Workshop Site of Kusimovo-6 — a Middle Paleolithic Monument in the Southern Transurals
https://doi.org/10.22162/2619-0990-2020-52-6-1594-1612
Abstract
In 2019, the workshop site of Kusimovo-6 in Abzelilovsky District of Bashkortostan (Russia) was discovered and explored on a large area. A collection of Middle Paleolithic artifacts numbering over 2 thousand was obtained. Goals. The work attempts at an analysis of the collection. Results. The latter shows its homogeneity. So, nucleuses are subprismatic, with longitudinal cleavages, orthogonal, radial, and of unsystematic types. Many cores have two or more strike platforms. A third of the flakes have natural strike platforms and backrest. The producing of bifacial tools basically repeats the nucleuses’ production patterns. The tools comprise a chopper, 2 blanks of bifaces, 2 taiyak points, a point, butt knives. Two-sided producing was performed on working areas of other categories of tools (carvers, punctures, points, tools with a spike, beak-shaped, notched tools, scrapers). By all indications, the site has a non-Levallois character and belongs to the industry of the Tayacian tradition of the Middle Paleolithic. The workshop site of Kusimovo-6 reveals the greatest similarity with the 3rd and 4th layers (Tayacian industry of the Middle Paleolithic) of the Starye Duruitory Grotto in Northwest Moldova. Accordingly, the workshop site of Kusimovo-6 is dated to the first half of the Rissian period (300-200 thousand years ago).
Supporting agencies: The reported study was funded by government subsidy — project name ‘Turkic Peoples of the Southern Urals: Spiritual Culture’ (state reg. no. АААА-А17-117040350082-3).
About the Authors
Vyacheslav G. Kotov
Institute of History, Language and Literature of the Ufa Federal Research Centre of the RAS (71, Oktyabrya Ave., Ufa 450054, Russian Federation)
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Cand. Sc. (History), Senior Research Associate
Nikita S. Savelev
Institute of History, Language and Literature of the Ufa Federal Research Centre of the RAS (71, Oktyabrya Ave., Ufa 450054, Russian Federation)
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Cand. Sc. (History), Leading Research Associate
Rida R. Ruslanova
National Museum of Bashkortostan (14, Sovetskaya St., Ufa 450077, Russian Federation)
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Cand. Sc. (History), Head of Department
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Review
For citations:
Kotov V.G., Savelev N.S., Ruslanova R.R. Workshop Site of Kusimovo-6 — a Middle Paleolithic Monument in the Southern Transurals. Oriental Studies. 2020;13(6):1594-1612. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22162/2619-0990-2020-52-6-1594-1612
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