Pages: 153-167 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.55086/sp261153167
This paper presents the first results of a technological analysis of the lithic industry from cultural layer 4/3 of the multilayer Upper Palaeolithic site of Rakhat (Northern Tien Shan, south-eastern Kazakhstan). Layer 4/3 belongs to a group of cultural deposits dating to the early part of the late Upper Palaeolithic (~20,300–19,300 14C yr BP) that are characterised by the early presence of scalene triangles. Taphonomic and spatial analysis show that layer 4/3 represents the remains of a short-term occupation formed during a brief episode of human activity and preserved in situ. The study integrated lithic refitting, the raw-material-unit framework, and formal technological analysis. Apart from a few artefacts made of “imported” materials, six local raw-material units were identified, corresponding to six distinct porphyry nodules; three of which yielded coherent refits. Two main reduction sequences were identified: parallel flaking aimed at obtaining relatively large flakes and/or elongated flakes, and bladelet production from pyramidal and narrow-faced cores. Flakes from the first sequence were used mainly unretouched for domestic tasks, while bladelets from the second sequence served as blanks for the production of scalene triangles likely used in hunting weaponry. The results obtained for layer 4/3 demonstrate the considerable potential of Upper Palaeolithic occupation surfaces in the region for detailed reconstructions of lithic technology.
Keywords: Rakhat site, Late Upper Palaeolithic, lithic technology, scalene triangles, Northern Tien Shan, Kazakhstan
Information about authors:
Dmitry Ozherelyev (Moscow, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dmitry Ulyanov St., 19, Moscow, 117292, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0003-4841-976X
Anton Lada (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Institute for the History of Material Culture, Russian Academy of Sciences. Dvortsovaya Emb., 18, Saint Petersburg, 191186, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0002-2066-5224
Talgat Mamirov (Almaty, Kazakhstan). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Margulan Institute of Archaeology. Dostyk Ave., 44, Almaty, 050010, Kazakhstan
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0003-2975-0115