Pages: 255-270

Recent excavations in Dvoinaya cave have led to the discovery of three cultural layers dating from the Late Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic. The typological and traceological analyses of stone tools enabled the authors to identify functions of numerous points and geometric microliths, which appear to have been used as hunting projectiles (arrowheads and insets). Each cultural layer is thought to represent a distinct cultural tradition. The earliest (Late Upper Palaeolithic) layer is characterized by composite arrowheads with lateral insets and pointed tips. The Early Mesolithic assemblage is dominated by oblique point arrowheads in the form of segments. In the Late Mesolithic the former two types still continue to exist, but are supplemented with transverse arrowheads in the form of trapezes.

Keywords: North Caucasus, Upper Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Dvoinaya Cave, stone tools, hunting projectiles, typology, usewear analysis

Information about authors:

Olesya Aleksandrova (Moscow, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dmitry Ulyanov St., 19, Moscow, 117036, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
Elena Leonova (Moscow, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dmitry Ulyanov St., 19, Moscow, 117036, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]