Pages: 291-308

The article is devoted to the main approaches which are used in archaeological research of the Palaeolithic materials – typological, technological and functional ones. The scientific independence of these approaches is conditioned first of all by the field of the research itself and the specific methods. The typological approach is directed at the research of the physical features of the important information concerning the technology and function of ancient tools, but it does not touch directly the functional characteristics of the artifacts. Typological studies are connected with the fist stage of the archaeological objects study and the typology is not directed at the (empirical) interpretation of the objects. The technological approach is gaining now a wide acceptance. The approach has a complicated structure and includes typological data, elements of experimental studies, refitting, physics of stone chipping, petrography etc. The main purpose of the technological way of the research is to study the order, the sequence in manufacturing of artifacts treatment. The structure of the approach is not physical, but “archaeological’’, pertaining to the humanities. The functional approach uses the data of macro- and microwear analyses, the experimental and the typological data. It has in its possession different ways of research and employs them depending on the concrete situation. The results achieved by this way of study are of importance for understanding of the nature of the ancient objects, but they are do not substitute the data of typological analysis. The functional and the technological approaches are able not only to describe but to interpret the stone artifacts. In spite of the scientific self-dependence, all the three approaches are interconnected inwardly. The typological way of research  synthesises the results achieved by different approaches. It is able to represent the general characteristics of the artifacts as the complicated and integral object. The tight and harmonious unity of the three ways of research will permit us to come nearer to the understanding (!) of the archaeological record and it is the main purpose of our science.