On the Raw Materials of Stone Tools from the Paleolithic Sites Near Andriivka (Kharkiv Region, Ukraine)

Abstract

The article is devoted to solving the question of the origin of the raw materials of stone artifacts discovered during the study of the surface of the Lower Paleolithic localities near the settlement of Andriivka in the Kharkiv Region (Ukraine). The material of a significant part of artifacts was represented not by flint but by other rocks that are not typical for the area where the sites are located. Thus, an assumption was made about the likely mass use of remote stone raw materials in the Early Paleolithic, which is not typical for the territory of Ukraine. To confirm this fact, a petrographic study of the raw material of the artifacts was conducted based on 12 selected samples. Transparent thin sections had been produced from all the items, and the study using a polarizing microscope was performed. Research on the raw materials in the studied collection determined that it includes limestone, chalcedony rock (silicified limestone), sandstone, and two samples showing the contact between quartzites and schists. The studied limestones are represented by oolitic, coral, and chemogenic cryptocrystalline species. Also, the raw material of some of the products was identified as silicified lime- stone. All the mentioned rocks are characteristic of the occurrences of the Oxford stage of the Upper Jurassic, common in the Izium and Lozova Raions of the Kharkiv Region. The raw material of one item was identified as quartz sandstone with rock fragments and relict argillaceous-siliceous cement. Such rocks are typical for the deposits of the Carboniferous system of the Donets Coal Basin, they are found southeast of Andriivka, downstream of the Siverskyi Donets River, and also within the Open Donbas. Since in ancient times, only rocks exposed to the day surface could be mined, most likely, the sandstone got to the place of discovery from the territory of the modern Donetsk Region. Two of the studied products were made from contact rocks: one sample is identified as a contact of micaceous quartzite and sericite-quartz schist, and the other as a contact of microquartzite and quartz-biotite schist. The first rock, most likely, was formed as a result of recrystallization of siltstone, and the second – owing to quartzization of argillaceous limestone and carbonate-biotite schist. Siltstones are characteristic of Paleozoic deposits and may have the same origin as sandstone. The second sample may have the same provenance as the investigated limestones. Based on the results of the research, it was determined that all the samples from the locations near Andriivka come from the territories located mainly downstream of the Siverskyi Donets River, or in the southwestern direction in the territory of the modern Lozova Raion of the Kharkiv Region. The data provided by the sites in the Andriivka area testify to the relatively high mobility of the ancient population, as the identified rocks include samples from occurrences located at a distance of more than 60 km and some – more than 100 km. Thus, the distance between the deposits and the sites is greater than is usually recorded for the Lower Paleolithic archaeological sites of Ukraine. The obtained data indicate the origin of the purposeful collecting and supply of remote stone raw materials by man on the territory of Ukraine no later than 300 thousand years ago.