Results of Functional Analisis of the Blades from the Terminal Paleolithic Site of Sholma in the Chuvash Volga Region

Abstract

As a result of the excavations of the Sholma I site on the Tsivil River (right bank of the Volga, Chuvashia), carried out by the authors in 2007, 2011 and 2017, a significant assemblage of nuclei, plates and tools was obtained. This assemblage is characterizing the flint industry of the late Pleistocene (about 11.1 – 10.8 thousand CalBC). The paper presents the results of a functional study of a group of blades without secondary processing (355 copies), which for the most part bear traces of use as various knives, knife inserts, chisels, punctures, burins etc. Special attention should be paid to small fragmented blades, on the surface of which signs of projectile damage and breakage from impact are recorded, which served as the first inserts of the grooved arrowheads. The main occupation of the inhabitants of the hunter’s camp was specialized hunting for wild horses. For this purpose, the manufacture of composite projectile weapons using inserts (including small trapezoids) was practiced. The use-wear study of flint blades indicates a fairly wide range of labor operations: butchering, scraping, bone cutting, making bone tools (making grooves), woodworking. For these purposes, both specially designed tools and blades with a naturally sharp edge were used.