Use-wear analysis

В статье представлены результаты технологического и экспериментально-трасологического анализов персональных украшений многослойной археологической стоянки Обишир-5 – ключевого объекта позднего плейстоцена – раннего голоцена в западной части Центральной Азии. Изучаемые артефакты из раннеголоценового комплекса памятника (литологические слои 2 и 3) – три подвески овальной, подтреугольной и подпрямоугольной формы, украшение-«лабретка» и заготовка подвески – составляют наиболее раннюю и многочисленную для данного региона серию каменных шлифованных украшений. Все изделия обнаружены в надежных стратиграфических условиях, для вмещающих культурных отложений получена серия радиоуглеродных дат. В результате комплексного петрографического, экспериментально-трасологического и технологического исследования реконструированы операционные последовательности изготовления украшений. Установлено, что в эпоху раннего голоцена их делали из местного сырья – талькита и серпентинита, источник которого находился в 4,5 км от стоянки. Заготовками подвесок служили мелкие гальки, обломки и сколы с более крупных отдельностей сырья. Процесс изготовления включал обработку поверхностей изделий шлифовкой и строганием, биконическое сверление и полировку. Выдвигается предположение о существовании традиции изготовления персональных украшений из мягких пород камня в западной части Центральной Азии 10,700–8,200 кал. л.н. Сопоставление изделий рассматриваемого типа из археологических комплексов финального плейстоцена – раннего голоцена западной части Центральной Азии, Среднего и Ближнего Востока позволило считать их одним из ярких индикаторов развития этих комплексов в одном направлении.

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The stratified site of Obishir-5 is one of the most important Final Pleistocene to Early Holocene sites in western Central Asia. In the Early Holocene component (10,700–8200 cal BP) of this site (layers 2 and 3), we discovered one of the oldest and largest assemblages of soft stone ornaments known from the region. It includes 5 items: three oval, sub-triangular, and sub-rectangular pendants, one “labret”-like ornament, and one ornament blank. All specimens come from stratified and well-dated contexts. As a result of the petrographic, experimental, use-wear, and technological analysis, we reconstructed the chaîne opératoire of these artifacts. To produce them, local raw materials (talcite and serpentinite) were transported from a source located 4.5 km away from the site. Small pebbles, shatters, and spalls split from nodules were used as blanks. The surface of the blank was first prepared using grinders and burins, then biconical drilling and polishing were used to finish the artifact. Our results point to an established tradition of personal ornament production from soft stone in western Central Asia during the Early Holocene. Comparison of these nonutilitarian artifacts with those from other Final Pleistocene to Early Holocene archaeological complexes across Central Asia, the Middle East, and the Near East suggests that personal ornament manufacture may be an important hallmark of social developments across a broad geographic region.

The paper presents the results provided by technical research focused on bone tools and ornaments recovered from layer 11 in the Main Chamber of Denisova Cave in 2016. The manufacture of ornaments involved the use of a great variety of materials: soft gemstones, tubular bones of animals and birds, teeth of herbivorous and carnivorous mammals, ivory, as well as shells from freshwater clams. Production techniques employed for manufacturing bone tools and non- utilitarian objects included several stages: selecting a raw material; obtaining a half-finished product; processing by shaping, scraping, grinding, drilling and polishing. A number of processing methods (grinding, drilling, cutting, polishing), being specific for the early Upper Paleolithic period, were utilized in this industry for producing objects from bone and ivory, as well as for soft stones working. Bone tools are represented by a point and fragments of needle cases or by hafts. According to their function, the ornaments from layer 11 can be classified into various types: flat and dimensional beads; holed beads; pendants with the circular grooves or with one drilled hole; plaques with two holes; an ornamented plate. The use-wear analysis has enabled the identification of the wear traces on the surfaces of the studied products, suggesting utilization and indicating the long-term use. The abundance, morphological and functional variability of the ornaments from layer 11 reflect an exceptional diversity of the methods used for personal ornamentation, implying the existence of preferences and traditions in the use of these objects.

Bone needle, being unique in its well-preserved state, was recovered in 2016 in lithological horizon 11.2 in the Main Chamber of Denisova Cave. The main stages in manufacturing the needle were reconstructed as follows: obtaining a half- finished product from the tubular bone wall of a large mammal by cutting and splitting; shaping and grinding the obtained blank; double-sided drilling and finishing polish. The small diameter of the needle’s eye suggests using a tenuous thread of about 1 mm diameter. This research has made it possible to reveal the wear traces on the needle surface related to the long-term use of the product according to its function. A total of 13 items associated with the context for producing bone needles were recognized and studied in the Paleolithic collections from Denisova Cave. A comparison between these tools and artifacts from the other sites, which yielded similar finds, enables consideration of the bone needles found in layer 11 at Denisova Cave as the earliest articles of this type in Eurasia.

The stages of lithic production developed by hunter-gatherers that occupied Las Vueltas 1 site are inferred from the study of different artifact classes (waste, nuclei and artifacts). It attempts to identify the technological activities involved (procurement, manufacturing, use and discard)
in the management of lithic resources.
The techno-morphological and functional analysis of lithic material allow us to interpret the technological strategies involved in the site under study, as well as to recognize the differentproduction  pathways of the recorded raw materials. Up to now, the results points to the use of
local available raw materials for manufacturing artifacts with little formatting as part of an expedient strategy in a place characterized as a guanaco kill-site.

The stratified site of Obishir-5 is one of the most important Final Pleistocene to Early Holocene sites in western Central Asia. In the Early Holocene component (10,700–8,200 cal BP) of this site (layers 2 and 3), we discovered one of the oldest and largest assemblages of soft stone ornaments known from the region. It includes 5 items: three oval, sub-triangular, and sub-rectangular pendants, one " labret "-like ornament, and one ornament blank. All specimens come from stratified and well-dated contexts. As a result of the petrographic, experimental, use-wear, and technological analysis, we reconstructed the chaîne opératoire of these artifacts. To produce them, local raw materials (talcite and serpentinite) were from a source located 4.5 km away from the site. Small pebbles, shatters, and spalls split from nodules were used as blanks. The surface of the blank was first prepared using grinders and burins, then biconical drilling and polishing were used to finish the artifact. Our results point to an established tradition of personal ornament production from soft stone in western Central Asia during the Early Holocene. Comparison of these nonutilitarian artifacts with those from other Final Pleistocene to Early Holocene archaeological complexes across Central Asia, the Middle East, and the Near East suggests that personal ornament manufacture may be an important hallmark of social developments across a broad geographic region.