Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 44 (1) 2016 document link DOI: 10.17746/1563-0110.2016.44.1.072-081

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THE FUNCTION OF PEBBLE-TOOLS FROM LATE BRONZE AGE SITES IN THE TOBOL FOREST-STEPPE: AN EXPERIMENTAL TRACEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS

S.N. Skochina and Y.V. Kostomarova

Institute of Northern Development, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, POB 2774, Tyumen, 625003, Russia

Late Bronze Age pebble-tools from the Tobol forest-steppe sites associated with the Fedorovka, Cherkaskul, and Pakhomovskaya cultures were subjected to a comprehensive analysis with regard to raw material and technology. Pebbles requiring no retouch were preferred; and in rare instances the working-surface was processed by direct percussion. Types of wear such as crumbling, polishing, various deformations etc. are described, on the basis of the results of the traceological analysis. The analysis of microwear traces, and of their co-occurrence, has allowed us to subdivide the tools into four groups. To assess the tentative function of each group, a series of experiments in processing hides, dressing skins, and polishing clay vessels, stone axes, and metal tools, was conducted. Experimental tools, too, were subjected to use-wear analysis. The comparison of experimentally derived wear-marks with those revealed microscopically on ancient tools has made it possible to attribute the groups, and to relate them to various manufactures. Most pebble-tools from Late Bronze Age sites were multifunctional. They were used for dressing hides and skins, and for burnishing clay vessels. Monofunctional pebbles used in a single manufacture (skin-dressing, or the production of ceramic or metal tools) are less frequent. The use of small quartzite pebble-tools may be seen as a cultural and chronological marker of the Andronovo, primarily the Cherkaskul, tradition.

Keywords: Late Bronze Age, Tobol River, forest-steppe, pebble-tools, experimental traceological analysis.

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