Introduction

This article is devoted to the analysis of tools on bone chips and bone fragments found at sites of the transition period in Central Europe, East and North Asia. It offers an alternative classification of tools made on bone chips, and a view of the transition from the Middle to the Upper Paleolithic.

In the manufacture of bone tools on flakes, as well as stone, there are two stages of splitting. As a result of the primary splitting of the long bone, one or two chips with a spiral fracture were obtained. Secondary processing along the edges of the chip assumed the final design of the product. To obtain polished bone tools, long thin bone blanks were used-products of the " technique of longitudinal bone cutting by applying deep cuts and then expanding them (hereinafter referred to as the method of longitudinal bone cutting)". At the Salzgitter-Lebenstedt site in Germany, a rib bone of Mammuthus primigenius was found with traces of grinding without splitting, dating back to the end of the Middle Paleolithic, but such samples are not typical [Gaudzinski, 1998, 1999]. The dates of monuments should also be taken into account. The current IntCal 04 calibration curve reached approximately 26,000 calibrated years, but high accuracy in calibrating radiocarbon dates from tree rings is possible only up to 12.4 thousand calibrated years (Reimer et al., 2004). The CalPal_2004_SFCP calibration curve (University of Cologne) allows you to extend the boundaries to 50 thousand calibrated years. It is advisable to have calibration data if the object being determined belongs to the time frame of 26-50 thousand years AGO [Weninger Joris, Danzeglocke, 2004]. Creating this calibration curve is only one way to determine actual dates [Plicht et al., 2004]. The radiocarbon dates presented in this article are not calibrated.

Characteristics of bone splitting

Stone tools on flakes were made, as a rule, from long chips. A shell fracture usually occurs due to anthropogenic impact on obsidian (Figure 1). Compared to stone, bone is a softer material, but the fractures on the bone are the same as on stone.

The tubular structure of the long bone is one of the features that determined the method of its splitting (Fig. 2). With a strong impact (or heavy load) on the center of a long bone with a diaphysis, the fault line takes the shape of the letter "X", an oval chip with a spiral fracture is obtained. At the point of impact, the bone is crumbled, and a hole is formed in this place. However, in rare cases, the crustose fracture at the point of impact persists. The presence of small fragments (Binford, 1981, p.154), negatives of chipping on the flake with a spiral fracture, and recesses on the front surface of the flake with a spiral profile (Lyman, 1994, p. 326) can indicate bone splitting with a bump.

Fresh (raw) bone was split mainly for the purpose of obtaining bone marrow. The result of these actions were fragments that were used to make weapons.

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1. Diagram of the appearance of a shell fracture on obsidian (Opo, 2001).

2. Diagram of the formation of chips with a cancellous and spiral fracture on a fragment of tubular bone (Opo, 2001).

Figure 3. Classification of the bone processing process [Опо and the Nojiri-ko Excavation Research Group, 1986; Ono, 2001].

There are three main ways to make bone tools from long bone [Ono and the Nojiri-ko Excavation Research Group, 1986; Opo, 2001] (fig.:

A - to obtain the tool blank, a non-impact technique was used, or the technique of longitudinal bone sawing. Such blanks were used for the manufacture of polished bone tools, which were obtained by notching, scraping, cleaning and grinding;

B-blanks of guns were made using percussion equipment. The impact was made on a fragment of bone; on the main working surface there were signs characteristic of stone splitting. In the course of secondary processing, they were given a complete shape;

B-blanks of tools were obtained by the method of so-called spiral splitting of fresh bone; they were with a spiral fracture. The finished look of the tool was obtained after secondary processing of the bone edge.

Classification of bone tools

Among the Paleolithic bone tools, polished products from the Upper Paleolithic period are of the greatest interest. According to morphological and typological features, the process of making tools on bone flakes has not yet been studied, probably due to their diversity. In addition, bone tools that typologically correspond to stone tools are not very common in excavations. A large proportion of bone finds are made up of bone tools intended for short-term use.

Bone chips and bone fragments recorded in various archaeological horizons are very diverse in shape. A large number of such "one-time" bone tools have not yet been divided into morphological types. However, some tools on bone flakes can be classified.

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In this case, you can use terminology that reflects the typology of stone tools, although stone and bone tools do not have absolute parallels (Figure 4). Such types of tools as hand choppers, cleavers and choppers made of stone and bone have a similar shape. Examples include tools on bone flakes found at the Lower Paleolithic sites of Bilzingsleben in Germany [Mania, 1990a, 19906, 1998; Mania and Weber, 1986], Ranuccio and Castel di Guido in Italy [Biddittu et al., 1979; Pitti and Radmilli, 1984], and Vertessseles in Hungary [Vertesszolos..., 1990]. Probably, people who lived during the Lower and Middle Paleolithic were not very picky when choosing materials for making certain types of tools (Dobosi, 1983, 1988).

Unpolished tools on Paleolithic bone chips, including nucleoid tools and tools on flakes made of solid materials, were probably made for hunting animals, processing and butchering carcasses. The classification of tools based on bone flakes is not fully defined in terms of their manufacturing techniques. The morphology of bone tools is to some extent determined by the initial shape of the bone (Fig.

Classification takes into account: the shape of the blank, traces of retouching, signs of grinding. These three characteristics and their combination allow us to classify all forms of tools on bone chips.

A look at the transition from the Middle to Upper Paleolithic through the prism of the dynamics of tools on bone chips and bone fragments

Central Europe (Germany). The transition was probably reflected in bone tools in various parts of Europe, but especially clearly in Germany.

4. Morphological types of tools on bone flakes (Opo, 2001). 1, 2, 10-Vertesseles, Hungary; 3-Fontana Ranuccio, Italy; 4, 11, 12-Bilzingsleben, Germany; 5-Castel di Guido, Italy; 6, 8-Tategaana (Lake of the same name). Nojiri), Japan; 7-Geisenklesterl Cave, Germany; 9-Oberneder Cave, Germany; 13, 14-Lange/Ferguson, USA. 1 - chopper; 2-pointed chopper; 3, 4 - chopping tools; 5-hand chopper; 6-jib; 7-point; 8-10-scrapers; 11-wedge-shaped tool; 12-chisel; 13 - nucleus; 14-flake.

5. Alternative classification of tools based on bone chips, taking into account the combination of shape and elements of secondary processing (Opo, 2001).

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6. Chronology of archaeological sites containing tools on bone chips (Opo, 2001).

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7. Tools on bone chips / polished tools of the transition period from the Middle to Upper Paleolithic. 1-Grosse Grote; 2-Salzgitter-Lebenstedt; 3-Vogelherd (VI); 4-Geisenklesterl.

Here, at the Middle Paleolithic sites of Rede (Tromnau, 1983), Zirgenstein (Hahn, 1976), and Oberneder (Freund, 1987), archaeologists found a hand chopper, side and end scrapers, and a side scraper on bone flakes (Fig. 6) . Several polished bone tips were recorded in the Early Aurignacian horizons at the Vogelherd cave site on the far north side of the island. in the south-west of the country (Riek, 1934; Muller-Beck, 1983). This may indicate a rapid transition, but it should be borne in mind that the polished bone tip was found in Late-Middle Paleolithic horizons at the Vogelherd and Salzgitter-Lebenstedt sites. Tools on bone fragments were also present in the Upper Paleolithic Aurignacian horizon in the Geisenklesterl Cave (Hahn and Owen, 1985) (Fig.

As noted above, such types of tools as the hand chopper, jib, chopper, chopper, and scraper have a similar shape, regardless of whether they are made of stone or bone. This is svi-

8. Oxygen-isotope stages and distribution of proboscis animal species.

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it shows that when shaping bone tools, people were guided by the standards for stone tools. However, mastering the technology of longitudinal bone cutting allowed him to free himself from these standards.

The transition from the Middle to the Upper Paleolithic corresponds to the transition from the manufacture of tools on bone chips to the creation of polished bone tools, which was due to technical changes, in particular, the formation of the technology of longitudinal bone cutting, which resulted in the appearance of incisors in plate tool sets.

Japanese Archipelago: Tategaana site (oz. Nojiri). The Korean Peninsula and the islands of the Japanese Archipelago were connected by land at least twice during the Middle Pleistocene period: during OIS 16 (ca. 0.63 Ma) and OIS 12 (ca. 0.42 Ma). During the Upper Pleistocene period, even during the last glacial maximum, the "bridge" did not exist; Only the northernmost island of Hokkaido was connected by land to the mainland.

The land migration of large fauna representatives from mainland China to the islands of the Japanese Archipelago took place precisely during OIS 16 and OIS 12: the migration of the elephant (Stegodon orientalis) - during the existence of the first "bridge", and the Nauman elephant (Palaeoloxodon naumanni) - during the second "bridge" (Fig.

No traces of hominid habitation on the islands of the Japanese Archipelago during periods of migration of large fauna have been recorded. Well-preserved hominid fossils from the late Pleistocene Finale were found in a limestone fault in Minatogawa, Okinawa. However, there are no artifacts or other signs of human habitation in the fault deposits.

Tategaan's parking lot on the lake is unique. Nojiri in central Northern Japan. During excavations of lake sediments, geologists, archaeologists and other researchers found a large number of footprints of the elephant Nauman (Palaeoloxodon naumanni) and giant deer Yabe (Sinomegaceros yabei), as well as fossilized remains

Fig. 9. Location of the Tategaana parking lot on the lake. Nojiri. Photo by Akiro Ono.

Figure 10. Footprints of the Nauman elephant and the giant Yabe deer in the lower part of Formation III. Photo by Akiro Ono.

11. Footprints of the Nauman elephant in the lower part of Formation III (Nojiri-ko Excavation Research Group, 1994).

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Fig. 12. Stratigraphic sequence of Lake Baikal deposits Nojiri, central part of Northern Japan (Nojiri-ko Excavation Research Group, 1994).

representatives of these and other mammalian species and Paleolithic artifacts (Figs. 9-11).

The chronological boundaries of the Nojiri-ko geological formation (lake deposits of the monument) are established according to a number of AMS dates (Figure 12): for the lower part - from 50 to 42 thousand years ago, for the middle part - from 42 to 35 thousand years ago, for the upper part - from 35 to 12 thousand years ago.

The faunal remains of these two species are most widely represented: the bones of the Nauman elephant account for 91.9 %, and the bones of the giant Yabe deer account for 7.9 %. The collections collected during the 1980 excavations contain the remains of at least 23 individuals of the Nauman elephant. The bones of ten of them are found in the lower part of formation III, two in the middle part of formation I, two in the middle part of formation II, one in the middle part of formation III, and eight in the upper part of formation III. Based on the 66 molars found (31 upper and 35 lower), a profile was constructed that clearly shows two age categories: from 25 to 36 years (adults, 39 %) and from 49 to 60 years (elderly individuals, 29%). These data indicate a preference of Paleolithic humans to hunt adult mammals.

Oval scrapers, cleavers, knife tools, and flakes with a retouched base are all available.-

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picky bone tools in the parking lot, open on the lake. Nojiri (figs. 13-16). In the same layer, along with bone products, such stone tools as scrapers, drills, and flakes were found. In the middle part of Formation I, a bone cleaver and bone flakes with a retouched base restored by repair, as well as bone fragments that can be applied, were found in the same concentration (see Fig. 16) [Nojiri-ko Excavation Research Group, 1984, 1994; Ono and the Nojiri-ko Excavation Research Group, 1991]. Oxygen-carbon stage 3 (OIS 3) corresponds to a period of about 57-30 Ka BP [Joris,

13. A scraper from the left tibia of the Nauman elephant from the Tategaana site (classification: 1-U, lower part of the IIIB1 formation) (Nojiri-ko Excavation Research Group, 1984).

14. Cleaver from the humerus of the Nauman elephant from the Tategaana site (classification: 1-B, middle part of Formation I (41,516 BP)) (Anthropology..., 1990).

15. Knife-shaped tool made from the rib of the Nauman elephant from the Tategaana site (classification: 0-U, lower part of the IIIB1 formation) (Nojiri-ko Excavation Research Group, 1984).

16. Applicative flakes from the bones of the Nauman elephant and their fragments from the Tategaana site (classification: 1=1-U, 2= 1-U, middle part of the I formation (41,516 BP)) (Nojiri-ko Excavation Research Group, 1984).

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1-7. Paleolithic tools on bone fragments and tusk tools in North and East Asia, mid-OIS 3 and 2 (Opo, 2001).

2004]. Thus, the middle part of Formation I is chronologically related to the middle of OIS 3. Based on these data, it can be assumed that in some areas of the Tategaan camp, on the shore of the lake, carcasses were cut up; during this time, elephant hunters also made tools on bone chips. All bone tools were made by direct splitting; the technique of longitudinal bone cutting was not yet known (Opo, 2001).

Outside of Japan, in East and North Asia, tools on bone flakes have been recorded at several archaeological sites : the Junniushan site (Zhang S., 1993), the Shiyu site (Zhang J., 1991), and the Xuetian site (Yu, 1988) in China, the Yonggul Cave (Sohn, 1988) in Korea, and the Berelekh site in the north Russia [Mochanov and Fedoseeva, 1996]. All these monuments belong to the Upper Paleolithic period (Fig. Only two of them date back to the Upper Paleolithic: location of Junnishan A-ca. 230-200 thousand years AGO, Tategaana (oz. Nojiri) - the middle of OIS 3.

Conclusions

Unlike in Europe, in East and North Asia, tools made from bone chips were used on a par with polished bone tools until the end of the Upper Paleolithic. It is still difficult to find an explanation for this, but it is possible that there is a connection between the appearance and development of the technique of longitudinal bone cutting and the presence of a constant number of incisors in artifact collections. In East Asia, incisors are less common in Upper Paleolithic tool sets than in Central European tool sets. Further discussion of this problem requires expanding the database of bone-chip tools with accurate geochronological and radiometric definitions, especially from East Asia.

Acknowledgements

I am very grateful to the research team that excavated the lake. Nojiri, for his cooperation in conducting bone splitting experiments and constructive comments made in connection with the evaluation of large mammalian bone remains. I am also grateful to Prof. Emeritus X. Mueller-Beck, the late Prof. J. Hahn and Prof. N. J. Konar, who made it possible to study the collections from the Vogelherd and Geisenklesterl sites, as well as Prof. Kelly, who edited earlier versions of the article in English.

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The article was submitted to the Editorial Board on 14.02.06.

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