Unshaped Bone Tools of the Final Upper Paleolithic from Kaminnaya Cave in the Altai

This article introduces into scientific use a collection of unshaped bone tools discovered in Kaminnaya Cave in the northwest Altai. The cultural and chronological column of this site currently represents the most complete sequence of the final Upper Paleolithic in the region. The cave lithic industry has been described in detail previously. In order to identify possible practice of bone use in toolmaking activities of the late Paleolithic inhabitants of the site, we carried out a revision of the faunal collections from the Pleistocene deposits of the cave, which resulted in the discovery of a series of unshaped or unformal tools. We distinguish three types of artifacts in the collection: retouchers—tools for secondary impact or pressure processing of stone blanks; polished bones—items with the surface locally smoothed during use due to intensive interaction with the processed material; tools with traces of counter-impact action—intermediaries, or chisel items. The retoucher analysis showed its morphological variability, which may reflect different uses of these tools. The methods of shaping retoucher blanks were found to be in many ways similar to the techniques common in the regional Middle and Early Upper Paleolithic assemblages. Bone fragments with polished areas were tentatively attributed to a group of leatherworking tools—perforators and polishers. The only tool with the traces of counter-impact action is morphologically close to the stone splintered pieces items also found in the Paleolithic horizons of the cave. The artifacts studied herein are the first unshaped tool set of bone industries of the final Upper Paleolithic in the Russian Altai

Cave · Middle Paleolithic · Pleistocene · Upper Paleolithic · Archaeology and Rock Art Studies · Evolution and Paleontology Studies · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology