Middle Paleolithic Site of Imanai-1 Cave in the Southern Urals: Preliminary Results of Archaeological Investigations

Abstract

Introduction. Imanai-1 Cave is a new monument of the Middle Paleolithic in the Southern Urals. It was discovered by the authors in 2009 and is located in the west of the Ural mountain system, in the interfluve of the Belaya and Nugush Rivers, on the border of the mountain-forest and steppe zones. Goals. The paper aims to introduce preliminary results of archaeological investigations into scientific discourse. Results. The cave is of a tunnel type, its 70 m long passage ending with a far hall which contained bones of a small cave bear and a cave lion. The monument is multi-layered. The first cultural horizon contained 399 items of stone and bone. Tools make up to 60 % of all stone products, while cores and scales are absent, therefore, primary and secondary processing was carried out outside the far hall. The stone industry is characterized by the use of shards and amorphous flint chips. The working areas were made out with monofacial and bifacial retouching, incisal cleavage. The tools are of the following types: 3 Mousterian bifacial points, 4 convergent side-scrapers with bifacial processing, butt knives, some with bifacial processing ― 6 items, carvers on fragments and amorphous chips ― 229 items (59 %), points ― 19 items (5 %), tools with a thorn ― 13 items (3 %), incisors ― 21 items (5 %). At the base of the first cultural horizon, a skull of a small cave bear with an artificial hole made with a stone spearhead was found. The industry of the site has numerous analogies at the Ilskaya-1 site in the North Caucasus and in the materials of the upper layer of the Kiik-Koba grotto in the Crimea, as well as at other sites of the Middle Paleolithic of the Tayacian tradition. Three uncalibrated dates show the interval from 26 to 42 thousand years. This indicates the finale of the Mousterian era.