ОРНАМЕНТОВАНІ ЗНАРЯДДЯ З ОРГАНІЧНИХ МАТЕРІАЛІВ МЕЗОЛІТУ–НЕОЛІТУ БАСЕЙНУ ДЕСНИ

Abstract

The most earliest cases of using the long bones of ungulates as tools are known from the Middle Paleolithic. In the Upper Paleolithic time, the manufacture of tools from the long bones of ungulates, as well as the ornamentation of some of them, is often represented in the sites of Europe. The territory of the Desna basin, during the time of the Final Paleolithic – Neolithic, was involved in the same cultural and historical processes that took place in the northern part of Europe. But, for today, unlike many northern regions of Europe, in the territory of the Desna basin, items made of bone or horn are known only from Neolithic points. Ornamented tools are represented only by single samples. The purpose of this work is to соnsider ornamented tools made of organic materials found in the Desna basin and to publish a previously unknown sample of such tools found on the outskirts of Chernihiv, on Telyachiy island. The find from Telyachiy island is a fragment of a tool made from a long bone of a deer (Cervidae gen. etsp.). The the lack of a radiocarbon date makes it impossible to clarify its accurate dating. Based on the spread of columns of parallel strokes of ornament in the Mesolithic period and its continued existence in the Neolithic period, as well as the presence of finds of fragments of Neolithic ceramics on Telyachyi island, the found fragment of the tool, today, should be dated to the Mesolithic – Neolithic period. Thus, for the Early Holocene periods of the territory of the Desna basin, items made of organic materials are represented only by the Neolithic period. Among them, ornamented tools are rare specimens. Only for a fragment of a tool made of a long bone of a deer found on Telyachyi island, it can be assumed that it dates back to the Mesolithic. Given the meager amount of ornamented items made from organic materials from the territory of the Desna basin, this find is certainly an important source for understanding the ornamental traditions of decorating tools and the aesthetic preferences of the ancient population of the Desna basin.