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5. On the Question of Stone Tool Standardization in the Eopleistocene Industries of the Eastern European South-West

On the Question of Stone Tool Standardization in the Eopleistocene Industries of the Eastern European South-West

Anisyutkin N.K.

Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Science, Saint-Petersburg

Abstract

This paper is devoted to the study of stone tools found at the Lower Paleolithic site Bairaki (layer 5) situated in the Southern part of the Eastern European Plane. This site is located on the left bank of the Dnister river not far from Dubossary city. To date, Bairaki site is the most ancient well-stratified Lower Paleolithic site of the Eastern Europe. This site has been discovered in 2010 by N.K. Anisyutkin and excavated during four field seasons (2010–2014). Multidisciplinary investigations let us to reveal a few layers containing archeological artifacts and obtain for them a steady stratigraphy and convincing dates. In total, six layers with stone artifacts were identified. Layers 1 and 2 belong to the Neopleistocene period (450–700 ka BP). Layers 3, 4 and 5 belong to the Eopleistocene period with layers 4 and 5 corresponding to the paleomagnetic Jaramillo period (0.9–1.1 million BP). A large collection of stone artifacts has been revealed from the layer 5 in connection with the channel alluvium deposit from the high Dnister terrace. Layers 3 and 4 were located within floodplain alluvium deposits. Stone artifacts have all features of the Oldovan period, including choppers, pics, spheroids, simple cores and flake tools. Among them, a large series of standard forms has been recognized. A small number of scrapers, end-scrapers and perforators have been revealed while bill-hook tools were relatively numerous. Bill-hook tools correspond to those that have been identified in the Clactonian location in England. There are 19 artifacts of this type in Bairaki collection. Sophisticated technology of bill-hook tool production let us to suppose that in the end of the Oldovan period archanthropes had developed cognitive capacity.

Keywords

archeology, East Europe, Moldavia, Eopleistocene, Oldovan, standard flake tools

Цит.: Anisyutkin N.K. On the Question of Stone Tool Standardization in the Eopleistocene Industries of the Eastern European South-West // Moscow University Anthropology Bulletin (Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Seria XXIII. Antropologia), 2017; 1/2017; с. 133-140