Upper Palaeolithic grinding stones from Eastern European sites: An overview

Stepanova, Ksenia

doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2019.11.035

Cited by 12 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…Use-wear traces in the form of changes in microrelief, micropolishing or linear traces, observed on the working part of a slab from Kamennaya Balka II site during traceological studies indicate its use as a lower grinding stone for processing plant materials. This type of traces is in general agreement with those observed on grinding stones with a similar purpose from other Upper Paleolithic sites such like Suren 1, Brînzeni 1, Cosăuți and sites of the Kostenki group, but differs in intensity of their development, probably related to the duration of use and the type of processed plant materials (Longo & Skakun 2017;Revedin et al 2010;Skakun et al 2018;2020a;2020b;Stepanova 2020). Experimental work carried out in order to obtain standards with consistently expressed signs of wear confirmed the results of the traceological studies (Skakun et al 2020a;2020b).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

“…Finds of special tools dedicated to processing useful plants at Kamennaya Balka II and other sites of the Russian Plain (Longo 2016;Longo & Skakun 2017;Longo et al 2019;Skakun et al 2018;2020a;2020b;Stepanova 2020) indicate the existence of complex foraging strategies including gathering plants and their processing as part of the economy of the Upper Paleolithic hunters, proving a deep knowledge of their habitat' resources, the acknowledgment of the dietary value of carbohydrates and the capacity to transform them into staple food.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Functional use of large stone tool from the Upper Paleolithic site of Kamennaya Balka II (the Northern Azov Sea region, Russia)

Skakun

Longo

Terekhina

et al. 2021

JLS

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The assemblages of many Paleolithic sites on the Russian Plain contain large pebbles of various types of stone, which, due to the natural and unmodified forms, rarely become objects of special study. Some of them retain their natural shape, others are slightly artificially modified. In the course of our research, artifacts from several Paleolithic sites in Russia and the Republic of Moldova were subjected to a comprehensive study. Technical-morphological and experimental-traceological studies made it possible to characterize the methods of their manufacture and use. Among the items studied, there is a trapezoidal slab retrieved in the lower layer of the Late Paleolithic stratified site Kamennaya Balka II (the Northern Azov Sea region, Russia). On its surface, use-wear traces were found, which are characteristic of wear traces on tools used to grind plant materials. To verify the results of the traceological analysis, a series of experiments was performed. The wear traces on the working part of the experimental tool turned out to be similar to those found on the original one. The functional identification of the slab from Kamennaya Balka II as a tool for processing plants was also confirmed by the discovery on the working surface of mineralized starch grains. This comprehensive study of an unmodified stone artifact from the Kamennaya Balka II site and its identification as the lower grinding stone indicates the presence of complex foraging strategies among the economic activities of the inhabitants of the site and their successful adaptation to the natural environment in this region.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional use of large stone tool from the Upper Paleolithic site of Kamennaya Balka II (the Northern Azov Sea region, Russia)

Skakun

Longo

Terekhina

et al. 2021

JLS

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“…S. L. Kuhn and Stiner (2001) review the increased frequency of stone tools attributable to plant processing toward the end of the Pleistocene, Epipaleolithic, and Pre‐Pottery Neolithic Near Eastern sites. Lithic tools such as sickle blades, pounding, and grinding stones specific to plant processing appear late in the Pleistocene, both in Southern Asia (Bar‐Yosef, 1989, 2002, 2014) and Europe (S. L. Kuhn & Stiner, 2001; Stepanova, 2019). Sickle blades and grain‐grinding stone tools appear in the Levant in the early Epipaleolithic at Ohalo some 23 Kya, and at earlier UP sites, but become widespread only during the Natufian, 15.0–11.6 Kya (Groman‐Yaroslavski et al, 2016).…”

Section: Archaeological Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

The evolution of the human trophic level during the Pleistocene

Ben-Dor

Sirtoli

Barkai

2021

American J Phys Anthropol

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The human trophic level (HTL) during the Pleistocene and its degree of variability serve, explicitly or tacitly, as the basis of many explanations for human evolution, behavior, and culture. Previous attempts to reconstruct the HTL have relied heavily on an analogy with recent hunter-gatherer groups' diets. In addition to technological differences, recent findings of substantial ecological differences between the Pleistocene and the Anthropocene cast doubt regarding that analogy's validity. Surprisingly little systematic evolution-guided evidence served to reconstruct HTL. Here, we reconstruct the HTL during the Pleistocene by reviewing evidence for the impact of the HTL on the biological, ecological, and behavioral systems derived from various existing studies. We adapt a paleobiological and paleoecological approach, including evidence from human physiology and genetics, archaeology, paleontology, and zoology, and identified 25 sources of evidence in total. The evidence shows that the trophic level of the Homo lineage that most probably led to modern humans evolved from a low base to a high, carnivorous position during the Pleistocene, beginning with Homo habilis and peaking in Homo erectus. A reversal of that trend appears in the Upper Paleolithic, strengthening in the Mesolithic/Epipaleolithic and Neolithic, and culminating with the advent of agriculture. We conclude that it is possible to reach a credible reconstruction of the HTL without relying on a simple analogy with recent hunter-gatherers' diets. The memory of an adaptation to a trophic level that is embedded in modern humans' biology in the form of genetics, metabolism, and morphology is a fruitful line of investigation of past HTLs, whose potential we have only started to explore.

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“…такой же подход к аналогичным материалам использован к.н. степановой в ее диссертационном исследовании «немодифицированные каменные орудия верхнего палеолита восточной европы», основанном на анализе представительной коллекции артефактов из различных палеолитических объектов [Stepanova 2020].…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

Untitled

2021

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Результаты комплексных исследований кРупного каменного пРедмета из веРхнепалеолитической стоянки сюРень I * материалы многих палеолитических памятников евразии содержат крупные каменные предметы. как правило, они сохраняют естественную, не модифицированную искусственно форму, однако наличие тех или иных характерных признаков утилизации (заполировок, линейных следов, макро-и микродеформаций) свидетельствует об их использовании в качестве различных орудий труда. мультидисциплинарные исследования, включающие экспериментально-трасологический анализ и исследование органических микроостатков, позво-ляют выделить из этой категории немодифицированных каменных предметов инструменты, служившие для обработки растительности. одним из таких орудий является крупный камень, обнаруженный в нижнем слое верхнепалеолитического памятника сюрень I (крым). Результаты, полученные в ходе исследования, позволяют говорить об использовании растительного сырья в хозяйственной деятельности обитателей стоянки, а также более детально охарактеризовать способы адаптации древнего человека к природной среде крымского полуострова. АннотАцияКлючевые слова: крым, верхний палеолит, немодифицированное каменное орудие, эксперименталь но-трасологический анализ, анализ органических микроостатков.Для цитирования: скакун н.н., лонго л., терехина в.в., пантюхина и.е., Эредиа х., Шульга д.м. Результаты комплексных исследований крупного каменного предмета из верхнепалеолитической стоянки сюрень I // Camera praehistorica. 2021. № 1 (6). с. 8-24.

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Upper Palaeolithic grinding stones from Eastern European sites: An overview

Cited by 12 publications

References 11 publications

Functional use of large stone tool from the Upper Paleolithic site of Kamennaya Balka II (the Northern Azov Sea region, Russia)

Functional use of large stone tool from the Upper Paleolithic site of Kamennaya Balka II (the Northern Azov Sea region, Russia)

The evolution of the human trophic level during the Pleistocene

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