Animal bones with impact holes from the Upper Paleolithic sites of Byki

Abstract

The work is focused on the analysis of two holes of impact origin on the tubular bones of ungulates from the Upper Paleolithic sites of Byki on the Seim River. The materials of the sites belong to the Bykovskaya archaeological culture of hunters on ungulates and small fur animals. The dating of the sites is about 20-19 kur BP. A detailed description of the features of the identified holes is given. Assumptions based on traceological analysis of the edges of the pits, the nature of the damage and the possible causes of their occurrence are considered. The first hole was recorded on the humerus of a horse from the Byki-1 site. It has elliptical shape and is located near the epiphysis on the lateral side of the diaphysis. It can be characterized as a perforated-depressed fracture of bone tissue. The nature of the damage to the bone indicates that the hole was caused by a close-range blow to soft tissue as a result of hunting activity. The second hole of impact origin is located on a fragment of a metatarsal bone of a reindeer from the Byki-7 (Ia) site. This is a figure-of-eight shape hole, located near the epiphysis. The bone is broken off along a similar hole located on the reverse side opposite the first hole. Presumably, this fragment of bone was part of some kind of item, and the holes were needed for fastening. However, the primary throwing origin of the holes cannot be ruled out.