Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 50 (1) 2022   doi:10.17746/1563-0110.2022.50.1.079-084

Annotation:  Fossil Bone Implements in the Industry of the Early Paleolithic Site Bogatyri/ Sinyaya Balka (Taman Paleoenvironmental Conditions of Neanderthal Habitation in the Altai: Chagyrskaya and Okladnikov Cav Komudvany—a Final Paleolithic Site in the Lower Ob Valley: Geomorphology, Paleontology, Archaeology On the Cultural Geography of the Eastern Caucasus and Southern Caspian in the Mesolithic Ornaments Made from Unio Shells in a Neolithic Burial at Ust-Aleika-5, Barnaul, Southwestern Siberia The Specifics of Japanese Terms Referring to the Jomon Period, Based on Publications by Yamanouchi S A New Andronovo (Fedorovka) Cemetery in the Eastern Irtysh Basin Stone Tools from an Island in Berd Bay, Novosibirsk Reservoir Metal Celts from the Little Sea Coast of Lake Baikal A Group of Large Kurgans in the Suusamyr Valley, Kyrgyzstan Female Burials with Weapons in the Early Nomadic Kurgans in the Southern Urals (Late 5th to 2nd Cent The Chemical Analysis of Glass Samples from Roman Era Cemeteries in the Crimean Piedmont A Set of Clothing Items from the Iyus Hoard Monumental Wooden Statues from the Ust-Voikary Fortifi ed Settlement, Northwestern Siberia: A Multid The Aul-Koshkul-1 Cemetery in the Baraba Forest-Steppe: Findings of a Multidisciplinary Study Chronic Maxillary Sinusitis Recorded in Archaeological Samples: Geographical Distribution and Predis   

Stone Tools from an Island in Berd Bay, Novosibirsk Reservoir

A.P. Borodovsky and P.V. Volkov

Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia

This article presents the results of a multidisciplinary study of stone tools (discoid mace-head, adze, and axe) found on an island in Berd Bay, Novosibirsk Reservoir. Trace analysis suggests that the mace-head is made of fragile sandstone, precluding its use as a striking weapon. Therefore, it was likely a ceremonial weapon. The adze and the axe are also made of a local rock—shale. The specimens resemble prestigious weapons of the Early and Middle Bronze Age from the forest-steppe zone of southwestern Siberia. Discoid mace-heads, like globular ones, are typical of the Middle Bronze Age. Importantly, all the specimens were found where the submerged Fort Berdsk was possibly situated. Early artifacts have also been found near other Siberian forts such as Tomsk, Umrevinsky, and Sayansk, suggesting that these were built at places with a long history of habitation.

Keywords: Upper Ob, Bronze Age, stone tools, trace analysis, prestigious weapons, Fort Berdsk