Paleolithic sites with bifaces in Northern Aral region: problems of chronology and periodization

A large number of sites representing all stages of the Stone Age to the Chalcolithic era Acheulian are discovered and investigated in Kazakhstan. At the same time, the degree of investigation of these sites in different regions of Kazakhstan is uneven. This is primarily due to the predominance of arid conditions that impede the process of active sedimentation. Such objects are Paleolithic complexes in northern Aral region, wich located on the northern coast of the Aral Sea in western Kazakhstan - Aral A-D, Aral - 1-2, -4-6, -8. The main goal of this work is cultural and chronological mark of the sites with the surface occurrence of artifacts Aral A-D, Aral 1-2, 4-6, -8 with technical and typological and petrographic analyses of stone products of investigated sites. As technical and typological analyses showed Locations Aral A-D, Aral -1-2, -4-6, -8 characterized by a lack of Levallois cores in the primary flaking, blades blanks. In these collections there are mainly prismatic cores illustrated parallel principle of flaking in planar and volume variations. Subordinate position assigned to chop and discoid type of cores. The tool set contain a high quantity of bifaces, as well as the scrapers, toothed-notched, combined products and Upper Paleolithic types of tools (scrapers, knives). Upholstery and retouching were used as forming methods. The retouching was used as a secondary refinement, characterized as marginal, scaly, in most cases, the dorsal and steep, half-steep medium and small sizes. Among the material of the Northern Aral Sea region unusually large number of biface tools deserves special attention. On the whole 91 samples of unbroken bifaces and their fragments were found. We can mark the differences in the shape of those products, their size and massiveness. It is also possible to consider the massive bifacial products not only as hacking tools, but bifacial cores. In our opinion these types of tools not form a single series, but refer to different stages of Paleolithic Age. As shown above, the interpretation of Paleolithic complexes with bifaces in Northern Aral Sea region and Kazakhstan as a whole is rather difficult. First, most of the sites are not dated or undated only tentatively. Second, investigated complexes have both Eastern (Southwest Asia and the Middle East) and Western features (Caucasus). Because of these, the question about the specific ways of the colonization of this region is still open. Thus, evaluating the results of the studying of Paleolithic sites on the northern coast of the Aral Sea as a whole, it should be noted that the items Aral A-D, Aral -1-2, -4-6, -8 are mixed complexes, in which basic materials are likely refer to the final stage of the middle - upper Paleolithic and probably Mesolithic and Neolithic Ages. At the same time part of the collection based on morphological analyses can be attributed to the earlier stages of the Paleolithic Age.

Keywords

Authors

References