Stone Age Ivory Points from the Arctic Zone of Northeast Asia

Abstract

We give a technological and typological description of two well-preserved points (one fragmented rod-shaped, the other double-slotted), made of mammoth ivory and found in the Ust-Yansky District of Sakha-Yakutia in 2016. Traces evidencing various stages of manufacture are described in detail. A succession of technological operations is reconstructed, from the preparation of preforms and further processing by planing and abrasion to final polishing. Spall negatives on artifacts are interpreted as post-depositional damage that could have occurred from the effect of cryogenic processes in sediments. The slotted specimen is decorated with five finely engraved arrows. The discovery context and the morphology of the rod-shaped specimen are similar to those of ivory points from the Yana sites, whereas the slotted one resembles those from Zhokhovo and other Northeast Asian sites of the same age. Radiocarbon analysis of the points supports these findings. The following conclusions are reached: the rod-shaped point dates to MIS 3, and the slotted one, to MIS 2; such points evidence an elaborate technology of ivory processing during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene in the high latitudes of Northeast Asia and an adaptation to the scarcity of lithic raw material in the region.