Lithic Industry of Kulakovo 1 Site in the Context of the Late Upper Paleolithic of the Upper Reaches of Angara River (South of Baikal-Yenisei Siberia)

The article presents the results of the analysis of a collection of stone items from an assemblage of the Late Upper Paleolithic, obtained during the work of 1967–1969 at the Kulakovo 1 site, located on the right bank of the Angara River (6 km below the mouth of the Belaya River). Several levels (cultural layers) of occurrence of the archaeological finds have been identified. In the upper humus horizon of modern soil, cultural remains of the Neolithic and Bronze Age have been recorded (layer 1). The finds of the main level (cultural layer 2) are included in the buried soil of the Middle Sartanian cryochron (~18.6–17.6 ka cal BP). The purpose of the study is to analyze the stone industry using the methods of archaeological typology and the attributive approach, as well as to identify its general and specific features within the synchronous assemblages of the upper reaches of the Angara River. Attributive analysis was carried out for all types of target removals (flakes, blades, bladelets and microblades). Signs that may indicate the knapping technique and the morphotechnological features of their combination are considered. As a result of the analysis, it was established that the assemblage is characterized by a combination of flat and volumetric prismatic cores for removing flakes and blades, and narrow-faced (terminal-edge) cores for bladelets and microblades. The latter were made using specific techniques that differs from the Saikai and Campus methods, which are typical for the sites of the first half of the Middle Sartanian cryochron in the south of Baikal-Yenisei Siberia. It is concluded that this is due to the individual technological characteristics of a group of cores of this type and the cultural and chronological specificity of the assemblage as a whole. Based on the results of the attributive analysis, it was established that the majority of flakes and blades were obtained by direct impact with a hard hammer. The possibility of using a soft hammer in a direct or indirect form is allowed, but in a limited form and only for obtaining of small/medium flakes or bladelets. The use of pressure technology remains an open question. The question of using pressure technique remains open. The tool set is generally standard for the Middle Sartanian industry and is close to materials from synchronous sites in the upper reaches of the Angara River (Krasnyi Yar 1, Fedyaevo, Buret 2–4) and the entire south of Baikal-Yenisei Siberia, which are also characterized by groups of end-scrapers, side-scrapers and knife-like items with unifacial dorsal processing. The conducted analysis and the obtained results deepen the understanding of the cultural processes that took place in the Upper Paleolithic both in the upper reaches of the Angara and in the south of Baikal-Yenisei Siberia as a whole

Archaeology · Attributive · Excavation · Geography · Horizon · Knapping · Upper Paleolithic · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Indigenous Studies and Ecology · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Geology · Paleontology