Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 51 (4) 2023   doi:10.17746/1563-0110.2023.51.4.035-044

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An Early Neolithic Bone and Antler Industry of Rakushechny Yar
on the Lower Don:
Technological Strategies and Functional Context

Y. Maigrot¹, A.N. Mazurkevich², and E.V. Dolbunova²

¹CNRS UMR 8215 Trajectoires, 9 rue Malher 75004 Paris, France

²State Hermitage Museum, Dvortsovaya nab. 34, St. Petersburg, 191181, Russia

The Early Neolithic site of Rakushechny Yar on the Lower Don evidences successive peopling of the coastal zone in the 6th millennium BC. Analysis of faunal remains, toolkit, and limited technological contexts suggest seasonal orientation of the site shown at least at the early stages. We present the results of the analysis of the Early Neolithic bone tools from Rakushechny Yar layers 23-11 of excavation I, and assess their place in the context of bone industries of the contemporaneous archaeological cultures. The collection is dominated by points. Despite the variable morphology, their preforms and manufacturing techniques are rather standard. Apart from points, two spatula-like tools and two specimens with beveled edges, made from red-deer antler, were found. A limited typological and functional set reveals a peculiar subsistence activity. The traceological analysis has highlighted a stable series of tools for working skins and processing coarse vegetable materials (possibly for basket weaving). Spatula-shaped tools were likely destined for processing mineral materials such as ceramics. Certain typological and technological parallels are found in the Northern Caspian and the Lower Volga regions, but especially in the Southern Caucasian Neolithic (Aratashen-Shulaveri-Shomutepe) traditions possibly originating from those of the Levant and Zagros.

Keywords: Early Neolithic, bone industry, Rakushechny Yar, technological traditions, functional context, traceology