UDC 903.4

KOSTENKI-4: THE RELATIVE POSITION OF OBJECTS IN SPACE AND TIME (analysis of the cultural layer)*

At the Upper Paleolithic site of Kostenki-4, several clusters of various kinds and the remains of four residential structures, including two long dwellings of great interest, were found. The settlement was excavated by A. N. Rogachev, and the materials of his research were published. The monument entered the archaeological literature as a two-layer structure. However, the author himself hesitated for a long time before coming to this conclusion, and not all of his arguments seem sufficiently justified. The difficulty of understanding the monument, both in plan and profile, made us turn to these materials again and try to clarify the situation. In this article, the localization of various fixed layers is considered and an attempt is made to interpret the settlement objects.

Keywords: Upper Paleolithic, settlement, dwelling, housing complex, cultural layer, cultural horizon, settlement structure, hearth, cluster.

Introduction

The Kostenki-4 monument (Alexandrovskaya site) belongs to the chronological group dating from 23,000-21,000 BC. It is located on the first above-floodplain terrace at the confluence of the Alexandrovsky and Biryuchy dens at the mouth of the Don Valley. Cultural remains occur in situ. Among other sites of the Kostenkovsko-Borshchevsky district, Kostenki-4 occupies a very special place due to the specific form of dwellings, the structure of the settlement, and some forms of stone tools, including polished slate rods, disks, pestles, and flint points of the Alexander type. The monument entered the archaeological literature as a two-layered one, while the stone inventory of the lower horizon (with long dwellings) undoubtedly belongs to gravett. The specific nature of the Upper horizon stone industry does not allow us to clearly define its place in the context of the Upper Paleolithic of Europe. We will not now dwell on the characteristics of stone and bone tools; the materials were published (Rogachev, 1955). Let us only note that the process of understanding this monument as a two-layered one was extremely difficult for its researcher A. N. Rogachev. The difference in archaeological collections, the structure of objects, and the color of cultural horizons testified to their different times. At the same time, the absence of a sterile layer, the contiguity of dwellings to each other, and a number of other observations did not allow us to unambiguously interpret the northern residential complex. The complexity of the whole picture and the hesitation of the author of the excavation gave rise to doubts among colleagues about his conclusion. It is almost impossible to solve the problem in the field, since the settlement is almost completely excavated, but the thoroughness of the recording allows us to follow the entire research process step by step and draw certain conclusions. Over the 70 years that have passed since the excavations of the northern complex, views on many problems in Paleolithic archaeology have changed, and some experience has been gained in studying structures and structures of the Northern complex.

* The work was carried out within the framework of the program of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences "Adaptation of peoples and cultures to changes in the natural environment, social and technological transformations".

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layer objects. All this made me turn back to the materials of Kostenok-4 and try to understand the situation.

Southern residential complex

The complex was opened in 1927 by S. N. Zamyatnin. He laid 10 pits here, one of which, the richest in finds, turned into a dig site with an area of 26 m2. The following year, one of the excavations of P. P. Efimenko, with an area of 20 m2, was cut to it (Fig. 1). These excavations revealed a section of the cultural layer saturated with finds, painted with bright red ochre. Another excavation by P. P. Efimenko of the same size fell on the periphery of a residential complex and yielded only a few isolated finds at the contact of chernozem and loam.

In 1937, A. N. Rogachev, a student of P. P. Efimenko, who took an active part in the excavations of Kostenok-1 in 1934-1936, took up the study of the Alexandrovskaya site. Thus, he already had the experience of studying a Paleolithic settlement on a large area, which he successfully applied to Kostenki-4. This led to unexpected and interesting results.

The 1937 excavation, which was cut to the 1927-1928 excavations and linked to them in a single square grid, uncovered about 400 m2. The cultural layer, rich in finds and intensely colored with bright red ochre, was clearly localized in a depression 34 m long, 5.5 m wide, and 0.2-0.3 m deep. In addition, two clusters of finds were located 2 m to the north and at the same distance to the south of this depression (Fig. 1). The depth of the cultural layer was determined by the The thickness of the layer was 1.2-1.3 m from the daytime surface. The third outer cluster of finds goes under the eastern wall of the excavation.

The structure of the long depression left no doubt that it was dug by humans and consists of three unequal parts or sections (Rogachev, 1952, 1955). The middle section was separated from the western one by a rather steep ledge with a height of 0.1 m, and from the eastern one by a slight elevation of the floor. As for the external boundaries of the entire depression, they were generally clearly defined, although in three places they were destroyed by two rounded pits of the Bronze Age settlement and a modern clay-digging pit in the western part of the excavation in 1928. The eastern end of the dwelling was severely damaged by wormholes, along which the cultural layer was pulled apart. Therefore, its shape cannot be determined. The western end is rounded, here the wall was almost vertical, the other borders of the western section, much more gentle, almost smoothly compared with the ancient daytime surface. The northern wall was relatively steep throughout the middle and eastern sections, while the southern wall was flat.

The size of the sections and the number of foci in them are different. The largest is the western one (14.0 x 5.6 m). The three hearths cleared in 1937 were located strictly along its longitudinal axis and were rounded bowl-shaped depressions filled with ash mass. Their dimensions are approximately the same: the first hearth (the westernmost one) had a diameter of 0.6 m and a depth of 0.05 m, the second - 0.6 and 0.09, respectively, and the third - 0.55 and 0.1 m. Based on the oral report of S. N. Zamyatnin about the "remains of bonfires" in the excavation of 1927, as well as the presence of a large number of burnt flints, and by analogy with other sections of the dwelling, A. N. Rogachev suggested that there were also other buildings in the area.

Fig. 1. Plan of the southern residential complex.

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other foci (at least two) [Rogachev, 1955, p. 92]. The bright red cultural layer in the central part of the section was saturated with finds, while the pale colored layer along the borders contained much less of them. The width of this strip reached 1 m in some places. Its presence along the northern edge of the 1928 excavation helped to accurately establish the boundary of the dwelling on this site. Only at the junction with the middle section, the color intensity of the cultural layer and its saturation with finds did not decrease.

The middle section had a length of 9 m, a maximum width of 5.4 m, and an average depth of 0.25 - 0.30 m. However, in the northern part, along the steep wall, to which the bright red layer came almost close, the depth over a large area reached 0.4 m. Along the gentle southern edge and on the border with the eastern section, the width of the pale-colored strip sometimes exceeded 0.5 m. The thickness of the bright cultural layer in the central part was 0.25 m. Four centers of the middle section were located along the longitudinal axis at unequal distances from each other. The westernmost one, the fourth one, with a diameter of 0.55 m and a depth of 0.12 m, was probably buried in ancient times, after being used for some time (Zheltova, 2008). 2 m to the east was the next, fifth hearth, the smallest-0.45 m in diameter, 0.1 m deep. Most likely, it had something like a channel for blowing: an oblong depression with a width of 0.08 - 0.10 m and a length of 0.5 m adjoined it, clogged with hearth mass and resembling "a wide and long wormhole connected with the hearth depression" (Rogachev, 1955, p.92). Unfortunately, A. N. Rogachev does not give a detailed description of the bottom and walls of the hearth. Another such hearth with a blowing channel is known only in the first complex Kostenok-19. Its diameter is 0.6-0.7 m, depth is 0.25 m; the bottom is bumpy and, like the walls, is strongly burned [Boriskovsky, 1963, pp. 145-146]. The sixth and seventh foci were located further to the east at a distance of 1.5 and 1.0 m, respectively. These were ordinary bowl-shaped depressions measuring 0.55 × 0.08 m.

The length of the eastern section did not exceed 10.5 m, and the depth was 0.25 m. The northern boundary was well defined; the southern wall, like the other sections, rose gently to the ancient day surface. A brightly colored layer lay only in the central part, nowhere approaching the edges. The width of the pale strip running along the boundaries of the depression averaged 0.6 m. Three foci of the eastern section were located at a distance of 2 m from each other and were wider, and two - and deeper than all the previous ones: diameter 0.65 m, depth 0.13 m. The third one was less deep -0.07 m, but the thickness of the focal mass in it was 0.1 m. All the hearths contained a significant amount of split flint with traces of being on fire. Another hearth, at the westernmost end of the eastern section, was filled with the usual cultural layer with finds, having been abandoned after a short operation (small signs of ash content were found at the bottom).

Of the 52 holes in the floor of the long dwelling, most of which were filled with an ocher-colored cultural layer with finds, only four in the western section can be interpreted by the nature of filling and location as pits from pillars. In one case (pit 9), the pole was apparently wedged by a piece of tubular horse bone and a mammoth rib (Rogachev, 1955, p.97).

The only entrance to the dwelling, at least for the western and middle sections, was located on the north side at the eastern end of the western section, i.e. almost at the junction with the middle one. Here, on a flat area outside the dwelling, lay a pale cultural layer containing 213 split flints and 16 bone fragments. To the east of this spot were four mammoth vertebrae in anatomical order, and to the west - a single pit outside the dwelling, rounded in plan, with a diameter of 0.24 m and a depth of 0.12 m. On the gentle edge of the hollow there was a depression 0.65 m wide, 0.16 m deep, forming a ledge at the entrance to the dwelling.

Directly opposite the entrance, a northern outer cluster of cultural remains was discovered 2 m away. Its width is 3 m, length is almost 8 m. The southern cluster is more than 8 m long, width is about 3.5 m. It was located at the same distance from the dwelling and stretched along the eastern section from the border with the middle one. Both had indistinct outlines and were located parallel to the long sides of the dwelling. The finds lay in a pale colored cultural layer. In the northern cluster, about 1000 flint objects and about 100 bone fragments were found on a flat surface. Yuzhnoye was more saturated with finds. Most of them were concentrated in a shallow depression at the eastern end of the cluster, which occupied about a third of its area. Next to the eastern edge of the long dwelling was a third cluster of finds, extending under the excavation wall. It was examined on an area of 12 m2. The cultural layer painted with dark ochre had a thickness of 0.10-0.15 m; in the western part there was a pit filled with the cultural layer, next to it-two large boulders. There was also a pit with ash filling. The composition of the finds is mixed, but objects typical of the upper horizon predominated [Ibid., p. 23].

Northern residential complex

In 1938, a 339 m2 excavation site was laid 17-20 m north of the southern residential complex.-

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Fig. 2. Plan of the northern residential complex.

1-bright red horizon; 2-dark horizon; 3-lowering of the floor; 4 - wedging of the layer; 5 - staining of the layer with spots and moles; 6 - weakly colored layer; 7 - accumulation of bones; 8-focus.

which revealed a much more complex picture. Along the very edge of the first above-flood terrace, there was a long depression similar to the southern one (Fig. 2). Its length is 23 m, width is 5.5 m, and depth is 0.25 - 0.30 m. The north-western wall of the depression was relatively steep with several more gentle sections, where the boundary of the dwelling was established by the spread of the cultural layer. The western wall, which is very steep, in the middle for 2 m was strongly destroyed by wormholes, and in this place the cultural layer of spots went beyond the boundaries of the depression. The same phenomenon was observed along the entire northern border and in a small area on the south-western side. In addition, in three places there was a strip of faintly colored layer along the wall of the dwelling, just where it is relatively flat. In some cases, the descriptions of the layer in the field documentation do not fully explain why the boundary in the drawing is drawn this way. I think it is rather a connecting line between those areas where the outline of the dwelling is quite obvious due to the presence of a colored and powerful cultural layer or wall of the recess. It is noteworthy that, according to the descriptions in the field diary, at the junction of squares Z-45 and I-45, the border turns quite sharply to the south and, continuing in this direction, rests against the wall of the eastern round dwelling. Moreover, in this segment, it is expressed by a sharp decrease in the floor, where the colored cultural layer is localized. To the north of the eastern end of the dwelling, beyond its borders, there were also spots of a colored cultural layer. The abundance of finds here was up to 100 flints per 1 m2. According to A. N. Rogachev, it was in this lowest part of the settlement that the cultural layer was eroded shortly after its abandonment by people [Ibid., p. 110].

In contrast to the southern dwelling, in the northern one, the concentration of finds in the central part near the foci was significantly lower than at the edges, where there is no pale layer band. One possible explanation for this is that A. N. Rogachev saw that the erosion of the cultural layer occurred just along the line of foci and some of the material was carried out of the dwelling in the north-eastern area. However, the author notes the absence of "any phenomena inside the dwelling that would indicate the erosion of its floor" [Ibid., p. 112].

By analogy with the long southern dwelling, A. N. Rogachev identified three sections in the northern one along the axes of the hearths ' location. However, in this case, such a division is groundless. The entire depression was relatively evenly filled with the cultural layer, although not everywhere equally colored and saturated with finds, but without interruptions at the "section boundaries". In addition, the relatively flat floor of the dwelling with a slope in the direction of the natural slope did not have protrusions and level differences that could be interpreted as boundaries between sections.

Along the longitudinal axis, there were nine foci located here, in some cases larger than

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in the southern dwelling. Some of them had baking pits attached to them. The first hearth (from the west) had a rounded shape, a flat bottom, a diameter of 0.8 m, and a depth of 0.07 m. The adjacent oval baking pit with a depth of 0.1 m and a diameter of 0.23-0.26 m was filled with the same ash mass as the hearth, and the thickness of this filling exceeded the depth of objects: in the hearth - 0.12 m, in the pit - 0.15 m. The diameter of the second focus hole, located 1.7 m south-east of the first, was even larger - 0.95-1.0 m; the bottom had a depression in the center, where the depth was 0.15 m. The thick filling was overlaid by a lens of brown loam of a different nature than the surrounding cultural layer. It contained a few rocks and a piece of burnt granite. There was a ring of ash around the lens. The third focus, slightly affected by the S. N. Zamyatnin pit, 0.55 m in diameter and 0.14 m deep, was a simple bowl-shaped depression, like the fifth and sixth. The fourth and seventh foci of the same size were each provided with one adjacent baking pit of 0.22 × 0.12 m and 0.15 × 0.12 m, respectively. The eighth had an oval shape, size 0.11 × 0.85 m, depth 0.1 m. The ash mass spread to the north-west of it on an area of approx. 35 cm 2 layer 3 - 4 cm. The ninth hearth had a diameter of 0.95 m, a depth of 0.1 m; the ash filling capacity was 0.15 m. To the south of the hearth, a small patch of ash mass with a thickness of approx. 5 cm, covered with a ten-centimeter layer of darkish ochre.

As for the structural elements, none of the 25 pits in the northern dwelling was interpreted as a pole pit. But outside it, 0.6 m to the northwest, three large fragments of tubular mammoth bones were driven into a row, strongly weathered compared to the fragments of bones that lay in the dwellings. They could be used to stop the roof poles or, according to the assumption of A. N. Rogachev, for fixing a powerful earthen blockage [Ibid., p. 113]. However, no traces of such debris were found on this relatively flat area of the settlement's surface during excavations.

An interesting feature of the northern dwelling is the presence of 14 pits with a layer of red ochre on the bottom, in which black pebbles of siliceous rock lay. Sometimes there were also clam shells or other items. The size of the pits varied from 0.2 to 0.4 m in diameter and the same depth.

The long dwelling was bordered to the south and east by two rounded depressions, each with a single hearth in the center (Fig. 2). The western one was partially embedded in the southern wall of the long dwelling. The diameter of the depression is 6 m, the depth is 0.5 m in the north-western part and 0.1 m in the eastern part. At the beginning of the dismantling of this section of the layer, it was a large (10-11 m in diameter) cluster of finds lying in colored loam. The color was significantly darker than in the long dwelling, and had a rather maroon-brownish hue. This cluster merged with a similar one in the east with less clear boundaries. The thickness of the layer, which was quite insignificant at the edges, reached 0.5 m towards the center of the depressions. Like the long dwellings, it was deeply embedded in the loam on the north side. To the south-east, it became more and more gentle, and finally merged smoothly in the south with the ancient daytime surface. A thick cultural layer extended in a south-westerly direction, i.e. in the direction of a natural slope, beyond the depression to a flat daytime surface and continued under the excavation wall. On this site, as in the dwelling, it had no signs of violation.

In the center of the western dwelling was a hearth podo round shape, with a diameter of 0.8-1.1 m. Its depth did not exceed 0.1 m, the edges were flat. The thickness of the ash mass in the center reached 0.15 m. There were five baking pits around the hearth, almost cut into its edges. To the west of it were two more pits also with ash filling. The entire hearth, as well as the space around it, was covered by a black hearth mass, the oval spot of which, elongated in a westerly direction, had a length of 2.5 m, a width of 1.5 m.

17 holes were found in the floor of the round dwelling. Some of them may have originated from earth-moving animals, but most of them were deliberately dug and placed around the hearth. Shale disks were found in four pits, most of them-plates, shale flakes, and tools.

The structural details of the dwelling presumably include six large fragments of mammoth tusks (0.5 - 0.8 m long) from the upper part of the layer, according to A. N. Rogachev, associated with the roof, and several large bones of this animal lying below [Ibid., p. 26]. The most interesting element is the arc-shaped accumulation of stones in the upper part of the layer along the outer edge of the dwelling on the western and northern sides. It consisted of several large stone slabs and dozens of small tiles and stones, and all of them lay in an inclined position. Inside the dwelling, along its western, southern and north-eastern borders, large accumulations of stones were found in the lower part of the cultural layer. On the eastern edge of the dwelling were a fragment of the mammoth humerus buried epiphysis downwards and a stone slab lying in the upper bright layer.

To the southwest of the hearth, two cave lion skulls were located side by side in the loam that overlapped the cultural layer. Following P. P. Efimenko, A. N. Rogachev suggested that they, like the musk ox skull in Kostenki-1, crowned the roof.-

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shcha [1955, p. 27]. In this regard, it should be noted that in the dwelling of the upper layer of Kostenok-8, which is very similar to the described object, the skull of a cave lion was also found at the entrance.

The eastern round dwelling is somewhat similar in structure to the western one. Its diameter is 6.0 - 6.5 m, its depth is 0.3 - 0.4 m. The colored cultural layer spread out of the depression by 1.0-1.5 m, going in a south-westerly direction under the excavation wall. The south-western, southern, and south-eastern walls of the dwelling are steep and well defined. The northern boundary is indistinct; there was a confluence of cultural layers and the floor of round and long dwellings. In the west and north-west, at the junction with the long dwelling, there was a ledge from which the floor gradually descended in both dwellings; a dotted border was drawn along it. In the clearly defined eastern edge, there was a wide flat-bottomed depression of 1.3 x 0.8 m, 0.15 m deep from the floor, half extending beyond the dwelling. It is quite possible that it was located on the site of the entrance. Next to it, outside the dwelling, there was another pit of the same depth, slightly smaller. Both of them were filled with the usual cultural layer.

Along the southern edge of the dwelling there was a loam shaft with a width of 0.4-0.5 m, a height of 0.05-0.09 m, covered with a thin colored layer that merged with the filling of the dwelling. At the eastern end of the rampart were a large stone and a vertically driven fragment of a tubular mammoth bone. And at the north-western edge of the dwelling was a cluster of large stone slabs, lying in an inclined position.

In addition to the described objects, the northern residential complex includes a cluster of bones to the northwest of the long dwelling (Figure 2): two fragments of shoulder blades, bones of two forelimbs in anatomical order, fragments of ribs, jaws, and pelvic bone of a horse, four phalanges and an astragalus of a saiga, a phalanx of a hare, and a fragment of a reindeer horn. In addition, about 100 flints and more than 50 quartzite objects, including tools, were found here. This cluster was assigned to the upper horizon solely because of the presence of a large amount of quartzite and light flint (Rogachev, 1955, p. 23).

The problem of settlement horizons

Let's return to the question of horizons. A. N. Rogachev was a very attentive researcher. This is evidenced by the documentation of the excavations: careful descriptions of the cultural layer, plans on a scale of 1: 10. In addition, the collection of flint tools contains several thousand flakes and micro-chips, including from retouching, which, in the absence of washing the layer, is an indicator of extremely thorough disassembly. At the same time, A. N. Rogachev conducted excavations almost alone; local peasants helped him to carry out earthworks. In three months, in addition to a small series of pits, 339 m2 of the excavation was opened. The honesty and observation of A. N. Rogachev made him doubt the simple solution to the problem. In his first short publication [1940], he suggested that the partial mixing of cultural horizons could have resulted from the sliding of the western dwelling located higher up the slope, which, in the situation of synchronicity of all the objects of the northern complex, was considered as a side extension to the long dwelling. A very important argument was also the presence of a common specific feature for the long and eastern round dwellings - pits filled with red ochre with black pebbles at the bottom. In addition, there were no pits at all at the junction of the dwellings, so characteristic of both of them. Based on all this, A. N. Rogachev made a preliminary conclusion: "... in Kostenki IV, we are dealing with a complex system of one settlement built according to a single plan" [Ibid., p. 40]. Later, considering these facts overestimated, he came to the conclusion about two different cultural horizons of the settlement (Rogachev, 1955). At the same time, the material from many sites of the excavation was artificially divided under the influence of the established concept, and some of the arguments presented seem a little biased. In addition, the 1955 monograph presents the whole situation in a somewhat general way, omitting some details that seemed too private at the time, although, in our opinion, they are very significant. Recently, an unpublished article by A. N. Rogachev* was discovered in the Archive of the Institute of Chemical Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the main conclusions of which were included in the monograph. However, the factual presentation omitted in the publication is of great interest and could shed light on many complex issues.

Let's try to consider the process of dismantling the cultural layer. First, a 19x2 m (sq. f) trench was dug-44 - 45 - Z-44-45), where a bright red layer with a thickness of 0.15-0.20 m was found, the same as in the southern long dwelling. Naturally, in those conditions, the layer was not cleared in stages immediately over a wide area, but was studied in small areas that were gradually cut off for excavation. The first thing that catches your eye is its heterogeneity not only in the location of the circular dwellings of the upper horizon, but also in other areas to the south of the trench. Higher than normal, intensely colored with red ochre

* Rogachev A. N. Two horizons of finds in the northern part of the settlement. - Archive of the IIMC RAS. F. 35. 1938, d. 50. L. 12^0.

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Fig. 3. Layers of the northern residential complex.

1 - layer at the base of the cultural layer; 2-layer above the cultural layer; 3-both layers are expressed; 4 - stone tile; 5-stone; 6-bone fragment; 7 - shingle; 8 - slate tile; 9 - flint; 10-slate.

a colored interlayer of insignificant thickness is recorded in the cultural layer with the finds (Fig. 3). In Q-43, near the sixth hearth, it is barely noticeable, has a brownish tint, and only one stone lay in it. Further, we find mention of an interlayer on top of the cultural layer in sq. N-42, where the material of the layers is not separated, because they merged. Then it is marked in the squares of the 41st line on the territory of the long dwelling, to the east of the western round one. In the ST-41 block 0.20-0.25 m above the floor, a 2 - 3 cm thick layer with a purple hue was observed, containing a small stone tile and three bone fragments. It is not marked in square U-41, but here, approximately at its level, a fragment of tubular bone and a stone were found. Square X-41 describes two layers without a dividing layer: bright (red) on the bottom and dark on the top. And the last area where we see the upper layer is to the south of the ninth hearth in a long dwelling, on the site of a hypothetical border with the eastern round one-sq. 2YA-39-40. Here it is 0.10-0.15 m above the layer and contains a small amount of flint flakes. At the border of sq. I-39, the interlayer "merges with the main layer". There are no signs of it in sq. Z-41 either. The question arises, is it one layer or different? Although it is intermittent and has different colors in different areas (bright, brownish, and in one place even with a purple tint), nevertheless, we are still talking about the same layer. Everywhere it has the same thickness (2-3 cm) and is poor in finds. The violet hue of the interlayer gives saturation to small embers, as it becomes clear from the descriptions of the layer, in areas near the foci.

Where the upper layer is not pronounced, this level of habitat marks a number of finds that lay above the cultural layer: flint, fragments of tubular bones, stones, chipped pieces of slate and three stone slabs (sq. R-44-45, R - 44 and K-42). The sandstone slab in sq. R-44-45 had very large dimensions-64 × 36 × 5 cm, the slab in sq. R-44 was smaller - 35 × 25 × 10 cm; they lay 0.46 m above the floor of a long dwelling. During the excavations, the Upper Horizon package included finds collected in unpainted loam above the cultural layer in sq. m. 0 - 42 - 43 - S-42-43 and M-43 (missing from the plan, as their composition is not established according to the documents).

Of great interest are the descriptions of the interlayers underlying the cultural layer (Fig. 3). A thin colored interlayer with finds occupied almost the entire area of sq. 0 - 47, except for its eastern quarter. It was not detected in the adjacent areas. In sq. M-42, a light layer was observed on the floor, which in sq. N-42 merged with the main layer (the material is not separated here). At the junction of blocks P-42 and P-43, a cluster of rocks was covered with a thin bright red layer. It continued in Q0-43 and in Q0 - 42 merged with a thick brown cultural layer. In Q0-43, between it and the lower layer, there was a lens of unpainted loam containing two bone fragments, a rib fragment, and flints. The same layer, which occupied the northern quarter of Q-41, continued in

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square Q-42, sometimes merging here with the main layer (however, it is much lighter than the layer itself), and in square Q-43, where it acquired a brownish hue. Here, just above the floor, was a rock. Materials from sq. QR-44, where this layer is well defined, are combined into one horizon. Apparently, the insignificant thickness of the interlayer made it impossible to separate the finds. In sq. S-41-43, it increased to 5 cm in sq. S-42. Further to the east (sq. X-41), two layers are described without a dividing horizon. In sq. Y-39, a bright layer with a brownish tint was observed underlying the main layer. In sq. Ya-39-40, it lay on the floor, 25 cm below the upper layer of dark red color. In the southern part of the eastern dwelling (sq. E-38, sh-37 - 38), a bright red layer 1-2 cm thick underlay a thick dark brown layer.

Summing up the above, we note that the lower layer was spread over a considerable area and had almost everywhere the same thickness (1-3 cm) and color. The difference in describing it as "bright" or" light " depends on the color of the overlapping cultural layer. The layer undoubtedly belongs to the habitat horizon of the long dwelling and, occupying part of the area of both round dwellings, shows the presence of this horizon there. It is quite remarkable that the upper layer is distributed only on the territory of a long dwelling belonging to the lower horizon.

A. N. Rogachev especially noted that if the layer of the western round dwelling overlapped with the layer of the long dwelling, then the picture with the eastern one was completely different - here they were mixed and represented a single structure [Ibid., p. 22]. The difference in the structure of round dwellings is significant. The complex hearth of the western dwelling is the only one in the entire settlement. The other hearths didn't differ much from each other. However, the most important thing is the presence of pits with red ochre and black pebbles. The design features of dwellings may be dictated by certain external conditions, but these pits are a cultural element that can hardly be common to carriers of different cultures. Apparently, the eastern round dwelling is completely arranged on part of the long one, which explains the mixing of cultural horizons above the pits with red ochre and black pebbles. It is quite possible that the hearth belonged to the lower horizon.

Northern point

It was discovered in 1959 during the clearing of clay 70 m north of the northern residential complex. The excavation area of just over 48 m2 revealed a section of the cultural layer, which has almost no specific color. Only the three central squares, where the concentration of finds was close to 2,000 flints per 1 m2, were slightly humusized (Anisyutkin, 2005, p. 4). 22]. It was in this area, where the thickness of the cultural layer reached 0.2 m, that some small embers and a large amount of burnt flint were found, although the remains of the hearth were not recorded. A large tile of Shoksha sandstone was also found here, split in two, with traces of use as an anvil. Similar anvil tiles were found near hearths in long dwellings. A. N. Rogachev suggested that bones were broken on them in order to extract bone marrow [1952, p.111]. This version seems to be the closest to the truth, especially since clusters of small bone fragments were found near many foci. By the periphery of the excavation, the concentration of finds significantly decreased. Unfortunately, the partial destruction of this cluster does not allow us to get a clear idea of the nature of the object, and the composition of the inventory remains almost the only, although perhaps quite sufficient, basis for its interpretation as one of the zones of external activity of the inhabitants of long dwellings.

Conclusions

Based on all the above, we can conclude that in the northern residential complex we are dealing with a lithologically unified cultural layer, in which two horizons are observed in separate areas, distinguished by color. A. N. Rogachev did not accidentally use the term "horizon", because in the absence of a sterile layer, we can only talk about one the layer. The colored layers considered represent other elements of the cultural layer that are not identified with the horizons. Moreover, the lower layer is a structural part of the cultural layer of the long dwelling, which means that the eastern round dwelling, where it is widespread, either represents part of the long one, or is completely arranged on its remains. The upper layer is observed only above the long housing. In large areas of the excavation, for example, between the round dwellings and part of the vostochny square, the horizons were mixed, and the material here is inseparable neither in plan nor in profile. When distinguishing them, you can only rely on the color-invariably bright red for the lower one and dark red or brown for the upper one. Unfortunately, in those small areas where a lens of unpainted loam is observed between the horizons, it cannot be called a sterile layer, since it contains finds, as follows from the field documentation. Perhaps, A. N. Rogachev, speaking of the ste-

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He was referring only to the absence of loam coloration [1955, p.23].

As for the outer clusters of finds, the southern and northern ones near the southern residential complex are objects of the lower horizon. This is a common situation when some household chores are performed outside the home. Firstly, it is brighter there, and secondly, there are many types of activities that are inconvenient and undesirable to carry out inside the home. A very similar picture is observed, for example, at the site of Pushkari I [Boriskovsky, 1953, p. 184, 186; Belyaeva, 2002, p. 41].

The southern and northern long dwellings were inhabited for a long time and simultaneously from an archaeological point of view. Some difference in their structure can be explained by the different meaning of these objects in the structure of a single long-term settlement. Ethnography provides many examples of" men's "and" family " houses, and the former, as a rule, always represented a single space, as in the northern dwelling; women and children lived in separate rooms (or sections, as in the southern dwelling, which is more justified in harsh climatic conditions). From this point of view, we can also consider the differences in the structure of the western and eastern dwellings of the upper horizon.

List of literature

Anisyutkin N. K. Severny pochta stoyki Kostenki-4 [The northern point of the Kostenki-4 site]. Pozdny palaeolit Desny i srednego Dona: khronologiya, kul'tura, antropologiya. Voronezh: Voronezh State University Publ., 2005, pp. 21-29.

Belyaeva V. I. Paleolithic site of Pushkari I.-St. Petersburg: Publishing House of St. Petersburg State University, 2002. - 156 p.

Boriskovsky P. I. Paleolith of Ukraine, Moscow, L.: Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1953, 463 p. (MIA; N 40).

Boriskovsky P. I. Essays on the Paleolithic of the Don basin. - M.; L.: Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1963. - 231 p. - (MIA; N 121).

Zheltov M. N. Stages of studying Alexander the Parking lot (Kostenki-4) // Chronology, periodization, and cross-cultural communication in the stone age. Saint Petersburg: Nauka Publ., 2008, pp. 113-127.

Rogachev, A. N., Paleolithic settlement of Kostenki IV, KSIIMK. - 1940. - Issue 4. - p. 36-41.

Rogachev, A. N., Remains of a primitive communal dwelling of the Upper Paleolithic period near the village of Kostenok on the Don, SA. - 1952. - Issue no. 16. - p. 100-119.

Rogachev A. N. Kostenki IV - settlement of the ancient stone Age on the Don. - Moscow; L.: Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1955. - 164 p. - (MIA; N45).

The article was submitted to the Editorial Board on 30.04.08.

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