The article introduces the materials of the Early Paleolithic site discovered in 2010 in Lower Transnistria near the town of Dubossary. Earlier, two sites of Dubossary-1 (Big Fountain and Pogrebya) with flint products of Early Paleolithic appearance were discovered here. A cultural layer with a few stone products and a fragment of a fossil animal bone was found in the roof of the lower fossil soil lying on alluvial deposits of the VI(?) or VII above-floodplain terrace of the Dniester. The probable age of this soil is estimated by geologists in the range of 500 thousand years. In the lower stream alluvium, which is represented by pebbles of the same terrace, three pebble tools were found, including two choppers made of strong Kosouc sandstone, as well as four flint products. The alluvium of this high terrace is dated by geologists to more than 800 thousand years ago. Currently, these are the oldest stratified stone tools found on the territory of Russia, Moldova and Ukraine within the Eastern European Plain.

Key words: Eopleistocene, Early Pleistocene, Early Paleolithic, cultural layer, lower Dniester valley, south-west of Eastern Europe.

Introduction

Autumn 2010 Pridnestrovian Archaeological Expedition of the Institute of the History of Material Culture (hereinafter-IIMC) The Russian Academy of Sciences (head of the expedition N. K. Anisyutkin) was able to resume the Early Paleolithic studies conducted from the second half of the 1980s to the early 1990s by the Paleolithic expedition of the Leningrad Branch of the Institute of Archaeology of the USSR Academy of Sciences (Anisyutkin, 1989, 1994, 2010; Quaternary Paleogeography..., 1996).

At that stage of the study, two Early Paleolithic sites were discovered-the Big Fountain (Dubossary-1) and Pogrebya, located in the vicinity of the Moldovan town of Dubossary. Fruitful research, including interdisciplinary ones, made it possible to raise a number of important questions concerning the following issues:-

The research was supported by a grant under the basic research program of the Department of Historical and Philological Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences "Genesis and interaction of social cultural and linguistic communities".

page 2

Figure 1. Map of the location of Early Paleolithic sites on the territory of Moldova, which were studied in 2010.

Figure 2. Location of locations and parking lots in the Bolshoy Fontana area. 1-Bayraki; 2-Big Fountain.

In particular, it concerns the chronological position of the discovered stone tool complexes. Unfortunately, these problems remained unresolved, and monuments with undisputed stratigraphy were needed.

The search for such monuments has become the primary task of the Pridnestrovian archaeological expedition IIMK RAS 2010. In the course of archaeological work in the Dubossar area near the Early Paleolithic site of the Big Fountain, a new site of the Early Paleolithic Bayraki with reliable stratigraphy was discovered.

Geomorphology, stratigraphy, and site date

In the study area of the lower left bank of the Dniester River, which is geomorphologically related to the Pridnestrovian terrace plain (Negadaev-Nikonov and Yanovsky, 1969, p.57), high terraces, in particular VI-VIII, are very well defined. In the area of the village of Pogrebya, located about 8 km downstream from Dubossary, they come almost close to the river. Upstream (towards Dubossary), the terraces recede, and the valley, formed by a high floodplain, I and II above-floodplain terraces, expands significantly. The remaining terraces are represented by fragments of terraces III-IV identified in the Dubossar area. Thus, the strip of high terraces (VI, VII) recedes upstream and forms a kind of crescent-shaped oval - the so-called Dubossary amphitheater. Absolute elevations of the widely distributed VII terrace on the left bank are 115-120 m, and relative elevations are 100-110 m (Quaternary Paleogeography..., 1996, p. 143).

The Bayraki site is located in a now-defunct quarry on the eastern outskirts of Dubossary, in the suburb of Bolshoy Fontan (coordinates: 47°16 '27" N, 29°11 ' 10 " E), in the upper reaches of the ancient Bayraki gulch, approximately 1 km northwest of pit No. 3 of the Early Paleolithic Bolshoy Fontan site (Figs. 1, 2). The left side of the beam, where the finds were found, falls on the edge of the seventh above-flood terrace of the Dniester River (Ibid., 1996). Approximately 30-35 m north-west and west of the parking lot, the rock base of the terrace disappears, and the steepness of the slope increases sharply and falls in the direction of the river and the suburb of Dubossary. In this place, along the starboard side, a multi-meter thick loess with weakly expressed fossil soils of light brown color, clearly of a younger age, can be traced. The plinth of the lower terrace identified in this place is not traced. Probably, the site was located on the bank of a reservoir, which may have been either a bend of the Pra-Dniester or an ancient estuary, which, according to geologists [Ibid., p. 26], penetrated up the Dniester Valley in Mindel time.

The site of Bayraki, as well as the location of the early Paleolithic Big Fountain, is confined to the cape formed by the VII terrace. It is probably located on a fragment of a lower VI aboveground terrace. At the initial inspection of the Quaternary sediment section wall with a thickness of approx. A nucleus and a fragment of the animal's bone were found 3 m away. They were located in

page 3
at the same level at the base of the section, directly in the roof of the red-colored fossil soil. On the surface of the quarry, where all subaerial deposits were removed by technogenic means, placers and blocks of cemented pebbles were found, representing channel alluvium - a small-pebble conglomerate with sand and gravel aggregate and carbonate cement. The presence of these boulders was the reason for stopping work in the quarry, so that the parking lot was not completely destroyed. Artefacts were found in a partially preserved layer of pebbles, including two pebble and three flint tools. It is significant that no stone artefacts were found on the rest of the surface of this quarry and several other gravel quarries we examined on high terraces in different regions of Lower Transnistria.

In one of the large blocks of the conglomerate, Professor A. L. Chepalyga identified a large chopper, on the lower surface of which a small section of the host rock was specially left. The connection of this object (and, therefore, other pebble forms) with the alluvial deposits of this terrace can be considered more than obvious. A rounded flint flake was also found approximately 55-60 m from the excavation site on the southwestern edge of the quarry, which can also be conditionally attributed to the alluvial complex.

The section we have opened represents a sediment thickness of more than 5 m, which is subdivided into a number of layers and horizons (Fig. 3). Their characteristics are compiled on the basis of descriptions made by E. V. Voskresenskaya, a researcher at the Laboratory of Evolutionary Geography of the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Layer 1 - deposits of modern soil covered with bulk earth (0.30-0.50 m). The soil with a grainy-lumpy structure has an intensely black color; its thickness is 0.7 m. It does not contain any archaeological finds. You can indicate the constant presence of small pebbles. In the lower part, there is a clearness: a brown carbonate loam is revealed, which may be a fragment of an ancient fossil soil destroyed by erosion processes.

Layer 2 - brownish-brown loam, coarse-grained, slightly humusified, carbonate. Power 0.70-1.04 m. The lower boundary of this sterile layer is coarse-grained, broken by wormholes.

Layer 3 - light, grayish-brown, loess-like, dusty, porous, carbonate, and sterile loam. Numerous wormholes filled with material from layers 1 and 4 are noted. In the lower part, the layer becomes beige-pale yellow. Layer thickness from 1.04 to 1.34 m.

Layer 4 - dark fawn loam with a reddish-brown tint, with a nutty structure, loess-like, breaking up into columnar layers along cracks, with numerous aggregates of beloglazka-type carbonates along the lower contact line. In the lower part of the layer, a rounded flint pebble with distinct signs of processing was found. The total thickness of the layer is 1.34-1.70 m.

Layer 5 is an expressive fossil soil, which is characterized by a brown loam with a reddish tinge, carbonate, very dense, and lighter in the upper part. In the roof of the layer, stone products and the bone of a fossil animal were found lying at the same level. The thickness of the layer varies from 1.70 to 1.87 m.

Layer 6 is grayish-orange loam, dense, with a nutty-prismatic structure, abundant new formations of oval-shaped white-eye carbonates with powdery white aggregate. The white-eye reaches its maximum in the lower part of the layer. The thickness of the layer varies from 1.87 to 3.00 m.

Layer 7 - grayish-orange loam of cellular color with signs of secondary ironification, very dense. Oval powdery aggregates of carbonates can be traced to a depth of 3.24 m, and scattered new growths of carbonates can be seen lower in the layer.-

3. Section of the north-eastern clearing wall. Layer designations are given in accordance with the sequence numbers of their descriptions given in the text.

page 4
nats like dutikov with a dense light gray crust. At a depth of 3.30-3.45 m, a layer of bright brown ozhelezneniya is noted, below and above which the layer is dominated by a gelled gray material. Reddish-brown loam from layer 5 is noted in the wormholes. The lower boundary is clear, subhorizontal. Layer thickness 3.00-3.90 m.

Layer 8 is characterized by alternating subhorizontal interbeds of gray siltstone 8-15 cm thick with clay interbeds of brownish and orange-brown color. They consist of micro-layers of glued material. The lower border is clear. The thickness of the layer varies from 3.90 to 4.85 m.

Layer 9 is the upper part of the channel alluvium, which is represented in the section by dirty yellow sand with layers of fine gravel, in which rounded Carpathian pebbles with a diameter of up to 5 cm, black flint and conglomerate fragments are marked. In the latter (not in the section, but in conglomerate blocks), individual stone products of the Early Paleolithic were found. The visible thickness of the layer is 4.85-5.35 m.

In the section with a total thickness of more than 5 m, deposits of the Holocene period (layer 1 and, possibly, the upper part of layer 2) and undoubtedly Early Pleistocene time are revealed, including: deluvial loams (layers 3, 4), fossil soil (layers 5, 6), floodplain alluvium and old age deposits (layers 7, 8), as well as the roof of the channel alluvium (layer 9). The latter, as it was possible to trace in some parts of the preserved section, was a cemented fine-pebble conglomerate, blocks of which, lying on the rocky surface of the quarry, were preserved in many places.

Deluvial deposits are typically sloping. They often contain small ("Carpathian") pebbles of jasper, sandstone and flint, including rounded flint fragments and fragments. The coloration, significant carbonate content, and lumpiness of the sediments suggest that these are the remains of fossil soils deformed by various erosion processes.

The layer with stone products and a bone fragment was found, as noted above, in the upper part of the fossil soil (layer 5), which is clearly traced in the section for a significant length along the left side of the beam. Horizon A of this soil is highly deformed. In the section, its reddish-orange remains are revealed lower along cracks and wormholes. However, the absence of pronounced deposits on the surfaces of products, which are typical for finds from fossil soils, allows us to raise the question of whether the cultural layer is confined to the roof (or to the surface?). of this fossil soil. It is hoped that further excavations will reveal the exact stratigraphic position of the cultural layer associated with the fossil soil. In this case, we are talking only about a well-defined horizon with few finds. However, it should be borne in mind that the excavation site captured an insignificant peripheral part of the proposed parking lot. The occurrence of the finds in a single horizon indicates their homogeneity and satisfactory preservation of the cultural layer. It is very important that there are no uncut stone products or animal bones on the surface of the quarry, where objects from the destroyed cultural layer should have been found. Flint (11 units) and sandstone (1 unit) were found directly in the cultural layer along with a fragment of a fossil animal bone.

Approximately 45 m below the excavation site, sandstone pebbles with distinct traces of chipping on one edge were found in the scree of the left side of the ravine. It was covered with an intense brown deposit (ozhelezenie), overlain by a clearly later calcareous deposit of yellowish-gray color. Similar double deposits are also found on objects from the fossil soil at the Pogrebya and Bolshoy Fontan localities (Anisyutkin, 1989, p. 127).

According to the totality of various indicators, this relief form, with the deposits of which the layers of the Early Paleolithic are associated, is, according to A. L. Chepalyga, the seventh above-flood terrace of the Dniester. Paleomagnetic studies have established the reverse magnetization of the lower alluvium of Terrace VII, corresponding to the Matuyama epoch [Pokatilov and Bukatchuk, 1989, p. 84]. The Matuyama-Brunes magnetic polarity boundary is found in floodplain alluvium deposits of the same terrace (Pevsner and Chepalyga, 1970; Quaternary Paleogeography..., 1996, pp. 150-151). Absolute dates (TL) obtained for the seventh terrace (Mikhaylovka village) showed the following values: below the Brunes-Matuyama inversion-900 ± 200 Ka BP, and above-670 ± 170 Ka BP [Antropogen..., 1986, p. 56]. It should be noted that alluvium VI of the river above-floodplain terrace was formed at the beginning of the Lower Pleistocene, and alluvium VII-in the Eopleistocene (Chepalyga, 1982, p. 224; Quaternary Paleogeography..., 1996; Bilinkis, 1989).

The actual date of the complex from the cultural layer has yet to be determined. It is possible to point out the connection of the cultural layer with the early Pleistocene fossil soil, which lies directly on the surface of floodplain deposits, i.e. here it is the lower one.

Description of stone products of the parking lot

Stone artefacts were found both in the preserved cultural layer and in the pebbles, where they lay in a redeposited position, so it is advisable, in our opinion, to use the concept of "com" in the description.-

page 5
plex". We propose to call objects from the top of the fossil soil a complex from the cultural layer, and from the lower layer - an alluvial complex.

Alluvial complex. The collection includes seven artefacts discovered in a relatively small space in piles of pebbles confined to the port side of the vast Bayraki beam. These products differ from the vast majority of flint objects from the cultural layer by a significant roundness and lustrage of surfaces.

A large pebble implement measuring 155×105×40 mm is represented by flattened pebbles from Kosouc sandstone with several contiguous recesses of different sizes along the left edge, forming a jagged blade, as well as with elements of vertical retouching along a significant part of the right edge. Retouching facets are not always clearly legible due to their considerable smoothness. Nevertheless, a certain sequence of applying chips is obvious. On the opposite (ventral) side of the tool there are three or four dents. They are confined to the tops of protrusions formed by recesses that can be perceived as traces of active recycling. Processed in this way, the converging retouched edges form a point, thanks to which the product appears as an expressive combined tool (Fig. 4).

The 112×95×26 mm pebble implement is made on a more flattened (compared to the previous find) Kosouc sandstone pebble and has a well-marked working edge with retouching (Figs. 4, 3). The recess and the intentional (?) fragment adjacent to it on the left form a pointed end with signs of "fresh" damage. It is most reasonable to define this form as an atypical one-sided chopper with a concave working edge.

The 115×113×60 mm pebble implement is also made of Kosouc sandstone, which is more advanced than the above-described artifacts, and is of key importance for linking all the considered forms to the alluvium of this terrace (Figs. 4, 1). On the lower side of the chopper, a section of soldered conglomerate represented by sand-gravel aggregate and carbonate cement is preserved. This massive and large tool has distinct traces of lateral removal, due to which the workpiece has decreased in size and acquired a quadrangular shape. An extremely strong impact was caused by a heavy and hard bump: a noticeable dent can be traced on the pebble surface. The cleavage surface is clearly defined. The transverse working edge of the product has a concave shape; it is formed by three consecutive large chips. Smaller and flatter facets of further retouching can also be read on the edge of the blade. The left corner of the tool (marked with a notch) is a pointed "spout", truncated by a chip and small facets of retouching. In general, this item can be described as a typical single-sided chopper with a notched working edge and elements of additional finishing of the pointed protrusion.

Similar choppers are very common in the Early Paleolithic. A similar form of flint pebbles was found at the Pogrebya locality (Anisyutkin, 2010, p. 183). Among the numerous analogues are various Olduvan choppers of Southern Arabia (many of which are made on the wreckage, their side faces are shortened in order to give the tools the desired shape [Amirkhanov, 1991]), as well as the Altai (Karama), North Caucasus and Taman [Early Paleolithic site Karama..., 2005; Amirkhanov, 2007; Shchelinsky, 2010].

The alluvium of the Bayraki site is dominated by small and minuscule pebbles, including various rounded flint fragments. Larger objects found in the conglomerate blocks are not numerous. These are mostly heavily rounded fragments of mostly Kosouc sandstone. Among the significant number of similar pebbles encountered

4. Pebble tools of the Bayraki site. 1-3-from alluvium; 4-from fossil soil.

page 6
Only the three artefacts described above have been identified on the entire terrace area, the base of which is quite strong limestone. The remaining pebbles had no traces of processing. It is possible to note only a very large pebble of the Kosouc sandstone, on the surface of which there is a distinct chip from the indisputable removal of the flake.

A thorough analysis of numerous flint objects scattered in the pebbles, including those with traces of pseudo-fragments, revealed three additional items that may be related to artifacts. They are characterized by a significant roundness and characteristic luster of the surface (lustrage). These features are common for products made from alluvial deposits. These artefacts have no patina and, in our opinion, have the necessary set of signs of deliberate processing by an ancient person.

One product can be attributed to knives with a partially retouched rim and a highlighted tip (Figs. 5, 3). This combined tool is relatively small in size (31×75×14 mm), made on a shortened chip of black flint with a pronounced lower surface filled with relief waves, and a partially preserved shock bump. There is no shock pad: it was removed by a negative chip in the near-site part of the artifact. The latter was formed on the site of a crack that appeared as a result of an earlier blow, which was insufficient to produce a massive flake. The goal was achieved thanks to the following removal, but the existing crack caused the separation of the on-site segment, including the impact site of the flake. It is not clear whether this happened directly during splitting or later when moving in the pebbles. The tip is highlighted by a combination of cool retouching elements, as well as two elongated and flat facets. The obushka is characterized by partial cool retouching. On the blade of the knife there is a distinct Cleckton notch and small facets of retouching, which can be not only traces of recycling.

The second product of small dimensions (45 × 44×23 mm) is made on a rounded natural fragment of black flint (Figs. 5, 4). A steep vertical retouch, represented by a number of touching facets of elongated shape, clearly shows the scraper working edge, which occupies about half of the product. On the right, a small atypical point adjoins the scraper edge. This tool can be attributed to expressive rabo-type scrapers, which are common in the Early Paleolithic and are presented in a series in the collection of the Big Fountain. Its size is determined by the peculiarities of flint raw materials: rounded fragments are mostly small in size. A special article by V. P. Lubin and E. V. Belyaeva [2004a] is devoted to these forms in the Russian scientific literature.

5. Flint products of the alluvial complex of the Bayraki site. 1-flake; 2 - flake of the upholstery; 3-combined tool; 4-scraper-work.

The third product, made of yellowish-gray flint, is a typical fine flake that has appeared as a result of upholstery and retouching (Eclats de taille et retouche). The artifact was extracted from a conglomerate block (23 × 24×9 mm). On the back are clearly traced negatives of flat chips, characteristic of bifaces. 5, 2). It is very interesting that a flint flake of very good quality is the only one among the huge number of black flint objects. This flake could have been obtained in the manufacture of a hand chopper, an excellent example of which was found relatively recently in Lower Transnistria (Kovalenko and Putsuntike, 2005).

We should also mention a massive flint flake found outside the pebble cluster on the southwestern edge of the quarry. In terms of surface safety, it does not differ from the items described above (Fig. 5, 1). Its connection with the alluvial complex is quite probable, although it is not formally indisputable.

The complex consists of a cultural layer. The collection is small, which can partly be explained by the small clearing area. It is significant that there are no flint objects that are comparable in terms of surface preservation with the products of the complex under consideration, which would indicate a noticeable destruction of the cultural layer.

page 7
As noted, during the excavations, the first chisel-shaped tool made on a rounded flint pebble of small dimensions (35×35×12 mm) was discovered. The protrusion in the form of a "spout" is highlighted on the side by clear facets of steep retouching, the working edge has signs of two-sided processing - a deep notch on one side and three smallest and flat facets on the other (Figs. 6, 3). The tool, common for the Early Paleolithic, was found above the cultural layer, in the lower part of the layer 4, at a depth of 1.5 m from the present day surface. It is noticeably rounded and clearly redeposited.

The collection of the cultural layer includes three tools, two nuclei, a pebble product made of sandstone (bump), a chip, five scales, and two fragments with traces of disposal (?) different security levels. Patina is present only on three objects-scrape, flake and flint fragment. It should be noted that not all artifacts were located in the cultural layer.

Among the tools, a special place is occupied by an excellent scraper found in the roof of the fossil soil, made on the preparation of dark-colored pebble flint (Fig. 6, 1). Its ventral part is not the lower surface of the chip and completely preserves the polished surface of the flint pebbles. The tool, clearly fragmented in ancient times, is covered with a white patina. Fragmentation, judging by the negatives of the break in the lower part, is most likely due to the fracturing of flint pebbles. The scraper probably broke in the fall, but it was still used: there is a micro-incisive chip on the upper pointed end. The slightly convex working edge is treated with a demi-Quina step retouch. The piece of debris that formed the tip opposite the blade was most likely intentional; it served as an obushka. Scrapers of this type are not known in the regional Mousterian, but are quite common in the Early Paleolithic. Samples with traces of similar retouching, including unifas, which preserved a crust on the ventral surface, are available in the collections of Bolshoy Fontan and Pogrebya. Unfortunately, Paleolithic researchers paid almost no attention to the specifics of such forms. So, N. D. Praslov, describing a similar quartzite tool found in the early complex of the Khryashchi locality (lower reaches of the Seversky Donets), rightly pointed out that it was made not from flakes, but from tiles [1968, p.33].

The other two weapons are not as expressive as the one described above. One is made on a small split sandstone pebble; its secondary processing elements are not clearly distinguished due to poor quality. The tool can be described as a scraper with a natural edge. The ventral surface was treated, while the dorsal surface was completely crusted. Readable facets of single-row retouching are traced along the third of the left edge of the scraper (Figs. 6, 5).

The product with traces of secondary edge processing, made on a rounded fragment of black flint, has fairly fresh facets of jagged retouching. It is found on the surface of the dump, so its connection with the layer is not formally indisputable.

One nucleus was found directly in the outcrop, in the upper part of the fossil soil. It is made on a fragment of black gall flint of very poor quality. There are traces of two clear removal of small flakes and minor adjustments on the site. The nucleus is not covered with patina and has sharp edges. This is the prenucleus or the nucleus of the initial stage of cleavage (Fig. 6, 4).

The second core is made of dark gray gelatinous flint without patina and formally refers to single-site with planar chipping. It is smaller in size than the first one. The three preceding radially oriented negatives were used as the shock pad. On the working surface, the negatives of three chips are clearly traced (Fig. 6, 6).

6. Flint products from the cultural layer of the Bayraki site. 1 - scrape; 2-flake; 3-beak-shaped tool from the deluvial layer; 4, 6 - nuclei; 5-scrape on a split sandstone pebble.

page 8
Of interest is a tool made of pebbles of relatively "soft" sandstone, discovered about 50 m below the excavation site. The object was located under the exposure of the left side of the ravine in the scree, at the level of the lower part of the fossil soil, which is clearly visible over a significant area of high terrace. The pebbles are covered with a thick double deposit, which is typical for objects from ancient fossil soils (see Figs. It has a rounded shape and relatively small dimensions (90×86×19 mm). On the area of the convex edge, there are retouching facets that are turned into a solid blockage on about half of the "blade", which is probably due to the intensity of use of the product. Half of the treated surface of the object is occupied by two negatives of earlier extensive shots*.

The only typical flake is covered with a slight patina. It is small in size (24 × 26×5 mm), has an extensive relief shock bump. The impact pad is sloped, smooth, and the edges are naturally sharp (Fig. 6, 2).

Among the scales, there are two rounded and three uncoated. The latter are made of black flint and devoid of patina. The presence of flint flakes in the layer may indicate its quite satisfactory preservation.

Preliminary evaluation of materials

A small flint industry from the cultural layer is quite significant for the Early Paleolithic. First of all, this applies to a typical scraper on flint pebbles. Similar forms with elements of Polukin and Kin retouching are very typical, first of all, for the collections of the Bolshoy Fontanand Pogrebya localities. These include scrapers, limes, and unifaces common to the Early Paleolithic. These tool shapes are constantly present, for example, in the Acheulean strata of a number of cave sites in the Caucasus (Lyubin and Belyaeva, 2004b; Triangular Cave..., 2007).

As for the small collection of the alluvial complex, it is also quite expressive. It combines small tools made of flint and large ones made of Kosouc sandstone. Such a dichotomy, reflecting the features of raw materials, is common for the Early Paleolithic (Crovetto, 1993, p. 53). It is enough to recall the classical materials from Olduvai (Bed II) [Grigoriev, 1977, pp. 72-73].

For the complex under consideration, choppers, flakes of upholstery and a high-shape scraper (rabo) are indicative. The latter morphology corresponds to the nucleoid scrapers of the Early Paleolithic, but differs in size, which is due to the peculiarities of raw materials. The presence of flakes indirectly indicates the possibility of the presence of bifaces in the collection, and a high-shaped scraper indicates a connection with the Bolshoy Fontana industry, for which such forms are characteristic. Similar rabo scrapers are found not only in Africa, Arabia, the Levant, and the Caucasus (Lubin and Belyaeva, 2004a, 163), but also in other territories, including Lower Transnistria and Central Asia. An expressive series of these tools was found, for example, in the Early Paleolithic layers of the Selungur cave site (Anisyutkin and Vishnyatsky, 2002, Figs. 8, 3, 5). A typical nucleoid scraper was found at the Karatau-1 Early Paleolithic site in Tajikistan. In general, it can be assumed that such forms, the size of which is determined by the specifics of raw materials, are widespread primarily in the Early Paleolithic.

Conclusion

A complex of early Paleolithic flint products from the Bayraki site with a preserved cultural layer was first found in alluvium and red-colored ancient soils of the high terraces of the Dniester River. These are the oldest stone tools found on the territory of Moldova, Ukraine and southern Russia. Until now, Paleolithic researchers have been interested in the low areas of the Dniester Valley, primarily the quarry in Kolkotova Gulch with the remains of early Pleistocene fossil fauna (Ketraru, 1973; Beregovaya, 1984, p. 6). It is very important that they were previously studied quite thoroughly by geologists (Chepalyga, 1962). These studies, including complex ones, made it possible to develop in detail the stratigraphy of river terraces and geochronology of Quaternary deposits. The Paleolithic objects found in this zone (both related to fossil soils and originating from alluvium) have a fairly reliable geochronological position.

In this respect, the association of the analyzed complexes with one or another subdivision of the early Pleistocene is more than probable. It is important to note that the famous Tiraspol faunal complex, comparable to the Mindel and Kromerian fauna of Europe, belongs to the alluvium of Terrace V, i.e. it is younger than the early complex from the channel alluvium of the high VII above-floodplain terrace of the Dniester, on which the Bayraki site is located.

The new materials correspond well with the already known collections of the Early Paleolithic appearance of the Bolshoy Fontan and Pogrebya localities. Artefacts of these objects are characterized by small sizes, such rare forms as a scrabby uniform with a typical step-by-step retouching of a half-skin.

* According to the preliminary definition of V. E. Shchelinsky, this item was used as a "soft" bump.

page 9
Acknowledgements

We express our gratitude to acad. Anatoly Panteleevich Derevyanko for his trust and invaluable assistance in organizing the exploration work of the expedition. It is necessary to thank the administration of Taras Shevchenko University of Tiraspol, first of all the head of the Department. the research laboratory "Archeology" of Candidate of Historical Sciences N. P. Telnov, whose friendly assistance and support significantly contributed to the successful research of the expedition.

List of literature

Amirkhanov Kh. A. Paleolith of the South of Arabia, Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1991, 344 p.

Amirkhanov, Kh. A., Early Acheulean of the Caucasus in the light of new research in Dagestan: the problem of origins and basic typological characteristics, Kavkaz i nachinalnoe zaselenie cheloveka Starogo Sveta. St. Petersburg: Peterburgskoe vostokovedenie Publ., 2007, pp. 21-34.

Anisyutkin, N. K., Pre-Mousterian locality near the village of Pogrebya on the Lower Dniester and the position of its industry in the Early Paleolithic of the European part of the USSR and adjacent territories, Quaternary Period. Paleontology and archeology. Chisinau: Stiinca Publ., 1998, pp. 124-137.

Anisyutkin, N. K., The oldest sites of the Early Paleolithic in the south-west of the Russian Plain, Archeol. to lead. - 1994. - N 3. - p. 6-16.

Anisyutkin N. K. New data on the study of Early Paleolithic localities on the upper terraces of the lower Dniester river // The oldest inhabitants of the Caucasus and the settlement of human ancestors in Eurasia. St. Petersburg: IIMK RAS, 2010, pp. 172-187 (Tr. IIMK RAS; vol. XXXV).

Anisyutkin N. K., Vishnyatsky L. B. Drevneyshie palaeoliticheskie pamyatniki Severo-Zapadnogo Tien-Shanya [Ancient Paleolithic monuments of the North-Western Tien-Shan].

Antropogen i paleolit Moldavskogo Pridnestrovya: guidebook of excursions Vsesoyuz. the second one. by phone. chetvertich. period. Chisinau: Stiinca Publ., 1986, 154 p. (in Russian)

Beregovaya N. A. Paleolithic localities of the USSR (1958-1970), Nauka Publ., 1984, 170 p.

Bilinkis G. M. Istoriya razvitiya relefa Moldavii [History of the development of the Moldavian relief]. Chisinau: Stiinca Publ., 1989, pp. 57-66.

Grigoriev G. P. Paleolithic of Africa. Paleolithic of the world. Issledovaniya po arkheologii drevnego kamennogo veka [Research on the archeology of the Ancient Stone Age], Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1977, 212 p.

Derevyanko A. P., Shunkov M. V., Bolikhovskaya N. S., Zykin V. S., Zykina V. S., Kulik N. A., Ulyanov V. A., Chirikin K. A. Early Paleolithic site of the Karama River in Altai. Novosibirsk: IAET SB RAS Publ., 2005, 86 p. (in Russian)

Derevyanko, A. P., Zenin, V. N., Rybalko, A. G., Leshchinsky, S. V., and Zenin, I. V., Darvagchai Bay - a new multi-layered Paleolithic monument in Southeastern Dagestan, Issledovaniya pervobytnoy arkheologii Evrazii. Makhachkala: Nauka DNTs RAS, 2010, pp. 114-124.

Triangular cave. Doronichev V. B., Golovanova L. V., Baryshnikov G. F., Blackwell B. A., Garutt N. V., Levkovskaya G. M., Molodkov A. N., Nesmeyanov S. A., Pospelova G. A., Hoffecker D. F. Early Paleolithic of the Caucasus and Eastern Europe. St. Petersburg: Ostrovityanin Publ., 2007, 270 p. (in Russian)

Ketraru N. A. Pamyatniki epochov paleolita i mesolita [Monuments of the Paleolithic and Mesolithic epochs]. Chisinau: Stiinca Publ., 1973, issue 1, 175 p.

Kovalenko S., Putsuntike S. Early Paleolithic find from Koshnitsa / / Rivista Arheologica. Serie nova. - 2005. - Vol. 1, N 1: Chisinau. - P. 168-169.

Lyubin V. P., Belyaeva E. V. Nucleoid scrapers of the Early Paleolithic / / Archeology and Paleoecology of Eurasia. Novosibirsk: Izd-vo IAET SB RAS, 2004a, pp. 159-164.

Lyubin V. P., Belyaeva E. V. The site of Homo erectus in the Kudaro-1 cave (Central Caucasus). - St. Petersburg: IIMK RAS, 2004b. - 272 p. - (Tr. IIMK RAS; vol. XIII).

Negadaev-Nikonov K. N., Yanovsky P. V. Quaternary deposits of the Moldavian SSR. Kishinev: Kartya moldovenyaske, 1969, 91 p. (in Russian)

Pevsner, M. A. and Chepalyga, A. L., Paleomagnetic studies of Pliocene-Quaternary Dniester terraces, Dokl. ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE USSR, 1970, vol. 194, pp. 1142-1144.

Pokatilov V. P., Bukatchuk P. D. Eopleistocene and Pleistocene terraces of the Dniester basin and their paleogeography / / Quaternary Period (paleogeography and lithology). Chisinau: Stiinca Publ., 1989, pp. 81-91.

Praslov N. D. Ranniy paleolit Severo-Vostochnogo Priazov'ya i Nizhni Podonya [Early Paleolithic of the North-Eastern Azov Region and Lower Don Region].

Stepanchuk V. N. The Lower and Middle Paleolithic of Ukraine. Chernovtsy: Zelena Bukovina Publ., 2006, 463 p. (in Russian)

Chepalyga, A. L., On Quaternary terraces of the Lower Dniester Valley, Byul. Congress on Education. chetvertich. period. - 1962. - N 27. - pp. 61-71.

Chepalyga A. L. Istoriya razvitiya fauny, flora i cheloveka v quaternichnom periodom (Presnovodnye molluski) [History of the development of fauna, flora and humans in the Quaternary period (Freshwater mollusks)]. Stratigrafiya SSSR [Stratigraphy of the USSR], Moscow: Nedra Publ., 1982, Polutom 1, pp. 216-226.

Quaternary paleogeography. Adamenko O. M., Golbert A.V., Osiyuk V. A., Matviishina Zh. N., Medyanik S. I., Motok V. E., Sirenko N. A., Chernyuk A.V. Ecosystems of the Lower and Middle Dniester. Kiev: Feniks Publ., 1996, 200 p. (in Russian)

The quaternary system. Stratigrafiya SSSR. - Moscow: Nedra, 1982. - Polutom 1. - 337 p.

Shchelinsky V. E. Pamyatniki rannego paleolita Priazovya [Monuments of the Early Paleolithic of the Azov Region]. In memory of Alexander Alexandrovich Formozov (1928-2009), Moscow: Nasledieye, 2010, pp. 57-77.

Crovetto C. La Paléolithique inferieur de Loreto // Bull. du Musée d'anthropologie Préhistorique de Monaco. - 1993. - N 36. - P. 31-56.

The article was submitted to the Editorial Board on 01.02.11.

page 10

Permanent link to this publication: