Issue 1 (70)
| SMALL BLADE TECHNOLOGY IN THE EARLY UPPER PALEOLITHIC INDUSTRIES FROM DENISOVA CAVE: DATA FROM ANALYSIS OF A LITHIC REDUCTION SEQUENCE | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 2021 | Number | 1(70) |
| Pages | 123-128 | Type | scientific article |
| UDC | 902.2(235.222)“6325” | BBK | 63.442.12(253.7) |
| Authors | Pavlenok Galina D. Kozlikin Maxim B. Shunkov Michael V. |
Topic | ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECONSTRUCTION |
| Summary | The paper discusses the results from an analysis of five cores associated with Layer 11 in the Southern Chamber of Denisova Cave, intended to obtain small elongated blanks such as bladelets and small blades. Analysis of a lithic reduction sequence employed in the research has made it possible to clearly recognize the phases in producing flake scars on lithic artifacts through the preparation of core blanks, and in core reduction, as well as to determine stages at which some of these pieces were used as tools. The analysis provided insights into a general flaking pattern for the cores under study. Such artifacts were predominantly made on large massive flake blanks, had a plain striking platform, and the working edge showing traces of reduction associated with detaching the target flakes. These technological characteristics are fully consistent with the technological repertoire of a hominin group, based on cores from the same assemblage, intended to obtain larger target removals such as flakes and blades. A cross section of the flaking surface shows no evidence for a deliberately created and maintained convex relief, while typologically four of the five artifacts were defined as sub-prismatic. The analysis of a lithic reduction sequence shows that artifacts from the examined collection related to the production of blanks in the form of small flake-blades, without using new techniques and the controlled reduction of a flaking surface. | ||
| Keywords | Altai Mountains, Denisova Cave, early Upper Paleolithic, small blade production, analysis of a lithic reduction sequence | ||
| References |
Derevianko A. P., Shunkov M. V. Formation of the Upper Palaeolithic Traditions in the Altai. Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia, 2004, vol. 3, pp. 12–40. (in English). Derevyanko A. P., Shunkov M. V., Agadzhanyan A. K. et al. Prirodnaya sreda i chelovek v paleolite Gornogo Altaya [Natural environment and man in the Paleolithic of Gorny Altai]. Novosibirsk: IAET SO RAN Publ., 2003. (in Russ.). Derevyanko A. P., Shunkov M. V., Kozlikin M. B. et al. [Recent data on the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic stone tool industries from the Southern Gallery at Denisova Cave]. Problemy arkheologii, etnografii, antropologii Sibiri i sopredel’nykh territoriy [Problems of Archaeology, Ethnography, Anthropology of Siberia and Neighboring Territories]. Novosibirsk: IAET SO RAN Publ., 2018, vol. 24, pp. 82–86. DOI: 10.17746/2658-6193.2018.24.082-086 (in Russ.). Girya E. Yu., Nekhoroshev P. E. [Some technological criteria for archaeological periodization of stone industries]. Rossiyskaya arkheologiya [Russian Archaeology], 1993, no. 4, pp. 5–24. (in Russ.). Jacobs Z., Li B., Shunkov M. V. et al. Timing of archaic hominin occupation of Denisova Cave in southern Siberia. Nature, 2019, iss. 565, no. 7741, pp. 594–599. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0843-2 (in English). Kolobova K. A., Krivoshapkin A. I., Pavlenok K. K. Carinated Pieces in Paleolithic Assemblages of Central Asia. Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia, 2015, vol. 42, pp. 13–29. (in English). Kolobova K. A., Krivoshapkin A. I., Shnaider S. V. Early Geometric Microlith Technology in Central Asia. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2018, vol. 1, pp. 1–13. DOI: 10.1007/s12520-018-0613-y (in English). Kot M. A. The Earliest Middle Paleolithic Bifacial Leafpoints in Central and Southern Europe. Technological Approach: Doc. Diss. Warsaw, 2013. (in English). Ocherednoi A. K. [Flaking systems in the analysis of bifacial tool manufacturing]. Trudy istoricheskogo fakul’teta Sankt-Peterburgskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta [Proceedings of the Faculty of History, Saint Petersburg State University], 2014, no. 18, pp. 215–224. (in Russ.). Pastoors A., Schafer J. Analyse des états techniquesde transformation, d’utilisation et états post-dépositionnels. Illustrée par un outil bifacial de Salzgitter-Lebenstedt (FRG). Préhistoire Européenne, 1999, vol. 14, pp. 33–47. (in French). Pavlenok G., Pavlenok K. Probable Prospects of Using Scar-Pattern for Understanding any Bifacial Technology. The past has a future! Conference to Mark the Centenary of Archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw. Warsaw: University of Warsaw, 2019, pp. 61–62. (in English). Shalagina A. V., Kolobova K. A., Krivoshapkin A. I. [Scar pattern analysis as a method for the reconstruction of lithic artifacts production sequence]. Stratum plus. Arkheologiya i kul’turnaya antropologiya [Stratum plus. Archaeology and Cultural Anthropology], 2019, no. 1, pp. 145–154. (in Russ.). Shalagina A. V., Krivoshapkin A. I., Kolobova K. A. Truncated-faceted pieces in the Paleolithic of Northern Asia. Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia, 2015, vol. 43, pp. 33–45. DOI: 10.1016/j.aeae.2016.02.004 (in English). Shunkov M. V., Kozlikin M. B., Derevianko A. P. Dynamics of the Altai Paleolithic industries in the archaeological record of Denisova Cave. Quaternary International, 2020, vol. 559, pp. 34–46. DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2020.02.017 (in English). Shunkov M. V., Kozlikin M. B., Fedorchenko A. Yu. et al. [Lithic industries of the Middle and Upper Paleolithic from the South Chamber of Denisova Cave: evidence of 2019]. Problemy arkheologii, etnografii, antropologii Sibiri i sopredel’nykh territoriy [Problems of Archaeology, Ethnography, Anthropology of Siberia and Neighboring Territories]. Novosibirsk: IAET SO RAN Publ., 2019, vol. 25, pp. 299–305. DOI: 10.17746/2658-6193.2019.25.299-305 (in Russ.). Uthmeier Th. Transformation Analysis and the Reconstruction of On-Site and Off-Site Activities: Methodological Remarks. The Middle Paleolithic and Early Upper Paleolithic of Eastern Crimea: The Paleolithic of Crimea, vol. 3. Liège: ERAUL, 2004, no. 104, pp. 175–191. (in English). Zwyns N., Lbova L. V. The Initial Upper Paleolithic of Kamenka site, Zabaikal region (Siberia): A closer look at the blade technology. Archaeological Research in Asia, 2019, vol. 17, pp. 24–49. DOI: 10.1016/j.ara.2018.02.004 (in English). |
||
| Download in PDF | |||
