Home – Home – Jornals – Humanitarian sciences in Siberia 2014 number

Analyses of bone artifacts from Ust-Kyahta-3 site (Western Transbaikal) are presented in this paper. Bone industry is analyzed and compared with chronologically and geographically relevant complexes. The goal of research is to conduct a more accurate chronological attribution of Ust-Kyakhta`s cultural layers. In the territory of Western Transbaikal the developed bone industry first appeared during Early Upper Paleolithic. The maximum development of bone industry was reached at the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary. The specifics of bone industries play an are key in attributing archaeological sites either to Paleolithic or Mesolithic period within the regional schemes of cultural classification. The archaeological site Ust-Kyakhta-3 has absolute dates which associated it with the final Pleistocene, however culturally it was interpreted by A.P. Okladnikov as a Mesolithic site. Collections of bone tools are presented in both occupation layers. The preliminary analysis of lithic collection of both layers indicates an obvious difference between them suggesting that both archaeological layers belong to different stages of Stone Age (final Paleolithic and Mesolithic). Based on the analysis of bone industry from both layers of the Ust-Kyakhta-3 three groups of tools were identified: points, bone shafts (with toothed slots) and fishing hooks. The results show a significant similarity of bone tools from Ust-Kyakhta-3 and tools from other archaeological sites in the Western Transbaikal. Particularly, morphologically stable forms of bone shafts (with toothed slots) and fishing hooks are very similar to the bone items known at Oshurkovo, Ust-Kyakhta-17 and Studenoye-1 (layer 11) sites. As a result of conducted intra-regional comparison, both cultural layers of Ust-Kyakhta-3 were attributed to the Mesolithic epoch.