Планіграфічний аналіз середньопалеолітичної стоянки Рубань

The planigraphy of excavation 1 of the Ruban’ site was studied, taking into account the context of technological and refitting of artifacts analyses. The main idea is the correlation of data and the reconstruction of the stone knapping process in this area. During the archaeological excavations, the cultural layer was investigated on area of 126 m². The analysis of the planigraphy of the site showed a rather low density of finds and their uneven distribution. There are three zones of material concentration: in the northern, southern and southeastern parts of the excavated site. Planigraphic analysis of artifacts by category showed that we have the largest number of cores in the northern zone. In the southern zone, we can see an increase the concentration of cores and tools in the western part and tools in the eastern part. However, we record the largest number of tools in the southeastern zone. So, preliminarily, three separate production zones can be outlined on the site. Two of them (in the northern and southern parts) mark zones of knapping of stone raw materials. The third zone, located in the eastern part, can be identified as a place of active use of tools. To correlate these observations, a planigraphic analysis of refitting of artifacts was used, which involved 259 artifacts (30 % of the collection). Some of the items were restored from fragments, and others formed separate reconstruct blocks of reduction, which include cores, flakes, and tools. The planigraphic analysis of these artifacts confirmed the presence of a production complex at excavation 1, consisting of two zones of active knapping of stone raw materials in the north and in the south, and one – the use of tools in the eastern part, connected to each other. This relationship is reflected in the export of blanks/tools from the stone knapping zones to the use zone, also blanks/cores between the two stone knapping zones.