Abstract

Bone retouchers were used by ancient humans in stone tool working. They were made mainly of the bones of prey animals. Retouchers are most characteristic of the Neanderalian bone tool collections, but they are also found in other cultural and chronological contexts at all stages of the Stone Age in Eurasia and beyond. Research on bone retouchers has been carried out for over a century using many different methods. Use-wear signs on bone retouchers are usually studied through a microscope with a magnification of up to x50 and are classified according to morphological characteristics. Most often the size of retouchers and their working zones are measured, but not the size of a single sign. Today, there are several classifications of use-wear traces on bone retouchers identifying from two to four types of marks. This paper presents the results of a morphometric study of the most widespread and recognized by most researchers category of marks on retouchers -short linear impressions with a V-shaped or trapezoidal profile using high-precision three-dimensional modeling methods. A high-precision three-dimensional structured light scanner and a three-dimensional surface profilometer were used to analyze traces on the surface of retouchers at the micro level. We measured the length, width, depth and angles of single, non-overlapping traces on the working areas of retouchers from the Chagyrskaya Cave. As a result, the average size of such traces with various exhaustion rates and their inclination angle in the cross-section view were determined. The dimensions of the marks on retouchers of Chagyrskaya Cave were compared with those on retouchers from other Middle Paleolithic sites previously published by other researchers.

Keywords

Paleolithic, bone retouchers, Chagyrskaya cave, profilometer, 3D modeling

Kolyasnikova Anastasiya S.

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6356-3738

Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography SB RAS

Chistyakov P.V.

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7036-7092

Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography SB RAS

Kolyasnikova Anna S.

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2278-5948

Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography SB RAS

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Rigaud A. Analyse typologique et technologique des grattoirs magdaleniens de La Garenne a Saint-Marcel (Indre) // Gallia Prehistoire. - 1977. - Vol. 20. - P. 1-43.

Schwab C. Fiche eclat diaphysaires du Paleolithique moyen et superieur: la grotte d’Isturitz (Pyrenees-Atlantiques) // Retouchoirs, compresseurs, percuteurs. Os a impressions et eraillures, Societe Prehistorique Franfaise, Fiches de la Commission de nomenclature sur l’industrie de l’os prehistorique / Patou-Mathis, M. (Ed.). - 2002. - P. 59-73.

Taute W. Retoucheure aus knochen, zahnbein und stein vom Mittelpalaolithikum bis zum Neolithikum // Fundberichte aus Schwaben. - 1965. - N. 17. - P. 76-102.

Veselsky A.P. Rabazi-V: Bone and Stone Tools Used in Flint Knapping. Rabazi V: Interstratification of Micoquian & Levallois. Mousterian Camp Sites. Simferopol. Cologne. -2008. - P. 427-452.

Vincent A. L’outillage osseux au Paleolithique moyen: une nouvelle approche. PhD thesis. University Paris X-Nanterre. - 1993.