Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 45 (2) 2017   DOI: 10.17746/1563-0110.2017.45.2.097-106

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Wooden Paddles from Trans-Urals
and from Eastern and Western European Peat-Bog Sites

E.A. Kashina¹ and N.M. Chairkina²

¹State Historical Museum, Krasnaya pl. 1, Moscow, 109012, Russia

²Institute of History and Archaeology, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, S. Kovalevskoi 16, Yekaterinburg, 620990, Russia

The study describes the morphology of prehistoric wooden paddles from the Trans-Urals and from Stone Age peatbog sites in Eastern and Western Europe. Their general technological features are evaluated, the archaeological context is analyzed, and some proposals concerning chronology are made. Considerable regional variation notwithstanding, the general evolution of blades is from wide spatular to narrow elongate. Apparently, the optimal paddle shape, whereby it could be used for both rowing and pushing off, had been elaborated by the Early Chalcolithic. The Eastern Baltic paddles differ from their Trans-Uralian counterparts by leaf-shaped blades with narrow tips. Although it has been believed traditionally that people in both regions mostly traversed shallow waterlogged lakes, certain petroglyphs point to a different use of Eastern Baltic paddles. The handles of certain Eastern European and Trans-Uralian paddles are shaped like heads of waterfowl; these rare specimens may have been destined for ritual purposes. The Trans-Uralian sample of Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age paddles may be the largest worldwide. Its distinctive features are standard proportions; and composite handles, occasionally decorated with ornithomorphic representations. Certain small paddles with short handles may have served for nonutilitarian purposes, possibly related to ritual, play, household, or manufacture.

Keywords: Peat-bog sites, Trans-Urals, Eastern Baltic, paddles, Chalcolithic.