Results of Use-Wear Analysis of Bone Items from the Golden Horde Period Podymalovo-1 Site (based on the 2022 excavations)

Abstract

The article presents the results of studying the collection of bone artifacts from the Podymalovo-1 settlement in the Bashkir Trans-Urals. The site dates back to the middle and second half of the XIV century. The sample includes 15 items discovered in the 2022 excavation. Additionally, two findings from the 2019 excavation were included here. Planimetrically, most of the artifacts are associated with production and economic complexes. The study of the collection was conducted from the perspective of the use-wear analysis using the MBС-9 stereoscopic microscope and the Altami MET 6T metallographic microscope. As a result of the study, horse phalanx bones were classified as tools related to pottery production, while a fragment of a bone scraper from the lower jaw of cattle was classified as a tool for processing hides. Spindle whorls and borer were classified as handicraft items. The collection also includes a component of a composite tool - a handle, arrowhead, and two plates. It was established that the bone processing techniques included scraping, cutting, sawing, carving, and abrasive grinding. Both small bones, which did not require significant labor (phalanxes, epiphyses), and large parts of diaphysis with thick compact bone were selected as raw materials. The finding of an plate with an image of a rider indicates that the inhabitants of the settlement possessed high bone carving skills.

Keywords

• archaeology
• podymalovo-1
• golden horde
• bone artifacts
• tools
• phalanxes
• plate
• borer
• spindle whorl
• use-wear analysis