Functional use of large stone tool from the Upper Paleolithic site of Kamennaya Balka II (the Northern Azov Sea region, Russia)статьяИсследовательская статья
Статья опубликована в журнале из списка Web of Science и/или Scopus
Дата последнего поиска статьи во внешних источниках: 8 апреля 2022 г.
Аннотация:The assemblages of many Paleolithic sites on the Russian Plain contain large pebbles of varioustypes of stone, which, due to the natural and unmodified forms, rarely become objects of special study.Some of them retain their natural shape, others are slightly artificially modified. In the course of ourresearch, artifacts from several Paleolithic sites in Russia and the Republic of Moldova were subjectedto a comprehensive study. Technical-morphological and experimental-traceological studies made itpossible to characterize the methods of their manufacture and use. Among the items studied, there is atrapezoidal slab retrieved in the lower layer of the Late Paleolithic stratified site Kamennaya Balka II(the Northern Azov Sea region, Russia). On its surface, use-wear traces were found, which arecharacteristic of wear traces on tools used to grind plant materials. To verify the results of thetraceological analysis, a series of experiments was performed. The wear traces on the working part ofthe experimental tool turned out to be similar to those found on the original one. The functionalidentification of the slab from Kamennaya Balka II as a tool for processing plants was also confirmedby the discovery on the working surface of mineralized starch grains.This comprehensive study of an unmodified stone artifact from the Kamennaya Balka II site andits identification as the lower grinding stone indicates the presence of complex foraging strategiesamong the economic activities of the inhabitants of the site and their successful adaptation to thenatural environment in this region.