Stone Tools of the Neolithic Settlememt Jurinskoe (Kocharovsky Peat, Midle Trans-Urals)

Abstract

The article analyzes the complex of stone products from the Yuryinskoe settlement excavated by V. F. Starkov in 1964. The settlement is located on the south bank of Kocharovsky peat (Sverdlovsk region). In the centre of the settlement, a famous cultic site of the Neolithic epoch - Kocharovsky hill - is situated. On the settlement, a small admixture of Mesolithic and Eneolithic stone products is presented. Mesolithic is represented by micronuclei and insert plates. The Eneolithic complex consists of single arrowheads and plates of regular faceting from rare types of jasper. The main part of the stone inventory belongs to the Neolithic epoch. The stone splitting technology was focused on obtaining plates 1.5-2.5 cm wide. The plates were processed mainly by dorsal retouching. The plates served as the initial semi-finished product for the manufacture of knives, arrowheads, spear-head, scrapers, and points. Double-sided retouching was used to process arrowheads and knives. For the manufacture of chopping tools (axes and adzes) and knives, abrasive technique was also used. From other products on the settlement, abrasives, tool blanks, slats, pestles, a bump and fishing sinkers were identified. A special feature of the complex is the presence of a large number (up to 57 %) of stones without processing, pebbles and debris. On the settlement, a variety of mineral raw materials obtained from local sources were used. Almost 30% of the products have preserved the primary crust. In the collection, the products made of gray siliceous rock, siliceous shale and volcanomictic sandstone dominated. Flint, chalcedony, quartz, jasper, quartzite, granodiorite, sandstone and slate were applied less frequently. Tuff, carnelian and asbestos were used only singly.