Pages: 250-265

One of the most characteristic features of the Upper Palaeolithic settlements on the Central Russian Plain is abundance of tools, arts and ornaments made from mammoth tusk. At present the mammoth tusk splitting technology is a rather week point in Upper Paleolithic studies. The paper offers a reconstruction of mammoth tusk splitting process based on my study of 18 collections (more then 2000 artifacts) from nine Upper Paleolithic settlements (Avdeevo, Kostenki 1&4, Khotylevo 2, Gagarino, Eliseevichi, Timonovka, Yudino and Suponevo). It is shown that the process had no future development being unique for the Upper Palaeolithic. It is also argued on Khotylevo 2 (25-21 Kyr) and Eliseevichi (17-13 Kyr) materials that initial splitting technology has strong influence on final artifact form.