Flint Production at the Settlements of the Usativ Culture Usatovo-Velykyi Kuyalnyk and Mayaki

Abstract

At the settlements of Usatovo-Velykyi Kuyalnyk and Mayaki of the Usativska culture (late Eneolithic – early Bronze Age), quite representative collections of flint products were collected during the research. The materials of the settlements have been published and are kept in the Odesa Archaeological Museum. But different archaeological methods have been used to study flint collections. This makes it difficult to analyse and compare flint collections from different settlements.

The purpose of the paper is to make a typological attribution of the collection of flint tools from the settlement of Usatovo-Velykyi Kuyalnyk and to compare it with the collection of flint products from the settlement of Mayaki.

The scientific novelty. In the twentieth century, and even today, the typological method is widely used to study archaeological collections. However, in the second half of the twentieth century, the use-wear analysis was used to study collections of flint tools from Eneolithic settlements. The paper provides a preliminary typological classification of the Usatovo-Velykyi Kuyalnyk flint collection and compares it with the flint collection of the Mayaki settlement.

Conclusions. Preliminarily, we can draw several conclusions. The ancient inhabitants of both settlements used flint mined in the Dniester River valley to make tools. Flintknapping and secondary treatment took place on the territory of the settlements. Some of the tools were likely brought to the settlement already in finished form. First of all, this applies to products that are similar to those of previous Stone Age epochs. In addition, at the settlement of Usatovo-Velykyi Kuyalnyk, there are retouched blades made of high-quality raw materials. These tools may also have been brought to the settlement in finished form. Additional research is needed to finally resolve this issue. At the Usatovo-Velykyi Kuyalnyk settlement, the percentage of products with secondary treatment is quite high, which, together with cores, makes up almost a third of the settlement’s flint collection. This can be explained by the different distances of the settlements from the raw material extraction sites.

In general, the typological composition of the flint tool collections at both sites is more or less similar. But, at the same time, there are certain differences. Further research will help to resolve these and other issues related to the livelihoods of the population of the Usatovo culture.