Experimental Study of the Middle Paleolithic Technique from the Chagyrskaya Cave Assemblages in 2017

The article presents first and preliminary results of experimental study conducted as a part of the multidisciplinary exploration of the Middle Paleolithic complexes in Chagyrskaya Cave in 2017. Research program included physical simulation of mineral raw material knapping and stone tools production, as well as experiments on manufacturing bone tools and using the resulting bone replicas for processing organic and non-organic materials available to the inhabitants of Chagyrskaya Cave. The experiments on processing stone tools by retouchers made of long bones of large mammals have made it possible to identify the sequence traces of utilization and compare the results with the tools from the archaeological assemblage of Chagyrskaya Cave. This data forms the basis for the further experimental trace analysis of the Middle Paleolithic complexes from the Altai Mountains.