Article
Article name The River Pebbles and Boulders of Transbaikalia as Sources of Raw Materials in the Stone Age
Authors Yurgenson G.A. Doctor of Geology and Mineralogy, Professor, yurgga@mail.ru
Moroz P.V. Candidate of History, Associate Professor, frostius.81@mail.ru
Bibliographic description Yurgenson G. A., P. V. Moroz. The River Pebbles and Boulders of Transbaikalia as Sources of Raw Materials in the Stone Age // Humanitarian Vector. 2018. Vol. 13, No. 6. PP. 94–104. DOI: 10.21209/1996-7853-2018-13-6-94-104.
Section Archeology
UDK 902.2 (571.55)
DOI 10.21209/1996-7853-2018-13-6-94-104
Article type
Annotation The article is devoted to the analysis of the distribution of pebbles and boulders of the main river systems of the Transbaikal region for the presence of rocks used for flaking in the Stone Age industries of the region. Pebbles of the Chikoy, Khilok, Ingodin and Onon river systems, including tributaries, have been studied. The study used 13 independent samples with a volume of 100 to 1000 specimens. The total number of pebbles was about 2500 specimens. Samples were formed within pebble beaches and braids on the principle from the upper to the lower stream. Moreover, in the event that important objects and complexes of the Stone Age sites are present, priority was given to this particular area. Thus, the samples were obtained in the immediate vicinity of the Ust-Menzinsky and Studenovsky archaeological complex, Arta and Kunaley sites. The result of the work was a conclusion about the auxiliary value of pebbles and boulders of rivers for ancient inhabitants of Transbaikalia. Despite the unequivocal importance of the boulder as manuports, the share of pebble raw materials in the flaking technology of the Upper and Final Paleolithic industries in the territory of the Transbaikalia is relatively small. In the course of the study, a range of the most technologically significant rocks was determined, including chalcedony, flint, jasper, microquartzite, microshale, petrosilex and hornfel. The complete absence of chalcedony in all river systems, except for the Onon system, and the presence of jasper of the ryabinovskaya series in all rivers, except for the Khilok, is established since its source is associated with the region of their source.
Key words petroarcheology, the sources of raw materials, Stone Age, Transbaikalia, river pebbles, boulders
Article information
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