Stone Tools of the Nomads of the Arctic Tundra from the Medieval Site of Khaltsyneisalya 1 on the Gydan Peninsula (use wear analysis)

Abstract

The paper studies stone tools from the Khaltsyneisalya 1 site located on the eastern coast of the Ob Bay on the Gydan Peninsula. The ceramic material found at the site is attributed to the Tiuteisalinsky type of the Lower Ob culture, which was common among the nomads of the Arctic tundra in the Middle Ages. The resulting stone tools are represented by scrapers, knives and anvils. The presence of anvils in the materials of the site is a rather rare phenomenon, in contrast to the scrapers and knives that are consistently found on the sites of the Early Iron Age and the Middle Ages in the Arctic zone of Western Siberia. In order to establish their functional purpose, traceological analysis was carried out with experimental verification of the proposed functions. To establish the purpose of stone tools, experimental work was carried out to model wear marks, which made it possible to obtain important arguments for substantiating the function of the studied tools.

Keywords

• archaeology
• gydan peninsula
• arctic tundra
• middle ages
• stone tool-kit
• use wear analysis