Fisheries on Chashkino micro-region archaeological sites

Abstract

Chashkinskoye Lake is the Kama river palaeochannel. More than 20 archaeological sites are known on its eastern shore. They refer to the Mesolithic, Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Middle Ages. We divided all the tools that could be used for fishing in the Stone Age, into the tools directly and indirectly indicative of the development of fishing. We refer to the direct signs - the finds of sinkers and ice-splitting tools. We believe that the indirect signs include finds of axes, adzes and chisels that could be used to make boats. To this group we also include liners of composite throwing tools that could be used as harpoon blades. Mesolithic sites with tools associated with fishing were not found. On Neolithic and Chalcolithic sites large sinkers, chisels, adzes were found. This indicates that during the Neolithic-Chalcolithic period, fishing began to play an increasingly important role in the economic structure of the Chashkino micro-region population. In Middle Age settlements fishhooks, leisters, sinkers were found. The main forms of fishing were the spicy fishing, the setting up of nets and individual fishing with fishing rods.