«Houses» of the Alive and the Dead in the Paleolithic of Kostenki

Abstract

Kostenki-Borschevo region on the Don represents a unique concentration of Paleolithic sites: from the earliest Upper Paleolithic to the latest (timeframe of Kostenki sites is from more than 42,000 years old to 14,000 years old). The cultural layers of Kostenki sites lie in the sediments of the first and second terraces above the floodplain. The second terrace above the floodplain on the right bank of the Don is composed of alluvial sediments repeatedly overlaid with the slide-rocks forming the top of the open-casts. Sand interlayers alternate with loams and loamy sands. The thickness of the sediments varies from 11 m to 20 m. The upper part of the open-casts includes two layers of humic loams, some open-casts have the interlayer of volcanic ash. Cultural layers are mainly present in the loess-type rocks, overlapping alluvial and gully draw sediments.

The remains of 60 settlements were found in the cultural layers of 21 sites (many of the sites are multi-layered). Besides, it is here that there is a rare for the Paleolithic concentration of dwellings and burials: the dwellings were found at nine sites (Kostenki 1 (I), 2, 4, 8, 11, 13, 19, 21), at another three sites the dwellings are assumed with various degree of confidence (Kostenki 3, 9, 15). At the same time, at the sites with undoubted dwellings there are sometimes other objects, the interpretation of which as dwellings raises a number of issues. Burials were found at six sites (Kostenki 1, 2, 12, 14, 15, 18). The paper is devoted to the review of the diversity of the structures of dwellings and obsequies, since both best reflect the views of different groups of the primitive men about the structure of the world – the alive and the dead. In addition, the question is raised whether all objects introduced as dwellings are such.