New Evidence of Serpentinite Raw Material Exploitation in the Kapova Cave (The Southern Urals)

Abstract

The author considers finds from a rare material – serpentinite – produced in well-known Kapova cave. The Upper Palaeolithic objects from this stone are represented by 4 beads uncovered by V.E. Shchelinsky's expedition (1982–1991) and found in the cultural layer in the chamber of Signs (middle floor of the cave). Some untreated serpentinite small pebbles were found in the same layer. The Southern Urals Archaeological Expedition of Moscow State University (2009–2015) found two fragments of serpentinite small pebbles in the Upper Palaeolithic cultural layer on the top floor in the chamber of Paintings. The author maintains that discovery of serpentinite is an additional and important evidence proving close cultural affinity of the groups that visited both floors and performed substantively different (in figures and signs) images in different parts of the cave. Use of serpentinite, including for jewelry production, and trans-Ural jasper for production of tools, clearly indicates one of the vectors of migration of the Upper Palaeolithic Southern Urals groups from the Kapova cave to as far as 70–150 km.

Keywords

• archaeology
• Southern Urals
• Upper Palaeolithic
• Kapova Cave
• cave art
• serpentinite