Examining recycling behaviors at Semizbugu P1 (2022), Kazakhstan

Abstract

This article presents the preliminary results of a new project aimed at investigating the behavioural aspects of stone tool reutilisation at the Semizbugu Palaeolithic complex. Monuments with surface artifacts are ideal sites for recycling, as artifacts are easy to locate and reuse on the day surface in such environments. As part of this project, artifacts were analysed at a new site, designated P1 (2022) of the Semizbugu settlement complex, with a focus on the identification of recycled objects, mainly by the presence of double patina. The results presented here describe the nature of the secondary use of the artifacts. The relevance of the work carried out is associated primarily with the fact that this is a completely new approach in the study of Paleolithic monuments of Kazakhstan, represented by numerous sites of the so-called "open type". On the example of the Semizbugu P1 monument (2022) it is possible to extrapolate the received conclusions with other similar monuments of the region for understanding of character of principles of reutilization and behavioral aspects in the past. Direct field studies at the Semizbugu complex were preceded by laboratory work on materials collected in the 1960s by A.G. Medoev.