Snizhko I. Utilization of the hunting bag on the Amvrosievka upper paleolithic complex

The thesis is dedicated to the reconstruction of the process of utilization of the hunting bag by ancient hunters on the Amvrosievka upper palaeolithic complex. The complex consists of the base camp and the bone bed of bisons. Its date is late Valdaj freezing (20-18 thousand years ago) in maximum. Materials of excavations on the complex and some facts of previos investigations have been analysed using modern home and foreing (in most cases american) methods.The prosess of utilization of the hunting bag is reconstructed on the base of bones collections' analysis with the cut marks made by stone tools; bones with ancient breaks .It is also reconstructed on the base of analysis of structure peculiarities of the cultural level, flint and bone artefacts. As a result the generalizing model has been done to show the process of butchering of bisons' carcasses including the recreation the stages and ways of their utilization. The facts are established that the bone bad was formed as a result of a few huntings i n different seasons of the year on the place where the last stage bisons' kill took place. Then the primary butchering of carcass went on. It consisted of skining and segmentation of the carcasses. The secondary butchering which took place on the bisons' kill site and at the base camp consisted of following segmentation of carcasses and cutting meat. The both stages were followed by output of marrow. Parts of carcasses and meat which ancient people cut from bones were carried to the base camp where the main process of using happened. Some parts of the bisons' carcasses were unbutched and in cold seasons could be kept frozen on the kill site. The fact, which had been established by archaeozoologist L. Todd; said that bisons' kill could take place in October, Desember and March. And according the hunting season the difference in butchering appeared, especially in the strategy of outputting bisons' marrov. After hunting in autumn and in early winter they output marrow, but they didn't do it after hunting in earl y spring. The main tools for butchering were unretouched blades and flakes. The functional specificity of the parts of the bone bed is connected with primary realization of utilization of the hunting bag at the end of definit huntings. On the base of the comparative analysis we have made the conclusion, that the model of utilization of the hunting bag in Amvrosievka in its general outlines is the same, as the upper palaeolithic models which are famous as sites in Eastern Europe steppe zone (Anetovka II, Kamennaya Balka II) and this model coincides with sites in North America (Agate Basin, Olsen-Chabbec, Casper).