«BULLETIN OF THE IRKUTSK STATE UNIVERSITY. GEOARCHAEOLOGY, ETHNOLOGY, AND ANTHROPOLOGY SERIES»
ISSN 2227-2380 (Print)

List of issues > «Geoarchaeology, Ethnology, and Anthropology Series». 2014. Vol. 9

Spartak I – the new Paleolithic Site in Irkutsk

Full text (russian)

Author(s)
M. Y. Semin, S. A. Kogai, E. O. Rogovskoy
Abstract
The article presents the materials of the Late Paleolithic site Spartak I that was found in Irkutsk in 1996. The site has seven stratigraphic layers. Archaeological and paleontological remains consist in layer 6. Lithic collection counts 312 specimens among which are hammerstones, cores, flakes and rare blades, tools, debitage and retouch waste. Also there are two bone fragments with cut marks. Core reduction was aimed at shortened wide blanks with exploitation of planar parallel and radial reduction system. General types of tool blanks were wide frequently clumpy flakes. Blades and blade tools are quite rare in collection and made only from chert rocks. Set of stone tools counts 46 specimens among which are chopper, side-scrapers, end-scrapers of various types, thorned tools, borers, retouched flakes and blades, specific adze-like unifacial tools. The scaled semi-abrupt and abrupt invasive dorsal retouches were applied in majority of cases. Combination of side-scapers’ various types and upper Paleolithic forms like end-scrapers and borers in single complex characterizes Paleolithic sites of Irkutsk and neighborhood in range of 40 000–30 000 years ago.
Keywords
Irkutsk, Late Paleolithic, stone industry, karginskiy interstadial
UDC
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