Pages: 193-220 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.55086/sp221193220

Layer II of Kostenki 17 has yielded one of the earliest Upper Palaeolithic assemblages in Eastern Europe. In addition to lithic and bone implements, the collection includes numerous ornaments with perforated holes made from fox teeth, petrified remains and soft stones. This collection of ornaments is unique in both the variety of raw materials and the peculiarity of manufacturing technologies. The paper presents the results of a use-wear study of these ornaments, designed to answer the questions about how the raw materials were selected and processed, how the finished adornments were used and what could have been the ways of their getting into the cultural layer. All petrified remains as well as pebbles and faunal materials come from local sources. The processing of belemnite rostras involved a rather complex sequence of different techniques from drilling and engraving to termo-chemical surface treatment. Cutting and abrasion were used to produce some pendants made of soft stone. It is shown that the set of techniques used to make stripes of fox teeth was more diverse than previously thought.

Keywords: Initial Upper Palaeolithic, Eastern Europe, Kostenki, personal ornamentations, techonology, traceology

Information about authors:

Kseniya Stepanova (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dvortsovaya Emb., 18, Saint Petersburg, 191186, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
Anna Malyutina (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dvortsovaya Emb., 18, Saint Petersburg, 191186, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
Alexander Bessudnov (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute for the History of Material Culture, Russian Academy of Sciences. Dvortsovaya Emb., 18, Saint Petersburg, 191186, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
Evgeny Girya (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dvortsovaya Emb., 18, Saint Petersburg, 191186, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]