery collection of the site was established as the last quarter of the VI millennium BC. In author’s opinion the given ceramics has the transitional character from the early Srednedonskaya culture phase, featuring ceramics decorated mainly with triangular pins, to the late phase of this culture, where the comb imprint decoration becomes widespread. The use of geochemical methods allowed the authors to reconstruct the features of the paleoclimate. During the existence of the representatives of the Srednedonskaya Neolithic culture, cool climatic conditions are replaced by warming and humidity increases. There was an increase in anthropogenic activity. This lithologically homogeneous cultural layer is dated-6150±100 BP (5317-4839 calBC) SPb-2840. This stone industry is represented by the flake technique. In total 207 stone artifacts were discovered, and 65 from them were tools. Such a small number probably indicates a high level of the industries that replace them: bone-carving and woodworking. The analysis of the faunal collection suggests the dominant role of the hunting in the ancient population.

Stone equipment of the Poludensky complex of the Kedrovy Mys-1 site

The paper deals with the complex analysis of the stone equipment of the Kedrovy Mys-1 site associated with the Poludensky tradition, classical for the Trans-Urals, dated to the Late Neolithic period. On the basis of typologi-cal and functional analyses, aimed at the study of tool shapes and identification of their correlation with the func-tional purpose, specifics of the stone industry of the Poludensky complex have been determined. The tools manu-factured at the site of Kedrovy Mys-1 were produced from the materials from the valley of the river Miass, situated behind the Ilmensky ridge, approximately 20–25 km away from the site. Dominant materials are phtanitoids and sealing-wax green jade; these quality materials were scarce, so that local chalcedonies were used. The stone industry based on the prismatic flaking was aimed at the production of plates as the feedstock for the tools. For the production of tools, preference was given to the medium-width plates, with a little use of small plates. A fea-ture of the complex is represented by the tools indicating the existence of the insert technique, such as plates with the rounded back and face, chamfered tips, “triangle”, and unretouched plates used as knives. Mainly blunting retouching, and sometimes sharpening, was used for the plate processing from the back side. A cutter spalling as the tool shaping technique was used occasionally. No cutters were found. Typologically identified tools are repre-sented by arrow tips, end scrapers, piercers, borers, scrapers on the flakes and nucleus cleavage, chopping tools, abrasives, and a retoucher. Specifics of the Poludensky toolset of the Kedrovy Mys-1 site allows suggestion that during this period of the site the main activity of the population was concerned with food processing — meat cut-ting and catch processing. This is evidenced by the predominance of the knives for meat/fish cutting. The propor-tion of tools used for the production of wooden equipment is quite small, which is probably due to the sampling, although morphologically it is very prominent. In the meantime, the presence of tools for processing of skin, stone, bone, and for repair of ceramics indicates a full cycle of the production activity ensuring efficient adaptation in the lake system environment.