Stone Decorations from the Chalcolithic Sites of the Upper and Middle Kama Region (an attempt at complex analysis)

Abstract

The purpose of the article was a comprehensive study of stone decorations from the Chalcolithic sites of the region. The authors used petrographic description, typological and use-wear analysis. The authors examined 40 items from 6 archaeological sites located in the Upper (2) and Middle (4) Kama region. The jewelry was made of serpentinite of varying degrees of hardness. Serpentinite could originate from the Saranovsky and Moivinsky deposits in the Perm region. The shape of the products was divided into 5 groups, among which the leading ones were oval and teardrop-shaped. Most of the jewelry had a single through hole, which was more often located in the upper part of the product and was drilled on one side. The use-wear analysis made it possible to identify traces from the manufacture of jewelry, traces from use and traces that appeared as a result of the archeologization of objects. Most products were treated as patches on clothing. The shape and quality of jewelry could depend on both the hardness of the raw materials and the skills of the master. They don't create standard groups. The closest analogies can be found in the ornaments studied at the Ust-Kama burial grounds. The population that left these burial grounds could take part in the formation of the Chalcolithic cultures of the Kama forest.