Stone Age of the Chuvash Volga Region

Abstract

The monograph is dedicated to the study of the Stone Age sites of the Chuvash Volga region conducted under the supervision or with the participation of the author in the 1990s – early 2000s. New materials from more than 50 sites related to the Final Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic and Eneolithic are introduced into scientific discourse. The author reveals the main methodological approaches in the description of complex multilayer and decaying monuments, and presents the history of field studies of the Stone Age sites in the Chuvash Volga Region. Based on an analysis of paleogeographic data and systematization of the finds of the Quaternary fauna and deposits of stone raw materials, palaeoecological conclusions were drawn regarding the natural environment of the ancient population. The monograph summarizes the results of studies at the reference Stone Age sites in the region and addresses the issues of their chronology and cultural affiliation. The author suggests a scheme of the dynamics of cultural and chronological processes which occurred in the Chuvash Volga Region during the initial stages of the Primeval period.

Keywords

• archaeology
• chuvash volga region
• final paleolithic
• mesolithic
• neolithic
• eneolithic
• sites
• settlements
• dwellings
• stone tools
• ceramics