Retouched Burin-Cores in the Earliest Upper Palaeolithic of Kostenki 17, Cultural Layer II

Multifaceted burins on truncation represent a key category within the lithic assemblage of II cultural layer of Kostenki 17 — a unique industry of the initial stage of the Upper Palaeolithic. Despite their fundamental significance, these artefacts have not previously been the subject of a dedicated study. This article presents, for the first time, the results of a comprehensive technological, typological and use-wear analysis of burins on truncation from the II cultural layer of Kostenki 17. The study has revealed that these artefacts primarily functioned as bladelet cores and were used to produce small bladelets measuring 1.5–3 cm in length. A reconstruction of the bladelet production sequence, supported by the identification of diagnostic morphological features, has enabled the classification of the retouched multifaceted burins from the II cultural layer of Kostenki 17 as a distinct new type. This newly identified type has been designated the “Spitsynian-type burins

Assemblage (archaeology · Key (lock · Layer (electronics · Stage (stratigraphy · Subject (documents · Evolution and Paleontology Studies · Mineralogy and Gemology Studies · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology