Early Neolithic flint industries of the Dnieper-Dvina basin

This article is devoted to the results of research into lithic industries found at early Neolithic sites in the Dnieper-Dvina basin and their correlation with the ceramic traditions of the 6th – early 5th millennium BC identified here. The latter reflected the multiple waves of penetration to this territory by groups of hunter-gatherers representing different cultural traditions. A comparison was made of pure complexes, within which it was possible to clearly link the ceramics of a particular phase and stone artifacts; at the second stage, materials from a wider range of "palimpsest" sites were used. Two early Neolithic industries were identified, corresponding to the early stage (6th mill BC) and the late stage (late 6th to first half of the 5th millennium BC; Rudnyanskaya culture). The early stage industry had particular sets of characteristics: blade industry, blanks are short blades and irregular one; the main technique was a direct strike with a soft mineral hammer. Secondary processing includes steep, semi-steep, and flat retouching, as well as burin spall. The manufacture of tools using double-sided flaking and the use of polishing techniques were not identified in the early stage. In the late stage, on the contrary, the tool set is dominated by double-sided tools, including those treated with secondary thinning, and the polishing technique is actively used. Blades were not recorded. Among the materials studied to date, there are no pure complexes that could be considered “transitional” between these two techno-complexes. Another blade industry was also identified, with blanks in the form of regular large blades, obtained by pressure, which finds analogies in Mesolithic industries.

Blade (archaeology) · Ceramic · Polishing · Stage (stratigraphy) · Structural basin · Ancient and Medieval Archaeology Studies · Marine and environmental studies · Mineralogy and Gemology Studies