Lithic Complex of the Middle Neolithic from Shatyrbulak Site (Kazakhstan)

Abstract

This article presents the first publication of Neolithic lithics from excavations at Shatyrbulak Stone Age site in northeastern Kazakhstan, obtained during fieldwork in 2024. The site is located in the Maysky district of the Pavlodar region, 2 km northwest of the village of Zhana Akshiman, on the left bank of the eponymous spring, which flows into a freshwater lake. The aim of this study is a morpho-technological and typological analysis of the lithic industry at this multi layered site, dating back to the Middle Neolithic. Specifically, the analysis focused on the shape and size of the artifacts, their location, regularity, and type of retouching, as well as fragmentation patterns. A total of 285 stone artifacts from layer 2 were studied. Overall, four cultural layers, ranging from the Mesolithic to the late Neolithic, were identified at the Shatyrbulak site. However, due to the excavation being conducted on the site's periphery, and the distribution of finds within the cultural layers being complicated by the sloping nature of the ancient surface and deep desiccation cracks along which some artifacts were displaced, the raw material characteristic is dominant. Layer 2, presented in the article, is the most vivid and complete of the available ones, also containing hearths and postholes. Other assemblages at the Shatyrbulak site yield significantly fewer artifacts, and their interpretation requires further research. Thus, it was established that the collection contains almost equal proportions of medium and small flakes and their fragments with retouching and tools (scrapers) attached to them, with a slightly smaller proportion of blades and blade-based artifacts. The blades were knapped using a pressure technique, while the flakes were also primarily obtained using a soft hammer and pressure technique (debitage). A high level of fragmentation is observed among both blade and flake blanks. We also concluded that the absence of primary knapping products indicates that the raw material was imported, in the form of core preforms. The composition of the collection finds parallels in materials from the stratified site of Shiderty 3 in the Pavlodar Region, the Yavlenka and Telman archaeological microregions of the Ishim River region, and the Solenoe Ozero 2 and Ekidin 24 sites in the Torgai Trough. A typological analysis of the collection revealed similarities with layers dating to the Middle Neolithic (6th-5th millennia BC). We consider that artifacts made on gray and pink flint are similar to sites from the Atbasar area. Thus, the materials from the Shatyrbulak site expand the territory of the Atbasar population to North-Eastern Saryarka.