Pages: 137-167

Most sites of the Butovo Mesolithic culture are situated on mineral grounds where artifacts made from organic materials are not preserved. This is why until recently the main attention has been paid to the study of lithic artifacts. However, the excavations of peat bog sites have yielded numerous bone arrowheads. The paper presents the results of a complex study of this category of material. It is demonstrated that bone arrowheads supersede flint ones in their diversity (both functional and typological) and kill capacity. They seem to have been the most important constituent in the hunting weaponry of the Butovo Mesolithic culture.

Keywords: Upper Volga, Mesolithic, Butovo culture, arrowheads, peat bog sites.

Information about author:

Mikhail Zhilin (Moscow, Russian Federation). Doctor of Historical Sciences. Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dmitry Ulyanov St., 19, Moscow, 117036, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]