The Use of Stone Raw Materials and the Spatial Organization of the Late Palaeolithic Site Irba 2 in the Krasnoyarsk Krai

This article presents the results of an analysis of the spatial distribution of knapped stone artifacts at the site of Irba 2 which belongs to Afontova culture. Using raw material unit and lithic refitting methods, it was possible to determine the minimum number of lithic pieces that were knapped at the site and to reconstruct the main stages of stone working and use. The stone working operations performed at the site were dominated by the manufacturing of tools from blanks and the recycling of imported tools, while primary knapping and the full cycle of raw material processing were less well represented. The technological and typological analyses made it possible to clarify the functional specificity of different concentrations. It is concluded that the site represents a single complex of interconnected concentrations of knapped stone and bone. All of them were parts of larger production and household areas devoted to specific manufacturing operations

Knapping · Lithic technology · Production cycle · Raw material · Spatial distribution · Unit (ring theory · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Soil and Environmental Studies