Institute for the History of Material Culture RAS, 18 Dvortsovaya emb., St. Petersburg, 191186, Russia [mpraslova@mail.ru; serglis@rambler.ru]

Abstract. Stone artifacts with bifacial treatment are rarely found in the Gravettian context. The technical-typological and cultural appearance of the Gravettian is determined by blade knapping and tools made on regular large and medium-sized blades, as well as microblades with a straight profile. The strategies of form making in such industries do not involve the use of bifacial techniques and consist mainly in the use of abrupt retouch and occasional use of sharpening retouch. The exception is chisel-like implements (pieces esquillees) which resemble pseudo-bifaces as a result of utilization and recurrent resharpening. The Gravettian assemblages of Kostenki are subdivided into the early, middle and late stages. The earliest is the Telmansky complex of Kostenki 8/II. It is characterized by complete absence of bifacially worked tools. The middle stage is represented by the Alexandrovka complex (Kostenki 4, Kostenki 9, Borshchevo 5/I). These assemblages contain specific types of ground tools made of soft rocks. In addition, about a dozen bifacially worked flint tools were found at Kostenki 4, including one large leaf shaped point, two shouldered points of different types, a point fragment, a disk and tools of amygdaloid and elliptic morphology. Also, the assemblage yielded a small group of unfinished bifaces made of flint and quartzite. Bifaces are quite massive, mainly of rhomboid cross-section. In the Late Gravettian (Kostenki 1/I, 13, 14/I, 18 and 21/III) bifaсially worked tools are absent. Thus, the presence of bifacial technology in the Kostenki-Borshchevo area during the Gravettian Age is restricted to the middle stage. It is associated with a very limited number of tools which have no analogies beyond the assemblage of Kostenki 4.

Keywords: Kostenki, Gravettian, bifacially worked flint tools, use-wear traces.

Received 17.07.2023, accepted 20.09.2023

DOI: 10.31600/2658-3925-2023-2-38-60

For citation: Zheltova M. N., Lisitsyn S. N. Bifacially worked flint tools in the industry of Kostenki 4. Prehistoric Archaeology. Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies. 2023 (2), 38–60, DOI: 10.31600/2658-3925-2023-2-38-60

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