New Mesolithic Sites of the Lower Volga Region

Abstract

The paper publishes materials of the new Mesolithic sites in the Lower Volga region. The research relevance is due to the fact that this period is less studied than the others. The scientific novelty of the study is as follows: after a 30-year break in the Mesolithic studies of this territory, the materials of the 2021 study are presented. The purpose of the paper is to introduce the latest sources on such an important period into scientific circulation. The objectives of the study are to describe and classify the materials, to define the cultural affiliation and to establish their periodization. Methods. The sites of this era in this territory have not been studied since 1993. The sources for the paper are the materials of three new Mesolithic monuments. The Ukubai tract is located in the Krasnoyarsk district of the Astrakhan region. On the territory of the dune, three clusters of stone artifacts remote from each other were planigraphically identified. Neolithic and Eneolithic ceramics were missing. Planographic, typological, statistical and radiocarbon methods were applied. Analysis. The raw material for the tools manufacture was flint of a dark transparent, gray matte and yellow types. The lamellar flake flint-splitting technique was inherent for all three sites. Monuments differ in the number of finds, production waste and blanks, parameters of flakes, a set of tools, and geometric microliths types. Results. Raw material properties are characteristic of the Mesolithic complexes. The average stone age of the finds is also evidenced by the technical and typological features of the stone inventory. The obtained materials can be attributed to the Seroglazovka culture. Some of them belong to the Zhekolgan group and others to the Istay group. The features of the parameters gave an opportunity to pinpoint that the complexes belong to different times. Thus it was possible to highlight the monuments functional features.

Keywords

• lower volga region
• mesolithic
• stone tools
• seroglazovka culture
• zhekalgan group
• istay group