North-Western Altai; Upper Paleolithic; Strashnaya cave; bone industry; needles
Abstract :
[en] Paleolithic sites in Altai became widely known not only due to the unique paleoanthropological remains, but also because of the discovery of the traces of the non-utilitarian activity of the earliest ancient humans. In the Initial Upper Paleolithic complexes from the Denisova Cave, a numerous assemblage of ornaments and tools made of bone and antler was discovered. Up to the latest research stage the finds of bone tools were unique among the regional Initial and Early Upper Paleolithic. This situation changed with the discovery in the Upper Paleolithic assemblages from the Strashnaya cave of bone tools including various pendants, needles, points and perforators. One of the most impressive part of the bone industry from the Strashnaya cave are two bone needles. The first proximal-medial fragment of the needle with the eyelet was found at the bottom part of the Upper Paleolithic deposits (layer 33). The second find, a distal fragment, originated from the layer 31а in the upper part of the profile. The main stages of both needles manufacture and utilization were reconstructed. Taking in account the available radiocarbon dates, bone needles from the Strashnaya cave fit into a chronological interval of 44 to 19 kyr. A comparison of the bone needles with the needles from the Paleolithic sites from nearby territories made it possible to reveal analogies in the Initial and Early Upper Paleolithic complexes of the Denisova Cave, the Talbaga site (Transbaikal region ), and in the assemblages from Middle Yenisei Upper Paleolithic sites (Lystinka, Afontova Gora-2).
Disciplines :
Archaeology
Author, co-author :
Shalagina, Alëna; Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences