Pages: 201-226

The paper is devoted to the pre-Mousterian sites of Khryashchi and Mikhailovskoe, and the Mousterian workshops and occupation sites of Kalitvenka and Biryuchia balka 1а and 2. Special attention is given to the methods of raw material procurement and processing, as well as to the influence its physical properties exerted on the technology and typology of the industries under consideration. The author concludes, that though the quality, abundance, and accessibility of raw materials were important factors constraining the process of flaking and blank production, the crucial role was played by human technological skills and expertise, which could have been high enough to overcome the difficulties caused by rock properties. The Middle Paleolithic humans made a good progress in the methods of raw material acquisition and processing, and the first specialized stone workshops too appeared during that time.

Keywords: Early Palaeolithic, Mousterian, raw materials, quartz, flint, technology, Russian Plain

Information about author:

Alexander Matioukhine (St.-Petersburg, Russia). Doctor of historical sciences. Institute for the History of Material Culture, Russian Academy of Sciences.

E-mail: [email protected]