Suchergebnisse

This article presents a new collection of the Early Upper Paleolithic personal ornaments from layer 11 in the South Chamber of Denisova Cave. The collection contains items of several types: a flat round bone bead, pendants made of teeth of predators and ungulates with cutting and perforation, a pendant from a freshwater mollusk shell with a hole, a fragment of a bracelet, a ring and a pendant with cutting made of marble, a small flake from serpentine. As a result of the study, the technologies for ornament production were reconstructed, the main methods of their use were determined, and examples of ornaments reshaping for using according to a new function were recorded. The technology for the teeth pendants production included a short sequence of operations: obtaining blanks, processing by planing or scraping, applying circular cuts or perforating by drilling. The production of flat beads was carried out by cutting out elongated plates from the walls of the tubular bone of large mammals, preparing blanks by planing, cutting out preforms, biconical drilling and grinding. The finished pendants and beads were massively used to decorate clothes and as personal apparel. The technology for the production of ornaments from marble involved a short or longer sequence of actions. To create the most complex marble products, i.e. rings and bracelets, a similar technological sequence was used, including the selection and transportation of raw materials, perforation followed by boring of the resulting hole, grinding, and polishing. Rings and bracelets were used as apparel, and probably had a special status.

The article presents the results of the study of small vertebrate bone remains from the Pleistocene deposits in the South Chamber of Denisova Cave. The taxonomic structure offossil communities was established by 10,842 bones from lithological layers 16-11. According to preliminary data, this part of the profile formed in the interval from the end of MIS 7 to the first half of MIS 3. The general paleogeographic assessment of the natural complexes of the Anui River valley indicates mosaic landscapes during the accumulation of layers 16-11. Taiga massifs alternated with areas of steppe and meadow biotopes. The river flow regime did not change fundamentally. Covering glaciers did not affect this region. Climatic fluctuations were reflected in the changing ratios of the dispersal areas of the forest, steppe, rocky and meadow biotopes. The general trend of climate and natural association changes was expressed in the gradual reduction offorest and expansion of steppe and meadow biotopes. The study of bone samples from the South Chamber showed that the preservation of paleontological material in the sediments in this part of the cave is somewhat better than in the taphocenoses of the Main and East Chambers. Better preservation of bones throughout the section makes it possible to refine the identification and supplement the taxonomic composition of small mammals. Analysis of the ground squirrel cheek teeth morphology from the deposits of layers 16, 15, 13, and 12 showed that they belong to the fossil red-cheeked ground squirrel Spermophillus erythrogenis palaeosibiricus. In the fossil record of layer 11, a form that predates the present-day field vole Microtus agrestis has been preserved, which indirectly indicates the time of the emergence of this taxon.

The article presents the results of unshaped and formal bone tools investigation from the Pleistocene deposits found in the south gallery of Denisova Cave. Bone retouchers of the Late Middle and Early Upper Paleolithic were found in layers 12 and 11, respectively. It has been established that, compared to the Middle Paleolithic retouchers, tools of this type from layer 11 are distinguished by the shaping processing of bone blanks. Fragments of diaphysis have traces of deliberate truncation of transverse edges, trimming of longitudinal edges, removal of sharp edges of fractures by retouching. In addition to the percussion technique, these retouchers were also used for pressure technique retouching, which is consistent with tool samples from the accompanying lithic industry. Formal bone tools from layer 11 include two intact and fragmented polishers, two pins, an awl fragment, a perforator, an eyed needle, and an indeterminate tool blank. These tools were used mainly at various stages of the tanning production: polishers were used for primary processing of hides in order to soften them and remove the hide cuttings, an awl and perforator—for perforating a relatively thick or thinner hide, a needle—when stitching a carefully finished material, stringing or attaching ornaments to clothes. The detailed analysis made it possible to identify a characteristic set of wear signs on each of the tools indicating their long-term use. The toolkit is supplemented by unique bone pins, which, based on the nature of processing and traces of disposal, could have been used to fasten various parts of the costume of the Upper Paleolithic inhabitants of Denisova Cave.

The article presents new evidence from the excavations in Malisina Stijena rock shelter located in the north of the Republic of Montenegro. Excavation in 2021 over the area of 2 х 3 m was made at the drip line in the eastern part of the rock shelter. Deposits up to 2 m thick were exposed. Lithological layers A1-A4, B1, B2, C, and D were identified in the section. Archaeological evidence occurred in most units with the exception of layers A3 and D. Primary reduction in layers C and B was aimed at producing flakes, less frequently, blades following the radial, Levallois, and parallel primary reduction techniques. The toolkit combined typical Middle Paleolithic varieties, such as Mousterian points, Levallois points, and side-scrapers of various types, with the objects typical of the Upper Paleolithic, such as end-scrapers, piercing tools, as well as chisel-like and truncated-faceted tools. Faunal remains testify to hunting large herbivores, such as bison, red deer, and mountain goat. Bones of a hare and large birds were also discovered. Local raw materials from the gravel of the Cehotina River were used for tool production. The closest cultural and chronological parallels to these industries can be found in the complexes of the Final Middle Paleolithic from the sites of Bioce and Crvena Stijena in Central Montenegro. Lithic industry from layer A was distinguished by well-developed small and micro-laminar technique. The toolkit contained the varieties typical of the Final Upper Paleolithic, including backed microblades, microliths, gravettoid points, and small end-scrapers. There is evidence of systematic fishing and hunting birds and small mammals.

The Altai tradition of manufacturing thin foliate bifacial points and ovoid bifaces demonstrates a clear connection with the culture and subsistence strategies of the most ancient Upper Palaeolithic human population of this region. Today, the issues of cultural and chronological attribution and specificity of this tool category as well as the study of its role in the economic and hunting activities of the population in general require profound studies of the primary source base and generalization of the available information based on new archaeological and natural science data. The authors attempt to systematize the collection of the Upper Paleolithic bifaces from Denisova Cave, which is the most extensive and has not yet been the subject of the special study. We identified and refitted 13 bifacial tools of varying degrees of fragmentation from collections from the Main Chamber, the South Chamber, and the Entryway zone of the cave. All products have been defined as bifacially prepared points and side-scrapers of the biconvex leaf-shaped/ovoid morphological group. The working strategy of most bifaces aimed at producing a symmetrical elongated leaf-like shape suggests that the artifacts were possibily used as points. Parallels for the large and small leaf-like forms from Denisova Cave can be found in the Initial and Early Upper Palaeolithic assemblages of the Northwestern and Central Altai. Occurence of intact ovoid bifaces in the Denisova collection was not confirmed; all the available fragments of rounded outlines correspond to the basal parts of the leaf-shaped bifaces in morphometric parameters.

This article provides new research data resulting from an analysis of Holocene deposits excavated at the far end of south chamber in Denisova Cave. 1.6 m thick strata were examined in an area of 12 square meters. Lithological Layers 0, 2, and the upper part of Layer 3, have mostly yielded the pottery fragments dated to the Early Iron Age. The vessels were decorated with rows of pits, "pearls", impressions produced by the corner section of a spatula, and with an affixed smooth or dissected band. A stemmed bone arrowhead with an octagonal cross-section has been associated with this complex as well. The pottery vessel fragments from the lower part of Layer 3 ornamented with impressions of the vertically positioned comb stamp were attributed to the Middle Bronze Age. Pottery found in the same part of the stratigraphic section and Layers 4 and 5 shows features typical of the Afanasievo culture dating back to the Early Bronze Age. The pottery dishware was decorated with a zigzag pattern, imprints from a cord and obliquely arranged sticks, inclined impressions of a smooth or combed stamp, and horizontal grooves. The lithic inventory associated with the Afanasievo complex includes a carefully treated bifacial stemmed arrowhead, crescent-shaped knife, scrapers of various types, retouched flakes, and large pebble tools. Scarcely represented lithic tools, including the fragments of insets from Layer 8, may be attributed to the early Holocene. In general, the 2021 excavations showed that, during the Bronze and Iron Ages, humans inhabited the dark and narrow areas of the cave far from its entrance just as actively as the relatively bright and spacious parts of the site.