Archaeologists excavating a Mesolithic site in north-western Russia have found thousands of stone tools, blanks and manufacturing fragments, providing evidence of an extensive tool-making centre dating back as much as 10,000 years.
The site lies on a sandy terrace near the Peretna River in the Okulovsky District of Russia’s Novgorod region, where a team from Novgorod State University is investigating traces of human activity dating to the Mesolithic, or Middle Stone Age.
The period represented at the site dates broadly from the 10th to the 6th millennia BC, following the retreat of the Valdai Glacier from the region.
Researchers believe the large concentration of stone-working material indicates that the location served as an important centre for producing tools and weapons.
The excavation has produced complete implements, unfinished blanks and large quantities of waste generated during flint working, including flakes and fragments.
Archaeologists have so far counted only around one-eighth of the material, yet the total number of finds is already approaching 15,000. Researchers say the range of objects allows them to reconstruct different stages in the manufacture of Stone Age tools, from preparing raw material to producing finished implements.
The research is being led by Valery Suborov of Novgorod State University’s Centre for Archaeological Research.
Rare ‘Chocolate’ Flint Among Key Finds
One of the most significant objects found during the latest excavation season is a pencil-shaped core made from an unusual deep reddish-brown material described by researchers as “chocolate” flint.
A core is a deliberately prepared piece of stone from which prehistoric toolmakers removed flakes or blades that could then be fashioned into cutting implements.
According to Ekaterina Borisevich, a junior research fellow at the university’s Centre for Archaeological Research, Mesolithic craftspeople could use pressure from a bone implement to remove extremely thin and sharp microblades.
The blades could then be inserted into grooves cut into a bone or wooden base to form composite spears, harpoons or knives. If an individual blade became damaged, it could be removed and replaced without having to manufacture an entirely new tool.
Researchers argue that the technique demonstrates sophisticated planning by Mesolithic craftspeople, who had to determine the intended shape of an implement and carefully control where and at what angle pieces of flint were removed.
Archaeologists refer to the technique as controlled flaking
The unusual flint core also bears longitudinal scars left by the removal of flakes. Researchers believe the quality of the raw material suggests it was considered valuable and may have been transported to the settlement from elsewhere.
Konstantin Kharlamov, Vice-Rector for Research and Innovation at Novgorod State University, said the finds demonstrate that sophisticated technologies were being employed in the region thousands of years before its better-known medieval period.
He compared the Mesolithic insert technique to a modular system because individual cutting elements could be replaced when damaged, conserving valuable raw materials while allowing implements to be repaired rather than discarded.
Stone Tools Offer Clues to Mesolithic Life
Archaeologists have also identified a large blank intended for a chopping implement, possibly an axe or adze. The object displays characteristic flaking on both sides.
More than 10 cutting tools and unfinished blanks have so far been recorded at the site.
Researchers believe such implements would have become increasingly important as the climate warmed and the tundra-steppe environment was replaced by taiga forest.
Axes, adzes and chisels would have allowed Mesolithic communities to work timber for boats, shelters and household objects.
Borisevich said the number of woodworking implements could indicate that people were living at the location for extended periods rather than simply passing through it.
The physical setting of the site may also help explain why prehistoric communities chose the location. It occupies a dry terrace overlooking the fast-flowing Peretna River, which would have provided access to fish and other natural resources.
A concentration of stones is currently being investigated near the centre of the excavation. Archaeologists have suggested that it could represent the remains of a hearth or a deliberately prepared working area where stone tools were manufactured.
Taken together, the thousands of manufacturing fragments, finished implements, unfinished tools and specialised flint-working material provide archaeologists with an unusually detailed record of how Mesolithic communities in the Novgorod region produced and maintained the equipment they depended upon thousands of years ago.
Sources : Novgorod State University
