Site 6 of Koksharovsky Kholm

The article analyzes materials of Koksharovksy Kholm site 6 situated in the Middle Transural mountain forest zone. In 2024, Yu.B.Serikov researched 2013 and 2015 excavation materials predominantly using typological analysis. He determined three chronological complexes among the lithic inventory of the site. The complexes are stratified into the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Eneolithic. The aforementioned excavations reveal a range of semi-closed complexes. The most representative materials are obtained from site6. The study investigates the occurrence conditions (stratigraphy) of the ceramic complexes and obtains a series of radiocarbon dates. Based thereon, the site is interpreted as a sacerdotal structure for the Koshkino culture. It was erected in the second half of 6th – early 5th millennium BC during the earliest Neolithic in the region. The study describes the statistical & typological and raw material analysis of the lithic artifacts. The research takes into account their occurrence conditions. The findings of these investigations are detailed herein and give no evidence to diversify the finds as a chronologically independent microcomplex.In general, the stone industry at site 6 can be described as a combination of blades (including microblades) and flakes. It means, the peculiarity of the early Eneolithic Koshkino culture is a combination of the stone microlithic processing (with prevailing phtanitoid and phtanite raw materials) and the production of larger, sometimes very large blades mainly made from balsatoids. Thus, the traditional Mesolithic stone industry allocates a significant role to the microblade technique; it remained an integral part of the stone industry for the Neolithic community, at least during the earliest stages of the new era. This is the period when they started to make arrowheads from elongated triangular or leaf-shaped blades; the arrows were edge-retouched on the sting, the feather and the barb made of various slates. The study concludes that the Transural mountain forests reveal few stratigraphically pure sites on mineral soils; therefore, the artifact typological analysis may not be adequate to distinguish Mesolithic complexes there. It is concluded that the evidence for such procedures is not obvious.

Blade (archaeology) · Chalcolithic · Chronology · Excavation · Mesolithic · Pottery · Radiocarbon dating · Rock shelter · Stone Age · Stone tool · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Soil and Environmental Studies