Archaeologists excavating a Mesolithic site in north-western Russia have uncovered evidence of extensive stone tool production, including finished implements, unfinished blanks and large quantities of flint-working waste. The site is located on a sandy terrace overlooking the Peretna River in the Okulovsky District of the Novgorod region.
According to HeritageDaily Archaeology, researchers from Novgorod State University have so far recorded nearly 15,000 finds, even though only around one-eighth of the recovered material has been counted. The evidence dates broadly from the 10th to the 6th millennia BC, a period following the retreat of the Valdai Glacier from the region.
The excavation is led by Valery Suborov of the university’s Centre for Archaeological Research. The range of material allows researchers to examine successive stages of tool production, from preparing raw stone to removing flakes and producing finished implements. The concentration of manufacturing debris suggests that the location may have served as an important production centre rather than being used only as a temporary stop.
Among the finds is a pencil-shaped core made from an unusual deep reddish-brown stone described by researchers as “chocolate” flint. A core is a prepared piece of stone from which flakes or blades are removed. Ekaterina Borisevich, a junior research fellow at the university’s Centre for Archaeological Research, said Mesolithic craftspeople could have used pressure from a bone implement to detach very thin microblades.
Those blades could then be fitted into grooves in bone or wood to make composite spears, harpoons or knives. Individual cutting elements could be replaced when damaged, meaning the entire implement did not need to be discarded. Researchers say producing these inserts required careful planning and control over the location and angle of each removal, a process they refer to as controlled flaking.
The flint core carries long scars from earlier removals. Its quality may indicate that the material was considered valuable and brought to the settlement from elsewhere, although the source material does not identify where it originated.
Archaeologists have also recorded more than 10 cutting tools and unfinished blanks, including a large bifacially flaked object that may have been intended as an axe or adze. Such tools could have been used to work timber for boats, shelters and household objects as the region’s environment changed from tundra-steppe toward taiga forest. Borisevich said the quantity of woodworking tools may indicate extended occupation.
The river terrace provided a dry location overlooking a fast-flowing watercourse, which offered access to fish and other resources. A concentration of stones near the excavation’s centre is being examined as a possible hearth or prepared working area, but its function has not yet been established.
