Features of the Raw Material Base of the Paleolithic Industries of South-Eastern Dagestan

DOI_disc_logo https://doi.org/10.14258/tpai(2021)33(4).-06
Keywords: Caucasus, Dagestan, Early Paleolithic, stone raw materials, Acheulean industries, macro-tools

Abstract

The article presents the results of petrographic studies of collections of artifacts, Acheulean and Middle Paleolithic complexes located on the territory of the Darvagchay geoarchaeological region. Throughout the Stone Age, raw stone was a very important resource for the existence of ancient man. The lack of high-quality flint raw materials was the main factor for the conclusion that this territory was rarely visited by ancient people. Archaeological research over the past decade has shown the opposite trend. During the work, more than ten Paleolithic sites were discovered and studied. Analysis of raw material sources showed that there are several main types of rocks in the area of the sites. The petrographic composition of the collections indicates that the overwhelming majority of artifacts are made of flint, limestone and sandstone are isolated items. The flint raw materials used at the sites are distinguished by many internal defects, first of all, by fracturing. The raw material factor played a very important role here. All large, carefully designed macro-tools are made of sandstone and limestone. Mostly poorly designed small items are made of flint. Thus, the size, methods and intensity of stone tools processing demonstrates a direct dependence on the type of raw material.

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Author Biography

A.G. Rybalko, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography SB RAS

Candidate of Historical Sciences, Senior Researcher at the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences

References

Lyubin V.P., Belyaeva E.V. Early Prehistory of the Caucasus. SPb. : Peterburgskoe vostokovedenie, 2006. 108 p. (In Russ.)

Rybalko A.G. Early Paleolithic Industries of the Acheulean Appearance on the Territory of Dagestan. Vestnik Novosibirskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya: Istoriya, filologiya = Bulletin of Novosibirsk State University. Series: History, Philology. 2017;16(5):32–40. (In Russ.)

Rybalko A.G. The Main Types of Macro-Tools in the Acheulean Complexes of South-Eastern Dagestan. Problemy arheologii, etnografii, antropologii Sibiri i sopredel’nyh territorij = Problems of Archaeology, Ethnography, Anthropology of Siberia and Adjacent Territories. Novosibirsk: Izd-vo In-ta arheologii i etnografii SO RAN, 2020. T. XXVI. Pp. 199–205. (In Russ.) DOI: 10.17746/2658-6193.2020.26

Rybalko A.G., Kulik N.A. New Data on the Primary Splitting of the Darvagchai-Bay 1 Parking Lot (based on the materials of the repair). Problemy arheologii, etnografii, antropologii Sibiri i sopredel’nyh territorij = Problems of Archaeology, Ethnography, Anthropology of Siberia and Adjacent Territories.. Novosibirsk : Izd-vo In-ta arheologii i etnografii SO RAN, 2011. T. XVII. Pp. 109–113. (In Russ.)

Published
2021-12-18
How to Cite
Rybalko A. Features of the Raw Material Base of the Paleolithic Industries of South-Eastern Dagestan // THEORY AND PRACTICE OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH, 2021. Vol. 33, № 4. P. 107-113 DOI: 10.14258/tpai(2021)33(4).-06. URL: https://journal.asu.ru/tpai/article/view/10753.
Issue
Vol 33 No 4 (2021)
Section
MATERIAL ANALYSIS IN ARCHAEOLOGY

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